Football: Qualifying for bowls and rankings/polls

[bullcocky101]

This is how I see it standing currently: If we go undefeated, we will likely play in the BCS level bowl game reserved for the best of the also ran conferences. The National Championship will be off limits for us now. Lose one or two games, win the conference and we are likely in the Liberty bowl and playing a 6-6 SEC team having a down year. Anything less and we are playing the middle of the pack in the weakling conferences for a bowl...

[NewEnglandBull]

I do hope the AAC creates a new bowl for its champion. Perhaps Houston? We have to have a News Years Day game otherwise we look even worse. This should be job #1 for the commish with everything else already done.

[BullsFanInTX]

Aresco has already stated the AAC is looking at creating their own champions bowl.  If it pays highly enough, you could attract a decent opponent from a so called "power conference".  I'm still not convinced the Belk and Russell bowls are gone.  I've seen nothing definitive on this.  Maybe the AAC could do something along the lines of the old Gator/Sun deal with the Russell/Belk.  The AAC champ would play in one game and the B10 or B12 would play in the other every year.  It could work.  Some bowls like the Sun bowl might be in play also.  The only get ACC # 4 so if we offer #1 or 2, it could be in play.  I know they enjoyed having USF a few years ago.  There may be other bowls in play that are getting pushed further down the rung of the "P5" pecking order.  And of course the AAC will get the Liberty bowl and BBVA compass bowl.  Both have SEC opponents.  I think the AAC will end up with about 4 bowls with "P5" opponents (currently the BE has 6 - BCS, Russell, Belk, Pinstripe, BBVA, and Liberty).  The last 2 or 3 bowls will be against MWC, Sun Belt, CUSA, etc.  One other option worth discussing is a AAC vs. MWC #1 vs #1 champions bowl.  This would be ok, the only problem is that most years, a team from one of these 2 conferences will be in a BCS bowl.  There's no reason for USF not to dominate this league.  USF just needs to play it's way out by winning this league.

[Quo Vadis]

BullsfaninTX, I think it unlikely we will have 4 bowls versus P5 conference. E.g., the SEC has a policy of only wanting bowl games vs other power conferences.

As for bowls like Russell and Sun, they only wanted tie ins with the Big East when we had big names like Pitt and WVU and when Notre Dame was part of the package.

Finally I do not think we can play our way out by winning the AAC. Winning has precious little to do with being invited to a power conference, otherwise Boise would be in one and Rutgers wouldn't.

IMO we get promoted to the ACC only i f it so massively raided that it needs our warm body. Of course if that happens we won't be joi