ESPN College Football

A lot went on this week, including some big bowl news. Let's not waste any time in getting to your questions.

T.K. from Pittsburgh writes: You actually think it's a downgrade to replace the Sun Bowl with the Champs Sports Bowl? The Sun Bowl was played on a Wednesday (at around noon) last year and nobody cared. Nobody cares about tradition in bowl games (otherwise the Sun Bowl would not be shown in the middle of the day on a Wednesday). Here's all you need to know. Orlando > El Paso (why travel all the way to a dump like El Paso when you can take a two-hour flight to Orlando?)

Brian Bennett: T.K., what I said was that the Champs Sports is a slight downgrade in prestige from the Gator/Sun deal. No one would argue that the Champs Sports is a higher-profile game than the Gator. And the Sun in its own right has a lot of history. Now, the fact that Notre Dame can only take the bid once every four years instead of twice is a big plus, but let's also remember that we're in Year 4 of the current arrangement, and the Irish have yet to steal a spot. So that may not even matter.

I do think Orlando is a much better spot for fans to travel. And even though it's not on New Year's Day, I'd personally rather have my New Year's Eve free than have to spend it in Jacksonville. So there are pros and cons to both sides.

Ryan from Charlotte, N.C., writes: I can't get through to these guys that the move from Gator/Sun/ND to Champs Sports/ND for our No. 2 is a step sideways and not back. They were snowed into believing we'd get Champs Sports and Sun for No. 2 and No. 3. Is it a step forward, no? But I don't think it's any worse when if ND wins 7 games this year the Big East 2 is going to Charlotte. Can you set the record straight?

Brian Bennett: I'm going to reserve final judgment until I see what the full lineup is. If it's the same as the previous agreement with the only difference being that Champs Sports replaces the Gator/Sun, then I think that's disappointing. Imagine if Notre Dame takes the Champs Sports spot one year and the No. 2 Big East team ends up playing in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. No offense to the fine folks in Charlotte, but that would be just plain embarrassing.

Paul from Louisville writes: Just curious. Instead of these bowls taking Notre Dame insetad of a Big East team, couldn't there be a bowl that pitted Notre Dame against a Big East team? As a West Virginia fan, I'd love to see my Mountaineers kick some Irish butt in a bowl game.

Brian Bennett: That would be a fun scenario, but it seems unlikely. It could happen in a BCS game, if the Irish qualify. The problem is that the team with the No. 1 at-large pick would likely snatch up Notre Dame, while the Big East would fall to another game. The Irish are just too attractive to bowls to fall to a lesser game that might match them with a Big East team as an at-large. You'll have to comfort yourself rooting for UConn and Pitt against the Golden Domers in the regular season.

Mike from the Bronx, N.Y., writes: While losing out on a New Year's Day bowl has the appearance of a step back, I think sending the No. 2 team to Orlando is better, assuming it's a better payout than the current Gator Bowl slot. The Gator Bowl currently on Jan. 1 has to fight with the Capital One, Outback, and/or Cotton bowls (not to mention the now-annual NHL outdoor game) for viewers, where as the Champs Sports on the Dec. 29 should be more or less unopposed in terms of viewers. Question: How realistic is a bowl game in Yankee Stadium? I like the idea, and on paper it seems like a good idea, but in the back of my mind I know the weather could be major sticking point for it to happen.

Brian Bennett: You're right in that New Year's Day is just different since the BCS system began. People don't look forward to it as much. A guaranteed prime-time slot on ESPN, which the Champs Sports Bowl has, is almost just as valuable, if not more so.

The New York bowl continues to be discussed, but there are several issues. The Big East would need an opponent, and it doesn't want to settle for a non-BCS conference. There's the issue of where to play the game, whether it's Yankee Stadium or the new Meadowlands facility, and when. And any new bowl game would have to be certified, and there are enough bowl games out there already. Throw in the weather factor, and you can see why this is still at the discussion stage.

Ryan J. from Madison, W.Va., writes: In the spring there seemed to be a lot of hype about wide receiver Logan Heastie. Recently, I've not seen much about him. Any news on his progression or what the WVU coaches plan on doing with him?

Brian Bennett: From what I can tell, Heastie is just going through the normal freshman adjustment process. Since the Mountaineers are fairly stacked at receiver, with Alric Arnett, Bradley Starks, Wes Lyons, Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin, there's no need to rush Heastie along.

Newman from Cincinnati writes: After reading your article on the Cincinnati Bearcats training camp, you sound shocked at how good they look. Are other teams surprising you when you go see them? Will you do another pre-season power rankings after seeing all the teams? It didn't quite seem fair that you had seen only about half when you did the other ones.

Brian Bennett: Hello, Newman. I don't know if shocked is the right word. I did see Cincinnati twice this spring, after all, and had a pretty good idea of their personnel. I just think that, when all the newcomers were added and some of the veterans progressed, the Bearcats just looked a lot deeper than I had seen before. I'm not sure if another preseason power ranking is on the agenda or not. Quite frankly, I'm pretty tired of prognosticating and am ready to actually see these teams in action.

Newman!

John C. from Hurricane, W. Va., writes: I love the blog and read it daily. Yes, you can say we have a problem with Notre Dame. Just tired of hearing about them and how great they USED to be. I think the best plan for the Big East is to tell Notre Dame put your football team in the league or get the rest of your teams out. If the Big East wants to add a team they don't want to add another basketball team, so if Notre Dame doesn't add football that opens a spot on the basketball side by having them pack their bags.

Brian Bennett: I get at least one e-mail like this every couple of days. The idea of Notre Dame joining the Big East is ludicrous. No one has ever been able to give me one good reason why the Irish would even consider it for a second. As for what they bring to the league, well, just look at how much trouble the Big East is now having finding a No. 3 bowl slot with the Irish in tow. Imagine how bad it would be if the league was going lone wolf.

Dave from Williamsville, N.Y., writes: From last week's mailbag: "I don't think there's any question that if a player led the nation in rushing with more than 2,000 yards on a national title contender, he would have been a serious threat in the Heisman race." So you are basically setting the record straight that the award is not for the best pla
yer. It's the best player under certain conditions, with other players around him. Thank you for exposing the award for what it's worth.

Brian Bennett: You're welcome. But I didn't know that was even a question any more.

Janet in Panama City writes: How much respect with the USF program garner playing FSU and Miami -- both out of conference, ACC teams? It's arguably our most difficult schedule. I've read 7-5 overall record this season for USF. I'm more optimistic. I see us splitting the FSU/Miami games, beating UConn, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Wofford, Charleston Southern, Western Kentucky, Louisville, and WVU. Am I being too optimistic? I call Pitt and Rutgers too close to call ... hoping for a win!

Brian Bennett: The respect will only come if the Bulls can beat one of those two. I tend to agree with most of your assessment, though I see a split in the West Virginia and Cincinnati games and losses to both Pitt and Rutgers. That makes 8-4, with a good shot at 9-3.