After further review: Clearing up the non-AQ bowls -- kinda
November, 30, 2009
11/30/09
3:35
PM ET
After further review, I wanted to revisit some of the bowl scenarios for the Mid-American Conference and the Sun Belt Conference.
Here is what I initially had for these conferences yesterday:
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Big Ten
GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. ACC
International Bowl: Temple vs. Big East
EagleBank Bowl: Ohio vs. C-USA
SUN BELT CONFERENCE
New Orleans Bowl: Troy vs. C-USA
St. Petersburg Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. C-USA
But after talking to some folks and looking at some of the possible scenarios out there, I wanted to correct a few things.
In the Mid-American Conference, Bowling Green should get the nod for a MAC guarantee over Northern Illinois. The Falcons have won their last four, while the Huskies lost their last two -- the most important games of their season. The Falcons also have a better conference record at 6-2. Northern Illinois is 5-3.
So, I think Bowling Green could land in either the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl or the EagleBank Bowl. It’s really going to depend on location, matchup and the schools will have some say in it as well. Right now, Marshall is probably going to play in the EagleBank Bowl, though that depends on the outcome of the Army-Navy game on Dec. 12. If Army wins, then it gets the automatic bid to the EagleBank Bowl and Marshall likely will not play in a bowl.
Northern Illinois is the only 7-5 at-large team as of right now, but its postseason is still kind of up in the air with a week of crucial games remaining. The two at-large bowl choices likely available will be the GMAC or Humanitarian Bowl, which brings me to the Sun Belt.
Middle Tennessee finished the season 9-3. There is no way this team gets left out of a bowl game with that record. There have been rumors floating around for a couple weeks that the MAC and Sun Belt would like to pit its champions against each other in the GMAC bowl. If that comes to fruition, Troy would play the winner of Central Michigan-Ohio in the GMAC and Middle Tennessee would play in the New Orleans Bowl.
It’s a convoluted situation that could get worse if Hawaii beats Wisconsin this weekend and earns its guaranteed spot in the Hawaii bowl. That would leave Fresno State (7-4 with Illinois remaining) in the at-large pool. Depending on the outcome of Fresno State’s game against Illinois, the Bulldogs might be more attractive than a Northern Illinois team that slid at the end of the season. If this happens, the Humanitarian Bowl won't be an option since it's already a WAC guaranteed tie-in. So then, we could be looking at Troy in the New Orleans Bowl, a WAC team in the GMAC, Middle Tennessee in the Humanitarian and NIU out.
Is your head spinning yet?
So there are a lot of plates still up in the air and a lot of unknown destinations. I know a lot of teams will be glued to their televisions for the outcome of games. A lot of deserving teams might be out of the bowl race, but that’s not much different than any other year.
Here is what I initially had for these conferences yesterday:
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Big Ten
GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. ACC
International Bowl: Temple vs. Big East
EagleBank Bowl: Ohio vs. C-USA
SUN BELT CONFERENCE
New Orleans Bowl: Troy vs. C-USA
St. Petersburg Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. C-USA
But after talking to some folks and looking at some of the possible scenarios out there, I wanted to correct a few things.
In the Mid-American Conference, Bowling Green should get the nod for a MAC guarantee over Northern Illinois. The Falcons have won their last four, while the Huskies lost their last two -- the most important games of their season. The Falcons also have a better conference record at 6-2. Northern Illinois is 5-3.
So, I think Bowling Green could land in either the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl or the EagleBank Bowl. It’s really going to depend on location, matchup and the schools will have some say in it as well. Right now, Marshall is probably going to play in the EagleBank Bowl, though that depends on the outcome of the Army-Navy game on Dec. 12. If Army wins, then it gets the automatic bid to the EagleBank Bowl and Marshall likely will not play in a bowl.
Northern Illinois is the only 7-5 at-large team as of right now, but its postseason is still kind of up in the air with a week of crucial games remaining. The two at-large bowl choices likely available will be the GMAC or Humanitarian Bowl, which brings me to the Sun Belt.
Middle Tennessee finished the season 9-3. There is no way this team gets left out of a bowl game with that record. There have been rumors floating around for a couple weeks that the MAC and Sun Belt would like to pit its champions against each other in the GMAC bowl. If that comes to fruition, Troy would play the winner of Central Michigan-Ohio in the GMAC and Middle Tennessee would play in the New Orleans Bowl.
It’s a convoluted situation that could get worse if Hawaii beats Wisconsin this weekend and earns its guaranteed spot in the Hawaii bowl. That would leave Fresno State (7-4 with Illinois remaining) in the at-large pool. Depending on the outcome of Fresno State’s game against Illinois, the Bulldogs might be more attractive than a Northern Illinois team that slid at the end of the season. If this happens, the Humanitarian Bowl won't be an option since it's already a WAC guaranteed tie-in. So then, we could be looking at Troy in the New Orleans Bowl, a WAC team in the GMAC, Middle Tennessee in the Humanitarian and NIU out.
Is your head spinning yet?
So there are a lot of plates still up in the air and a lot of unknown destinations. I know a lot of teams will be glued to their televisions for the outcome of games. A lot of deserving teams might be out of the bowl race, but that’s not much different than any other year.
TOP 25 SCOREBOARD
Saturday, 12/17
Final Temple 37 Wyoming 15 Final Ohio 24 Utah State 23 Final San Diego State 30 Louisiana-Lafayette 32
Tuesday, 12/20
Wednesday, 12/21
Final 18 TCU 31 Louisiana Tech 24
Thursday, 12/22
Saturday, 12/24
Final Nevada 17 21 Southern Miss 24
Monday, 12/26
Tuesday, 12/27
Final Western Michigan 32 Purdue 37 Final Louisville 24 North Carolina State 31
Wednesday, 12/28
Final Toledo 42 Air Force 41 Final California 10 24 Texas 21
Thursday, 12/29
Final Florida State 18 Notre Dame 14 Final Washington 56 12 Baylor 67
Friday, 12/30
Final Brigham Young 24 Tulsa 21 Final Rutgers 27 Iowa State 13 Final Mississippi State 23 Wake Forest 17 Final Iowa 14 14 Oklahoma 31
Saturday, 12/31
Final Texas A&M 33 Northwestern 22 Final/OT Georgia Tech 27 Utah 30 Final Illinois 20 UCLA 14 Final Cincinnati 31 Vanderbilt 24 Final Virginia 24 25 Auburn 43
Monday, 1/2
Final 19 Houston 30 22 Penn State 14 Final Ohio State 17 Florida 24 Final/3OT 17 Michigan State 33 16 Georgia 30 Final 20 Nebraska 13 9 South Carolina 30 Final 10 Wisconsin 38 5 Oregon 45 Final/OT 4 Stanford 38 3 Oklahoma State 41
Tuesday, 1/3
Final/OT 13 Michigan 23 11 Virginia Tech 20
Wednesday, 1/4
Final 23 West Virginia 70 15 Clemson 33
Friday, 1/6
Final 8 Kansas State 16 6 Arkansas 29
Saturday, 1/7
Sunday, 1/8
Monday, 1/9
TOP PERFORMERS

- G. Smith West Virginia - QB
- 32-43, 407 yds, 6 tds
- @ CLEM | Final

- T. Ganaway Baylor - RB
- 21 car, 200 yds, 5 tds
- vs UW | Final

- J. White W Michigan - WR
- 13 rec, 265 yds, 1 td
- @ PU | Final



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