If no NY6 then where?

[shortfatoldapp]

Deals are renegotiated every day. No reason we could/should not try, with whatever leverage we have, to get a better deal. What's the worst that could happen...they say no. Somebody, with the conference office or ,at least, with our Athletic Office should try. One thing is for sure, they ain't going to come to us and ask us to come to a better bowl situation, we will have to do the work.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

"Whining - moaning - whatever" --- My question (and I still don't believe I have seen an answer/opinion) IS - Why wouldn't the SB be looking for possible landing spots for a 12-1 highly ranked APP team? - It would certainly create a higher exposure to have APP in more of a "name bowl" against a good P5 team? - They still would have ULL to ticket into the NO Bowl where their crowd would multiply numerous times and if they could match ULL with La Tech they could have a HUGE crowd - That seems like a WIN-WIN for all parties --- Of course, I haven't forgotten that ULL could still end up there as the SB champion.

The few - "Because uh...the App State....they go to NOLA and we should bow down to the league offices and say thank you!"

The majority - There is no good reason. The Sun Belt, if 6 teams are eligible, would be doing a disservice to their constituent members by not pushing App to a Bowl with a higher payout. Filling 5 existing bowls and sending App somewhere with a higher payout only increases the amount of money distributed to member schools of the Sun Belt. For the App administration and ESPN, it would seem wise as well. ESPN wouldn't be pushing App games to their linear network if there wasn't an audience. Attempting to work with all parties, assuming Louisiana could get New Orleans, would make sense.

This is what I'm thinking. I'd be happy with the NO Bowl, but if 6 teams are eligible and we can fill all our bowl slots for the SunBelt and there is a higher profile bowl in the southeast that wants us, this makes complete sense.

This isn't going to happen because of tie-ins and contracts, but Yahoo! Sports in it's Week 12 iteration of bowl predictions had App matched up with SMU in Frisco. That would be fun considering the comments made by Aresco. Frisco is also owned by ESPN the percentage chance increases from 0.0% to 1.5%, should App win out and the Sun Belt fill their obligations outside of the NOLA - Champ designation.

App fans could also experience where I suspect they would've played had the decision to go FBS not been made.

How awesome would it be for a 1 loss SunBelt team to whoop up on a 2 loss AAC team?

[ericsaid]

Does everyone understand that the Sun Belt arranging the automatic NOLA tie-in (midseason, no less) was AS A FAVOR to App State? Like, this was something we almost certainly lobbied for so that we wouldn't get sent to Alabama for the fourth straight year?

The league, the NOLA Bowl, whoever... they can't just make CUSA do the same, especially with no notice. If they hadn't taken that step last year, the result would absolutely, 100% not be App State in some P5 bowl. It would have been us taking our Sun Belt title to Montgomery or Mobile, last year and (if we win it) again this year. We all get that, right?

Could they have made it instead that the winner gets its pick of the primary tie-ins? Sure, but where would you have rather gone than NOLA? To the Cure Bowl to play 6-6 Tulane so we can say we beat "an AAC team" in a game about 100 people watched on CBSSN?

As far as backing out of the primary tie-ins, the bowls do get some leverage here, too. If you're a bowl exec, and the Sun Belt says to you "We'd like you to agree to guarantee to take our champion, regardless of whether there's another team that would sell more tickets... oh, but if they happen to be particularly good, they can opt out and go wherever they want," how are you going to feel about that deal?

It just seems like ever since we joined the Sun Belt, people have posted about the bowl tie-ins as if they're set in stone for eternity, even as they've frequently changed. The SBC getting the automatic bid for NOLA was a boon for us for the next couple years. It doesn't lock the league into that arrangement forever, it was just a good stopgap measure to prevent its best program (read: App State) from getting screwed over every year until the contracts were up for renewal.

Cure is moving to ESPN in 2020 and Myrtle Beach is owned ESPN Productions. If the Sun Belt made this agreement purely for App State's 2018 team, it was more shortsighted than I initially thought.

No one is arguing that they should "make" anyone do anything. Obviously there are negotiations in place and NOLA is a primary tie-in for C-USA the same as it is for the Sun Belt. Whatever arrangement was made could've easily been posed to C-USA the same as it was for the Sun Belt.

As for 2019, should the season end how we all hope (and we know that isn't a guarantee), it seems that finishing a season at 12-1 only to play someone in C-USA is a little....bush league. Toledo fans in 2017 knew that 11-2 seasons don't happen often which is why they were upset to go to Alabama to play App a second time. Clearly their team was upset as well. In 2018 they went 7-5 and in 2019 they are looking at 6-6. I'm sure they wish they could've finished their season in 2017 in a more high profile setting.

Though, again, I'll say that I don't believe App's team would get down for another NOLA Game the same way that Toledo's team did in that match-up. App is 4-0 in the only way to continue building is to go 5-0 in Bowls regardless of team or location. Bowl tie-ins and coverage improve in 2020 and we don't know what bowl tie-ins will change from 2020-2025, sure. But App could go 12-1 next season with wins against Wake and Wisconsin, finishing with a conference loss and a conference championship, and be back in the same situation. Or App could fail to reach double digit wins for the next 10 years and you'll ask would could've been in 2019?

Forecasting programs is near impossible but we see that in 2020 App has Wisconsin, in 2021 App has Miami, in 2022 App has UNC and Texas A&M, in 2024 App has Clemson. Repeating the success this season has seen isn't impossible but it doesn't get any easier moving forward.

[ericsaid]

Deals are renegotiated every day. No reason we could/should not try, with whatever leverage we have, to get a better deal. What's the worst that could happen...they say no. Somebody, with the conference office or ,at least, with our Athletic Office should try. One thing is for sure, they ain't going to come to us and ask us to come to a better bowl situation, we will have to do the work.

Preface: All of this requires App finish 12-1. The discussion isn't meant to be taken as gospel truth or some form of hubris.

Assuming Louisiana or Arkansas State is available for New Orleans, and the rest of the bowls are filled out, the conference, App, NOLA, and ESPN (if an ESPN owned bowl is available) have a solid argument with financial benefits for all parties. Bowl payouts are fixed, getting 6 teams into 5 bowls and moving your conference champion (rising tides raise all ships right?) to a bowl with higher visibility and a higher payout only benefits all stakeholders.

Disclaimer: Probably isn't going to happen. I feel as if some discussions of movement would've leaked if they'd been started.

[hapapp]

Just because the Belt has more teams eligible than contracted bowls, doesn't mean all go to bowl games.

[Saint3333]

I’m glad we have a passionate fanbase, but like most fan bases we have an inflated opinion of the leverage we have in the grand scheme of conference alignment, bowl game decisions, and overall media influence.

Go 12-1 hope for some help to get the G5 NY6 bid. I’d help doesn’t come we get to go to a very nice bowl in New Orleans. It’s really that simple.

[WVAPPeer]

I really don't think most of us who are asking questions or exploring possibilities have an inflated opinion of our leverage - ESPN has a major influence on the scheduling and if ESPN decided that they wanted APP in another game they could make it happen - ESPN and only ESPN has leverage

[ericsaid]

I’m glad we have a passionate fanbase, but like most fan bases we have an inflated opinion of the leverage we have in the grand scheme of conference alignment, bowl game decisions, and overall media influence.

Go 12-1 hope for some help to get the G5 NY6 bid. I’d help doesn’t come we get to go to a very nice bowl in New Orleans. It’s really that simple.

Golleee...the boys from Boone are just glad to be going out to the big city, any big city, don't matter which one.

Very fine Bowl Game! Very fine indeed!

[Rick83]

Is anybody watching the Temple/Cincy game? Temple's within 2 points with 5:30ish to go! Go Owls!!

[yosef69]

It's about to come down to the kicker. Please make it

[Rick83]

Cincy escapes with another close win (2 points)...Temple had some really stupid miscues...Cincy clinches AAC East..

[Yosef77]

Ok I have a question on the NY6 for everyone here. I assume the reason for giving the top G5 team a bid to one of these games was to give them incentive and let them feel included. However, thing have changed and if there are 12 teams in these 6 bowls then what happens if the G5 has 2 teams ranked in the top 12? Is it possible we could have 2 teams in it? If not this year (Boise & Memphis) then maybe some other year?

[EastHallApp]

Ok I have a question on the NY6 for everyone here. I assume the reason for giving the top G5 team a bid to one of these games was to give them incentive and let them feel included. However, thing have changed and if there are 12 teams in these 6 bowls then what happens if the G5 has 2 teams ranked in the top 12? Is it possible we could have 2 teams in it? If not this year (Boise & Memphis) then maybe some other year?

Theoretically, yes. However, note that due to conference tie-ins, it’s not simply the top 12 teams that go (e.g., ACC/Orange Bowl this year).

[AppInDC]

Ok I have a question on the NY6 for everyone here. I assume the reason for giving the top G5 team a bid to one of these games was to give them incentive and let them feel included. However, thing have changed and if there are 12 teams in these 6 bowls then what happens if the G5 has 2 teams ranked in the top 12? Is it possible we could have 2 teams in it? If not this year (Boise & Memphis) then maybe some other year?

Theoretically, yes. However, note that due to conference tie-ins, it’s not simply the top 12 teams that go (e.g., ACC/Orange Bowl this year).

Due to the conference tie-ins, there's probably only a handful of at large teams available each year. I think to have two G5s make it, you'd have to see at least two unbeatens and even then it's no guarantee. UCF was able to make it to #8 last year but that was after two unbeaten seasons. UCF was #12 the year prior. The next highest G5 finish was Western Michigan as #15 when they went unbeaten in 2016. If there had been another unbeaten G5 in 2016 or 2017, one would have definitely been left out in the cold.

[Yosef77]

What might be good is for the AAC to get the P6 recognition they are looking for and get a automatic bid for their conference champion and then we could have a G4 which would work like the G5 does now. So the highest ranked G4 would get a bid. The G4 conferences (MAC, Sunbelt, MW, and C-USA) could be viewed as one super-conference with an automatic bid and the individual conferences are just sub-conferences within that super-conference. It could even be marketed as the "Super-Conference". That would get us the AAC, ACC, B1G, SEC, BIG12, PAC12 and SUPER conferences. All Treated equally.

[AppInDC]

What might be good is for the AAC to get the P6 recognition they are looking for and get a automatic bid for their conference champion and then we could have a G4 which would work like the G5 does now. So the highest ranked G4 would get a bid. The G4 conferences (MAC, Sunbelt, MW, and C-USA) could be viewed as one super-conference with an automatic bid and the individual conferences are just sub-conferences within that super-conference. It could even be marketed as the "Super-Conference". That would get us the AAC, ACC, B1G, SEC, BIG12, PAC12 and SUPER conferences. All Treated equally.

I disagree with this. I think AAC being given peer status to the P5 would be bad for the other four G5 conferences. I don't see their being enough consensus to take away one P5 spot so the American can get a team in the NY6 AND also allow a team from one of the four weakest conferences. As much as we complain, the current status is probably the best App and the other small fry FBS schools can hope for unless they expand the playoff to definitely include either a G5 conference champion or all conference champions.

[UABlazin]

There is a greater chance of SBC Champ vs C-USA Champ in New Orleans this season, but I think Gasparilla is the more likely destination for C-USA.

The C-USA Champion has no preset bowl tie and DOES NOT get to choose their bowl. That is a myth that keeps getting repeated. You'll not find it printed in any recent C-USA guides. C-USA gives ESPN and the bowls exclusive rights to place teams. After this season C-USA won't even have predetermined bowl destinations. ESPN will be free to place C-USA in whatever 6 bowls it chooses for us each season.

[Saint3333]

Last year UAB choose their bowl game.

[UABlazin]

Nope.
UAB told ESPN they'd prefer somewhere "warm". (Have already told them the same thing this year.)
Boca Raton offered C-USA an extra $100,000 if they would send their champion.
C-USA said YAY MONEY and the match was set.

[AppStFan1]

Last year UAB choose their bowl game.

I was about to say the same thing. I don't think the CUSA champ would finish in the top 3 in the SBC and I'm pretty sure that league knows it but won't admit it. I think ULL and App State would have an easier time winning CUSA this year than the SBC.