NC State’s Evolving Bowl Picture (Update #7: GT Accepts Peach)

'08 Football87

Folks, stay tuned to this entry, as we’ll be adding updates as they roll in relative to the Wolfpack’s bowl destination.

We learned on Monday that NC State was out of the running for one of the nine bowls with ACC ties after the NCAA held a lengthy teleconference with conference and bowl officials to go over the selection process. But, as we spelled out this afternoon in this very important entry…nothing is set in stone and the ultimate bowl selections remain very fluid.

Again, before reading this entry you would be well served to lay some groundwork by starting with this entry.

Update #7: Georgia Tech Officially Accepts Chick-Fil-A

This doesn’t affect State directly, except to eliminate a wildcard.  Georgia Tech has officially accepted their expected invitation to the CFA/Peach Bowl in Atlanta:

No. 16 Georgia Tech accepted an invitation to the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Wednesday, staying at home to face a Southeastern Conference team on New Year’s Eve.

Bowl president Gary Stokan got permission from the Atlantic Coast Conference to make the announcement ahead of Saturday’s league championship game after the selection committee decided on the Yellow Jackets (9-3) over Florida State.

The pieces are starting to move, so stay tuned.

Update #6: ESPN’s Heather Dinich Explains Scenarios / SFN Analyzes

Bowl Update: Close But Not Quite

“Nothing is finalized yet, but it looks like the Gator Bowl wants Clemson and the Chick-fil-A Bowl wants Georgia Tech. That announcement could come as early as tomorrow.

“As for North Carolina playing in Charlotte, it depends on who wins the ACC championship game and what the Champs Sports Bowl does.”

Dinich continues by giving the scenarios a decent review, and don’t forget that ESPN owns some of the at-large bowls that State may ultimately end up playing in…so do not discount her employer as a player in this situation.

As we pointed out in our afternoon entry, although the following statement is technically correct, Dinich’s hedge (italicized) is unnecessary.

If Virginia Tech wins, the Champs Sports Bowl is likely to take FSU, Boston College would fall to Music City, and North Carolina would go to Charlotte. If Virginia Tech loses but puts on a good showing, Champs might take the Hokies over FSU, which would likely send North Carolina to the Music City Bowl, and the Meineke Car Care Bowl would have Maryland, Miami or Florida State to choose from.

Folks, VPI is NOT going to put on a good showing in the ACC Championship. Even if the Hokies were to put on a good showing traveling to Tampa for the second consecutive year, why would that trip to Florida be a GOOD thing for the Champs?

VPI is playing in Florida for the ACC Championship for their second consecutive year and for the third time in four years. The Hokies played in the Orange Bowl in Miami last year for their bowl game. Who in their right mind would think that Hokie fans would/could travel BACK to Florida to play in the Champs Bowl one year after an Orange Bowl appearance and three weeks after an ACC Championship game appearance?

The biggest variable to NC State’s bowl selection in this scenario has nothing to do with Virginia Tech. Since it is now obvious that the Champs is leaning FSU, the primary risk is that UNC-CH tries to work a deal with the Champs to supplant FSU in Orlando. Again, we’ve got it all covered for you here.

Update #5: More potential wrenches? EagleBank calls Maryland’s bluff

ESPN’s Heather Dinich is reports:

The Humanitarian Bowl is considering choosing undefeated Ball State over an ACC team, a decision that would be difficult to move forward with unless most parties involved agree to it.

If that happens, the teams most likely to get farmed out to an at-large spot would be Wake Forest and Maryland, both of which have given reasons not to play in the Eagle Bank Bowl.

The Eagle Bank Bowl might take Wake Forest, even though they made an agreement with Navy not to schedule rematches. The Eagle Bank Bowl is also willing to work around Maryland’s exam schedule.

“We would work our bowl schedule to accommodate Maryland,” said Sean Metcalf, a co-CEO of the bowl. “Not our game date, but what we need them to do as a team here in town.”

Update #4: Independence Bowl News

Site member TVP1 passed along this tidbit and link in the comments section, which I will post up top.   Props to TVP1 and Chrispy over at the Wake boards for the information.

“The contingency deal the Independence and Papa John’s bowls have with the Sun Belt DOES NOT require them to take a 6-6 Sun Belt team over other 6-6 teams for an at large spot.”

Shreveport Times: I-Bowl Narrows Pool

The Independence Bowl would have to come to an agreement with [Louisiana] Tech to play in the Dec. 28 game at Shreveport’s Independence Stadium.

On the other side of the matchup, Bergeron said, “we’re trying to stay geographic. There’s some possibilities in Conference USA. There is a possibility out of the ACC. Notre Dame is out there as a wild card.”

In Conference USA, both Southern Miss and Memphis finished the regular season at 6-6 and could fit into the I-Bowl’s plans. North Carolina State won its last four games to get to 6-6 and become bowl eligible.

Looks like one thing that won’t be happening in Shreveport is an NCSU-Notre Dame game, which would nbe a rematch of the 2003 Gator Bowl.  Considering the Notre Dame rumors swirling about, I will leave it to you to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Update #3: Interesting Scenario from AJC.com

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution;s Tony Barnhardt (aka Mr. College Football) is making some interesting projections with some sound logic behind them:

Eagle Bank: N.C. State (6-6) vs. Navy (7-4): N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien, whose team finished with four straight wins, goes against his alma mater. Navy still has a game with Army on Saturday.

Motor City: Maryland vs. Ball State (12-0). Maryland can’t go to the Eagle Bank on Dec. 20 in Washington, D.C. because it conflicts with exams. Wake Forest can’t go because it played Navy this season. The Big Ten won’t fill its slot in the Motor City so the ACC cuts a deal for the Terps to play a 13-0 Ball State, which faces Buffalo for the MAC championship.

Update #2: News coverage from 12/2

We’ve got two links that focus on the impact of the muddy ACC Bowl picture on the EagleBank Bowl in Washington.

  • The Washington Times discuss the big picture for the bowl in this link.
  • The Wilmington Star talks about the impact related to the Wolfpack in this one.

Some of the speculation regarding Maryland and Wake Forest are echoed by some Wolfpackers on message boards and in our comments section. The question I have for eveyone is — have your forgotten that Miami is in the ACC?

I could be wrong and things could definitely change, but I don’t understand why fans are forgetting Miami’s presence. The Hurricanes don’t have any traveling fans to begin with; and they are limping to the finish line in miserable fashion. They would be a candidate to fall to the league’s last bowl spot regardless of any issues with Wake Forest &/or Maryland. Unless something changes amongst the schools, the bowl, the ACC office and the NCAA then it seems pretty obvious that will be the only logical result for the EagleBowl.

Regardless of the realities of this situation, we encourage you to really rub it to the bowl and conference and go to EagleBankBowl.org and quickly vote for NC State. It can’t do anything but show how much support and excitement exists around NC State football.

Turning the focus to NC State– ESPN is projecting State to head to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl, but ACCNow’s Joe Giglio has just posted a great update on what is going on with the Wolfpack — he says that Pack is working for the PapaJohns.com bowl in Birmingham.

Update #1: Morning news coverage from 12/2

Giglio: ACC now

“By the way, to complete N.C. State’s best-case scenario from yesterday, the Motor City Bowl would the No. 1 choice at this point.

“An unbeaten Ball State will likely be there (with a win over Buffalo in the MAC title game) and State wouldn’t have to worry about competing against an at-large MAC team for the spot.

“For a spot to come open in the Motor City, which is played in Detroit on Dec. 26, Ohio State must be taken as a BCS at-large.”

CO/N&O, Tysiac: Pack Not In ACC Bowls

“The shortage of bowl-eligible teams in the SEC, Big 12 and Pac-10 conferences mean that there might be opportunities for at-large spots in other bowls. Those bowls must take 7-5 teams first, though.

“It appears there will be between two and four open at-large spots for 6-6 teams. N.C. State and Notre Dame are the only 6-6 teams in the BCS without an automatic bowl slot.

“Louisville (5-6, at Rutgers) and Arizona State (5-6 at Arizona) could get to 6-6 this week and occupy additional bowl slots.”

Ovies, 850 The Buzz: So Much For Interpretation

“This silly notion that the NCAA has nothing to do with bowl games is crazy. The NCAA is the body that sanctions, approves and sets eligibility rules for those games. It’s their rule, and a good one at that, that protects teams from getting shut out with 7 or more qualifying wins. With that said, Barry Bonds and O.J. will come clean before State gets left out of the bowl line up.”

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'08 Football

87 Responses to NC State’s Evolving Bowl Picture (Update #7: GT Accepts Peach)

  1. PackerInRussia 12/01/2008 at 10:41 PM #

    “This shows what the world would be like if the NCAA ran it – a bureaucratic nightmare where things are given on their twisted since of merit. Think quotas, mandates and ceilings:
    3.5 GPA in nuclear engineering, equals a 3.5 in communication
    Degree from Harvard is the same as a degree from Devry.
    Somehow, I doubt that they handle the hiring practices that way, but that’s the rules they have implemented for the bowl system.”

    Or a late hit to the quarterback is just as bad (in terms of penalties) as celebrating a touchdown.

  2. PackerInRussia 12/01/2008 at 10:51 PM #

    highstick, I had to fast from State related websites until I could download the Miami game and watch it, so I just now read your post. Thanks for the kind words 😉 I actually didn’t know the second one and had to use my dictionary on the computer. I love the good British translation: “Get stuffed!”

  3. choppack1 12/01/2008 at 10:55 PM #

    PIR – another excellent comparison.

  4. BJD95 12/01/2008 at 11:04 PM #

    What I don’t understand is why the power conferences put up with kind of shit from people worried about potentially 7-5 Arkansas State staying home.

    Fuck ’em, a conference like that is lucky to have any bowl slots at all.

    And this is coming from somebody who champions small schools that actually ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING, like Utah.

  5. LRM 12/01/2008 at 11:47 PM #

    The irony is that in most years, the ACC struggles to fill all its bowl slots. Expansion has led to unbalanced schedules, which has in turn created the opportunity for parity; further irony is that the only team playing like it actually wanted to win the conference in November was State, which was essentially eliminated after losing to Florida State.

    Be honest, how many of us thought 10 teams would be bowl eligible before the season began?

    As for the non-BCS conferences…while Utah certainly deserves its second BCS bid, my main problem with the non-BCS conferences getting BCS bowls is that for the most part, the WAC, MVC, and MAC champs beat up on the equivalent of at least three or four I-AA teams. For instance, last season Hawaii got a Sugar Bowl bid after winning five games over WAC teams with losing records (1-11 Idaho, 4-9 New Mexico State, 2-10 Utah State, 5-7 San Jose State, 5-7 Louisiana Tech), as well as non-conference wins over 4-9 Washington and 5-7 UNLV and added two wins over I-AA teams Northern Colorado & Charleston Southern. People were STILL convinced they deserved to play for the national title, even though they eventually got hammered 41-10 by Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Even Ohio State could’ve beaten Hawaii.

  6. old_pcorone 12/02/2008 at 2:23 AM #

    The pack had a great end of season, whether the team goes to a bowl or not does not matter to me.

  7. SEAT.5.F.2 12/02/2008 at 7:34 AM #

    This morn Adam Gold sounded pretty sure that it was just a matter of where we would, not implying at all that we were in a perilous position. I just don’t get it, the media has been way less informative on this matter then they usually are.

    Independence Bowl, Motor City Bowl? Troy vs. Ark. State, NCAA making rules about ACC contracts with private business?

    Apparently no loopholes, nothing that test the skills of commisioners of respective instituitions and conferences. If all the AD has to do is sit there at hear what NCAA lawyers want then I say there is no need for an AD on the salary. An office has no need for a spokesman if all authority has been stripped.

  8. waxhaw 12/02/2008 at 7:57 AM #

    We aren’t allowed to play in an ACC tie in bowls since the other eligibles have 7 wins.

    What if the DC bowl can not fill it’s slot from ACC tie ins? It would then go to the at large pool of eligible teams (of which we are one of them). We are eligible to accept any at large bid as long as there are no other 7-5 teams that do not get bids. Just sayin……..

  9. waxhaw 12/02/2008 at 7:59 AM #

    BJD95 — I agree. I have the same thoughts on those conferences basketball teams stealing ACC bids as well. It’s a freaking joke when the ACC only gets 4 or 5 bids to the NCAA tournament.

  10. cowdog 12/02/2008 at 8:34 AM #

    I find it somewhat amusing ( befuddling would be my choice, were it not at all surprising ) that a myriad of ACC officials and its’ bowl tie-in folks seemed to have had a sense of exclusivity in regards to the bowl contracts. The media was ” hoodwinked “, too.
    I certainly was, but unaware of the NCAA override, I was just ignorant. Makes ya’ wonder.

    I’d like opinions about my thoughts on making win totals as opposed to win% the mark in pecking order. This would certainly be FCS scheduling prohibitive, yes? It appears that officials had questions about Clemson’s status the same as I did days ago.

    If Notre Dame has been losing the luster off its’ gold, reading all things coming out of South Bend casts serious doubts on just how attractive a pick they really are. Me thinks fans would attend with as much enthusiasm as a trip to the dentist. Many or most would be pulling for a loss to seal Charlie’s fate. Although that may be decided with his meeting with AD on the 8th.

  11. timswar 12/02/2008 at 8:37 AM #

    Lame, but ultimately you have to look at it and say “Oh well, should have won one more game”. It’s unreasonable at 6-6 to EXPECT to play in a bowl game. Still, it’s bull that a 6-5 team is better than a 6-6 team simply because they decided to play an additional cupcake, obviously we should have taken ECU off the schedule and added App St. (not that they’re necessarily a cupcake, but you get the point).

    Also, the NCAA shouldn’t have a hand in the bowl selection process, they gave up that right when they ceded control of the national championship over to the BCS.

  12. Wulfpack 12/02/2008 at 8:46 AM #

    “The pack had a great end of season, whether the team goes to a bowl or not does not matter to me.”

    Well said. The foundation has ben established for a great future of Wolfpack football. Playing some 7-5 team isn’t really going to make all that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. With the momentum that has been built, we are in GREAT shape for next year. But of course I’d like to see our seniors get one more game.

    It does, though, sound like we will get a bid based on this article:

    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/story/388523.html

  13. PackerInRussia 12/02/2008 at 8:50 AM #

    ^
    Agree, except you have to say that we should have dropped one of the games we lost and added a cupcake. Therefore, we would have been rewarded for having an easier schedule. From a post-season standpoint, I see no incentive to schedule good OOC opponents. Then you have to ask if a bowl game brings in more $$ than selling more tickets for good OOC opponents (since it’s ultimately all about the Benjamins). My guess would be bowls are more profitable and the bigger the bowl, the better payout. I know there are other factors involved in scheduling opponents, but it would be nice if teams were rewarded for scheduling harder opponents rather than penalized for not scheduling gimmes.

  14. LRM 12/02/2008 at 9:04 AM #

    I’m a firm believer that there are a dozen too many bowls and that with a 12-game schedule no 6-6 and few 7-5 teams are “deserving” of a bowl bid. However, it’s the system that exists, so it’s simply asinine to not exploit it where we can.

    The D.C. rep has been quoted as saying that State would be their #1 choice, but unfortunately it’s out of their hands.

    I have to wonder what would have happened if there weren’t enough 6-6 teams out there, which is entirely plausible in season’s to come. Bowls used to mean something, but those days are long past us.

    I’m also not a fan of scheduling “easier” just to increase the chances of securing a bowl bid. As an LTR holder, I want to see a good game every week rather than a string of cupcakes. I understand that every team schedules that one gimmie each season, but for all the talk of a playoff marginalizing the importance of the regular season, scheduling “easier” does that same thing. I much prefer a schedule that includes South Carolina and another BCS team every season, if only because the regular season in college football is not simply a means to an end — we’ve seen this year that there can be value in a loss to an outstanding team.

    We hear a lot of talk about building a program of national prominence, so let’s do it the right way rather than taking shortcuts and using smoke and mirrors to get there. Our first step should probably be a winning record, though — then this entire discussion is moot.

  15. MatSci94 12/02/2008 at 9:12 AM #

    My problem with the whole thing is that the rule is obviously poorly worded. Either they need to make a rule saying you can only schedule one I-AA team per year, or rework the whole rule section with “number of qualifying wins.” If it said “team with 6 qualifying wins cannot be selected over a team with 7 q.w.” then it at least makes sense.

  16. waxhaw 12/02/2008 at 9:43 AM #

    The rule hurts the teams it’s designed to protect.

    It forces bowls to select teams with winning records from lower conferences over 6-6 teams from major conferences.

    The irony is that these teams will start to schedule FCS teams instead of these lower conference teams in the regular season.

    As has been pointed out, there is no reward for playing a team from the MAC or the WAC. Why not just schedule Western Carolina or App State?

  17. PackerInRussia 12/02/2008 at 10:00 AM #

    LRM, I completely agree with you. I hope my comments were taken to mean that we should schedule easier teams just to ensure that we get to some crappy bowl. Getting to a bowl these days is like saying you were married to Lana Turner. Join the club. I’d prefer cutting down bowls and making them more meaningful AND rewarding teams who schedule more difficult opponents. Fans would be the winners there. Unfortunately, if money can be made without having to worry about the fans, it will probably be done.

  18. EverettBeez 12/02/2008 at 10:02 AM #

    My two cents on a couple of things mentioned –
    1) growing number of schools are not going to schedule any 1-AA schools any more. Nebraska is one. I am at a 1-AA school, and this keeps coming as the reason we need to move up, even though we didn’t make the playoffs and never sold out the 15K stadium even with Ryan Perilioux – who I never saw play because I am at war with the Board of Trustees over expanding the stadium. With as many crappy 1-A teams, it really is unnecessary to have more then one 1-AA team on your schedule.

    2) PappaJohns.com Bowl (don’t you love the name?) is an ESPN created and owned bowl. I think they have 4 of them. B’ham is not a bad place to visit, a lot of great restaurants, and not a bad drive from Raleigh. There was a direct flight on ExcuAir, or whatever it was. IF the Pack ends up coming here, I’ll be glad to do a write for you folks.

  19. RBCRowdy 12/02/2008 at 10:17 AM #

    Why does the gopack.com bowl central not have the motor city bowl as an option?

  20. Alpha Wolf 12/02/2008 at 10:27 AM #

    Just to flesh out PackerinRussia’s Lana Turner comment…

    lana

    Looks to me like it may not have been an exclusive club, yet a fun one to be a member of…. 😉

  21. wirogers 12/02/2008 at 12:10 PM #

    If we could get to the Motor City Bowl, that would be good. We would be a big underdog in that game playing a supposed superior team. Since this game is an exhibition game trying to make the team better for next year, than playing a much better team would allow the coaching staff to find holes in State that could be worked on through the winter and spring practice. I would be all for that and say Detroit here we come.

    Secondly, if we win, this leads more to saying is an undefeated team from a none BCS as good as a 6-6 team from the BCS?

  22. wufpup76 12/02/2008 at 1:19 PM #

    We’re still leading the poll on the EagleBank website with a healthy 75% of the vote 🙂

    The Navy AD takes a pretty funny poke at Maryland in that Washington Times article … you should read it if you get a chance … I lol’d

    “Secondly, if we win, this leads more to saying is an undefeated team from a none BCS as good as a 6-6 team from the BCS?”

    Always tough to gauge from one game; The MAC is pretty decent and I’ve seen Ball State play and they’re pretty good … It really comes down to who did you play and who did you beat and how healthy are you … Utah is a deserving BCS team and an argument could be made for Boise St. but they will likely be left out in the cold …

    If it does happen and we go to the Motor City against Ball St., I would like our chances with the way we’ve been playing and if we can get people like Clem Johnson, McKean, etc. back healthy … If we were to win I don’t think it would take too much away from the Cardinals’ season b/c we’re playing at a fairly high level right now

  23. packalum44 12/02/2008 at 1:19 PM #

    ^ Joey Likey ^

  24. Greywolf 12/02/2008 at 1:23 PM #

    If the NCAA can find a way that let Roy watch the Tar Holes practice with Obama then they should be able to find a a way around the rule and let us in the Eagle bowl. Don’t you just love the NCAA righteousness about their rules?

  25. BJD95 12/02/2008 at 1:54 PM #

    Playing Ball State would be awesome, exposure wise. They also have a dynamic QB, and are undefeated.

    That’s worlds apart from playing a shitty 7-5 WAC team like Louisiana Tech.

    Maybe if we win, Russell Wilson can be on David Letterman’s show.

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