Over the last few weeks, we’ve tried to follow some of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s conversations with various bowls.
It was announced today that the ACC has reached agreements “with the Emerald Bowl and the Music City Bowl that will give the league at least eight bowl destinations following next season, including one in the Bowl Championship Series. The ACC also extended its existing deals with the other six, allowing up to two-thirds of the league’s 12 teams to move into the postseason if they qualify.”
As we discussed a few days ago, “in the Music City Bowl, the opponent will come from the Southeastern Conference, joining the Peach Bowl as bowls matching teams from the two power conferences based in the South.”
IF you were to attempt to apply the HISTORICAL payouts and structure of the ACC’s bowl line-up to the future structure, then the result would resemble the following:
(1) BCS
(2) Gator in Jacksonville, FL vs Big 12/Big East/Notre Dame
(3) Peach in Atlanta, GA vs SEC
(4) Champs in Orlando, FL vs Big Ten
(5) Music City in Nashville, TN vs SEC
(6) Meineke in Charlotte, NC vs Big East
(7) Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, CA vs Pac 10
(8) MPC Computer in Boise, ID vs
I, however, caution you against making such presumption.
As we discussed at length in this entry, there are reasons to believe that the “system” of bowl selections will be different and potentially more consultative in the future. Additionally, The Peach Bowl and Mieneke Bowls recent successes give cause to believe that both will be looking to upgrade their payouts as well as their stature within the conference’s system.
Bowls at the Bottom
Lastly, I just don’t yet accept that the conference will have a tie in Boise, Idaho. At first blush, the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco may also ‘feel’ odd for lower choice within the conference. BUT, San Fracisco is one of the top five places to visit in the United States. It almost makes sense to have a lower choice tied to the bowl because the trip is such a neat one that the bowl game just provides that extra incentive. OF COURSE it would be nicer to have ALL bowl ties very close to the South. But, everything that would be “nice” isn’t necessarily achievable. Think about the Big 10…they get almost NO bowl ties close to their schools.
So, if you have to go “out of market” for a game, then why not go somewhere wonderful like San Francisco? It really wouldn’t matter if the Wolfpack came in highly rated in the conference or #8, almost the same amount of people are going to make such a trip regardless of where a team finishes in the league (unless it is a BCS game).
Therefore, why NOT make San Francisco the destination for a low-ranked team? It sure beats the pants off something like the Fort Worth Bowl.
But… Boise? If you are going to be one of the lesser bowls in the mix, then you need you need some other angle to get folks to travel to your game. San Franciso has that. Boise does not. I will be interested to see how the ultimate arrangement shakes out.
