I've read a lot about acc tie ins to the bowls. Clemson will be in the playoffs
Florida St is the next highest ranked and should get the orange
The bowl selection committee could give acc another at-large but Louisville losing to Houston likely erases that.
I think Louisville ends up in the citrus Bowl.
Then it's Russell Athletic Bowl, but we just played in Orlando
Next up are the tier 1 bowls between Sun, belk, pinstripe, music city or tax slayer.
It all depends on how the bowls pick. Belk could pick unc just to keep them instate. Pinstripe most likely goes to Pitt. Jacksonville likes us and music city is possible as well. The sun bowl on CBS is kind of an oddity, I hope we don't get that.
I see us playing in the Music city bowl
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There's also a spot in the Russell Athletic Bowl against a Big-12 team that is available before Tier 1 selections.
Thanks I updated. Somehow Orlando doesn't seem to fit
Every projection I've seen this morning has us in Charlotte vs Arkansas
Maybe we finally get it
Would be more than happy with that result.
Close proximity for a lot of fans, SEC matchup we would never see otherwise
The Belk would be a good fit, certainly geographically. Would be a nice hat-tip to the fan base, who has traveled so well this year (Bristol, South Bend) to give us a bowl near Blacksburg. Student turnout would probably be awesome.
Proximity would be great, but I'm not overly excited about winter in Charlotte.
Yeah, for that reason I like the idea of Florida bowls. I think there's also a perception thing at work here. Basically, three teams would have to be chosen before us to have us land in the Tier 1 pool. I don't think of us as the fourth-best team in the ACC, even though we probably are. I know bowl selections aren't necessarily linear and there are negotiations, politics, strategy, etc. at work, but there's sort of an underlying "that kind of sucks" feeling if we get thrown into the pool (so to speak) rather than being selected for a better bowl.
That said, Arkansas is a good opponent and Charlotte is convenient. From that perspective, it would be a good bowl.
This is pretty much exactly my thoughts
I wonder how much the dates matter for attendance? 12/31, on the weekend for the Citrus and Gator is better than midweek 12/28 or 12/29 in the RAB or Belk?
Blame WVU.
Ten years of not playing the cousins, and barely missing them in bowl games, and when we finally get close to them in a bowl, we've already got them on the schedule.
I think VT is like 14-1 in games where the temperature is below 45 degrees so I'm actually fine with it.
True, but to counter that I'm not excited about dealing with the people of Florida.
Words can't explain how happy I would be to see the Hokies whoop up on a Bret Bielema squad.
The last projection I saw from CBS Sports has us playing LSU in the Citrus Bowl. I wouldn't be totally opposed to that matchup.
TaxSlayer bowl is a legit possibility as well. I think it's either there or the Belk.
The RAB and Citrus are in the same stadium, are they connected by goals, financial backing, Board, promotions, etc?
If they are, they probably surmise that VT and Louisville are the most worthy teams after Clem and FSU. David Hale tweeted that there wasn't concern by ORL about VT returning. It also seems clear wvu will be in RAB.
If that's the case, VT could get in the Citrus.
The alternatives aren't bad, Miami or Pitt to RAB and VT to Belk.
They are literally the same bowl. As in, the same people run both.
That's what I thought, just two different sponsors I guess.
Mark Schlabach and Brett McMurphy over at ESPN are in agreement that we will be in the belk bowl against Arkansas.
That pretty much seals it that the Hokies WONT be there. /s
I have kind of always seen the Russell Athletic Bowl as kind of a miniature Orange Bowl and would love to NOT PLAY ARKANSAS
Do you think we will know today after the CFP placements? I can't recall how quickly all the slots were announced last year
As I recall from last year, once they pick the top 4 they start to fill in all the other slots pretty quickly.
All I ask for is a game within 12 hours drive from my house. The belk would be nice as it is only 6 and am a bit disappointed that I don't get to drive the 12 to Miami.
Consider me underwhelmed by the Belk if we go there. They are the last pick of the Tier 1 bowls which would appear to be a bit of a slap in the face to the program if we end up there after the season we just had. I understand why we probably go there, but it definitely would leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially after the display by the conference refs last night.
There is no "last pick" in a bowl pool. They're all cutting deals with each other so that everyone gets something they want.
I know, but that's the perception. After the first half screwjob last night the least the conference could do for us is a Tier 1 game in a destination town at a warm location. Charlotte ain't exactly that.
And they have by far the best Twitter account ever.
They openly wanted us last year, but Pitt screwed that up.
Honestly felt like the refs did ok last night outside of those 2 DPIs.
Same. Not trying to get too off topic here or start a thread of ranting, but I got pretty sick of all the whining about refs I saw all over Twitter. I'm hesistant to ever start blaming officials for losses, but we've definitely had much worse than last night IMO.
I'm wouldn't blame the refs last night for the loss and you may have seen worse games called by officials "Fuck Nardouche". However it doesn't mean we should accept bad calls just to avoid being called whiny. 2 of the PI calls in the first quarter were garbage which led to at least 1 score for Clemson. that is a FACT.
I agree, it was a rocky start and at the beginning I was thinking we'd be in for a long game. But the refs helped bail us out for that first TD and I'd say it was as close to evenly officiated as one could expect playing klempson
ACC bowl selection order. Belk, Sun, Pinstripe, and Taxslayer on even footing in the Tier I bowls. Not exactly any prom queens on that list...
Tax slayer is a great game. It used to be a great non BCS bowl. It fell slightly behind the chik-fil-a.
Did some digging and just now connected the dots between the Tax slayer bowl and the Gator bowl. Yeah, I remember the Gator bowl being a pretty good bowl that was in that small tier of bowls that were almost on par with what are all NY6 bowls now.
I think the ACC should swap the ordering of tax slayer and RAB. Don't know why the prestige has dropped off the former lately, but the history is definitely there to move it up in the pecking order.
Losing the Gator name. Now it just sounds like one of those new "who the hell cares" bowls.
At least when CFA changed the Peach Bowl name, they were at least positioned with ACC #2 vs. SEC #5, right in the heart of the ACC/SEC overlap territory. Plus, Chick-fil-a just works better as a sponsor name than Taxslayer.
Yes, the name change definitely hurt the image. Also, Camping world stadium did some major upgrades following our Rutgers game there. That coupled with Orlando vs. Jacksonville makes it a better destination bowl and thus more likely to draw a bigger crowd. Orlando has been pushing hard to get higher profile sporting events there in recent years (see: pouncing on ACCCG as soon as Charlotte was nixed) and part of that is helping RAB pay ACC more for a higher pick.
Personally, I'm a big fan of named bowls with the sponsorship taking a back seat or at least maintaining the traditional name. Some bowls can pull it off. I don't think of the Outback bowl or Belk bowl as being sponsor named bowls. Tax Slayer is up there with Bitcoin Bowl as far as sounding like some pyramid scheme bilked enough people to sponsor a bowl to lend some legitimacy to their business model.
Outback Bowl I'm fine with, because it sounds like it could be referring to the actual place in Australia.
Belk Bowl, at least that's better than its former names of Continental Tire and Meinike Car Care Bowl. And it's better than the Leggett branding that some stores used to have in that chain.
I miss the Beef O'Brady's Bowl, because that was just a cool name, and a decent bar. First time I went to Florida after my in-laws moved down there, my father-in-law and I went to one to watch the Redskins/Cowboys game.
The Leggett family sold their position in Belk years ago, so it's just Belk now... Don't diss my family though! Haha
I liked your comment so much I decided to...Leggett
There are too many teams ahead of the non-Clemson ACC teams in the rankings for the ACC to go to the Cotton Bowl.
I think the Cotton Bowl ends up being Western Michigan as the top G5 team agains one of the BIG teams, either Penn State or Wisconsin. Although if I was the Cotton Bowl and had my druthers, I would take Oklahoma to guarantee a sold out show.
Even though I think Penn State deserves to be in the playoffs over OSU, I think they end up in the Rose Bowl
Aren't they guaranteed the Rose Bowl since the won the B1G Championship?
I am hoping that after a great performance we jump FSU and get the Orange bid. After all we have a better record not counting the ACCCG loss.
Better conference record, but bowls are looking at the overall record. Except the NY6 bowls, which are taking the teams that the committee is giving them.
There's no way the committee is going to jump us 10 spots with a loss.
It's all about CFP ranking to get that game. We aren't going because not enough people thought we would be a good team before the season started this year.
A bigger factor (IMHO) -- losses to Syracuse and GT (very bad perception losses).
FSU got annihilated by Louisville and lost to UNC, which I would argue is around the same in stature to what we did. That Louisville loss looks especially bad with the way they choked away their season end but of course because they were valued as a top 15 team to start the year FSU want punished as bad for the loss (same with the UNC loss).
If we start of the year ranked around where Louisville was, we might be eligible for that Orange Bowl spot.
No...no he's not lol. Louisville might have ended the season poorly...but you know who else ended the season poorly? Syracuse, but they didn't even start well either haha. I think the GT/UNC loses are about equivalent. But we are kidding ourselves if we think a loss to Syracuse is the same as a loss to Louisville.
I think he's comparing FSU's Louisville loss with our Tennessee loss.
The comment he responded to specifically identified the GT and Cuse losses and that's what he said was comparable.
I've been scratching my head for the past month about why FSU has been ranked as high as they've been. Two "quality" losses - blowout by a middle-ranked Louisville and a close game against a playoff team in Clemson. Another loss to a middle of the road ACC team (UNC). Only "good" win is against Florida.
All comes down to where you start in pre-season...
And it also comes down to who you are...
I have a bit of a negative outlook on the playoff selection committee. The "blue bloods" of college football will, it appears, be viewed rather favorably while the rest of us will get the "they just don't measure up" treatment.
Take a team like FSU... Lets assume they drop a couple of games early to mid-season. All the analysts will be down on them. But, they finish kind of strong with a couple wins. Lets say one of those wins is against another "blue blood" program who is also down the same year. Because they have some talent, the committee has shown that they will view that team with a lot of favor as if the "losses were a bit of an aberration" and the team is now on the rise. On the other hand, a team like Louisville that has similar losses will be viewed as if they are just another run-of-the mill 2nd tier team/program that just doesn't measure up.
And BTW, Pitt (a team L'ville lost to) is a darn good 8-4 football team, good enough to win the SEC East IMO.
I don't like that the committee gets to choose the top 4 teams based on qualifications that seem to move all over the place and I really don't like that the committee gets to solidify the top 25. It really is bad for college football.
Not sure which bowl we'll get. I hope it's something Hokie fans can travel well too.
But also a quality opponent that we want to play and would elevate us if we beat 'em.
Which one are the Vols gonna get?
That's a tough call. The SEC has six bowls that they treat like we treat the tier 1 bowls.
After Alabama, the next best teams are 8-4 (Florida, Auburn, Tenn, aTm), and 7-4 (LSU).
Seriously, why is no one seeing that the SEC was crap this year?
Absolute garbage than an SEC team is contractually guaranteed a spot in the Sugar Bowl if their champion is unavailable. 8-4 Auburn/UF/UT/A&M in a NY6 Bowl is ridiculous.
Indeed. Hopefully somebody better will absolutely destroy them.
It's not garbage. The ACC has the same deal with the orange bowl and big 10/Pac 12 with the rose. This was just a down year for the SEC and I am sure there will be some years where the ACC 2nd best won't be very attractive either.
Anyways, whatever team gets selected for the Sugar will bring fans, the game will be sold out, and the ratings will be high. That is what bowls are here for and people shouldn't try to kid themselves by thinking otherwise.
I think there should be a rule where if you are not a conference champ, you have to win at least 9 games to be eligible for a NY6 bowl. Yes, other than Bama, the SEC was bad this year. And there may be years where the same situation is true for the ACC, but I'm totally fine with the rule. 8-4 teams shouldn't be in NY6 bowls unless they somehow win their conference.
I guess you can take solace that if this was a season where the Sugar Bowl was a semi, then Alabama would have been the only SEC team in the NY6.
Maybe there should be a rule but it will never happen. All the big conferences have those tie ins so they will never vote against receiving guaranteed $millions.
Looking at B12 rankings we would probably play KSU or OKSU in the RAB and either of them would be better than Arkansas honestly. What do you guys think?
I think the only two options for RAB are Oklahoma State (9-3) or WVU (10-2).
Oklahoma (10-2) is going to the Sugar Bowl. The Alamo Bowl has the next choice, followed by RAB. I think K-State is too far behind at 8-4, even if RAB prefers us and pushes WVU out.
Wouldn't WVU go to the Alamo because they are ranked higher than OKSU after yesterday? Would the Alamo take OKSU because of location?
The only bowls where the rankings matter are the NY6. After that, the bowls have mostly free reign. If the Big 12 has the same rule as the ACC, where you can pick a team within one win, then the Alamo Bowl has their choice of between WVU at 10-2 and OkSU at 9-3. KSU is too far out of their range.
If Alamo takes OkSU, then I think RAB would prefer to take WVU and pick a different ACC team.
If Alamo takes WVU, then I think RAB takes OkSU, and we're in play for the ACC slot. In fact, if they do have the same rule, RAB would be required to take OkSU if Alamo takes WVU.
So proud after last night's gusty performance! Let's get to ten wins and send these seniors off victorious.
I'd prefer one of the Orlando bowl games because of my own perception of those bowls , but I would not be mad at the Belk Bowl. It'll be against a solid SEC squad and it's 2 1/2 hours away from me. We get the Belk or Russell Athletic I'll def be there.
I agree and the citrus Bowl pays 5 million per team. Remember this was the new year's bowl taking the 2ND place big ten team versus 2ND place sec team. RAb still pays around 3 Mill I think
I like Chick-fil-A peach bowl for Virginia Tech against the SEC. Whatever happened to that bowl game?
It's a playoff or New Years 6 bowl now
It became a New Year's Six bowl. Hosting one of the semi-finals this year.
Semi final this year.
This year it's the college football playoffs semi finals
Do they rotate them or is that from now on?
Rotates between the previous 4 BCS bowls plus Peach and Cotton
I may be mistaken, but I think that it is a semi final game now.
That's the rumor. /DocHolliday
OT:
But the way the CFP section show has started, it sounds like ESPN already played their part to get OSU in for sure
Are you implying that OSU would not have gotten in without ESPN's help?
We need an underachievement Bowl between TCU and Notre Dame
Over the slide and with the CFP, my opinion on bowls has changed quite a bit, not necessarily for the better. I really don't value any bowl outside of NY6/former "BCS" bowls for their name. The exception to this rule would be a lesser bowl against a quality opponent, but then it would be less about the name of that bowl, and more about a chance for a win against a good program.
So while everyone has been scrambling to figure out which bowl we will get this year, my only opinion on it is that I hope we get a good matchup and most of all, I am excited to watch my team play some more football. That is what the bowl season has become for me if it's not an elite bowl, another chance to watch my team play and I am excited to be able to do that.
That said, if we go to the Belk Bowl (haven't looked into how likely that is), it's close enough to where I will almost certainly go and that would be fun.
#6 Michigan is officially the Orange Bowl opponent for whoever the committee deems the second highest ranked ACC team.
Ohio State is 3, in the CFP. Penn State is 5, going to the Rose Bowl.
Orange Bowl could be fun if it's Louisville-Michigan.
Ohio State in as expected. Penn State should be proud of their conference championship in a strong year for the B1G, but if you lose two games when everyone ahead lost one, you're just shit out of luck.
I'm interested in seeing who the Pac-12 sends to the Rose Bowl.
Colorado (10-3, 8-1) was the division champ, but USC (9-3, 7-2) has the head-to-head. I could see either having a good case to go.
USC would make a better game but Colorado has the better rank
Rose Bowl selects their representatives, not like Orange Bowl, which has to the highest ranked ACC team. I'm thinking the Rose Bowl will select USC for all the obvious reasons.
I'm pretty sure that all of the NY6 bowls are set by the committee, so the Rose Bowl is subject to the same ranking structure that the Orange Bowl is.
Although, if there's one bowl allowed to deviate from that, it would be the Rose Bowl.
Partially accurate. Rose bowl still selects, but is suppose to weigh heavily on the highest ranked team, which may be enough to get Colorado in.
Bill Plaschke LA times article
They haven't released the rankings other than the top 6.
If Penn State scheduled Portland State instead of Pitt they'd be in the playoffs
Who is in the Cotton Bowl then?
I know it's not gonna happen, but I'd love to see us jump FSU and Louisville just for the shot at this match up. But I'd be very happy to play in the belk bowl too
Wow. Big surprise with Ole Miss not being the 4 seed. Needed more quality losses.
Based on Washington getting in, we should just play four shitty non-conference teams every year. No program in the ACC costal outside of Miami and maybe UNC scares me long-term and we just have to beat a likely top-10 team from the atlantic in the ACCCG.
Fedora will leave UNC.
To me, it'll be Fuente, Richt, and Nar-douchey consistently at the top of the ACC Coastal. Pitt gonna be super annoying.
I have a new hatred for Pittsburgh and their fans. Fuck Narduzzi. He made a comment on Twitter about beating the ACC and B1G champions last night and I wrote that I hoped he enjoyed his night at home
My hatred for Narduzzi isn't new, but it's certainly more justified after his nonsense behavior this year.
Might've worked for UNC last year, if they beat Clemson in the ACCCG.
Anyone jumping on Belk Bowl tickets now? Trying to decide if I want to jump now or wait closer to game time?
I'm looking at them! What site are using?
I was just on stubhub.
Don't get ahead of yourself
Am I only one who would prefer Taxslayer in Jax? But they want empty stadium of U.K. and Miami.
That one is a goody but we might have a rematch with Tennessee
Tax Slayer bowl president just said to Jax media they have U.K. "Rights"
VT fans travel well, but asking them to travel to FL again, for a non-NY6 bowl, is not going to go over too well. As much as I'd like to see RAB or Citrus, we're going to end up at Belk because attendance will be great.
Well maybe I'll be able to sell my tickets if I can't get Mrs. Fireman to go with me.
I don't know. How were ticket sales yesterday? Is the bowl goer the same as the ACC CG goer? Charlotte is great for students, but speaking as an average fan in northern VA, if I'm paying money for a bowl game, I want to be able to wear shorts.
EDIT: I don't want to come off as anti-Charlotte or anti-Belk Bowl, I'll probably end up going if that is the case, but it just doesn't jump out to me as a great bowl destination.
It's the Belk Bowl, it's inherently not a "great" bowl destination. Ticket sales for the ACCCG were weak due to the travel distance; without re-hashing all the crap we've gone through about moving the game from Charlotte, there was a lot of anger about that because people didn't want to travel that far. So the stadium ended up being like 2/3 full. Couple that with the fact that all these bowls are right in the middle of the holiday season and a few days after Christmas and people may not have the cash for a long trip (gas for a long road trip, airfare, hotel, etc) when Charlotte is a day trip from Blacksburg and a reasonable drive from the NoVA alumni base.
Yeah, the date of our bowl may keep me from going. I'm flying back to VA from Colorado on the 28th.
I hate the graphic they use "X" is "Y" miles from Blacksburg so their fans can travel easily. Well few HOKIES fans live in Blacksburg.
It is the highest concentration of fans. It makes sense.
I'd be willing to bet both NOVA/DC and 757 have higher concentration of fans that will pay to go to bowl game.
But when talking about travel to far off places like Florida, it doesn't matter which part of Virginia you're coming from.
I agree Travel will be somewhat easier, maybe not cheaper than flights from NOVA but better for most fans travel.
Charlotte can be fun. You're not wearing shorts but it's a fun place to be especially with the large amount of HOKIES that would be with you.
Oh yeah, I've been to Charlotte, it's a great city. Although I hear my favorite bar, The Breakfast Club, is no longer open
This is where I see us. They haven't played there in years.
I'm hearing some stuff about the VT in the Music City bowl against.....wait for it....UT. Rematch, anyone?
Bowls hate rematches. I don't see it happening.
This is one rare occasion where I think a lot of people and both fanbases wouldn't mind seeing this rematch.
I think Hokiegirl's head will explode.
Also screw playing UT IN Tenn again.
No offense taken. ;-)
I would love Taxslayer with a chance to play LSU or Georgia or A&M. I really wish Bowls were assigned by matchup and not by attendance
A lot of times, matchup determines attendance.
So VT losing last night did two things:
1. Boosted Clemson from #2 to #3 to seal their date with Ohio State
2. Gave FSU their bid to the Orange Bowl against Michigan
If FSU and Clemson win, I'm calling the revenge tour complete.
If we had beaten Clemson we'd be playing Michigan... That would have been the perfect revenge tour completion
I like one element of the old Bowl Coalition/Alliance that I would like to see implemented with this playoff - I think the top two seeds should "host" the lower seeds in the bowls with which their conference is afilliated. So Alabama would host Washington in the Sugar Bowl due to being SEC, and Clemson would host OSU in the Orange as the ACC representative. OSU and Clemson travelling all the way out to the desert for no apparent reason is weird.
When those bowls host semis, that is the case.
But to do that every year introduces too many variables.
That means WVU will be in RAB. Doubt Citrus passes on Louisville so Belk is pretty much a lock.
Errp there ya go
Louisville in Citrus bowl confirmed!
I still don't get the "tier picks"
4 bowls get together and work together on which teams they get. They get picks 4 thru 7.
But someone has to pick/speak up first.
All four bowls work together with the ACC and ESPN to determine which matchups make the most money for the SEC and ESPN. There are no "dibs" being called, as used to be the case.
I was about to call you out on a typo, then I realized, sadly, that this is actually true...
It was fully intentional, meant as a joke with a little bit of truth to it.
For all we know, belk spoke first.
Look, I get that Charlotte is a convenient bowl location for many Hokie fans. But, after last night's performance, how can anybody feel satisfied with a Belk Bowl invite? Sorry, it just feels to me like a HUGE let down. Personally, I was holding out hope for the Citrus.
Agreed. It definitely feels like a let down to get bumped down a tier in the bowl selection just to avoid playing a team we open with next year. I didn't think we would get the Citrus over UL, but going down from the RAB to a Tier 1 bowl because of WVU sucks.
Do we really know that's the reason? I mean, I get the logic, but isn't that just speculation?
Definitely that and probably fears that Hokie fans wouldn't want to travel back to FL. If we were in line for the Citrus I have no doubt we would be going there, but since UL got that and the only other alternative was the RAB with a guaranteed matchup with WVU, it probably made way more sense to VT and the bowls to have us fall down to the Belk.
More reason to crush them next year
Confirmed. Tech vs. Ar-Kansas in Belk Bowl.
Barf
Seconded. Hope we win and will get more excited as the game gets closer, but this feels like a major letdown.
Because it IS a major letdown.
Gt loss cost us Orange. We were ahead of FSU by 4 spots that week.
Cue Johnson scream instead of "khan!!!!!!!!"
At least UNC got dumped to Sun.
Hey, at least UNC has to go to
purgatoryEl Paso.I don't miss that place at all.
Didn't know where to post this stupid tweet. Fuck Pat Narduzzi
Two little known facts:
1) Pat is short for Patricia.
2) Bret Beilema is his dad.
FUCK Pat Narduzzi!
I guess I am in the minority of being excited. 1) it is a short drive for me. B) It is close enough to my parents house that my Dad will meet my son and I to watch. III) First ever meeting between us and Arkansas.
Can you name who played in last year's Belk Bowl? Likely the answer is no, and not many college football fans or recruits can either. It's just a meh bowl game.
I get the personal attraction for VT fans -- all the reasons you named. But, in terms of national perception -- which does help with recruiting -- this bowl appearance won't catch anyone's attention outside of Hokie Nation or locals in Charlotte.
It's just a big letdown after last night's performance.
A nationally televised game on ESPN, the only one in its time slot, against an SEC team isn't going to have any attention? I get that everyone's a bit let down, but this game will have a great Hokie-dominant crowd (road travel looks good to recruits) and obvious exposure, as much as any non-NY6 bowl is going to get.
I think you know what I'm getting at. Name another P5 conf championship team contender who fell as far down their conference's bowl pecking order as VT. If we had been blown out, I might get it. But we played Clemson as close as anyone has this season, and we slide this far?? Again, it's a bowl perception thing. Belk Bowl means nothing to anyone nationally.
That doesn't mean I don't agree with you that Hokies will fill that stadium. Heck, I'm going to be in C'burg for the Holidays and I may even trek down to Charlotte for the game. But, that doesn't mean it doesn't still feel like a big let down.
Florida is in the Outback Bowl, which is in the Tier 1 SEC pool along with Belk. Florida-Iowa is going to be the worst snoozefest of the bowl season.
Maybe it's just me, but Outback > Belk by a long shot. But, maybe that's just my perception.
And again, Florida got blown out in their conf champ game. VT not so much.
I think perception is guiding a lot of people here. In a bowl pool, everything in the tier is considered equal and it all comes down to negotiations among the bowls and the schools being invited. So TaxSlayer > Belk is incorrect except by one's perspective. The payout is the same, and the likelihood of being chosen is the same. Likewise with the SEC, Outback and Belk are on equal footing because they're in the same tier. Would have been nice in some ways to get to RAB, but outside influences (namely our opener next year) precluded that from being sufficiently profitable for the Bowl to invite us. TaxSlayer was going to undermine one of our best home basketball games. Just wasn't in the cards, because so much goes into these decisions beyond "this bowl is better than that bowl."
I can't look up stats driving, was WVU locked into RAB?
WVU in the RAB is what's been announced and reported.
Oklahoma was chosen for Sugar. Next to pick was the Alamo bowl, which chose Oklahoma State, because geography. WVU was 10-2, next best available team was K-State at 8-4. RAB couldn't take K-State over WVU. Done deal.
Don't TKP and drive.
Yes, Big 12 non-NY6 bowl pecking order is 1. Alamo Bowl then 2. RAB. WVU is the Big 12 #3 team, so they were locked in as soon as Alamo took OKSU.
We would have been in the RAB if we hadn't just played in Orlando and the opponent wasn't West Virginia. These are, IMO, the only reasons we fell into the Belk bowl. It's just how it played out.
Bowls already announced that location had nothing to do with it. It's all WVU s fault.
Should have been the tax slayer bowl. For many reasons.
We haven't played the Gator Bowl in years. It is a good bowl game that we are certainly deserving of. Gator Bowl is 3rd or 4th best bowl an ACC team could be in. I would rank them 1) playoff game 2) Orange 3) RAB 4) Tax Slayer.
It's a slap in our face that we go to one of the worst bowl games in the ACC.
FAM! First year under CJF, ACC Coastal Champs, & continue bowl-ing to 24 bowls in a row...LIT even if its Belk.
So if I'm looking at this right the ACC had 11 out of 14 teams go bowling. So much for a weak conference. I think Duke could have won 6 games but had too many injuries. I don't know anything about Syracuse and Uva well they like Zima so they suck.
I am fine with the Blek Bowl. Had we won the ACC, the Orange would have put us up against someone above our skill level. We would have overachieved during the season and been the likely loser of that game.
The Blek Bowl is closer, allows fans to travel, and matches us up against someone more 'our speed' in Fuente's first year. No complaints from me.
It's spelled "Blech." Get your crap together, HOAT.
Sorry. I'll spell Blek correctly from here on out
OT- I've been looking for you Horse! Made me think of you.
](https://postimg.org/image/6apuwz7t7/))
Yeah well maybe they needed to check their privilege for a hot minute, what.
Not quite ACC, but almost in a way.
The Liberty Bowl on December 30 (Georgia vs. TCU) will have some familiar names calling it on ESPN Radio: Bill Roth and Al Groh.
http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2016/12/179886/
Wow talk about some awkward filler banter...
(when they meet)
"TOUCHDOWN TECH!"
"Oh come on, Al, I'm just messing with you. Get out from under the table. It's OK. I know that brings back some bad memories."