New Big 12 bowl agreements: Good & bad
Big 12 football is headed to the East Coast for bowl games in the upcoming years. But not the Florida coasts.
That’s the downside to the new Big 12 bowl alliances, which include no Florida games. The Big 12 is concluding a Gator Bowl contract in which it sent a team to Jacksonville twice in a four-year period. Nebraska and Texas Tech have played in the Gator in recent years, which means no Gator appearance this season. Or in upcoming years.
The good news? Better tourist destinations and more money. For example, the Holiday Bowl has slipped from No. 3 to No. 5 in the Big 12 pecking order, thanks to increased commitments from the Alamo and the Insight bowls. Plus an annual trip to New York City for the New York Yankees Bowl, which sounds goofy but will be a fantastic trip for whichever team lands in the Bronx game. And in 2013 a trip to the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C., which isn’t exotic but will be educational. Oh the horror.
Anyway, a review of the Big 12 schedule starting in 2010.
Fiesta: Big 12 champ, barring BCS implications. No change. A fabulous bowl and a fabulous organization and a great destination.
Cotton: No. 2 Big 12 vs. No. 2/3 SEC. Frankly, the change to the JerryWorld makes for a better playing experience, and the Cotton organizers are first class, but Dallas is not a great trip for teams or fans. Ideally, the Cotton would be the No. 3 bowl, with the No. 2 team headed for one of the big Florida consolation bowls, Outback or Capital One.
Alamo: No. 3 Big 12. The Alamo moved up from No. 4 and gets a new partner, the No. 2 Pac-10 team instead of the No. 4 Big Ten. That’s a big upgrade in competition, but a loss in sizzle. Michigan or Penn State or Ohio State always was a possibility for San Antonio. By the way, the city is a great tourist destination.
Insight: No. 4 Big 12. Strange, but the little brother of the Fiesta jumped the Holiday Bowl. The Insight is played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, which is not as cool as University of Phoenix Stadium. But the Insight offers the No. 4 Big Ten, replacing the old slot of the Alamo.
Holiday: Big 12 No. 5 vs. Pac-10 No. 3. Strange for a bowl in San Diego to drop like this, from Big 12 No. 3 vs. Pac-10 No. 2. Not a great organizational bowl, but a wonderful city.
Texas: Big 12 No. 6 vs. Big Ten No. 6. Houston is a bad destination. Lots of traffic, no redeeming qualities for tourists. But finish sixth in the pecking order, and you take what you can get.
New York Yankees: Big 12 No. 7 vs. Big East. Sounds silly, playing in a baseball park, but it is the new Yankee Stadium, and it is New York City over the holidays. It will be expensive as heck, but it will be the trip of a lifetime for players and fans. Are you kidding me? Players with free time from 8 p.m. to midnight, 3-4 days in a row, and you’re in Manhattan? What could possibly be better than that?
Dallas Football Classic: Big 12 No. 8 vs. Big Ten No. 6, in 2010 and 2012. Played in the old Cotton Bowl. A landing spot for a 6-6 team.
EagleBank Bowl: Big 12 No. 8 vs. ACC or Army or Navy, in 2013. Played in old RFK Stadium, which is totally cool. Can’t say there’s nothing to do.
So, what to make of the new bowl lineup? Like I said, no Florida bowl is a huge gap. And no ACC matchup, which is regretful. Two Pac-10’s, two Big Tens, one SEC, one Big East. One of the charms of bowl games is matchups we rarely get otherwise. No ACC tie-in is a glaring omission.
Destination wise, the Big 12 is solid. Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, New York. They more than offset Dallas and Houston.
Financial wise, it’s a little harder on fans. Phoenix, San Diego and New York are hard to get to — at least inexpensively — that time of the year. Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are easy bowl trips, but the others require a great deal of planning or expense.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
Dear Barry,
I agree with most of what ya said, but for the record: Detroit has hosted the Super Bowl TWICE: most recently in early 2006 (Steelers beat the Seahawks at Ford Field). Yes, the domed stadium was the difference maker for a northern city getting the game. The first time was in 1982 when the 49ers beat the Bengals in the old Silverdome.
I think the Yankee and Eaglebank bowls are a terrible idea. I agree with barry. who the hell wants to go to NYC and DC and brave the cold for a couple of losing Big 12 teams? I guess Kansas and Nebraska are a bit closer. They don’t even sell big coats in Texas, we settle for thick windbreakers.
Isn’t the Insight Bowl now operated by the Fiesta Bowl team? That could be the reason for the jump over the Holiday. Rob
Sure the games in Arizona and California are great, but games in Texas have more impact on the recruiting.
That’s why it’s sad that the Big 12 can’t play in the Florida recruiting hotbeds UNLESS it’s a BCS game.
A December bowl in NYC and W,DC should be limited to teams that are located up there. No one goes to recruit up there unless it’s basketball. If you want to visit NY or W,DC, you’ll do it with or without a football game excuse.
Those are terrible locations for the Big 12 to get into.
I guess the message to our state teams is just win all of your games and go to the good bowls.
New York in the winter, what a stupid idea this was. Yankee fans, with the exception of this playoff run, could not fill the stadium or pad the pockets of GS, so he has convinced the IDIOTS at the Big 12 to pillage the pockets of Big 12 fans. Same with the DC thing, seriously, has anyone from the Big 12 EVER been to DC in December or January? It is one of the most miserable places on Earth. Too cold to see any outside monuments and have you actually seen the attendance at a Redskins game? People in DC have not cared about football since Thiesman and Riggins.
There is a reason why the NFL will never give a SB to Detroit, NY, Foxboro, Denver, etc….It is too damn cold this time of year. Stupid, stupid decisions.