MikenNashville wrote:IMO here are some advantages of each
Liberty & Texas - recruiting, good date for Liberty
Birmingham & Shreveport it’s a bowl
Music City Convenient for locals
Belk - new location also good date and on broadcast tv
Music City - way convenient for most of us
Liberty Bowl - somewhat convenient and Memphis has great food, Tunica not very far away.
B'ham - also geographically convenient but the stadium is a total dump and town not much better.
Belk - nice stadium but a 6 hour drive; not far from Asheville which is an interesting place
Texas - retractable dome stadium, 2700 VU alums live in the Houston area and thousand more in the DFW area (an easy drive), lots of non-stop flights from BNA, Houson is not far from San Antonio and Austin, Rockets play OKC, Celtics, Grizzlies on the 25th, 27th and 31st, Texas is a h.s. recruiting football hotbed
My order, belk, liberty, music city, staying home, birmingham, a circus tent in west texas, any oxygen free environment like the surface of the moon, my cousins backyard with all her horrible little orange clad kids, any ring of hell, finally Shreveport.
The only team from the East that has played in the Texas Bowl is Missouri. We all know how “east” they are. My guess is the Texas Bowl is going to lean towards a West team. Most likely Miss St or A&M.
I've been to our bowls in Birmingham twice, Nashville twice, and Memphis so I voted Belk in Charlotte with the Gator being my second choice.
In truth, I'll probably attend any of these but not Shreveport if were to come back into play. My wife told me two years ago that she absolutely would not ruin our Christmas traveling there and I really don't think she'll have changed her mind about that even with it on the 27th this year.
I will say that other than Shreveport there have been more Vandy fans at the bowl games I've been to than there have been at a lot of home games. Attendance in Memphis for the Liberty Bowl against Cincinnati was great, same in Birmingham, and definitely at the Music City. I don't know about sellouts but Memphis and Birmingham must have been very happy with the ticket sales and hotel room traffic.
New Orleans - That's where I want to go but I'm thinking the Sugar Bowl may have other options. I think the Belk, Liberty and Music City will all have other options as well. So Birmingham ... the stadium isn't great (understatement) but I really like the area as I'll stay in Hoover and make a day or two or three out of it. Does it really matter? I have been to them all since the 74' Peach Bowl.
With the new CFP rankings out tonight, barring some major surprise it appears Birmingham is now off the table. Alabama (1), Georgia (4), Florida (9), and LSU (10) are all in the top 10.
It's kind of ironic that Vandy's Bowl destination is directly tied to how much value voters place on a 7 OT loss or a rival win against a bad opponent like Louisville or Florida Sate. If Kentucky gets in the Top 10, we may eventually be in the Outback Bowl.
If Birmingham is off the table, that means Memphis or Nashville or ... Charlotte?
Heard from my friend on the Gator Bowl committee asking me if I'd buy tickets from her if Vandy makes it to the Gator. I told her Rick Catlett has already passed us over twice when we were clearly the most worthy team and that there is no way we go. And all she could reply was "yeah you're right".
fldore wrote:Heard from my friend on the Gator Bowl committee asking me if I'd buy tickets from her if Vandy makes it to the Gator. I told her Rick Catlett has already passed us over twice when we were clearly the most worthy team and that there is no way we go. And all she could reply was "yeah you're right".
Yes, logic and that history would suggest "no way" when we were 8-4 those years and 6-6 now. However, back then, each SEC tie-in bowl got to choose its SEC team in a certain order. Now the placements are (allegedly) "assigned" by the SEC. So, while chances for the Gator are slim, they aren't zero. That is, if they are truly "assigned", with no "choosing" going on in the back room.
I don't really care very much, but I think getting to travel for a bowl is more interesting than staying home for both the team and the fans. So I would eliminate Music City. then I would eliminate both the Independence and Birmingham for crappiness. Which leaves Belk or Liberty. Between the two, we've gone to the Liberty before, so that leaves Belk. Or any other one that becomes available.
GATOR, Liberty, Music City, Texas...in that order...I might go to Charlotte if that's where we end up but I doubt it...
I wish (for once) the SEC would stand up to the Gator Bowl and insist that we play there... but I know they never have and likely never will...after all we're just Vanderbilt...
HistoryBill got it right when he said uut would get a better bowl than us if they had beaten us..
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name--He marks--not that you won or lost--but how you played the game." Grantland Rice, VU Alumnus
VUDU wrote:Hmm, I didn't know the Gator was a realistic option. I would take that. Warm(er) weather trumps the other bowls by a lot.
Here's what I'm reading:
Four SEC teams in the New Year’s Six would mean that Vanderbilt would fall into the Pool of Six bowl games — those are Belk, Gator, Liberty, Music City, Outback, and Texas.
"For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name--He marks--not that you won or lost--but how you played the game." Grantland Rice, VU Alumnus
Four SEC teams in the New Year’s Six would mean that Vanderbilt would fall into the Pool of Six bowl games — those are Belk, Gator, Liberty, Music City, Outback, and Texas.
I guess it's possible in theory, but the Gator has never taken us before when they had the chance, so one has to assume they won't want us this year either.
By the way, if anybody uses Reddit, the Belk Bowl made a post in the subreddit /cfb asking who they should select from the SEC and the ACC. One of their criteria was 7 wins. That doesn't look good for us. Here's a link for anybody interested:
VUDU wrote:
By the way, if anybody uses Reddit, the Belk Bowl made a post in the subreddit /cfb asking who they should select from the SEC and the ACC. One of their criteria was 7 wins. That doesn't look good for us. Here's a link for anybody interested:
What is surprising about that is that South Carolina doesn't have 7 wins either. South Carolina is the natural choice for the Belk Bowl, with a large fanbase an hour and a half away. They have never been invited to that bowl either. The only issue I see is that South Carolina fans are close enough to not need hotel rooms.
VUDU wrote:
By the way, if anybody uses Reddit, the Belk Bowl made a post in the subreddit /cfb asking who they should select from the SEC and the ACC. One of their criteria was 7 wins. That doesn't look good for us. Here's a link for anybody interested:
What is surprising about that is that South Carolina doesn't have 7 wins either. South Carolina is the natural choice for the Belk Bowl, with a large fanbase an hour and a half away. They have never been invited to that bowl either. The only issue I see is that South Carolina fans are close enough to not need hotel rooms.
SC can get to 7 this week with their added game against Akron. Looking at some of their press coverage though, they are looking at Gator.
fldore wrote:Heard from my friend on the Gator Bowl committee asking me if I'd buy tickets from her if Vandy makes it to the Gator. I told her Rick Catlett has already passed us over twice when we were clearly the most worthy team and that there is no way we go. And all she could reply was "yeah you're right".
Yes, logic and that history would suggest "no way" when we were 8-4 those years and 6-6 now. However, back then, each SEC tie-in bowl got to choose its SEC team in a certain order. Now the placements are (allegedly) "assigned" by the SEC. So, while chances for the Gator are slim, they aren't zero. That is, if they are truly "assigned", with no "choosing" going on in the back room.
I think there is still a pecking order amongst those 6 bowls but that perhaps all of the backroom deals are now just done out in the open together to make sure each bowl gets the best fit for them which probably makes the process smoother and avoids the same teams going to the same bowls over and over. But I dont think you'll see a 6-6 team going to Outback while a 9-3 team goes to the Liberty. Outback still probably gets their top pick. Gator is probably second. And it keeps going down from there. Both Texas and Liberty Bowl are both aligned with the Big12 but a higher seeded Big12 is sent to Texas so I'm sure the SEC will do what it can to send a better team there... although I'm sure they try to make sure a it's an SEC West team when possible.
Not sure it's been mentioned on here but would be interesting to see what happened to LSU if they dont make a new years 6 bowl. Presumably they'd be the best available team for the Citrus however they've played their the last two years. Which makes me think they'd end up in the Outback.
I think the Belk, Liberty and Music City will all have other options as well. So Birmingham ... the stadium isn't great (understatement) but I really like the area as I'll stay in Hoover and make a day or two or three out of it. Does it really matter? I have been to them all since the 74' Peach Bowl.
