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Holiday Bowl

23

Welp, there’s a glimmer of hope.

The Holiday Bowl indicated to Olivas it will take USC if it beats Arizona but hasn’t made a decision between Arizona, Oregon State, Cal or Stanford in the event of an Arizona win.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_13931971

With the USC loss and Cal now losing, my feeling on this:

1. Arizona has the head to head vs the Beavers, so they should go, but…

2. Oregon State was playing Oregon for the Rose Bowl, suggesting they’re the 2nd best team in the conference.

3. OSU travels well, has a lot of alumni in California, and would bring in more money via flights, hotels,etc. Arizona fans could make a day trip and not spend the night.

4. Stoops vs Stoops is a plausible matchup in the Sun Bowl, one for which I’d think the selection committee would lobby.

5. The Holiday Bowl representative at the Civil War said he loved the Beavers and they got his vote, but others on the committee dissented. The telecasters during the USC/Arizona game said, “The winner of this game is going to the Holiday Bowl.”  Not sure if that was inside information or just ignorant assumptions.

6. I have no idea where Stanford fits into the picture. They might like the idea of having a Heisman candidate in the game. Quiz has some appeal in that regard, but not as much, and again they bowl would lose on a lot of possible income.

The bowl matchups will be announced tomorrow night. Cross your fingers, but don’t hold your breath.

23 COMMENTS

  1. With the fact that the Beaver have a much more dynamic offense, and have never been to the bowl, I think we have a very good chance to sneak in given the poor performances today by Cal, USC and Arizona. We have proven we can score points against anybody.

    • Leading up to the game, Holiday Bowl officials said they’d take the winner of USC/Arizona, but the article above says otherwise. What to make of the conflicting info? That the Beavers are in this.

      Arizona was highly unimpressive against an uninspired USC team. The way things played out today…well, it’s the best we could have hoped for as Beaver fans. Now it’s wait and see.

    • The beavs lost to them, and that technically makes them the PAC-10’s 2nd place finisher. Can’t get around those two sad facts. That makes them the superior choice.

      • Yes, that’s why it was my 1st point. I don’t have an issue with the pick. But since the selection committee had a choice and other variables it makes for discussion.

        • Beavs #16
          Stanford #19
          Arizona #22

          I take a little bit of joy in knowing the committee will have a little egg on their face when the casual viewer notes the backwardness of the bowl selection, especially that Stanford is getting the Sun Bowl. If your argument is that Arizona won the head to head, then the Beavers have to be in El Paso. The “no-repeat clause” is discretionary so they can’t use that cop-out, either.

  2. I found the bowl tie-ins for next year:

    Rose Bowl – Pac 10 #1 vs. Big Ten #1 (if one or the other plays in national title game, then the open spot must go to a qualifying non-BCS school-until 2012 game)
    Alamo Bowl – Pac 10 #2 vs. Big 12 #3
    Holiday Bowl – Pac 10 #3 vs. Big 12 #5
    Sun Bowl – Pac 10 #4 vs. ACC #5
    Las Vegas Bowl – Pac 10 #5 vs. MWC #1
    Emerald Bowl – Pac 10 #6 vs. WAC #1

    So we drop the Poinsettia for the Alamo… a $1.5 upgrade and more prominent being in San Antonio on Jan. 2. The Poinsettia will pick up Navy, which makes a ton of sense. But I don’t understand how our #6 gets screwed along with our #5. If the MWC and WAC don’t get at large BCS bowls, then I’d rather place 1-4 in order to play someone easier.

    Then again, I think Boise State should move to the MWC. And the MWC should become the seventh automatic qualifier for the BCS if the stupids who run the show insist that a play-off is never going to happen.

    • “Then again, I think Boise State should move to the MWC. And the MWC should become the seventh automatic qualifier for the BCS”

      Yes. I think everyone is beginning to realize it’s the best idea. I really think there should be some conformity too in terms of conference championship games if you’re not going with a playoff.

      I read that the bowl selection committees can literally hand pick who they want in games beginning next year. Not sure if this is true or not, but it is clear that things are moving in that direction, and if that’s the case, the only way the Beavs sniff a BCS game ever again is with a Pac-10 north/south and a conference title game.

      • Angry, I read the same thing about the Pac-10 bowls. Next year the bowls will no longer be bound to take the number two team but instead the Alamo just gets the second pick of Pac-10 teams (and so on down the line). That is a big bummer because I think we will continue to get ignored as we are this year. I am happy to see that the Holiday Bowl is going to have egg on its face in regards to rankings though. I have seen several newspapers reporting that the Holiday has already invited Zona.

      • Yeah… the non-BCS bowls get picks in order instead of being bound by conference place. The Rose Bowl contracted with the Pac 10 and Big Televen from 2010 through 2012. The one kicker is that if the champion from either conference plays in the NCG that the Rose Bowl must pick an eligible non-BCS school (9+ wins and top 12 BCS ranking).

        So we still get the Rose bowl unless we go to the NCG.

        • That really depends. If next year, there could be some draw because of the Rodgers bros. Depending on how TV schedules play out next year, there may be some draw for us. I think ESPN controls all the BCS bowls next year.

          The Civil War garnered a 4.2 rating with just over 5.7 million total viewers… 4.15 million consistent viewers. This was just less than the UT/A&M game on Thanksgiving night (4.3 rating). If the Civil War would have had the same conditions of no regular prime-time shows to contend with it, then it would have been well over 5.0… which is huge.

          Those kind of numbers have a tendency to stick in people’s minds when gauging perception.

  3. USC just got the Emerald. Pretty weak that the Emerald put all that rhetoric out about wanting a bay area team but it really just means, we don’t want Oregon State.

  4. This is CRAP!!! I can’t believe we weren’t chosen for the Emerald bowl since we ARE ranked higher, finished higher in the Pac-10, AND we are a much better team even though we lost to USC. I hate Arizona, USC, and Stanford all the more now than ever!!!! SON’S A BI%%%

    • Ya it is pretty weak, Las Vegas bowl has to be pretty happy that they have two top 20 teams in a match-up. My hope is that Riley runs up the score in a win (like he actually would). Running up the score can make a statement to the rest of the Pac-10, especially if some of the other teams struggle in their bowl games.

      • I would hope Riley Runs up the score on BYU. IMO, The Civil War was our Bowl game. BYU is not the same competition as the Pac-10 or any other team. Arizona will have to play catch up to Nebraska, Stanford’s D will have a difficult time with Oklahoma’s offense since they couldn’t stop OSU’s offense, USC will have a chance with BC, and the Beavers get screwed once again. I mean who is the hottest offense in the Pac-10 right now besides the ducks? Seriously? It’s not Arizona, not Stanford, and it’s clearly not SC. SO WHAT THE HECK!!!! UGH Rose Bowl or Bust should have been the headlines before the Civil War. here’s to another 9-4 finish! Great Season Beavs for an Incredible Rebuilding year! I’m not giving up on the Beavs, just pissed and disappointed with the Bowl Selections. The Beavs were playing for the Rose Bowl with 1 game left playing the Ducks; The Mildcats were playing Oregon 2 weeks prior with 2 games left for the Rose Bowl and LOST AT HOME against the Ducks. I just don’t get their logic!?

        • I get that Zona beat both us and Stanford head to head but it is still a tough pill to swallow. I think this is a situation where we are a better team than Zona right now but that is really hard to prove.

          I am also very disappointed with the bowl selection process, I feel like we were robbed. The Las Vegas bowl is like a slap in the face in terms of perception. I do know that a few players wanted to go there last year just because they would have more fun there. Personally, I am worried about that game not because of BYU’s talent but our short practice schedule. Practices won’t even begin until after finals week. It is also frustrating because we won’t use all 15 allotted practices because of the short time to the game. Those extra practices would be nice to develop our younger players, especially Katz.

  5. If this year we had the Alamo Bowl, we would have gone to the Holiday Bowl and that would be a fine Bowl to go to. I would have been happy with that….next year better be Alamo Bowl or BETTER!!! I am one ANGRY BEAVER!!!!!

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