Bowling Time: Liberty Disses C-USA, Houston Falls to Ticket City Bowl
by Adrian Mac on Dec 5, 2011 12:05 AM MST
in UTEP Miners Football
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Perhaps the biggest bowl news today in the C-USA was the fact that the Liberty Bowl decided not to invite C-USA champion Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles would have been the 17th straight C-USA Champ to participate in the bowl. Despite the fact that USM is now ranked 21st in the AP Poll, the Liberty Bowl opted for a Big East vs. SEC matchup (Vanderbilt vs. Cincinnati). Iliana Limon of the Orlando Sentinel has a very informative blog post up on how the SEC muscled the C-USA Champ out of the game.
In the Liberty Bowl’s defense, it has remained loyal to Conference USA for years. It’s refusal to drop C-USA and match an SEC team with a Big East team on a regular basis cost it valuable position within the SEC pecking order. The negotiations seemed to finally reach a breaking point two years ago, with the Liberty Bowl forced to agree to a complex contract that effectively gave the SEC veto power every two years.
Southern Miss. players might not care too much. Instead of spending New Years in Memphis, they'll spend Christmas in Hawaii. The Eagles will take on the Nevada Wolfpack in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
While two days ago Houston seemed like a lock to head to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, their stunning loss to Southern Miss in the C-USA Championship game leaves the Coogs headed to Dallas for the Ticket City Bowl. The Coogs will take on the Joe Paterno-less Penn State Nittany Lions. The complete C-USA bowl slate is after the jump.
2011-12 C-USA BOWL SCHEDULE
BEEF 'O' BRADY'S BOWL ST. PETERSBURG (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Tuesday, December 20
Marshall vs. FIU (ESPN) 7 p.m. CST
SHERATON HAWAI'I BOWL (Honolulu, Hawai'i)
Saturday, December 24
Southern Miss vs. Nevada (ESPN) 7 p.m. CST
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL (Dallas, Texas)
Friday, December 30
Tulsa vs. BYU (ESPN) 11 a.m. CST
TICKET CITY BOWL (Dallas, Texas)
Monday, January 2
Houston vs. Penn State (ESPNU) 11 a.m. CST
BBVA COMPASS BOWL (Birmingham, Ala.)
Saturday, January 7
SMU vs. Pittsburgh (ESPN) 11 a.m. CST
2011-12 C-USA BOWL SCHEDULE
BEEF 'O' BRADY'S BOWL ST. PETERSBURG (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Tuesday, December 20
Marshall vs. FIU (ESPN) 7 p.m. CST
SHERATON HAWAI'I BOWL (Honolulu, Hawai'i)
Saturday, December 24
Southern Miss vs. Nevada (ESPN) 7 p.m. CST
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL (Dallas, Texas)
Friday, December 30
Tulsa vs. BYU (ESPN) 11 a.m. CST
TICKET CITY BOWL (Dallas, Texas)
Monday, January 2
Houston vs. Penn State (ESPNU) 11 a.m. CST
BBVA COMPASS BOWL (Birmingham, Ala.)
Saturday, January 7
SMU vs. Pittsburgh (ESPN) 11 a.m. CST
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Sorry to point this out but its two words. Wolf Pack
Wolfpack is NC State. A lot of us thought it was going to be SMU for the Hawaii bowl because a lot of us Nevada fans wants revenge for the game 2 years ago. A lot of websites had Marshall as our opponent.
In the liberty bowl's defense
We’re talking about a Cincinatti team that won a share of the Big East crown. Granted, it’s only the Big East, but its still an AQ conference. Southern Miss probably still deserved to be there, but with losses to Marshall and UAB, I’m sure the Liberty Bowl thought Cinci was more appealing.
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