Am hoping for the Cactus Bowl as I believe that would be our first January Bowl since the Citrus Bowl! Am hearing West Virginia would be a potential opponent and their record looks pretty darn good.

My only gripes against the Cactus Bowl are that it's another late-night Saturday game, and it's on my last night of vacation.

Would rather play a lower-tier opponent in Shreveport than the Cactus Bowl. It just doesn't seem like a very appealing bowl berth. But it's looking like that or Vegas.

Would people rather play a mid-major that we likely beat, or a name opponent that may give us trouble (e.g. West Virginia)?

It's also the opening weekend of PAC-12 hoops. Spent the last few months badgering friends to go to the CU and Utah games.

Strykur;842605178 said:

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Would rather play a lower-tier opponent in Shreveport than the Cactus Bowl. It just doesn't seem like a very appealing bowl berth. But it's looking like that or Vegas.

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Hope it's not Vegas Bowl. Star Wars film opening that weekend and I got tickets for that night and will be standing in line. :p

If a second big 12 team gets a ny6 bowl, then the cactus bowl will take whatever G5 it can take.

It looks like byu is now a lock for the Vegas bowl.

NVBear78;842605147 said:

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Am hoping for the Cactus Bowl as I believe that would be our first January Bowl since the Citrus Bowl! Am hearing West Virginia would be a potential opponent and their record looks pretty darn good.

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Cactus Bowl vs WVU would be pretty cool. Seems unlikely though... with OU almost a shoe in for the CFP, the Sugar Bowl would get to choose a replacement from the reast of B12 teams, moving all other bowls down a slot (Cactus is #6... so they would get bumped to essentially #7). If WVU beats KSU, then the Big 12 would only have 6 eligible teams meaning the cactus would have to go outside of the B12. If WVU loses to KSU, KSU becomes eligible for the #7 slot. Not sure how much bowls can trade in the B12, but KSU would be probably more favorable for the cactus anyway. The B12 #5 game is the liberty bowl, so WVU would probably travel there better too.

People still mention the Vegas Bowl, but unless Wilner was wrong when he said the lower bowls can't change their pick order, I don't know how that would happen unless we get two teams into the big time bowls (ie furd to CFB playoff). I did see it mentioned somewhere that UCLA might try to skip out on the LV bowl since they played UNLV this year and because it's close to finals. If they can negotiate that, maybe we slide in. But it's better for Cal to play Jan 2 away from our finals, so if UCLA can bail on the LV Bowl, why wouldn't Cal try?

It also appears that the LV bowl has a one time option to kick the MWC champ to the curb and take BYU. And they are seriously looking into that this year. So if they want to avoid a Cal v SDSU rematch, they can make it happen.

ColoradoBear1;842605208 said:

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Cactus Bowl vs WVU would be pretty cool. Seems unlikely though... with OU almost a shoe in for the CFP, the Sugar Bowl would get to choose a replacement from the reast of B12 teams, moving all other bowls down a slot (Cactus is #6... so they would get bumped to essentially #7). If WVU beats KSU, then the Big 12 would only have 6 eligible teams meaning the cactus would have to go outside of the B12. If WVU loses to KSU, KSU becomes eligible for the #7 slot. Not sure how much bowls can trade in the B12, but KSU would be probably more favorable for the cactus anyway. The B12 #5 game is the liberty bowl, so WVU would probably travel there better too.

People still mention the Vegas Bowl, but unless Wilner was wrong when he said the lower bowls can't change their pick order, I don't know how that would happen unless we get two teams into the big time bowls (ie furd to CFB playoff). I did see it mentioned somewhere that UCLA might try to skip out on the LV bowl since they played UNLV this year and because it's close to finals. If they can negotiate that, maybe we slide in. But it's better for Cal to play Jan 2 away from our finals, so if UCLA can bail on the LV Bowl, why wouldn't Cal try?

It also appears that the LV bowl has a one time option to kick the MWC champ to the curb and take BYU. And they are seriously looking into that this year. So if they want to avoid a Cal v SDSU rematch, they can make it happen.

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Please no BYU. Btw, do we have a return game v. BYU at Provo coming up soon?

KoreAmBear;842605212 said:

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Please no BYU. Btw, do we have a return game v. BYU at Provo coming up soon?

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Looks like 9/8/2018.

KoreAmBear;842605179 said:

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Would people rather play a mid-major that we likely beat, or a name opponent that may give us trouble (e.g. West Virginia)?

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I attend as many bowl games as possible. I went to the 1991 Citrus Bowl and will never forget it. Complete beat down of Clemson. Recently, I enjoyed both Holiday Bowls (including the 2004 debacle), the Emerald Bowl against Miami (the Hurricane fans behind the left field goal post were hilarious), and the Insight Bowl.

I would love to see us go to the Cactus Bowl, as it will bring back memories of the Insight Bowl victory and our launching pad to a Rose Bowl hopeful season. I also like the idea of a January 2nd bowl game.

I read that Cactus Bowl may have a choice of 3 Pac teams, and I cannot understand why they would not take the hometown ASU team over Cal in order to sell more tickets.
Please explain.

(in other words, I don't see Phoenix in our future.)

More tickets, but less money for Hotels, restarant etc..
Overall economic benefit to Phoenix area is better with two out of town teams

concordtom;842605231 said:

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I read that Cactus Bowl may have a choice of 3 Pac teams, and I cannot understand why they would not take the hometown ASU team over Cal in order to sell more tickets.
Please explain.

(in other words, I don't see Phoenix in our future.)

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It's about hotel rooms not simply ticket sales, ASU fans will not be booking hotel rooms.

KoreAmBear;842605179 said:

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Would people rather play a mid-major that we likely beat, or a name opponent that may give us trouble (e.g. West Virginia)?

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I would prefer a name opponent. Then a loss is not all that bad; but a win puts us "on the map".
I would prefer to play West Virginia than BYU.

ColoradoBear1;842605221 said:

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Looks like 9/8/2018.

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Thanks CB1. I wonder why the long spread as opposed to SDSU whom we play in SD next season.

How about this for a totally crappy prediction:

AutoNation Cure Bowl

Saturday, December 19, 12:00 pm ET, CBSSN
Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando, FL
American vs. Sun Belt
Projection: Connecticut vs. California*
*No Sun Belt team projected available

I would like the cactus bowl. Jan 2 game.

Look at the teams that played in it the last few years.

OK st.
Michigan
Michigan St
TCU
Iowa
Oklahoma

Seems like a legit bowl

Dbearson;842605249 said:

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I would like the cactus bowl. Jan 2 game.

Look at the teams that played in it the last few years.

OK st.
Michigan
Michigan St
TCU
Iowa
Oklahoma

Seems like a legit bowl

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+1

I honestly think some no name bowl like this is our most likely destination. I don't think the cactus bowl will pass on ASU, and I don't think the Vegas bowl will pass on wsu.

The biggest problem with playing WV is knowing which team you are actually rooting for. We should go blue tops and gold bottoms and have them go gold tops and blue bottoms and just see what happens.

concordtom;842605231 said:

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I read that Cactus Bowl may have a choice of 3 Pac teams, and I cannot understand why they would not take the hometown ASU team over Cal in order to sell more tickets.
Please explain.

(in other words, I don't see Phoenix in our future.)

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Stanford 8-1 (10-2)
Oregon 7-2 (9-3)
Washington State 6-3 (8-4)
Utah 6-3 (9-3)
USC 6-3 (8-4)
UCLA 5-4 (8-4)
California 4-5 (7-5)
Arizona State 4-5 (6-6)
Washington 4-5 (6-6)
Arizona 3-6 (6-6)
---------Luginbill Line-----------------
Colorado 1-8 (4-9)
Oregon State 0-9 (2-10)



If USC d. Stanford at Levi's Stadium, then . . .

USC: Rose Bowl
Stanford: New Year's Six Bowl
Oregon: Alamo
UCLA: Foster Farms
Washington State: Sun
Utah: Holiday
Arizona State: Las Vegas/Cactus
California: Cactus/Las Vegas

Would Vegas take us over ASU?

Let's get real for a minute, if Furd goes Rose Bowling, that means the PAC-12 most likely has no other teams in the New Year's Six, and we probably get bounced out to Orlando. It's better than Shreveport. Still not sure about Vegas, we just played BYU 12 months ago and a re-match would not put many butts in the seats.

Unit2Sucks;842605262 said:

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The biggest problem with playing WV is knowing which team you are actually rooting for. We should go blue tops and gold bottoms and have them go gold tops and blue bottoms and just see what happens.

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Damn....straight up cut and paste uniforms...way to go Nike!

Vegas Bear;842605254 said:

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I honestly think some no name bowl like this is our most likely destination. I don't think the cactus bowl will pass on ASU, and I don't think the Vegas bowl will pass on wsu.

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What is the calculus for bowls that have local teams? Sonny mentioned briefly that he though Cal would help Cactus sell more hotel rooms (not to mention flights to Phx, rental cars, etc.). With Cal you would get more hotel rooms booked, maybe more spending at restaurants and shops, but lower attendance. With ASU you may get way better attendance, but way less hotel rooms and car rentals booked.

KoreAmBear;842605285 said:

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What is the calculus for bowls that have local teams? Sonny mentioned briefly that he though Cal would help Cactus sell more hotel rooms (not to mention flights to Phx, rental cars, etc.). With Cal you would get more hotel rooms booked, maybe more spending at restaurants and shops, but lower attendance. With ASU you may get way better attendance, but way less hotel rooms and car rentals booked.

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Bowl officials are primarily concerned with tickets sold.

Oh yeah, guess who is in consideration now for the Cactus Bowl: our old State pals in San Diego. A rematch of course would thwart an invite.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/29/sdsu-aztecs-football-bowl-options/

Anyway, current ESPN predictions:

Gildan New Mexico Bowl

University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2 p.m. (ABC)

Schlabach: California vs. New Mexico


Quick Lane Bowl

Ford Field, Detroit
Monday, Dec. 28, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

McMurphy: Cal vs. Minnesota

They will have to convince the sun devil alumni that make up the committee why ASU should go to a crappy bowl in Shreveport instead of cal.

Also, if the big 12 gets a second team into the ny6 bowls, expect sdsu to get an invite, which would ensure our trip to Shreveport (or the like).

Vegas Bear;842605289 said:

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Also, if the big 12 gets a second team into the ny6 bowls, expect sdsu to get an invite, which would ensure our trip to Shreveport (or the like).

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TCU and Baylor are currently ranked #11 and #12 in both non-playoff polls, one of them is most likely going.

Strykur;842605280 said:

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Let's get real for a minute, if Furd goes Rose Bowling, that means the PAC-12 most likely has no other teams in the New Year's Six, and we probably get bounced out to Orlando. It's better than Shreveport. Still not sure about Vegas, we just played BYU 12 months ago and a re-match would not put many butts in the seats.

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Vegas would have a full stadium, just not likely as many Cal fans considering the Mormon population located in the Vegas area and BYU usually gets the early nod for the game before the opposing team. For me, it's the easier game to get to and I never mind going to Vegas. Get's fricking cold though. The team would probably love a rematch with BYU with how last year's game and season ended. Looking at the bowl website and most current predictions, Cal doesn't even seem to be on their radar. Most mentions go to a Pac12 South team as the likely participant.

Strykur;842605287 said:

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Bowl officials are primarily concerned with tickets sold.

Oh yeah, guess who is in consideration now for the Cactus Bowl: our old State pals in San Diego. A rematch of course would thwart an invite.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/29/sdsu-aztecs-football-bowl-options/

Anyway, current ESPN predictions:

Gildan New Mexico Bowl

University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2 p.m. (ABC)

Schlabach: California vs. New Mexico


Quick Lane Bowl

Ford Field, Detroit
Monday, Dec. 28, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

McMurphy: Cal vs. Minnesota

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Seems to get worse as the days and predictions go by. Count me out of either one of those.

due to finals which are a priority at the #1 ranked public university in the world, cal will not accept a bowl game for december 19th due to academic priorities for student athletes & also the challenges of trying to utilize all of the allocated practices prior to the bowl game which are critical for the development of future starters

Shocky1;842605398 said:

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due to finals which are a priority at the #1 ranked public university in the world, cal will not accept a bowl game for december 19th due to academic priorities for student athletes & also the challenges of trying to utilize all of the allocated practices prior to the bowl game which are critical for the development of future starters

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That makes a lot of sense.

ps but somebody needs to tell Bryce Treggs, he was lobbying for the Las Vegas bowl on Twitter!

NVBear78;842605404 said:

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That makes a lot of sense.

ps but somebody needs to tell Bryce Treggs, he was lobbying for the Las Vegas bowl on Twitter!

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bryce is a very strong student that is close to graduating, there are lots of guys that need to be 100% focused on finals not trying to practice for the bowl while organizing profs to let them take finals on the road in a las vegas hotel

love bryce but he's not the team's academic advisor, ok?

Strykur;842605287 said:

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Gildan New Mexico Bowl

University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2 p.m. (ABC)

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That wouldn't even "feel" like a bowl - more like an extra regular-season road game against the Lobos.

I wonder if the Pinstripe Bowl (AKA the Yankee Stadium Bowl) is even a possibility.....

Strykur;842605292 said:

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TCU and Baylor are currently ranked #11 and #12 in both non-playoff polls, one of them is most likely going.

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I'd really like to see the committee punish the Big 12 for playing a weak OOC schedule yet again and having no CCG.... But, I'm pretty sure the B12 contract with the Sugar Bowl says they take Big 12 #2 when Big 12 #1 goes to the CFB.

That would make two Big 12 teams to the NY6 bowls a lock.