2024 bowl projections thread

[zjscuse]

No issue with people being disappointed, but some of this crap... is ... amazing!

The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for fun, high-scoring games. Like a 50 year+ reputation.

It is historically a more prestigious bowl than the Gator. Times may have changed, but that is the general national perception. (evidenced by the fact that it pays more)

People saying 'it's the opponent, it's the opponent', I doubt they'd want to play Michigan at Fenway or Yankee Stadium if that was our option.

The idea that Wildhack had any control over this process, and should be criticized, is ridiculous.

That Kyle and the other potential pro Sr.s would rather play in a physical tussle vs. FL than in another Holiday Bowl shootout - why would that be? What would be the better exhibition of his arm?

This bowl game (outside of the playoffs) is an exhibition game, the start of practice for next season, and an end-of-season reward for the players. I can think of no better place to accomplish these things - regardless of opponent.

Finally - as people have said.. anyone care to make a wager as to whether the Holiday or Gator gets better viewership #'s? If the Gator is SO much more prestigious - why would this be?

Well said!

 

[dasher]

I would (not absolutely, but likely). We don’t have the depth and that shows up quickly when the opt outs hit.

When was the last time we beat any of the teams in your post? It’s unusual to be stricken by both recency bias and “remember when” in the same thought.

What? When is the last time we played those teams? Now, I will grant that we have sucked for the most part over the last 20 years but when we are good, we can play with them. And we are good right now. I thought I saw us beat Ga tech. And I thought I saw Ga tech take Ga to 8 OT's. But that must have been regency bias and remember when . We can play with teams right now. We have the weapons. More important, I hope we can win but if we can't, I don't care. It was to me, more important to play someone good than to get a cheap win against a member of a 2 team league.

 

[dasher]

No issue with people being disappointed, but some of this crap... is ... amazing!

The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for fun, high-scoring games. Like a 50 year+ reputation.

It is historically a more prestigious bowl than the Gator. Times may have changed, but that is the general national perception. (evidenced by the fact that it pays more)

People saying 'it's the opponent, it's the opponent', I doubt they'd want to play Michigan at Fenway or Yankee Stadium if that was our option.

The idea that Wildhack had any control over this process, and should be criticized, is ridiculous.

That Kyle and the other potential pro Sr.s would rather play in a physical tussle vs. FL than in another Holiday Bowl shootout - why would that be? What would be the better exhibition of his arm?

This bowl game (outside of the playoffs) is an exhibition game, the start of practice for next season, and an end-of-season reward for the players. I can think of no better place to accomplish these things - regardless of opponent.

Finally - as people have said.. anyone care to make a wager as to whether the Holiday or Gator gets better viewership #'s? If the Gator is SO much more prestigious - why would this be?

Sign me up for Mich at Fenway. I will be there. Name the time.

 

[orangeinohio]

Sign me up for Mich at Fenway. I will be there. Name the time.

11am kickoff on Saturday, December 28th.
Go for the Green Monstah seats.

 

[sutomcat]

I don’t think the ACC has ever published a formal order in which the bowls select ACC teams but since the last set of bowl agreements with conferences was put in place. I believe the tier one ACC bowls have always picked as follows:

Pop Tarts (it has been called a bunch of things)

Holiday Bowl

Gator Bowl

Not sure if the Duke’s Mayo, Sun or Pinstripe pick after that. That might change year to year.

There are rules that prevents bowls from picking schools. For instance, a school cannot play in the same bowl two years in a row. So Clemson, had they not made the playoff, could not have been picked by the Gator this year.

And I believe a bowl can’t ignore a team with more than one win over another team. So an 8-4 UL can’t be picked over a 10-2 Miami team.

I don’t know if an ACC team can ‘pass’ of it gets selected to a bowl and doesn’t want to go there. I think if there are legit reasons (played the opponent in the repeat season, played at the venue during the regular season), the bowls will try and accommodate those concerns.

Pretty sure we passed on the Pinstripe a couple of years ago after we played Pitt at YS in the regular season.

Guessing we tried to decline the Holiday invite but we couldn’t use the later there too recently excuse since we have never played there.

I suspect we tried to explain we had already been out west twice this year and maybe that would have worked had Duke been willing to take our place. But either the Holiday couldn’t live with hosting Duke or Duke used a veto to put us in San Diego.

I don’t blame Duke for not wanting to get moved. They have historically gotten boned by fellow ACC schools and did not want to get boned again willingly. I understand that. They had a special season and I hope their appearance in the Gator is not as disastrous as I suspect it will be. I sincerely wish them the best of luck. Would love to see them upset the arrogant Ole Miss program.

Back to us. It is ironic.

In the history of the Syracuse football program, we have been invited to a bowl in California twice.

Once was in 1915 (I think I have the date right) We had a great year. I think we went 9-1-2. Something like that. We were generally considered a top 5 type team. We got an invite to the Rose Bowl, which at the time, I believe, was the only bowl game In existence.

But we turned it down. Why? That was the year we became the first college football team from the East to take an extended road trip out west. We played 3 games over the span of around 14 days. Played Montana State, Oregon State and Occidental.

1915 Syracuse Orange Schedule and Results | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

1915 Syracuse Orange Schedule and Results

www.sports-reference.com

Remember back in those days there was little or no air travel. Syracuse took the train from stop to stop and I think the schools played were largely determined by their proximity to the rail lines. It took a lot out of the team, SU ran up huge bills traveling and put the students on the team behind the 8 ball completing their classes that semester.

It just was not possible to go out west again to play in a bowl game.

The second bowl invite from a California bowl finally came 109 years later. And again, the timing is bad since we have already been out west twice this year (pretty sure we are the only Eastern team to do that).

This time we accepted. And when we play the bowl game, it won’t be the first time we have played out west three times in the same football season. I guess we can thank Army for helping to make this happen.

And let’s hope we do not play three games out west again for another 109 years or so.

 

[dasher]

11am kickoff on Saturday, December 28th.
Go for the Green Monstah seats.

I can get Fenway tickets anytime I want. My cousin works for the Sox

 

[kingtidge]

I can get Fenway tickets anytime I want. My cousin works for the Sox

That's nice. No one is perfect.

 

[GoSU96]

I have to assume a lot of players will be getting the talk. We are probably going to have more than normal portal out. Available players might become an issue.

Why would you assume that?

Who would being getting cut?

 

[Kalima45]

Why would you assume that?

Who would being getting cut?

There's only a few names that I just don't see being part of the team moving forward. I would have to assume Del-Rio isn't part of the plans going forward, probably Denaburg too since we don't need multiple kickers on scholarship.

 

[Phillymoose]

Guessing we tried to decline the holiday invite but we couldn’t use the later there too recently excuse since we have never played there.

I suspect we tried to explain we had already been out west twice this year and maybe that would have worked had Duke been willing to take our place. But either the Holiday couldn’t live with hosting Duke or Duke used a veto to put us in San Diego.

You think JW or other SU officials looked the Holiday Bowl people in the eye and said we'd rather not come because our team and coaches will be forced to spend an extra 2 / 2.5 hours on a plane flight?

Or would they have been more 'honest' - and said it is a hardship for our fanbase... OR .. we don't like the opponent?

Honestly curious about what you think.

(I have zero inside knowledge)... but I think it is more likely than not that we got the invite and happily accepted it.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

There's only a few names that I just don't see being part of the team moving forward. I would have to assume Del-Rio isn't part of the plans going forward, probably Denaburg too since we don't need multiple kickers on scholarship.

You're not happy with giving the other team possession on the 25 yard line every time? You want to keep the guy who kicks short.

Besides, Kennedy is a walk-on.

But since rosters are being expanded to 105, everyone gets a scholarship anyways.

 

[Blanko97]

Are you talking about a different Kyle than McCord? We didn't play Texas Tech, our best win was Miami, and then UNLV.

Im not talking about a kyle at all in regard to TT, im talking about Wazzu

 

[dasher]

That's nice. No one is perfect.

Incredibly, he has been given three world series rings. And he was there for the 4th but for some reason, he didn't qualify at that time (the first)

 

[CNYGuy]

Who's blaming Wildhack?

If there were shenanigans on this, it was likely in the Charlotte ACC offices...

It may be that there were no shenanigans and the appearance that we got jobbed is just a coincidence and there is no conspiracy...

...and unranked Dook was more deserving of the Gator Bowl vs #15 Ol Miss in FLA over us

...and that we deserve a 5k mile flight to play an unranked Pac12 leftover no one wanted...

...Or maybe unranked Dook should be playing unranked Wazzu and there were shenanigans??

It's not like we'd be a light fanbase travel risk in Florida...

Who knows?

It depends on the bowl draft order…

I think it’s pretty safe to say that Pop Tarts was one this year.

I’d guess Holiday had second pick… the bowls in each tier rotate draft order annually I believe

 

[baggerbob]

Fair enough.
Just seems a little short-sighted to think we 'shoulda/woulda/coulda' gotten a bigger, "better" bowl at this stage. I remember being a student on the yard when Coach Mac took SU to its first Bowl in years- something called the Cherry Bowl. Most fans were beyond happy to get to any bowl after the drought of the Frank Maloney era, and sure enough that started the SU resurgence that lasted till Pasqualoni.
Fact is when we start winning consistently, they'll have to give us our props. This isn't a sprint, its a marathon. JMHO

This conference will never acknowledge us no matter what we do. This conference is all about what's best for North Carolina and always has been. We would have gotten more respect in the Big 12 then the ACC.
That's part of the reason Maryland left and a big reason why FSU ,and Clemson want out.

 

[sutomcat]

You think JW or other SU officials looked the Holiday Bowl people in the eye and said we'd rather not come because our team and coaches will be forced to spend an extra 2 / 2.5 hours on a plane flight?

Or would they have been more 'honest' - and said it is a hardship for our fanbase... OR .. we don't like the opponent?

Honestly curious about what you think.

(I have zero inside knowledge)... but I think it is more likely than not that we got the invite and happily accepted it.

No. I didn’t say the concern Syracuse had with accepting the Holiday Bowl bid was with the length of the plane ride. That was your idea.

Going out west is a big deal. It is a lot tougher on the body when you change time zones and the more time zones you change, the worse it is for your body. And the more times you do it over a couple of months, the tougher it is.

But I think SU was more concerned over over saturating the fan base Syracuse has out west. What have we done, played out west once in 20 years and then we are going to ask our fans out there to travel to a distant venue and spend big bucks three different times over the span of less than three months?

Going out west is a great thing for students. Gives them a chance to see a different part of the country, experience different climates and some cultural differences. It is great. But we have done that plenty already this season. If Duke, who had not been out to Cali this year, was amenable to a switch, awesome. Can’t hurt to try. I hope they tried. I suspect that they tried. Especially if we knew the Gator really wanted us.

This is a good problem to have. We want to be in a situation where a couple of really good bowls want us. I am not really upset. I have a lot of respect for the Holiday Bowl. It has a lot of tradition and I am sure they will take care of our players and give them a first class experience. I just really wanted a shot at playing Ole Miss in the Gator. That would have been epic. I think all our players would play in that game and we would have had a giant turnout of fans. Hopefully the players will still all play and hopefully we somehow end up with a great turnout from our fans out west. Maybe some of the people who have already traveled to the west to see us play once or twice this year will be willing to do it again at a time when prices are at their highest.

It just is not ideal.

I really would have preferred to play in our first Holiday Bowl in a season we hadn’t been out west twice already.

Hopefully we get a chance to play a highly ranked SEC team in a bowl game in a warm place again soon. I suspect if Duke played out west and we played in the Gator, the ACC had a lot better chance to get 2 wins in these games.

Life rarely works out perfectly. We had a really good season and are going to play in a really good bowl game in the best climate in the US. Things could be far far worse.

 

[Orangefizz]

This team is going to be spending Christmas on the west coast to play an unranked team from a two team division. It does seem like we got the short end of the stick. Glad for the players that get a free trip out of it, but I would rather play in Florida vs another ranked team.

The biggest travesty is matching up against Washington St and not Colorado. How could the Alamo bowl have two teams from the same division. It makes no sense.

 

[Scooch]

This conference will never acknowledge us no matter what we do. This conference is all about what's best for North Carolina and always has been. We would have gotten more respect in the Big 12 then the ACC.
That's part of the reason Maryland left and a big reason why FSU ,and Clemson want out.

The Big East, a conference we literally built, blatantly screwed us out of a bowl appearance.

Practically every member of every conference thinks the league is screwing them.

The ACC pays us more money than any other conference would. Because 11 years ago they invited us. Other than that, it doesn’t matter.

 

[orangenauburn]

The biggest travesty is matching up against Washington St and not Colorado. How could the Alamo bowl have two teams from the same division. It makes no sense.

They didn't want Washington State either

 

[PhatOrange]

Do we even know Fran would play him over Johnson? We’re all assuming.

I thought Johnson was injured. Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I thought Johnson was injured. Maybe I’m thinking of someone else.

CDRW is injured.

 

[hungrychuck]

We've played Washington State once ever. A win in 1979.

I'm sure a lot of you remember it.

I was there. In Orchard Park. We had a good offensive team.

 

[Phillymoose]

No. I didn’t say the concern Syracuse had with accepting the Holiday Bowl bid was with the length of the plane ride. That was your idea.

Going out west is a big deal. It is a lot tougher on the body when you change time zones and the more time zones you change, the worse it is for your body. And the more times you do it over a couple of months, the tougher it is.

But I think SU was more concerned over over saturating the fan base Syracuse has out west. What have we done, played out west once in 20 years and then we are going to ask our fans out there to travel to a distant venue and spend big bucks three different times over the span of less than three months?

Going out west is a great thing for students. Gives them a chance to see a different part of the country, experience different climates and some cultural differences. It is great. But we have done that plenty already this season. If Duke, who had not been out to Cali this year, was amenable to a switch, awesome. Can’t hurt to try. I hope they tried. I suspect that they tried. Especially if we knew the Gator really wanted us.

This is a good problem to have. We want to be in a situation where a couple of really good bowls want us. I am not really upset. I have a lot of respect for the Holiday Bowl. It has a lot of tradition and I am sure they will take care of our players and give them a first class experience. I just really wanted a shot at playing Ole Miss in the Gator. That would have been epic. I think all our players would play in that game and we would have had a giant turnout of fans. Hopefully the players will still all play and hopefully we somehow end up with a great turnout from our fans out west. Maybe some of the people who have already traveled to the west to see us play once or twice this year will be willing to do it again at a time when prices are at their highest.

It just is not ideal.

I really would have preferred to play in our first Holiday Bowl in a season we hadn’t been out west twice already.

Hopefully we get a chance to play a highly ranked SEC team in a bowl game in a warm place again soon. I suspect if Duke played out west and we played in the Gator, the ACC had a lot better chance to get 2 wins in these games.

Life rarely works out perfectly. We had a really good season and are going to play in a really good bowl game in the best climate in the US. Things could be far far worse.

Appreciate the response, and did not mean to put words in your mouth. I guess I am more interested in the tactics. I remember when the Sugar Bowl people invited us prior to our final game against WVU. There used to be a courtship - but now the conferences seem to broker these discussions and I'm honestly curious if there is any wiggle room (or even any discussion) beyond the contractual exceptions.

I assume a school can still 'opt out' of a bowl - but even that makes me wonder about bowl revenue obligations towards the conference. e.g. could SU opt out of a bowl and cause the ACC to earn less revenue as a result of that decision? Could the conference force something?.. I find it interesting - and I think these sorts of agreements and expectations are relevant to this discussion.

IF - the bowls select teams in a particular order - is there even back and forth at all? Who are they telling when they make the selection? It seems to be that would be the conference, so they can then remove a team from the availability pool and move on to the next selector. So - when and how would an 'objection' be made -and by whom? I guess my point is - if the Holiday selected before the Gator - would JW be on the call -and what would he say? 'Gee - it sure would be better for our school and fanbase if we went to the Gator'. I have trouble imagining that conversation actually taking place.

Or is there a giant conference call - and an open discussion with all the bowl representatives, conference reps and schools. I can't see such a thing - too chaotic and way too much opportunity for conflict.

 

[upperdeck]

In the old day the money went to the teams. Now its done by most conferences.

Still some talk I would think but in a more structured way to more likely make sure the top teams in a conf don't get left out.

How many 6-6 teams didnt make it this year?

 

[kingtidge]

The Big East, a conference we literally built, blatantly screwed us out of a bowl appearance.

Practically every member of every conference thinks the league is screwing them.

The ACC pays us more money than any other conference would. Because 11 years ago they invited us. Other than that, it doesn’t matter.

I am sure Dook is livid and thinks they should be in the playoffs as an unranked team...

Playing #15 Ol Miss in the Gator is beneath them.