Other AAC bowls lack pizzazz

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Orlando is in the middle of the landlocked side of a state surrounded by a sea and an ocean, but you could not tell it from the reaction of some of their fans.

They are in the middle of the saltiest part of the state after hearing that they get to play Marshall and Temple gets to play the more “sexy” bowl matchup. Pizzazz is defined as “an attractive combination of vitality and glamour” and, if anything lacks pizzazz,  it is the AAC bowl matchups.

Temple has an interesting matchup. The others fall short.

In fact, an argument can be made that the Owls might have won the AAC post-season if they can beat UNC because even if Memphis is getting the sexiest bowl opponent, Penn State, we all know the chances of interim G5 team head coaches are a lot slimmer than Ed Foley.

Plenty of complaints on the UCF message board that Temple is getting a P5 opponent while UCF–which both finished ahead of Temple in the AAC East and throttled the Owls on the road–gets the Rosey O’Donnell Bowl against Marshall.

To me, it’s more of a result of life in the Group of Five. If you get an NY6 game, you lose your head coach. If you don’t get an NY6 game, you either get a 6-6 P5 team or a team from a lesser conference.

Temple, the AAC turns its lonely eyes to you because I don’t see a chance of the AAC advancing its brand in many of these bowls that the conference should win:

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Boca Raton Bowl, Dec. 21 (3:30, ABC) _ SMU, a 10-2 team that played and beat a TCU team (that extended Baylor into overtime), gets to go on the road and play FAU in its home stadium. A Mustangs’ win hardly advances the brand of the conference and SMU, despite being unbeaten at the time, drew only 23,189 fans to a home game against Temple. One trend in SMU’s favor: It gets to play a team with an interim head coach.  Prediction: SMU, 24-17.

Gasparilla Bowl, Dec. 23  (2:30, ESPN)  _ This is the same bowl Temple beat FIU, 28-3, by in a different stadium this time. UCF should draw better at Raymond James Stadium than even the home USF team usually draws but Marshall is a blah opponent that got blown out at home by Cincinnati, 52-14. Prediction: UCF, 34-17.

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Cotton Bowl, Dec. 28 (noon, ESPN) _ Hate to say this because I’m an AAC guy, but I think Appalachian State deserved this bowl more than Memphis and probably would have had a much better chance to beat Penn State given the coaching circumstances. No G5 team other than App State has P5 wins like South Carolina and North Carolina. Memphis tried to avoid an Ed Foley-like fate by naming its “interim” head coach the permanent one. Memphis will come of this bowl losing to two Pennsylvania teams and beating everyone else. Prediction: Penn State, 35-14.

Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31 (3:45, ESPN) _ Probably the second-most interesting game to the Temple game as Navy should hold serve as the only ranked team in this matchup (No. 23). Kansas State is pretty good, though, and should keep this one close. Prediction: Navy, 24-20.

Birmingham Bowl, Jan. 2 (3, ESPN) _ No. 21 Cincinnati draws an ACC opponent for the second-straight year, this time in warmer weather. Boston College is an ACC opponent in name only and, despite the fact that Steve Addazio is no longer its coach, Luke Fickell gives Cincy the edge in coaching.

Armed Forces Bowl, Jan. 4 (11:30 a.m., ESPN) _ If the Tulane-Southern Mississippi matchup sounds familiar, it should. It’s a renewal of an old CUSA rivalry called the “Battle for the Bell” and the Green Wave should have enough to win this game comfortably, I’d say, around 31-21.

Wednesday: The Newest Dirty Word

 

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13 thoughts on “Other AAC bowls lack pizzazz

    • There is no way to tell unless you hire private eyes. I would hope he is because the odds of him getting a bigger job are nil unless he produces a record of success. That said, frauds like Addazzio and Collins got new jobs so who knows. he flipped one kid already. Let’s see what he does next week.

    • Carey half steps recruiting, Mack Brown takes full steps:

      “UNC Football head coach Mack Brown went to visit class of 2020 five-star in-state recruit Trenton Simpson following the win over N.C. State
      In his first year of his second stint, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown has his team bowl eligible at 6-6 following their big win over N.C. State on Saturday night. It’s a big accomplishment for the Tar Heels after their struggles the past two seasons.

      While UNC was celebrating reaching a bowl game for the first time since 2016, Brown was back on the recruiting trail.The head coach went to visit the top target left on UNC’s recruiting board for the 2020 class just a few weeks ahead of the Early Signing Period. Brown was out to see five-star outside linebacker Trenton Simpson:
      Simpson originally committed to Auburn in the Summer over North Carolina before de-committing just a few months ago. When Simpson re-opened his recruitment, the Tar Heels and Clemson Tigers were the two programs to show the most interest.

      The recruit has visited both programs in the few months his recruitment has been open and will make his decision on December 18th.

      Simpson is currently ranked as the No. 30 overall recruit in the 247 Sports Composite rankings and the No. 2 player in the state of North Carolina behind only UNC commit Desmond Evans. If he does pick the Tar Heels, he will join a class that’s already ranked in the Top 20 overall. Adding Simpson would give UNC a big boost in their class and on a defense that is looking to turn things around.”

      • Kj has to be the biggest bitch of a Temple fan.

        Signing day is tomorrow, wait and see.

      • We once went 16 years and logged 31 wins. I’m saying we should not want to be great, but dude, the living ain’t so bad for a Temple football fan these days. Imagine telling someone from 1996 that you’re pissed at 8-4 with a decent bowl game.

      • KJ is a fan who wants Temple to be No. 1 in everything, recruiting, standings, etc. Nothing wrong with that.

  1. We should have a good idea starting Wednesday with the early signing period. On a positive note our rankings are trending upwards with regards to the AAC from last week.

  2. Sorry for the thread drift:

    Fred Glass, AD at Indiana announced he’s retiring. No successor named. Could the IU crew at TU get the job and move back?

    • Kraft could leave but I doubt he’d bring Carey with the $10 million buyout this year.

      • Mike good observation by you about KJ , i’m just like him I’m still mad with only eight wins I might get over it after the Bowl game . Going down to Temple football games since 1974 and then 20 years of losing Never got used to losing .

      • Losing is unacceptable. Still think if Kraft had hired Golden instead of Carey that our recruiting would be significantly improved with only the slightest drop in game day coaching…if that

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