Tag Archives: Birmingham Bowl

12.07.25
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A bowl selection Sunday to remember for Temple

My three-letter reaction when I heard the news on Sunday night.

The last Bowl Selection Sunday that went this bad for Temple came in 2010, when an 8-4 Temple team was told there was no bowl for them.

That time it was the bad guys’ fault. This time the blame falls on the good guys.

Both TE Peter Clarke and DE Cam’Ron Stewart wanted to play.

It was pretty hard, even in those days of 2010, for an 8-4 Temple team to not be chosen but that’s exactly what happened.

“Guys, it’s over,” Al Golden said in a team meeting. “We didn’t get picked.”

A few hours later, Golden left for the Miami job and had to have another meeting to give those kids further bad news.

That was a pretty good Temple team. They beat a BCS bowl (Fiesta) team (UConn) by 20 points and deserved to a chance to bring back some hardware for the Edberg Olson trophy case. The bad guys didn’t want to give Temple a bowl spot that day.

So much for the bad guys.

The question might be who held a gun to Temple’s Temple?

Five weeks ago, Temple was sitting on a 5-3 record and looked like a sure shot for a bowl game. The the Owls lost four-straight games to close out the season and bowl hopes went out the window.

Or so we thought.

A nice bowl trophy fell into their laps on Sunday afternoon–not to mention a nice trip to a warmer place and three weeks of needed practice–and the Owls said thanks but no thanks to a Birmingham Bowl spot that would have put them up against 6-6 Georgia Southern. In my estimation, the Owls would have been a double-digit favorite in such a game and a bowl win, even for a 5-7 team, would put a nice taste in everyone’s mouths and maybe even helped ticket sales for next season.

My guess is that call was made above the K.C. Keeler level but we should find that out in the next few days.

Whoever made the call, though, is a supposed good guy representing Temple.

There are reasons for turning it down including costs, travel and players, but those reasons apply more to the other teams who turned the bid down, not Temple. These Owls were three points away from 7-5 and, in those two games, some extremely questionable calls by the refs robbed them.

These kids deserved a bowl, too.

Back 15 years ago, the prevailing thought was maybe that someday Karma would pay Temple back by giving the Owls a bid on a day they didn’t expect it.

Sunday was the day that something nice fell into their laps and, instead of dusting it off putting it in a place of honor, they threw it out the window.

Somebody has got some explaining to do.

Update: Temple statement below….

So you’re basically saying everybody either said no or “get back to us” but App State said, “Hell Yes!!!! Where do I sign?”

Friday: Room At The Top

12.12.15
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5 Other AAC Bowl Matchups Worth Watching

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Where is the T, M and P?

 

Just four months ago, the AAC was lumped as just another Group of 5 football conference trying to make its way in a Power 5 world. Then the AAC won some big games, with Temple beating Penn State and Memphis beating Mississippi, finished 4-3 against a P5 conference (the ACC) and separated itself from the pack. Now it can enhance its image by winning these five bowl games.

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  1. Miami Beach: USF vs. Western Kentucky

The big storyline in this game (2:30 p.m., EDT, Dec. 21, ESPN), is Willie Taggart’s old recruits, the ones who play for 11-2 WKU, going up against his newer 8-4 South Florida recruits. Despite the game being played in South Florida, the Hilltoppers are slight favorites and a lot of that has to do with the motivation on one side against an less-motivated group on the other. Plus, WKU’s Jeff Brohm probably is a better game day coach than Taggart.

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  1. Birmingham: Memphis vs. Auburn

The fact that the 9-3 Memphis Tigers are a slight underdog against the 6-6 Auburn Tigers is a product of this being a home game for Auburn. In reality, Memphis is a team that beat Mississippi by 13 points and should have no problem handling an overvalued Auburn team that has an edge in SEC name recognition and little else. The game is Dec. 30th on ESPN at noon.

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  1. Hawaii: Cincinnati vs. San Diego St.

The Bearcats have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Gunner Kiel, who has played significantly better in the second half of the season since coming off a concussion. The 7-5 Bearcats’ most impressive showing was a 33-30 loss at champion Houston. SDSU, which is 10-3, is a slight underdog in this game (Dec. 24, 8 p.m., ESPN).

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  1. Military Bowl: Pitt vs. Navy

In what is a home game for 9-2 Navy, played at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, this game serves as a showcase for someone who should have won the Heisman Award, Navy Midshipmen quarterback Keenan Reynolds, against a successful Power 5 team in 8-4 Pitt. This is probably too tough a spot for the four-point underdog Panthers.

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  1. Peach Bowl: Houston vs. Florida State

The one takeaway from Houston’s 24-13 win over Temple in the title game was two takeaways, an interception and a fumble, which were really the difference between Temple being there and Houston taking the spot. The fact that the Owls had to play a perfect game to beat the Cougars probably bodes well for the touchdown underdog in the Dec. 31 game (noon, ESPN). The AAC can make its ultimate statement winning this game.