November 15, 2004
An Additional Home Game for Memphis?
Yes, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl is played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, the home of the Memphis Tigers. Could those Tigers actually play in the New Year's Eve game? Yes, according to Zack McMillin of the (Memphis) Commerical Appeal.
With Utah looking more and more like a BCS-bound team, the Mountain West Conference will presumably be obligated to buy their way out out of the contractual commitment to send their champion to Memphis. That opens the door to a possible Liberty Bowl invitation being sent across town to the University of Memphis, a surefire ticket seller for the game.
So there was AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart, on the Liberty Bowl field moments after Memphis's 30-26 comeback win over Southern Miss, happily being pulled into a conversation about the possibility of a Louisville-Memphis rematch on Dec. 31.
...The key, now, is Memphis. With two road games left -- at East Carolina and at South Florida -- the Tigers could win out, go 8-3 and make it easy on Ehrhart and his board to invite them. Split those two games, and it's iffy. Lose them both, and the Liberty Bowl would face enormous criticism for inviting the 6-5 hometown team.
Under normal circumstances, conference rivals such as Lousiville and Memphis would be opposed to a rematch in the postseason. However, with the Cards bolting for the Big East next season, these old rivals may be interested in teeing it up one last time. After all, their matchup in Memphis back on November 4th was 56-49 thriller won by Louisville, and perhaps the most exciting C-USA game played this season.
It might be a longshot, but it could be the most appealing matchup possibility (sans Utah) for the Liberty Bowl and a way to rake in some extra bucks. After all, the bowl system is all about the cash.
Comments:
Rob Knodell said:
posted on November 15, 2004 12:16 PM — 12.207.83.81 — link — abuse?
I agree that Boise State/Louisville would be an interesting matchup. It might be tough to swing, with the WAC bowl contracts, television agreements, and such. It might also hinge upon how many tickets Boise State could sell. Getting a mid-major team into the BCS (if it happens) will be new and uncharted waters for all involved, so there's no telling what will happen. What's for sure is that the Liberty Bowl should be able to extract a big chunk of cash from MWC is they have to release Utah from the conference bowl contract.
Bob said:
posted on November 15, 2004 4:48 PM — 207.93.117.34 — link — abuse?
One of reasons Boise State would be such a good choice is that they don't have a bowl commitment. The WAC is affiliated with 3 bowl games, but is not obligated to send their champion to any of them. So Boise State is free to accept any bid that comes their way.
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Bob said:
posted on November 15, 2004 11:55 AM — 63.202.233.125 — link — abuse?It seems to me an undefeated and BCS top ten Boise State team would make a better matchup than Memphis. Boise State would jump at the chance to finally get out of Boise and play a quality opponent like Louisville. It would also make for a great, "best of the mid-majors" tagline.