The Bowl Selection Vigil

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I think it only fitting that I start this thread!

Let's take care of business this Saturday at VT and get there! Then we can start talking about a game in Charlotte, too!

[OldPhiKap]

ESPN has us projected for the Belks Bowl in Charlotte December 27th fwiw.

Not there yet. Not shut out of bigger bowls yet, either.

Get 'er done!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

ESPN has us projected for the Belks Bowl in Charlotte December 27th fwiw.

Not there yet. Not shut out of bigger bowls yet, either.

Get 'er done!

I'm so glad this bowl is no longer the tire or car parts bowl, just not fitting! I say keep the possibilities open and leave the time around Christmas open.

[PDDuke85]

I'm so glad this bowl is no longer the tire or car parts bowl, just not fitting! I say keep the possibilities open and leave the time around Christmas open.

I was at Tampa for the HOF bowl game VS Wisconsin and I'm not opposed to another warm weather bowl appearance. Go Duke!

[OldPhiKap]

I was at Tampa for the HOF bowl game VS Wisconsin and I'm not opposed to another warm weather bowl appearance. Go Duke!

I went to that game, and agree that Florida is a nice place to spend New Year's Eve and Day.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Duke got 10 votes in the coaches poll and 3 in the AP poll. Recently (in 2009 and 10) we also got votes, and as soon as we did, we went on losing streaks. It's nice to see the votes, but until we get our 6th, I will remain cautiously optimistic and continue to enjoy the ride.

(Also, Heather Dinich had us in the Military Bowl since day 1, so her prediction this week to the Belk is an upgrade.)

[ForkFondler]

The schedule is about to get a lot harder. Sagarin has Duke as at least a one touchdown underdog in each of the next four games. No, we won't be favored in Blacksburg. However, only FSU looks completely out of reach.

The last two games are a different story. We have a bye week before playing @GT and Miami at home. Both those teams have Sagarin ratings that are within a point of ours. Sagarin has us favored at home in that last game plus we'll have two weeks to practice for the GT option.

[Olympic Fan]

FWIW, A scout from the Russell Athletiic Bowl was in the press box Saturxday. That's Dec. 28 in Orlando.

Duke is a long-shot for that bowl ... they have the third pick of ACC teams (after the BCS, which gets the champs, and then the Chick-fil-A Bowl).

[NovaScotian]

for reference, here are the bowl games with which the ACC has alignments, in order of choice.

#1 - Orange Bowl - Miami, FL
#2 - Chick-fil-A Bowl - Atlanta, GA
#3 - Russell Athletic Bowl - Orlando, FL
#4 - Hyundai Sun Bowl - El Paso, TX
#5 - Belk Bowl - Charlotte, NC
#6 - Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl - Nashville, TN
#7 - Advocare 100 Independence Bowl - Shreveport, LA
#8 - Military Bowl - Washington, DC
#9 - Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - San Francisco, Ca


(per wikipedia)

[ForkFondler]

for reference, here are the bowl games with which the ACC has alignments, in order of choice.

#1 - Orange Bowl - Miami, FL
#2 - Chick-fil-A Bowl - Atlanta, GA
#3 - Russell Athletic Bowl - Orlando, FL
#4 - Hyundai Sun Bowl - El Paso, TX
#5 - Belk Bowl - Charlotte, NC
#6 - Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl - Nashville, TN
#7 - Advocare 100 Independence Bowl - Shreveport, LA
#8 - Military Bowl - Washington, DC
#9 - Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - San Francisco, Ca


(per wikipedia)

I'd bet that it's mathematically impossible for the ACC to have nine bowl eligible teams. Eight is a bit of a long shot too. Army over BC

[loran16]

I'd bet that it's mathematically impossible for the ACC to have nine bowl eligible teams. Eight is a bit of a long shot too. Army over BC

Well this year, yes. But a few years back, the ACC had 10 bowl teams (thanks to an extra tie in it worked that year) and it's bottom two teams were 5-7 and 4-8.

[CameronBornAndBred]

for reference, here are the bowl games with which the ACC has alignments, in order of choice.

#1 - Orange Bowl - Miami, FL
#2 - Chick-fil-A Bowl - Atlanta, GA
#3 - Russell Athletic Bowl - Orlando, FL
#4 - Hyundai Sun Bowl - El Paso, TX
#5 - Belk Bowl - Charlotte, NC
#6 - Franklin American Mortgage Company Music City Bowl - Nashville, TN
#7 - Advocare 100 Independence Bowl - Shreveport, LA
#8 - Military Bowl - Washington, DC
#9 - Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - San Francisco, Ca


(per wikipedia)

The "Fight Hunger" bowl is Navy vs PAC-12.
If Navy doesn't reach 6, then they can choose from the ACC, the MAC or the WAC. Right now Navy's hopes aren't looking so hot at 2-3, but the bottom of the ACC is less than appetizing too. If they do choose an ACC team, I hope it ain't Duke since there will be very few who will travel all the way to San Francisco to watch the game.

[blazindw]

The "Fight Hunger" bowl is Navy vs PAC-12.
If Navy doesn't reach 6, then they can choose from the ACC, the MAC or the WAC. Right now Navy's hopes aren't looking so hot at 2-3, but the bottom of the ACC is less than appetizing too. If they do choose an ACC team, I hope it ain't Duke since there will be very few who will travel all the way to San Francisco to watch the game.

If we can get that 6th win (*knocks on wood, rubs on rabbit foot and all other superstitious measures to not jinx it*), I doubt we'd still be on the "Teams Available" list when the Fight Hunger Bowl gets its pick. If we somehow were still around when the Military Bowl gets its choice of eligible teams, I'll be on the phone starting to plan to welcome you all to the District!

[Olympic Fan]

The "Fight Hunger" bowl is Navy vs PAC-12.
If Navy doesn't reach 6, then they can choose from the ACC, the MAC or the WAC. Right now Navy's hopes aren't looking so hot at 2-3, but the bottom of the ACC is less than appetizing too. If they do choose an ACC team, I hope it ain't Duke since there will be very few who will travel all the way to San Francisco to watch the game.

While you are right that Navy gets the Fight Hunger Bowl if they get to six wins, the ACC has first replacement slot if they have eight bowl teams ... the MAC and WAC are next in line.

Let's look at the situation for the ACC:

Sure Bowl teams (2): Florida State, Clemson

Probable Bowl teams (4): Duke, Miami* (unless they stay home due to NCAA issues again), NC State, Virginia Tech (not a lock, especially if they lose to Duke ... but they do finish with BC and Virginia)

Possible Bowl teams: (4) Maryland (three wins already with Virginia Boston College left ... after that it gets tough -- Georgia Tech maybe -- they finish with Clemson, FSU and UNC), Georgia Tech (put themselves in the hole with two OT losses and the loss to Middle Tennessee. They are are two wins with BC coming up, but after that they have to beat three good teams out of BYU, UNC, Georgia, Duke and Maryland); Virginia (looks bad now at 2-4, but they do have possible wins with Maryland and Wake to get going again); Wake Forest (3-3 now, but they get a gimmie with BC and they have a tossup with Virginia and that gets them close)

Not Going Bowling: (x): UNC (ineligible), BC (terrible)

I'm being generous to say that 10 teams are fighting for at least seven and probably eight slots. Not all will make it -- the loser of the Oct. 20 game between Virginia and Wake isn't going bowling. Not sure the winner is, but at least it has a chance.

[CameronBornAndBred]

While you are right that Navy gets the Fight Hunger Bowl if they get to six wins, the ACC has first replacement slot if they have eight bowl teams ... the MAC and WAC are next in line.

Let's look at the situation for the ACC:

Thanks for the breakdown, nice job. My two favorite options for completely personal and greedy reasons are The Belk Bowl and the Military Bowl. (Not including the very higher ups because we haven't even gotten #6 yet.) Charlotte would be nice and close, and RFK is a great stadium..also with access to a nice sized local Duke fan base. Both are easily travelable. Nashville would be ok, it would be fun to see Cut "go home" and play there with a Duke team. Shreveport...bleah, too far. I'll set my tv outside next to my grill.

[-bdbd]

Thanks for the breakdown, nice job. My two favorite options for completely personal and greedy reasons are The Belk Bowl and the Military Bowl. (Not including the very higher ups because we haven't even gotten #6 yet.) Charlotte would be nice and close, and RFK is a great stadium..also with access to a nice sized local Duke fan base. Both are easily travelable. Nashville would be ok, it would be fun to see Cut "go home" and play there with a Duke team. Shreveport...bleah, too far. I'll set my tv outside next to my grill.

Great breakdown Olympic. We need to remember that Duke is still likely an underdog for every remaining game. But with six games remaining, it seems highly probable that we go bowling. I just wouldn't quite book reservations to Miami for early-January just yet...

Three weeks ago I'd have had much lower expectations of our chances vs. VPI and GT. But right now only FSU and Clemson maybe look like they're out of reach. But UNC and Miami at home, and games at VPI and GT certainly seem possible now. Still hoping for a win over VPI, but how sweet would that be to clinch the first bowl in 18 years over bowl-suspended UNC at home??!

Here's a nice CNN/SI snippet very favorable to Cut and to Duke: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...nia-bcs/3.html Like Cameron, the only one I'm not hoping for is Shreveport. Next tier up is Military and Tire Bowl (Charlotte). Any others would be awesome in my mind!

Feinstein has a piece up today on page two of the Washington Post Sports section very disdainful of ACC football. In typical JF fashion, ">>>And then there's - gulp - Duke, the only other team along with Miami and Maryland that's unbeaten in conference play. The Blue Devils are 5-1 and 2-0, thanks in part to playing out-of-conference games against Memphis and Florida International (combined record 2-9) and FCS non-power NCCU. The one time the Blue Devils played a real team (Stanford), they lost, 50-13.They have wins over Wake and UVA and there's actually bowl talk in Durham... there's not a game left on the schedule that Duike will be favored to win. Sadly, Duke and Maryland aren't scheduled to play this season - what a battle that game would be." http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...ff6_story.html

While you are right that Navy gets the Fight Hunger Bowl if they get to six wins, the ACC has first replacement slot if they have eight bowl teams ... the MAC and WAC are next in line.

Let's look at the situation for the ACC:

Sure Bowl teams (2): Florida State, Clemson

Probable Bowl teams (4): Duke, Miami* (unless they stay home due to NCAA issues again), NC State, Virginia Tech (not a lock, especially if they lose to Duke ... but they do finish with BC and Virginia)

Possible Bowl teams: (4) Maryland (three wins already with Virginia Boston College left ... after that it gets tough -- Georgia Tech maybe -- they finish with Clemson, FSU and UNC), Georgia Tech (put themselves in the hole with two OT losses and the loss to Middle Tennessee. They are are two wins with BC coming up, but after that they have to beat three good teams out of BYU, UNC, Georgia, Duke and Maryland); Virginia (looks bad now at 2-4, but they do have possible wins with Maryland and Wake to get going again); Wake Forest (3-3 now, but they get a gimmie with BC and they have a tossup with Virginia and that gets them close)

Not Going Bowling: (x): UNC (ineligible), BC (terrible)

I'm being generous to say that 10 teams are fighting for at least seven and probably eight slots. Not all will make it -- the loser of the Oct. 20 game between Virginia and Wake isn't going bowling. Not sure the winner is, but at least it has a chance.

[OldPhiKap]

Here's a nice CNN/SI snippet very favorable to Cut and to Duke: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...nia-bcs/3.html

"Bowl eligibility is the obvious milestone, but Cutcliffe isn't ready to stop there. The Blue Devils are one of only two ACC Costal Division teams that don't yet have a conference loss (the other is Miami) and they're the only one with fewer than two losses on the season. "I think we can win the division," he said. "... I want them to stay hungry for more than [six wins.]""


Go get 'em Cut!

[devildeac]

No comments from me yet unless the 6th W is recorded. (But anxiously awaiting that Saturday afternoon or evening.) My chicken counter is not working. Yet.

[Dar95]

Not that I want this to come close to mattering, but it is possible that we have already done enough to make it to a bowl. As per this link http://www.cbssports.com/general/blo...fill-the-bowls there are a number of contingencies in case there are not enough bowl eligible teams (this is a particular concern this year due to the continued proliferation of bowl games and the number of ineligible teams - UNC, Penn St., Ohio St.). The last contingency allows teams that are 5-7 which also fall in the top 5 of the APR (the graduation metric that is excluding UConn from next year's bball tourney) to be eligible. Not surprisingly, Duke is one of the top 5.

[DukeSean]

I suppose I'm the only one who might want a Shreveport bowl haha. It's the only one within driving distance, and with the bowls all a couple weeks or so before our first child's due date, staying within driving distance of home is, well, important

I'd be ecstatic with any bowl, so far this season has been a joy to watch unfold