2024 FB Bowl Watch

I was at the Texas A&M Peach Bowl game. I thought Duke traveled pretty well. Granted, it was Atlanta, so maybe Duke's invite needs to be a bigger city with a lot of Alums already living in the area. I'm not sure how many alums live in the State of Florida, if Duke indeed gets an invitation to a Florida Bowl.
My recollection of the first few bowls that Duke made under Cutcliffe was that we did travel quite well - at least in comparison to what was typical for the lower and lower middle tier bowls we were playing in. We certainly didn’t bring the massive fan base a huge state school in the Big 10 or SEC was capable of, but we were making bowl games for the first time in ages and therefore enthusiasm to attend was high, and they were the type of bowls the big schools would be disappointed in and therefore not travel to in their usual force. That calculus made us surprisingly attractive to bowls.

Not sure if that perception has changed since then, or if our enthusiasm as a fan base to travel has diminished with the bowl appearances becoming somewhat more regular over the past decade.
 
I agree. Not that excited about playing a Central FL or Troy. Let’s play a Power 4 team and see where we stand. I went to 1994 Hall of fame bowl and Peach Bowl vs A&M. I recall good Duke contingent at both, especially Peach Bowl
UCF is a P4 program and is a much bigger name than Troy. But sure, they aren’t USC or Texas or anything, and their head coach did just quit to be a coordinator at FSU.
 
For me the location of the bowl matters and I have to believe it matters to the players too. It’s just not that fun for the fans or the teams to play in a bowl game that is really close to home. The Charlotte Bowl for Duke. (Making a few up) the Arizona Bowl for Arizona. The Music City bowl for Vandy or Tennessee etc. I think a big part of the fun is being out of town, not a bus ride away. The hotel. The pageantry. The partying at night. That’s what makes it feel special and like something that really has been earned and that matters. Playing too close to home and just heading over on the day of the game or the day before makes it feel like it’s just another game. Maybe it’s just me but that’s what I feel. I’d love us to play in the Holiday or Sun or Gator or Music City etc. Makes it so much more fun for the fans and the team.
 
For me the location of the bowl matters and I have to believe it matters to the players too. It’s just not that fun for the fans or the teams to play in a bowl game that is really close to home. The Charlotte Bowl for Duke. (Making a few up) the Arizona Bowl for Arizona. The Music City bowl for Vandy or Tennessee etc. I think a big part of the fun is being out of town, not a bus ride away. The hotel. The pageantry. The partying at night. That’s what makes it feel special and like something that really has been earned and that matters. Playing too close to home and just heading over on the day of the game or the day before makes it feel like it’s just another game. Maybe it’s just me but that’s what I feel. I’d love us to play in the Holiday or Sun or Gator or Music City etc. Makes it so much more fun for the fans and the team.
100% agree
I would love go to the Sun Bowl or the Holiday Bowl. No way am I going to the Mayo bowl.
 
Isn’t a coordinator really a coach in waiting at FSU now?

-jk
Yeah. And he may have been getting out of Dodge (er, Orlando) just ahead of an angry, pitchfork-wielding mob. But your HC going elsewhere voluntarily as a coordinator is still a terrible look.
 
Manny says he’d like a warm location but I fear we don’t get to pick and choose a whole lot. We’ll see Agree that a trip out west would appeal to players
 
Here's a few Monday updates on how people are thinking.

College Football News and ActionNetwork both say Duke in the Sun Bowl (El Paso 12/31), one vs USC and one vs Washington.
CBS (and a few others) Duke vs Minnesota in the Mayo Bowl (Charlotte 1/3) Athlon has us there vs Nebraska
247 Sports Duke vs Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa 12/20)
I doubt this one very much, and the folks guessing say they have no clue. "Given Duke's nine-win finish, it will be interesting to see where the Blue Devils land. Anywhere from Jacksonville (Gator) to San Diego (Holiday) and a matchup with Florida in Tampa would fall somewhere in between. The Gators finished with a three-game winning streak under Billy Napier with victories over LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State." Another more likely guess has UNC vs Florida.

And lastly, the sports world giants, The New York Times, has us in the Gator Bowl vs Florida. (Which is far more believable than either team in the Gasparilla, but would be lame given that we'd be playing the home team.)
 
. . . And lastly, the sports world giants, The New York Times, has us in the Gator Bowl vs Florida. (Which is far more believable than either team in the Gasparilla, but would be lame given that we'd be playing the home team.)
(Looks around cautiously.) Well, as someone who would get to see both of his teams play without having to attend two different bowl games, and would benefit from being able to drive over to the stadium and then back home after the game in the same day, allow me to cast a vote in favor of this proposed matchup. 😁
 
(Looks around cautiously.) Well, as someone who would get to see both of his teams play without having to attend two different bowl games, and would benefit from being able to drive over to the stadium and then back home after the game in the same day, allow me to cast a vote in favor of this proposed matchup. 😁
I'd love to see the matchup, just not so close to Gainesville!
 
For years, I have wanted Duke to get a Gator Bowl invite, since it is only a 2 hour drive for me and I could easily attend. But since that means an SEC opponent, and probably a pretty good one like Florida, I’m not sure I am in favor of that this year. Plus there aren’t many Duke alums in the area - I think Charlotte would attract a lot more Duke fans, although I know there’s a discrepancy in $ and bowl prestige.

Having Wake grads in my family, I am reminded of the Gator Bowl in 2021 - Wake Forest had won their division but lost to Pitt in the ACC championship game. Iirc, they were selected to play in the Gator Bowl against Texas A&M. But TA&M had a lot of players saying they were opting out, so the school chose to take advantage of the Covid exception and opt out as a team. Wake fans were convinced, and I agreed at the time, that Jimbo was afraid he might be embarrassed by a motivated ACC team, with so many opt outs. Rutgers, selected by another bowl whose opponent had also opted out iirc, filled in for A&M and lost to Wake. Also a cautionary tale for how fast a program can fall in the current football landscape - Wake won 11 games and was 7-1 in the ACC just 3 years ago.
It shows you how much an elite quarterback means to a team. Wake had Sam Hartman in 2021!
 
Here's a few Monday updates on how people are thinking.

College Football News and ActionNetwork both say Duke in the Sun Bowl (El Paso 12/31), one vs USC and one vs Washington.
CBS (and a few others) Duke vs Minnesota in the Mayo Bowl (Charlotte 1/3) Athlon has us there vs Nebraska
247 Sports Duke vs Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa 12/20)
I doubt this one very much, and the folks guessing say they have no clue. "Given Duke's nine-win finish, it will be interesting to see where the Blue Devils land. Anywhere from Jacksonville (Gator) to San Diego (Holiday) and a matchup with Florida in Tampa would fall somewhere in between. The Gators finished with a three-game winning streak under Billy Napier with victories over LSU, Ole Miss and Florida State." Another more likely guess has UNC vs Florida.

And lastly, the sports world giants, The New York Times, has us in the Gator Bowl vs Florida. (Which is far more believable than either team in the Gasparilla, but would be lame given that we'd be playing the home team.)
Honestly, I like all of these matchups. Give me Washington/USC/Florida. That's a matchup we can tell our grandkids about no matter what the result.
 
(Looks around cautiously.) Well, as someone who would get to see both of his teams play without having to attend two different bowl games, and would benefit from being able to drive over to the stadium and then back home after the game in the same day, allow me to cast a vote in favor of this proposed matchup. 😁
I like the cut of your jib.
 
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