My take on the Hawaii Bowl controversy here

[Stallion]

I realize that but there were several news media reports of SMU players hoping UH wouldn't lose so SMU could go to Hawaii.

[ClickClack]

You guys are making this way too complicated. Of course Hawaii is a great travel destination! However, if I am a player, fan or coach do I want to go to the Hawaii Bowl just because June Jones has connections there OR DO I WANT TO BE A CHAMPION AND GO TO THE LIBERTY BOWL, A BOWL I EARNED BECAUSE OF OUR PLAY ON THE FIELD! Maybe we haven't gone to a bowl or won for the last 25 years because so many people have forgot what you compete for, Championships! Let's raise our expectations to greatness instead of mediocrity! It's not about beaches and good restaurants. Do you think UT is having any discussions about preferring to go to any bowl besides the National Championship Bowl game? You gotta believe. We could be undefeated with a few breaks, refs and coaches playcalling at the end of a few games. If TCU, Cinn and Boise State.....why not SMU!

This is ridiculous. No one is saying that we should play in the Hawaii Bowl and not win the conference championship. Of course, we all want SMU to win C-USA...I think the debate at hand is if we do win C USA..do we go to Hawaii instead of playing in the Liberty bowl. Your UT reference is way out of context as well.

[Z-Man]

I realize that but there were several news media reports of SMU players hoping UH wouldn't lose so SMU could go to Hawaii.

"Dear Lord please let us not be the champs so we can go play on the beach"

?


That's pathetic

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

there were several news media reports of SMU players hoping UH wouldn't lose so SMU could go to Hawaii.

Stallion...I am not disputing you, but can you please provide a credible "news media" URL source for that information?...I would just like to see that with my own eyes.

[Balatro Diabolus Ex]

I realize that but there were several news media reports of SMU players hoping UH wouldn't lose so SMU could go to Hawaii.

"Dear Lord please let us not be the champs so we can go play on the beach"

?


That's pathetic

I thought I answered this once already, but it seems my post has dissapeared. Anway, we were champs. SWC co-champs, with Houston, and they had the tie breaker, so they went to the Cotton Bowl.

I honestly dont remember hearing anything about guys not wanting Houston to lose, but I admit I didnt read the paper much, then. So, perhaps it happened and I just didnt notice.

[The PonyGrad]

I am just so happy we can discuss bowl options.

[SoCal_Pony]

EVERYONE at SMU will be happy with going to a Bowl game, regardless of the location.

Congratulations JJ and SMU

But take SMU out of the equation and ask yourself this.

Of the literally thousands of bowl games that have been played over the past several decades, can you even name 10 times that a team has refused to go to a bowl that the Champion is entitled to and instead taken a lesser bowl?

It is quite unusual and therefore worthy of debate on this board.

[ponydawg]

I realize that but there were several news media reports of SMU players hoping UH wouldn't lose so SMU could go to Hawaii.

"Dear Lord please let us not be the champs so we can go play on the beach"

?


That's pathetic

I thought I answered this once already, but it seems my post has dissapeared. Anway, we were champs. SWC co-champs, with Houston, and they had the tie breaker, so they went to the Cotton Bowl.

I honestly dont remember hearing anything about guys not wanting Houston to lose, but I admit I didnt read the paper much, then. So, perhaps it happened and I just didnt notice.

Yall are confusing the simple minds of P-fans. You guys are talking different decades I believe.
I believe stallion and X are talking about the 84 team not the '09 team. Houston played an outcome both times.

[Crong]

Will these be gifts from the Hawaii Bowl this year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_amg-Aos4

[Stallion]

If you want to pay for it here is a story from November 1984 which I believe is refering to SMU players quoted as happy to be going to Hawaii rather than Cotton Bowl..I think UH and Rice always played in the first week of December and SMU players were celebrating a 31--28 or so victory on Thanksgiving Nite over Arkansas on National TV before they were eliminated from Cotton Bowl race. I know I read and heard multiple stories on this so I'm not paying.


THE TURKEY AWARDS: TOUGH COMPETITION
$2.95 - Miami Herald - NewsBank - Nov 23, 1984
To SMU football players for hula-dancing and talking of trips to the tanning ... Granted, the odds are longer than the flight to Hawaii, but don't you still ... Related web pages

[Z-Man]

Yall are confusing the simple minds of P-fans. You guys are talking different decades I believe.
I believe stallion and X are talking about the 84 team not the '09 team. Houston played an outcome both times.

Heh, that was the beauty of my post. It's a pathetic attitude regardless of which team it was about

[SMU21TCU10]

You can get 4 nite packages on the internet for airfare, 4 star accommodations(ex Sheraton Waikiki or Hilton Hawain Village type) and rental car for in the $1800-1900 range for a single and $2800 or so for 2. Less for cheaper accommodations as the cited examples are prime Waikiki Beach resort locations-more for certain 5 star Resorts. You could probably economize with no rental car etc and cheaper hotel in the $1,100-1,200 range

See ya there Stallion!

[SMU 86]

The vote would be 99-1 in favor of Hawaii. If SMU players didn't want to go to the Cotton Bowl over the Hawaii Bowl in 1984 then they damn sure wouldn't care about the Liberty Bowl today. Some of these kids may never have an opportunity to go to Hawaii in their life.

In 84 it didnt come down to a vote, Houston held 2 tiebreakers. They beat us head-to-head, and it had been longer since they had played in the Cotton Bowl (which was an actual tiebreaker back then) than us. So, that meant they got the conference champions automatic bid to the Cotton Bowl, and we were at loose ends. Our only options were Hawaii, or Shreveport.

I was at SMU that year and know several of the players. They wanted to go tot the Hawaii Bowl more than the Cotton Bowl (they were happy Houston won the tiebreaker). When they came back you could see it was once of the most rewarding things that they had ever been involved in.

[Longtime]

SoCal Pony: It's rare for a bowl to take a team out of its slotting order, but it does happen. I can't cite specific examples, but if it's a better decision for all parties, then they do make changes in their selection order.

Usually it's at the lower end of a major conference's bowl selections. Say there's a minimum payout bowl in Florida that by contract chooses ahead of a minimum payout bowl in Texas. Texas Tech finishes ahead of Nebraska in the standings and would, by slotting order, be chosen for Florida and Nebraska would be headed to Texas. Now, Nebraska fans will travel anywhere and are accustomed to traveling to Florida for Orange Bowls. Tech fans travel well, but not in the droves they would to a bowl in-state. So they all agree to have the Florida Bowl choose Nebraska ahead of Tech. Everybody's happy.

I don't recall such an instance happening with a conference champion, but I could definitely see the Liberty Bowl, C-USA and SMU agreeing to let SMU go to Hawaii if the Mustangs win out. It's a wise move. As long as SMU gets the trophy and gets to call itself champion, does it really matter?

If the Liberty Bowl is contractually required to take the C-USA champion then, well, contracts can be re-written. I'm sure there's a lawyer who could draw up an amendment. The bowls are in the money-making business, the conferences like to keep the bowls happy.

Financially, it makes no difference to SMU. All C-USA bowl money is put into one pot and then divided among the schools, with the schools that played in bowls getting an extra share.

SMU's "approved expenses" for the Hawaii trip will be covered by C-USA's bowl revenue, but SMU probably will come out in the red if it goes to Hawaii. There will be expenses not covered by the conference. No one makes money playing in Hawaii, but for such an historic event SMU shouldn't mind.

From a selfish standpoint, I would like for the few diehards who have followed SMU to be able to see their team in a bowl they can drive to, or hop on a Southwest flight to get to. I would also like for the national media to be able to fly into Memphis to do an SMU feature at the bowl site. Nobody except the DMN is going to send a reporter to Hawaii over Christmas.

But from a recruiting standpoint: pictures of SMU players hanging ten in Hawaii, players telling recruits on their visits what a blast Hawaii was - you can't put a price on that.

[Stallion]

TCU v. Boise St last year is an example in that second San Diego Bowl. Neither the MWC or WAC sends their No. 1 selection(after BCS) to that Bowl-it was an ESPN arranged game.