Take a dart, throw it at a board, and play the "Where will USF go bowling?" game
As USF prepares for the final home game of the season Saturday against Tulsa, there is increasing speculation – also known as guessing – about which bowl game the Bulls might go to.
That assumes that they will win at least one of their two remaining games against sub-.500 competition. I mean, they should win both games – Tulsa and Rice. Then again, Biff Poggi and Tom Herman learned the danger of assumption because both men no doubt assumed they’d be coaching this weekend.
Anyway, do you know who’s not thinking much about where the Bulls might go? It’s head coach Alex Golesh.
We've never had the goal of a bowl game,” he said. “I know, it’s maybe cliche, but literally, (we’re) just trying to be the best version of us from week to week. And we've not once talked about these guys about a bowl game.
“My expectation. I think our players' expectations, I think everybody's expectations, is that when we get this to where everybody expects it to be, we're not competing to go to a bowl game.”
I get it. Alabama and Ohio State don’t start the year hoping they’ll go to a bowl game. It’s just expected, and that’s what Golesh wants.
It’s a different story for fans, though. During my years covering sports at The Tampa Tribune, I covered all kinds of bowl games – big ones, little ones, far away ones, nearby ones, and ones that left me wondering why they even existed. Fans didn’t seem to care where it was or who was playing as long as they got to watch their team one more time.
So, let’s survey the landscape of random guesswork.
You can click here to see a list of the American Athletic Conference bowl tie-ins.
Remember that these are made-for-TV events, many owned by ESPN. Television will have the final say on who plays where.
UNION HOME MORTGAGE GASPARILLA BOWL, December 20, Tampa: College Football News projects that the Bulls will play the Florida Gators in this tilt at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Why it could happen: That matchup would likely ensure a significantly larger crowd than this game might otherwise get.
Why it won’t happen: I doubt the Gators would be interested in this, much like UCF didn’t want to play the Bulls last year in the same bowl. And since they’ve got the SEC clout behind them, I expect Florida to go somewhere else – assuming the Gators get one more win to become bowl-eligible.
CURE BOWL, December 20, Orlando: Athlon Sports, the New York Times, Yardbarker, and CBS Sports say the Bulls will travel Interstate 4 again for their bowl experience. Athlon and Yardbarker say USF will face Georgia Southern, while the Times says Marshall is the opponent. CBS says Boston College will be the opponent – although, for now, it doesn’t appear that bowl has a tie-in with the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Why it could happen: The game has a tie-in with the American Athletic Conference, and USF would be the only Florida team with a winning record.
Why it won’t happen: They don’t have to take a Florida team, of course, and local hotels and restaurants would prefer they didn’t. They want teams from up north to enjoy balmy December weather in Tampa. Remember, these things are infomercials for tourism.
ISLETA NEW MEXICO BOWL, December 28, Albuquerque: Sports Illustrated zigged while everyone else zagged and picked USF to fly cross country and oppose Arkansas.
Why it could happen: The AAC does have a tie-in with this bowl, so don’t rule anything out. It would be fun to see the Bulls tangle with another SEC team.
Why it won’t happen: While Albuquerque is s fine city, and this would be a cool trip for the Bulls, I can’t imagine many USF fans would make the journey to see it in person. Then again, that would guarantee some local eyeballs to watch the telecast.
Stay tuned.
