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EmailLess than three weeks before bowl invitations are finalized, Texas Bowl officials are sorting through plenty of scenarios.
Join the crowd.
With the Big 12 expected to land two teams in the lucrative Bowl Championship Series bowl lineup, the conference will not have enough teams to fill its eight bowl commitments. That means no Big 12 team in the Texas Bowl — which has the last pick among the conference’s bowl-eligible teams — for the second straight year.
There is no shortage of possible teams lining up to play in the Dec. 30 game at Reliant Stadium, according to Texas Bowl manager Heather Houston.
“People want to come here,” Houston said. “We’ve built a really good reputation with this bowl game.”
Under the bowl tie-ins, the Texas Bowl was to feature teams from the Big 12 and Conference USA this year. Rice (7-3) is among the top C-USA choices to play in the game, which would give the Texas Bowl a local flavor for the second year in a row. The University of Houston and TCU played in last year’s game.
Navy (6-4), an independent, would have been an attractive choice, but the Midshipmen have a deal with the Congressional Bowl and won’t be eligible to play in the Texas Bowl until 2009.
The Texas Bowl also may turn to the Mountain West Conference and Air Force, which has a local tie with coach Troy Calhoun, the former offensive coordinator with the Texans. Despite playing in last year’s game, TCU (9-2) has expressed interest in playing in the game because of its strong recruiting ties to the Houston area. There is also a surplus of teams from the Big East, West Athletic and Sun Belt conferences that could become bowl partners.
‘A fan of the game’
Texas coach Mack Brown was asked this week if he plans to root for Oklahoma against Texas Tech. The fifth-ranked Sooners can create a three-way tie for first place in the Big 12 South by beating No. 2 Texas Tech.
Brown said the last time he cheered for OU was in the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State in 2003. With a win, the Longhorns would have gone to the Fiesta Bowl. OU lost, 35-7, sending Texas to the Holiday Bowl.
“I realized that night me being a fan of either doesn’t really matter,” Brown said. “I’ll just sit back and watch and be a fan of the game.”
Hats off to victory
Coach Art Briles brought a tradition with him from the University of Houston to Baylor. After each victory, he takes off his Baylor cap, writes the date and final score and throws it into the student section.
“We’d certainly like to start giving them away because that means we won,” Briles said. “It’s just a way to show appreciation to our student body.”
Playoff, anyone?
While Missouri has clinched the North, the Big 12 is bracing for a potential sticky situation that would involve the BCS standings determining the South winner in the event of a three-way tie between Texas Tech, Texas and Oklahoma.
“Depending on which end of the table you’re at, that will be good or bad,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Unfortunately, that’s the way it may come down.”
Pinkel jokingly offered a solution: “We’ll probably have a mini-playoff in-between the middle of the week, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Of course, Texas Tech can avoid any of the late drama by beating Oklahoma on Saturday to clinch the South title.
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