FoxSports Super Early Bowl Predictions/Projections

[No BS Dawg]

Hope this isn't Germans...

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8144896/Bowl-projections:-Vols,-Sooners-on-collision-course??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=24

I'd be thrilled with two in a row and could care less what bowl it would be....

 

[No BS Dawg]

Hope this isn't Germans...

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/8144896/Bowl-projections:-Vols,-Sooners-on-collision-course??CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=24

I'd be thrilled with two in a row and could care less what bowl it would be....

 

[Dawg725]

I agree...two years in a row would be fantastic.

 

[OEMDawg]

Depends on how the season plays out.

6-6 and playing in the Pizza Bowl, no problem. 7-5 or better and playing in B'ham and there are major issues with that.

 

[Faustdog]

That all of our wins last year were because our opponent had an off week, and that it's back to three wins next year.

 

[Coach34]

it was because of our defensive TD's, not them having an off day

 

[ArrowDawg]

I'd be thrilled with two in a row and could care less what bowl it would be....

</p>Then why don't you?

 

[ArrowDawg]

.........it's hard to believe we'll "sustain" any success beyond that one year unless the offense gets much better. That's been my contention.

 

[patdog]

I really don't see us winning 8 again either. My guess is 6-6 and either a loss on the Papa Johns bowl or a win in the Indy Bowl.

 

[Oxford Godfrey]

So if the Pizza Bowl is a go with the SEC, what's the best of the worst bowls (Shreveport, B'ham, Memphis)? I'm going Pizza, because you can gamble in one and Beale in the other.

 

[Todd4State]

So if the Pizza Bowl is a go with the SEC, what's the best of the worst bowls (Shreveport, B'ham, Memphis)? I'm going Pizza, because you can gamble in one and Beale in the other.

</p>The Liberty Bowl was pretty good as far as being well run for the most part and the fact that Memphis has some fun things to do- the Grizzlies happened to be in town the day before the LB. The Liberty Bowl stadium is nicer than Legion or the Indy Bowl- other than the fact that all almost got crushed in the concourse after the game on the ends of the stadium. Also, Beale St. has some neat restaurants, the Gibson Guitar Factory, some great Blues music, the Rondezvous (I like them, sorry to offend the other BBQ people), Graceland (if you're into that sort of thing) and Peabody Place is a good place to park downtown. It's just a well run bowl.

The Indy Bowl would probably be second. They have the Riverwalk thing that is pretty neat, and the Casinos- which I'm not really all that in to personally.

The Pizza Bowl would be the worst. Last time we went there to a bowl, I think a tornado went through or something like that. Anyway, the stadium is a dump- not that the others are a football palace, but Legion is the worst of the three, and it's in a war zone- not that the others are in a real safe part of town, but Legion is in the worst of the three. It's also the newest bowl of the three, which means that there are probably some kinks that they still have to work out. And then as far as Birmingham, you have the Galleria, which is a great place to buy a Van Tiffin lithograph. I know that there are some Civil Rights things in Birmingham, but I really don't know what else is there that would be fun for a bowl trip.

 

[patdog]

but Birmingham is working toward building a new domed stadium. UAB will have a real nice 72,000 seat domed stadium to cram their 10,000 fans in.

 

[RocketCityDawg]

That's one program in definite quicksand territory.

Not that we dominated them last year. I was still happy for the W.

RCD

 

[RebelBruiser]

Safety of the neighborhood:
1. Shreveport - by default
2. Memphis - a couple blocks from Orange Mound
3. Birmingham - dodge the bullets on your way in

Things to do in town:
1. Memphis - Beale, Grizzlies, again probably by default
2. Shreveport - small time gambling
3. Birmingham - Dreamland maybe

Geographic location:
1. Birmingham - centrally located for most SEC teams
2. Memphis
3. Shreveport

Pecking order:
1. Memphis - shares its pick with the Music City
2T. Birmingham
2T. Shreveport - not sure if either the Indy or Pizza have first pick - they may share it

Title Sponsor:
1. Birmingham - Papa John's - It's Pizza, everyone loves pizza
2. Memphis - Autozone - better than the Indy Bowl
3. Shreveport - PetroSun - considering they change title sponsors every 2 years, Poulan WeedEater would've put them at the top

History/Tradition:
1. Memphis - long-standing bowl that can claim quite a few big names and occasionally even a big game
2. Shreveport - always been a suck bowl, but it's been a suck bowl for a long time
3. Birmingham - failed with the All-American Bowl, trying again with the Pizza Bowl, no tradition

That's my professionally unprofessional best of the worst bowls. By my tally, that makes the Liberty Bowl the best of the worst with the Papa John's and Indy Bowls tied for worst of the worst.

Of course the Liberty Bowl still sucks worse than the rest of the SEC tie ins.

 

[beachbumdawg]

i believe the mayor (langford) wants to put it close to Trussville, but the mayor of Trussville is greatly opposed to the idea, so there has been some argument back and forth............if that were to happen that would probably kill the idea thats been floating around of creating a sort of strip (bars/restaurants) downtown next to the new dome........obviously the new mayor is an idiot

 

[dogfan96]

I didn't realize it didn't count if the defense is the stronger unit and makes a lot of plays.

Signed,
The Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl Champions

 

[Coach34]

I didn't realize it didn't count if the defense is the stronger unit and makes a lot of plays.

Signed,
The Baltimore Ravens, Super Bowl Champions

because they also show what happens when you never improve your offense and rely on defense too much. They went 7-9 the next season after they won the SB. The Defense cant do it every year and because of that, their SB winning coach was fired. Thanks for a great comparision.</p>

 

[Faustdog]

would be to look at the seasons before they won the super bowl, and put us at that point.. They dug themselves out of the cellar to win a championship.

 

[OEMDawg]

I'd agree. Like I said in my previous post, if you are 6-6 and looking to sneak into a bowl then I have no problem with Birmingham. But, if you are 7-5 or greater and get placed there, I'd view it more as a punishment than a reward. The Liberty was a decent bowl for us, especially after a long drought. But, if you want to sustain bowl trips you expect to move up. For once, I'd LOVE to see us play in a Florida bowl. I know it's a pipe dream as long as UT, Florida, LSU, or Bama just miss out on a BCS bid. But, for once, I'd love for us to get to a "real" bowl, somewhere other than Atlanta or Dallas.

I know that Shreveport is not a great destination, but people react like the bowl is trash. At least it has a little bit of history and is an established bowl. Even the Music City Bowl is coming around, seeing as we had a lot of people on here begging to go to the game. While majorly convenient for a lot of people, I just don't see any reward in playing in Birmingham against a bottom tier Big Least team.

 

[dogfan96]

you only shortchanged them 3 games (they went 10-6 the next year, not 7-9)...the Ravens actually made the playoffs again the next season (again as a wild card).. they got rid of Dilfer (who was good at managing their offense) and brought in Elvis Grbac (who sucked horribly.. threw for a worse completion % than Dilfer did the previous year and had more INTs than TDs) and Jamal Lewis got hurt, which effectively killed their offense. They won a playoff game but lost in the next round (thanks to Grbac throwing 3 picks).
The next year they got hit by the salary cap and had to let go of some good players, effectively ending their run. Now I see why everyone is on your *** so much... you rarely know what the hell you're talking about</p>

 

[Coach34]

My mistake, I did check the wrong season. But the point of the post is still the same- The Ravens were not able to win consistently with a great defense because they never improved their offense.</p>

 

[dogfan96]

The Ravens went downhill because of poor personnel moves (on both sides of the ball) and bad salary cap management.. their talent level slowly decreased.. our talent seems to be steadily increasing

 

[Oxford Godfrey]

And not because I live here.

For State and Ole Miss fans, Nashville is more of a destination than Memphis, Birmingham or North Louisiana. I'm not saying Nashville in December is South Beach or Pasadena, but it's a lot better than those other three cities.

Past the crime and the lack of prestige (because "Music City Bowl" isn't reall a grandaddy of anything), Nashville has two major things the other three don't

1) A great facility. LP Field. Titans Stadium. 10ish years old, NFL stadium. Nothing amazing, but it's a nice stadium.

2) Bars in walking distance. This to me is huge. If you aren't on a college campus, you want a great vibe around your bowl. You can park on Broadway, drink in a variety of places downtown and take the walking bridge from First Avenue over the river and directly to the stadium.

 

[DowntownDawg]

....our victories last year were more due to overall defensive play than defensive TD's. Only one or two defensive touchdowns made a real difference in the outcome of the game. You keep saying things that have been disproven over and over again.

 

[DowntownDawg]

...the more appropriate comparison would be Mississippi State football in the 1990's. Whenever we've been successful, we've been able to 1) Run the football 2) Have a good to great defense, and 3) Have at least adequate special teams.

This was the formula Croom used this year, and it worked. Granted, the offense simply has to improve, but this is the tried and true formula. And I hope we win 8 or more boring games next year.

Go watch Memphis if you want to see some exciting offense. I'd rather win.