Poll: Bowl Game & Opponent Preference

Which bowl game/opponent combo would you prefer?

  • Citrus (Tampa) vs. Alabama

    Votes: 50 40.0%

  • Citrus vs. Auburn

    Votes: 12 9.6%

  • Ouback (Orlando) vs. Auburn

    Votes: 24 19.2%

  • Outback vs. Tennessee

    Votes: 28 22.4%

  • Outback vs. Texas A&M

    Votes: 10 8.0%

  • Gator (Jacksonville) vs. Tennessee

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Gator vs. Texas A&M

    Votes: 1 0.8%

  • Gator vs. Kentucky

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    125
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MGGopher

MGGopher

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I was originally planning to post a poll asking which bowl matchups/locales would entice you to travel since I'm having a debate with my family about going (obviously everyone was going to the Rose Bowl, but less excitement now). That said, I've seen a lot of debate in the bowl projections thread about whether it's best to be in a premier bowl game vs. a premier opponent or a lesser game against a lesser opponent. Which do you prefer? And if you're inclined, make a post about whether you'd travel.

Personally, I want the biggest game vs. the biggest opponent and I would definitely travel to the Citrus or Outback if the opponent were Alabama or Auburn. Doubt I'd travel if the opponent were lesser or we ended up in the Gator Bowl.
 



I voted Citrus vs Alabama, but I understand the "Outback vs Tennessee" vote as well. Twenty years from now 11-2 is gonna look like 11-2 no matter who we played on NYD, as long as it was NYD
 



Outback bowl and I don’t care who the opponent is
 

I know Holiday and Rose are both almost zero chance, but West coast would be my first choice.
 

My preference is really NYD bowl against any opponent (with a preference towards a harder opponent because of the greater upside if we win). Alabama as an opponent has more of an upside than downside. The downside is i we get blown out, which would suck and take a lot of the momentum into the off season away. However if we stay a score or two away and lose, then we can say "We played them well and are getting close to their tier, let keep the boat rowing so we can get there". And boy, if we won, then we could say that we are at the tier where we can compete and beat championship level teams, which would be a huge boost. That or at least we can rejoice in that fact that we showed that Alabama was overrated :p Whatever happens, I'm excited for the bowl game :)
 




BTW, I reversed the cities associated with Citrus (actually in Orlando) and Outback (actually in Tampa). My bad on that. Doubt location matters much, but I wanted to throw it out there. Tried to edit just now, but I guess one can't change the poll options. Serious survey research protocols :)

Interesting so far. Almost half in favor of the biggest stage and biggest opponent as opposed to an easier win.
 



metrolax said:
I voted Citrus vs Alabama, but I understand the "Outback vs Tennessee" vote as well. Twenty years from now 11-2 is gonna look like 11-2 no matter who we played on NYD, as long as it was NYD
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I understand and agree with most of what you say, except the "no matter who we played" part.

If the Gophers played Alabama — and beat them to go 11-2 — well, that would change perceptions nation-wide. That would be simply huge for this program.

And, yes, that would be remembered 20 years from now.
 



Citrus vs. Alabama

I'd prefer the Outback bowl since we recently played in the Citrus Bowl.....but only if it were against Alabama. The Outback Bowl against Auburn would be great too though.
 

MGGopher said:
BTW, I reversed the cities associated with Citrus (actually in Orlando) and Outback (actually in Tampa). My bad on that. Doubt location matters much, but I wanted to throw it out there. Tried to edit just now, but I guess one can't change the poll options. Serious survey research protocols :)

Interesting so far. Almost half in favor of the biggest stage and biggest opponent as opposed to an easier win.
Click to expand...

Shows the problem with letting the ignorant masses vote at all. (That's a joke, sort of.)?
 

Outback vs Auburn. Seems like a no brainier for me. A quality SEC opponent that the gophers could have a decent chance of beating as opposed to Alabama, (just a gut reaction on the Auburn/Alabama thing, Alabama pissed after Auburn loss...Aurburn resting on their laurels gets gut punched by MN). A great chance to represent the Big10 in a big game. And besides Orlando vs Tampa.... Beach anyone?
 


Bama in the Outback. I think with the backup QB the Gophers have a reasonable chance at winning, and beating Bama would be a heck of a consolation prize to end the year.

Tampa also has an ocean and Orlando doesn’t.
 

Outback Bowl vs whoever, mostly because my flight is already booked to Tampa! Citrus would be okay too.
 

If the Gophers get matched up against Tennessee they can avenge that 1986 Liberty Bowl loss! I remember watching that game and the D just couldn’t stop them down the stretch. Jeff Francis was the QB for TN. Don’t know why I remember that though.
 

Igor95 said:
If the Gophers get matched up against Tennessee they can avenge that 1986 Liberty Bowl loss! I remember watching that game and the D just couldn’t stop them down the stretch. Jeff Francis was the QB for TN. Don’t know why I remember that though.
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Francis had the game of his life that night.....
 

RememberMurray said:
I understand and agree with most of what you say, except the "no matter who we played" part.

If the Gophers played Alabama — and beat them to go 11-2 — well, that would change perceptions nation-wide. That would be simply huge for this program.

And, yes, that would be remembered 20 years from now.
Click to expand...

Beating Bama in the Citrus WOULD be the one exception, yes
 

I've been watching bowls since before the Big Ten let two play in em. Back in the day, bowl scouts could tender invites WEEKS before the seasons ended. Then, as the years went by, it became more systematic and all until we see where we are today. Even today, with all the measuring sticks, all the rules, with every publication making their predictions, bowl invites more often than not tend to surprise.
 

Citrus has a slightly higher payout than the Outback and Gator ($4.25M vs $3.5M for both). All three are in Florida, all three played NYD or Jan 2, all three vs the SEC.

I think we're talking about very small differences here.

So given that, I would like whatever the optimal combination of two factors is: highest viewership, and highest chance to win!
 


Personally, I would like them to play in Texas. You'll never guess why.
 

MplsGopher said:
Citrus has a slightly higher payout than the Outback and Gator ($4.25M vs $3.5M for both). All three are in Florida, all three played NYD or Jan 2, all three vs the SEC.

I think we're talking about very small differences here.

So given that, I would like whatever the optimal combination of two factors is: highest viewership, and highest chance to win!
Click to expand...
Doesn't the payout just go to the conference anyway to be split?
 

BeerFueledFF said:
Doesn't the payout just go to the conference anyway to be split?
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Yes, of course.

But usually, the higher the payout, the more "prestigious" the bowl is, in the sense that it has more viewership, which in turn equals bigger TV contract (and ticket revenue) which can then go to finance larger payouts.

It's one proxy to "rank" bowl games. Maybe not the best one.
 


Case in point: in years where the Rose and Sugar Bowls aren't CFP semi-finals, they payout $40M !

Next I believe is the Orange at $20M? Fairly steep dropoff after that.
 

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