Sid: On campus sources say Gophers to Holiday Bowl

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I read that Stanford is pretty much a lock for the Foster Farms Bowl.
 

Sports_Realist said:
I can't go regardless of the location, but San Diego is a fantastic city. However, playing in a December 27 bowl would be a comedown even if it's considered tier one by the Big Ten, is the lone bowl in prime time that evening, has a rich history, and would offer a PAC-12 foe of name or ranking stature. To the general public and casual fans, a non New Year's Bowl is considered minor. The Big Ten can call the Holiday Bowl tier one and have the diehards get it, but to the average fan who needs to be converted to a raging fantatic, the Holiday Bowl might as well be the Music City Bowl or the Cactus (formerly Insight) Bowl. This program absolutely needs to make either the Citrus or Outback Bowls to better further the mission of building this program to the next level and beyond.
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Why would you care about the perceptions of casual fans? How would Minnesota's bowl placement motivate their behaviors much one way or the other?
 

Not sure if I believe this. How can anyone at the U know what bowl we end up in. The BIG championship game hasn't even been played yet and that could effect how many BIG teams go to bowls selected by Playoff committee. Two or three teams will be picked and that could effect where we go.
 

cjbfbp said:
Except the projections consistently have shown AZ St. in the Holiday with USC going to the San Francisco (Foster Farms) Bowl. AZ St. beat USC on the road and they are ranked #17 by the CFP rankings.
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Still banging that Arizona State drum?
 

jovs said:
San Diego wouldn't be as warm as Tampa or Orlando but I would think it would be a much better place to spend 4 or 5 days. Staying at the Del should be on everyone's bucket list, add a Gopher game to the trip with a stay at the Del and you couldn't do better.
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San Diego appears to be 4-6 degrees cooler than Tampa on average at that time of year. Fine either way, but if the game time temperature was 76 degrees, I would think our players would have more of an adjustment than SEC players. The Holiday Bowl is at night so it should be cooler.
 


As someone who has almost begged for the gophers to play in a decent destination bowl game (alamo or better), I'd love to go to the Holiday bowl. Great weather, great exposure (own the time slot and on ESPN), and play a decent Pac 12 team.

The Outback bowl (as cool as that also is) is buried behind the Citrus and cotton bowl and is on ESPN2. Also a great location but perhaps not the exposure that the Holiday bowl gives.

Also, fly into LAX and take that awesome drive down to San Diego. It may save some money.
 

One of the reasons San Diego is an expensive flight is there is a curfew on take offs because the airport is right next to downtown.
 

Boof said:
As someone who has almost begged for the gophers to play in a decent destination bowl game (alamo or better), I'd love to go to the Holiday bowl. Great weather, great exposure (own the time slot and on ESPN), and play a decent Pac 12 team.

The Outback bowl (as cool as that also is) is buried behind the Citrus and cotton bowl and is on ESPN2. Also a great location but perhaps not the exposure that the Holiday bowl gives.

Also, fly into LAX and take that awesome drive down to San Diego. It may save some money.
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That's the way I feel.
 

If we play USC is a complete letdown. I don't know when the last time I heard anything about them this season. On the other hand every sports station talks about every SEC team ad nauseum so therefore we would get much greater exposure if we play in Florida against an SEC team.

Playing USC would be a non-event.
 



cjbfbp said:
San Diego appears to be 4-6 degrees cooler than Tampa on average at that time of year. Fine either way, but if the game time temperature was 76 degrees, I would think our players would have more of an adjustment than SEC players. The Holiday Bowl is at night so it should be cooler.
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But what about the humidity? Please, for the love of God, what about the humidity?
 

Consider checking Flights to John Wayne/irvine/Santa Ana and long beach as well. Drive times highly variable but about 1.5 hrs to the game from John Wayne and about 2.5 from lax.
 

I'd rather not play on the road at USC again. It would be an essential home game for them.

But that's just me.
 




afurry91 said:
I'd rather not play on the road at USC again. It would be an essential home game for them.

But that's just me.
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I was at the Music City Bowl when Gopher fans were outnumbered by Alabama fans 60,000 - 3,000, and being so overmatched in fan support made the win that much more satisfying.

That said, I expect Minnesota would be well-represented in San Diego, though not quite as much as in Florida.
 

The positive in this is that of the destinations we seem to be in the mix for their really isn't a bad option. Some people get way too hung up on the Jan 1 date which doesn't mean anything close to what it used to mean.
 

cjbfbp said:
Why would you care about the perceptions of casual fans? How would Minnesota's bowl placement motivate their behaviors much one way or the other?
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Regardng why I care about the perceptions of casual fans, it boils down to this. Gopher Football will never get to a higher level and stay there unless the fan support grows. That includes people going to games, watching on TV, listening regularly to the radio broadcasts, buying merchandise, calling into KFAN and KSTP with the hosts of the stations' shows increasing their discussion of Gopher Football due to the rising interest, and increased water cooler chat. Right now we have this deal in which every so often something happens that draws casual fans in closer, but what usually happens is a corresponding negative event happens that pushes them away.

Beat Ohio State in Columbus? Lose to Indiana a week later. Be on the brink of beating Michigan in 2003 and exponentially increasing fan interest? Blow the game and never quite recapture the general public's complete attention despite it being arguably the best season of the post Rose Bowl era. Get a new stadium that primes the market for a big jump? Have a total meltdown in 2010 to undo many of the gains. Get the community excited by only losing to USC 19-17 at the Coliseum in Jerry Kill's debut in 2011? Lose to New Mexico State and North Dakota State in two of the next three games and stop that enthusiasm cold. Beat Syracuse at home at night in front of a big and vibrant crowd in 2012? Lose the next three games including blowouts to Iowa and Wisconsin. Get to 8-2 (4-2) with Wisconsin coming to town in 2013? Lose three straight to end the year on a quieter note.

I point out those setbacks not for the sake of negativity or to rip anyone, but to demonstrate that if the Gophers are going to break through and convert casual fans to committed diehards, they have to keep the momentum of this season going into next year. I believe that the average person who doesn't live and die with this team right now isn't going to be impressed with another non New Year's Day bowl and won't go out of the way to watch what many will perceive, incorrectly, as a third rate bowl game on a Saturday night when there are many entertainment options, activities, and family obligations. On New Year's Day, there's not much to do by comparison. Watching football is a national institution, and playing that day provides a captive audience that perceives the games as meaning more than those on other days. I think a Holiday Bowl bid instead of a Citrus or Outback Bowl bid will wind up being a missed opportunity to get people's attention and hook them further into investing in this team all the way.
 

I'm for San Diego for selfish reasons; 1) I could drive there; 2) I have a brother in law who is a USC alum and big fan. It would be fun to beat them.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
I was at the Music City Bowl when Gopher fans were outnumbered by Alabama fans 60,000 - 3,000, and being so overmatched in fan support made the win that much more satisfying.

That said, I expect Minnesota would be well-represented in San Diego, though not quite as much as in Florida.
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I think the number of Minnesotans who winter on the Gulf Coast of Florida or have settled there permanently would make for a good turn out by Gopher fans if we wind up in Tampa. Not only do you have the snow birds and retirees, if someone from Minnesota is thinking of traveling and cost is a weighing factor, staying with relatives would eliminate hotel and possibly rental car costs. Even if someone flies into and stays in the Fort Myers/Naples/Sanibel area that has a big Minnesota cluster of residents, the trip is a reasonable two to two and a half hour drive up to Tampa.
 

cjbfbp said:
San Diego appears to be 4-6 degrees cooler than Tampa on average at that time of year. Fine either way, but if the game time temperature was 76 degrees, I would think our players would have more of an adjustment than SEC players. The Holiday Bowl is at night so it should be cooler.
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Have we really got to the point in weather (over)analysis where we think a team has an advantage at 76 degrees? WTF???
 

Spoofin said:
Have we really got to the point in weather (over)analysis where we think a team has an advantage at 76 degrees? WTF???
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Cut him some slack. He's lives closer to San Diego. :eek:
 

I don't give a rip who we play. It will be a major conference team with a name. Beat em.

San Diego is not a home game for USC. You will be surprised how many won't make the trip for that one. I'd love to see ASU, as I'm now in Phoenix. Plus I can drive to SDG, selfish for me.
 

Sports_Realist said:
I point out those setbacks not for the sake of negativity or to rip anyone, but to demonstrate that if the Gophers are going to break through and convert casual fans to committed diehards, they have to keep the momentum of this season going into next year. I believe that the average person who doesn't live and die with this team right now isn't going to be impressed with another non New Year's Day bowl and won't go out of the way to watch what many will perceive, incorrectly, as a third rate bowl game on a Saturday night when there are many entertainment options, activities, and family obligations. On New Year's Day, there's not much to do by comparison. Watching football is a national institution, and playing that day provides a captive audience that perceives the games as meaning more than those on other days. I think a Holiday Bowl bid instead of a Citrus or Outback Bowl bid will wind up being a missed opportunity to get people's attention and hook them further into investing in this team all the way.
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During the Outback Bowl, there is a little parade out in Pasadena. Most families who watch football usually start with the Cotton or Citrus. The Outback is a football fan only, not a casual fan bowl.
 

Boof said:
As someone who has almost begged for the gophers to play in a decent destination bowl game (alamo or better), I'd love to go to the Holiday bowl. Great weather, great exposure (own the time slot and on ESPN), and play a decent Pac 12 team.

The Outback bowl (as cool as that also is) is buried behind the Citrus and cotton bowl and is on ESPN2. Also a great location but perhaps not the exposure that the Holiday bowl gives.
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Was thinking the same.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
During the Outback Bowl, there is a little parade out in Pasadena. Most families who watch football usually start with the Cotton or Citrus. The Outback is a football fan only, not a casual fan bowl.
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I'm thinking of Minnesotans who would not throw over the Gophers for a parade. Also, the start times have been revamped. The Citrus and Cotton Bowls kickoff at 11:30 CT while the Outback Bowl has a Noon kickoff.
 

Strange, because both Wisconsin and Nebraska have been lobbying the league office to get sent to San Diego, as both fanbases are sick of Florida.
 

This would be a very good bowl. It has been one of the top bowls of the PAC-12/PAC-10 for years. It may have even been 2nd to the Rose Bowl for that conference in the past.
 

GopherRock said:
Strange, because both Wisconsin and Nebraska have been lobbying the league office to get sent to San Diego, as both fanbases are sick of Florida.
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True, the only thing that's out there about a Holiday Bowl bid, besides Sid's mention, were hints that the Holiday Bowl is asking for the Gophers. Yeah, I know..
 

Iceland12 said:
True, the only thing that's out there about a Holiday Bowl bid, besides Sid's mention, were hints that the Holiday Bowl is asking for the Gophers. Yeah, I know..
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If Wisconsin loses to Ohio State, and Barry Alvarez wants them to go to San Diego (as had been rumored last week), I'm sure the Holiday Bowl would be thrilled to get them. That's the game the Trojans' ESPN writer was throwing out there: http://espn.go.com/blog/colleges/usc/post/_/id/19289/looking-ahead-to-usc-bowl-game-options
 

Iceland12 said:
True, the only thing that's out there about a Holiday Bowl bid, besides Sid's mention, were hints that the Holiday Bowl is asking for the Gophers. Yeah, I know..
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There is no one that want's a New Years Day Florida Bowl than me. I booked a flight to Tampa this morning thinking that the prices would go up Sunday night. I'm within walking distance of the airport & Raymond James Field. If the Gophers aren't there, I'm hoping it's a Citrus Bowl Bid.

If not; Nebraska or Wisconsin would be fun to watch.
 

Jike Spingleton said:
If Wisconsin loses to Ohio State, and Barry Alvarez wants them to go to San Diego (as had been rumored last week), I'm sure the Holiday Bowl would be thrilled to get them. That's the game the Trojans' ESPN writer was throwing out there: http://espn.go.com/blog/colleges/usc/post/_/id/19289/looking-ahead-to-usc-bowl-game-options
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Certainly what I'd think too. The writer who wrote about it probably was speculating that after going to SoCal 3 of the last 4 years, Badger fans might not want to spend the money to go back out there and get beat again by the Pac-12. Though they did get beat by an SEC team in FLA last year..
 

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