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BYU accepts Armed Forces Bowl invitation

Chad Feldheimer

Chad Feldheimer

Well-Known Member
Brigham Young University has accepted an invitation to play in the 2011 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl if the Cougars qualify for a bowl game in their first season as an independent team.

BYU has made six consecutive bowl appearances and has played in 29 bowl games overall.

“Our goal is to attract schools with a national presence to help us honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces,” bowl executive director Brant B. Ringler said in a statement. “BYU is a nationally recognized institution with an outstanding fan base.”

BYU announced last Aug. 31 that it would leave the Mountain West Conference. As an independent in football, there are no automatic tie-ins with a postseason bowl.

“When we announced our football program was going independent, we recognized it would be a challenge given the timing to secure a bowl affiliation for 2011,” BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe said in a statement. “As an institution, we have a lot respect for the service academies and the individuals who protect our country. We are privileged to participate in a game that honors the men and women of our armed forces.”

The game, in its ninth year, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Dec. 30. It will be played at SMU for the second consecutive year because of stadium renovations at TCU.

Army made its first Armed Forces Bowl appearance last year, and Air Force participated the previous three years.

Read more: https://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/27/3031025/byu-accepts-armed-forces-bowl.html#ixzz1KkVQnvud
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The ascension to the national spotlight is now complete!!!

Lame. Are you Cougie fans really excited about the Armed Forced Bowl?
 
The Armed Forces Bowl?!?!?! I guess for short notice and only one season that isn't terrible, but it is far from impressive. Start making early reservations at a discount I guess. I'm sure I'll just watch on my big screen and save the cash. Did BYU fans just get Jimmered?
 
default said:
The Armed Forces Bowl?!?!?! I guess for short notice and only one season that isn't terrible, but it is far from impressive. Start making early reservations at a discount I guess. I'm sure I'll just watch on my big screen and save the cash. Did BYU fans just get Jimmered?
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Agreed
 
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Chad Feldheimer again.
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Well done Chad.

I was reading an article the other day about how BYU's independence is wreaking havoc with the bowl scene. There's talk of a "Christmas Bowl" being created that BYU would tie-in with against the 8th place Pac12 or 9th place Big10 team. Bowl officials are freaking out because there's already too many bowls and we're already dangerously close to seeing a 5-7 team allowed to play in a bowl game.

I also have to wonder, is a tie-in with a 9th place Big10 team really what BYU was shooting for when they moved to an independent?
 
It's a crappy bowl, but I personally don't care about any bowls really outside of the top-tier games. Beating up Pac 10 teams in Vegas every year never really meant anything. The system has ruined bowl games for me. I think BYU's potential this year is much better than that game so they won't be playing there anyway, but I'll guess we will see in time.
 
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Duck Rodgers said:
..... Beating up Pac 10 teams in Vegas every year never really meant anything.
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I can see why "beating up" on those guys got old. That 3-and-2 record over the 4th and 5th place finishers sure left BYU with nothing else to prove on that front.

I actually do agree with you that BYU's potential for next year is much greater than the Armed Forces Bowl, but I don't think that means they still won't end up playing in it. Short of busting the BCS next year, tie-ins are going to make it difficult for BYU to land any type of prestigious bowl.
 
I agree it's pretty lame.

However, after reading a little it seems to be not quite as lame as I initially thought. Wikipedia says that the payout is $750,000 per team. For comparison, the Las Vegas Bowl only pays out $1,000,000 per team and the New Mexico Bowl (where the Cougars played last year) also only pays $750,000 per team. So yes, it's a step back, but not as big a step as one might expect.
 
colton said:
I agree it's pretty lame.

However, after reading a little it seems to be not quite as lame as I initially thought. Wikipedia says that the payout is $750,000 per team. For comparison, the Las Vegas Bowl only pays out $1,000,000 per team and the New Mexico Bowl (where the Cougars played last year) also only pays $750,000 per team. So yes, it's a step back, but not as big a step as one might expect.
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But wasn't the entire idea of independence to take a step forward? Granted, I fully understand that this is only the beginning of Year 1 and BYU is having to do all of this on the fly but I think they're going to have to do much better than this if they want to be appeasing their fan base 3 or 4 years down the road.

I would however like to point out that I really enjoy it when Jake Heaps is in the Sltrib talking about National Championships and a couple of weeks later his team is inking deals with the Armed Forces Bowl.
 
jazzman12 said:
But wasn't the entire idea of independence to take a step forward? Granted, I fully understand that this is only the beginning of Year 1 and BYU is having to do all of this on the fly but I think they're going to have to do much better than this if they want to be appeasing their fan base 3 or 4 years down the road.
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Yes, clearly. But I think everyone knew that the coming season was going to be the hardest part of the transition. The decision to go independent came late. That lateness affected a lot of things, including both scheduling opponents and scheduling a bowl game.
 
Wow that's cool the season hasn't even started. Has any team from our state ever had a bowl given to them before the season even starts?

Agree with colton here. Given the transition year for the Cougs anything that helps bring stability is going to be good.

Haters gotta hate.
 
Read the article.
The first line states "if the Cougars qualify for a bowl game"

BYU must be doing something right if the "non BYU fans" are following BYU so closely.
Does this in essense make you a fan?
 
JazzSpazz said:
Read the article.
The first line states "if the Cougars qualify for a bowl game"

BYU must be doing something right if the "non BYU fans" are following BYU so closely.
Does this in essense make you a fan?
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Please. I root for a real team, Florida State, who will likely be in a BCS game hunt, perhaps even BCS Championship Game if they can put a perfect game together versus Oklahoma.
 
KrazeeEyezKilla said:
Please. I root for a real team, Florida State, who will likely be in a BCS game hunt, perhaps even BCS Championship Game if they can put a perfect game together versus Oklahoma.
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Ok, that's fine... but keep "not following" the Cougs in your spare time.

Thanks
 
CONAN said:
Has any team from our state ever had a bowl given to them before the season even starts?
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You can be the first guy to have a date to the prom, but that doesn't mean your date won't be a fat, acne-ridden pig with BO.

But hey, congrats on getting first dibs on the Armed Forces Bowl. You've gotta be super excited.
 
Every conference has crappy bowl ties that their member teams get shuffled into based on merit. This is no different. This basically is if BYU has a decent season that's where they'll end up. If they have a good season, they'll go elsewhere. It's not a binding commitment or anything. I'm as disappointed as the next guy that ESPN couldn't get us an Auto-National Championship berth every year, but that's life. Haters trying to bring BYU down when they are about to blow up is also life.
 
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