The Humanitarian Bowl announced today that Ball State will not play in Boise this year, an arrangement that was being brokered in order to pit undefeated Ball State against undefeated Boise State.
In the process, a quote from the press release by the H-Bowl executive director made it seem as if Fresno State was out of the running for the H-Bowl.
"We look forward to welcoming a team of the quality of Maryland, Wake Forest, Florida State or Miami that has competed all year long for a divisional championship in the ACC and either Boise State or a Nevada team that has asserted itself as very difficult to handle," McDonald said.
This means Fresno State is headed to either the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego or the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque. A trip to New Mexico for the Bulldogs is being predicted because a potential matchup between TCU and Boise State would be huge, Fresno State just played in Boise last week and got bounced by 51 points and Fresno State played in the H-Bowl last season. Also, Nevada played in the NM Bowl last season and was beaten 23-0 by New Mexico.
As great as TCU vs. Boise State might sound, given they have great records and all, why would ANYBODY want to watch two non-BCS conference teams go against each other?
I think fans would rather see if a MWC or WAC team can knock off a team from the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 or SEC?
OK, maybe not a Big East team. How is that conference still in the BCS?
Daniel, could you forward this to Poinsettia Bowl reps so they can get a real game?
TCU-Boise State in the Poinsettia would be one of the best bowls of the entire bowl season. Hate to say it, but I'd be much more interested in watching that one than Fresno State against Colorado State in the New Mexico Bowl. It's hard to get excited about a CSU team we used to play each season in league play, especially now when the Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing season and the Rams haven't had a winning record since 2003.