2 More NCAA Bowl Games Added

[goodfellaz86]

[h1][/h1]

[h1]St. Petersburg, Washington will host bowl games in 2008[/h1]
ESPN.com news services


Updated: April 30, 2008, 6:13 PM ET

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There will be two new NCAA postseason football games next season -- one in St. Petersburg, Fla., the other in Washington, D.C.

The St. Petersburg Bowl will be played between Dec. 20-23 at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. It will match teams from the Big East and Conference USA. The Big East now has bowl berths for seven of its eight teams in 2008. Conference USA will have six bowl berths for its 12 schools.

"The St. Petersburg Bowl is another great bowl opportunity for the Big East," league commissioner Michael Tranghese said. "The game is played in a Big East market and already has generated great interest in the local community."

Tropicana Field has been home to big league baseball since 1998 and has hosted several major sporting events, including the NCAA Final Four in 1999.

The domed stadium also has served as a home for the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League, but is a newcomer to college football.

The NCAA also approved a "Congressional Bowl" in Washington, D.C. It will feature Navy against an ACC opponent.

A proposed game for Salt Lake City was turned down.

Last year there were 32 bowl games. There were 71 teams which had 6-6 records to qualify for a bowl game.

In two other bowl notes:

• The Cotton Bowl, which has been played on New Year's Day in recent years, is moving to Jan. 2 starting next year. It will also be played in the afternoon, rather than a 10 a.m. start. Next year's Cotton Bowl will be the last at its current location. The game will move to the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in 2010.

• The Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., announced that its matchup in 2008 will feature teams from the Big East and Southeastern Conference.

The NCAA Postseason Football Licensing Subcommittee also renewed licenses for the Allstate Sugar, AT&T Cotton, AutoZone Liberty, BCS National Championship, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces, Brut Sun, Capital One, Champs Sports, Chick-fil-A, Emerald, Fed Ex Orange, Gaylord Hotels Music City, GMAC, Roady's Humanitarian, Insight, International, Konica Minolta Gator, Meineke Car Care, Motor City, New Mexico, Outback, Pacific Life Holiday, Papajohns.com, PetroSun Independence, Pioneer Las Vegas, R+L Carriers New Orleans, Rose, San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia, Sheraton Hawaii, Texas, Tostitos Fiesta and Valero Alamo bowls.

The subcommittee, meeting in Weston, Fla., also reported about 1.6 million fans attended last season's bowl games, and about $222 million in revenue from those games was distributed to the participating teams and conferences.

 

[theone2401]

Just what we need more 6-5 teams going to bowl games

 

[guillermo gutierez]

the only NCAA football season i even remotely paid attention to was last years, so my knowledge is limited, but i was very disappointed to find out that therewere several "mini-championships" played with these bowl games. there should only be ONE game, thats the BCS.

let everybody else feel like the losers that they are.

 

[i fr3sh i]

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

 

[Retroballer]

Great two more bowls i want watch

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

Co-Sign

 

[c1o27]

Congressional Bowl

...that just sounds nice

Where will the game be played at? FedEX?

 

[pharelfor3]

another quality perk for college athletes. I like the idea.

 

[RyGuy45]

PATHETIC.

You want to continue to create these bowls? Fine. You want 7th place teams (out of 8-team conferences) to play in bowl games? Fine. You want the ratings foryour TV station? Fine.

But the new rule is now this - unless you make a BCS (or next tier) bowl you cannot use your bowl game as "accomplishments" on your coaching resumeand team stationary. You cannot say you are a champion, and you cannot treat bowl berths like we are in the 1960's. These are created for TV.

 

[CP1708]

Good, we need more bowl games.

I can't wait for the day when a team gets to play a double header on new years day. This just gets us that much closer.

 

[stima33]

lol so Navy is guaranteed a bowl game every year now?

 

[N41D]

Awesome.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait to see Notre Dame play St Mary's School for the Blind in a bowl game.

 

[Chester McFloppy]

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

Only two conferences that matter.

 

[rolla808]

^Righhhhht

 

[jhawkcuse10]

Maybe Syracuse can get into the St. Petersburg bowl.

They seriously need to get rid of these extra bowl games. Who wants to play in the Gaylord Hotels Bowl?

 

[outkast9984]

this is pathetic. if anything they should get rid of some bowl games. why does a 6-6 team in a weak conference get to go to a bowl game?

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

Only two conferences that matter.

When did the SEC become two conferences?

 

[rsdplaya]

ridiculous. soon teams under .500 will be getting into bowl games...well the NCAA gets more sponsors this way, so they make more money.

 

[ddot7]

Originally Posted by outkast9984

this is pathetic. if anything they should get rid of some bowl games. why does a 6-6 team in a weak conference get to go to a bowl game?

I agree. This is just another reward for mediocrity and really just adds to the insignificance of being bowl eligible. It's the NCAA thoughand it's all about $$$. The fact that over half of the D-1 teams can now be in a bowl really waters things down. I think with a 12 game regular seasonschedule, you should need 7 D-1 wins.

 

[texaspimpin]

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

why pac 10 aint got nothing but 1 good team and that usc

 

[bigmike23]

so the 2 worst conferences get a extra bowl game

 

[651akathepaul]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

Only two conferences that matter.

When did the SEC become two conferences?

Anyway....It reallly doesn't matter to me. I enjoy watching all the bowl games possible, and since there isn't a playoff might as well. It's notlike the teams that make these new bowls will have an impact on the Top 10.

 

[willinc]

"Congressional Bowl"

 

[derrtay]

time for playoffs.

 

[acidicality]

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a pac 10/sec bowl game?

Only two conferences that matter.

 

[80jerryrice80]

Originally Posted by CP1708

Originally Posted by Chester McFloppy

Originally Posted by I FR3SH I

When is there gonna be a PAC 10/SEC bowl game?

Only two conferences that matter.

When did the SEC become two conferences?

What^?????? Wt %@*# are you talkin about? SEC and PAC 10. And yes this is wack as hell, NAvy playin in a bowl game every year!?!?!?!?