Looks like Arizona did not want to go to the NM Bowl because it conflicted with a basketball game.  And ASU's president went on record saying ASU would NOT go to the NM Bowl because it will interfere with finals.  WOW.....it appears from sports forums that lots of teams are not too fond of participating in the NM Bowl.  I wonder if it's time to turnout the lights on this Bowl?

Thoughts?

Contract is a contract. What is the PAC 12 going to do?

Are the Arizona schools just going to hang around and see what bowls offer for an at-large?

Does the PAC owe the NM bowl money? Bowl arrangement contracts aren't my thing.

Arizona has sour grapes cause Anything that involves New Mexico they lose.

Do you have any links for any of this?

Jeff Siebieda, the ED of the NM Bowl, said on his radio show that he went to the Arizona-Arizona State game. If the school's weren't intersted in the NM Bowl they would have told him not to waste his time, don you think?

The New Mexico Bowl is hitting its attendance and TV numbers and no school has turned down an invite yet.

So no. It's not time to turn out the lights.
It's time to try work to make the payout bigger so the NM Bowl can move up the food chain.

We didn't say we wouldn't come, what our AD Byrne expressed to the bowl people was that finals were finishing so few students would come and also game day we play Florida in a battle of two top 10 programs/ Thus he told them to not expect the normal amount of us fans traveling to the NM  Bowl. My wife and I love to vacation up there but we will be two that won't come. Trade the date with the Vegas bowl and our group (16) will be there with bells on.

Wow! Spana is gonna be quiet now:)

Hate when I am right about things

SpanaBaller wrote: Wow! Spana is gonna be quiet now:)

Hate when I am right about things

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--- KennRodriguez wrote:

Do you have any links for any of this?

Jeff Siebieda, the ED of the NM Bowl, said on his radio show that he went to the Arizona-Arizona State game. If the school's weren't intersted in the NM Bowl they would have told him not to waste his time, don you think?

The New Mexico Bowl is hitting its attendance and TV numbers and no school has turned down an invite yet.

So no. It's not time to turn out the lights.
It's time to try work to make the payout bigger so the NM Bowl can move up the food chain.

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I actually got the info from the ASU scout forum and UofA forum.

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=43&f=1679&t=10757702

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=106&f=1669&t=10754270

Bowl games like this should be more about the local fans turning out than counting on travelling fans to fill the stadium 50-50. It's a shame that finals and/or hoops schedule might affect one team or another's fan presence at a game...that's totally out of the bowl's control though, so it's irrelevant at the end of the day.

Local fans need to support the bowl and show that the community is indeed a place where college football is celebrated. If the participating teams bring big crowds that's a bonus, but I think that's always going to be a challenge when you have the 7th place Pac-12 team taking on the 5th place MWC team. The financial commitment for those fans to travel most years won't balance their level of enthusiasm for the just completed regular season.

If you've never watched the New Mexico Bowl on TV though, it almost always looks great. Sunny, great backdrop, and now with that pristine new field, it's gonna be a sharp product for national TV audiences...even better if people go have fun and support the game in person!

-Alfredo Moreno
Portland, Ore.

MWCWOLF wrote:
I actually got the info from the ASU scout forum and UofA forum.

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=43&...&t=10757702

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=106&am...&t=10754270

Dude, this is a bunch of fans speculating and sniping at each other.
These fans are saying that conferences can't fill their bowl obligations and their schools can just go elsewhere.

But there are 70 teams currently eligible with the possibility of 73 being eligible after this weekend so there may be nowhere else for Arizona or Arizona State to go if they turn down a NM Bowl invitation (assuming their invited).

Much ado about nothing. Like I said, the bowl has been successful by every measure. A few ans grousing on the internet is not a good reason to shut down the NM Bowl.

If people bitching on the internet were reason enough then maybe UNM should have shut down the football program last year and filled in University Stadium with asphalt for a parking lot. 

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--- KennRodriguez wrote:

MWCWOLF wrote:
I actually got the info from the ASU scout forum and UofA forum.

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=43&...&t=10757702

mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=106&am...&t=10754270

Dude, this is a bunch of fans speculating and sniping at each other.
These fans are saying that conferences can't fill their bowl obligations and their schools can just go elsewhere.

But there are 70 teams currently eligible with the possibility of 73 being eligible after this weekend so there may be nowhere else for Arizona or Arizona State to go if they turn down a NM Bowl invitation (assuming their invited).

Much ado about nothing. Like I said, the bowl has been successful by every measure. A few ans grousing on the internet is not a good reason to shut down the NM Bowl.

If people bitching on the internet were reason enough then maybe UNM should have shut down the football program last year and filled in University Stadium with asphalt for a parking lot. 

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That's why i put "thoughts" at the bottom of the post, to see what locals think. Also on the MWC board fans are frowning at the thought of going to the NM Bowl. I understand these are just fans, however those are the ones that travel and rent hotel rooms, and eat in local restaurants and spend money in ABQ.

That's part of what the Bowl is suppose to do is increase tourism. That's the main reason the state tourism dept put money towards this event.
Don't get me wrong I love attending the game every year regardless of who plays in it, and I will continue to support it. I just can't understand the the negative reactions that other schools have towards it.

Yeah, expect the u of a to get picked for the NM Bowl. If however ASU somehow ends up going despite the wishes of our AD I personally will be just fine with it, as a former resident of Albuquerque I definitely enjoy it there and wouldn't mind another visit back.

This is just fan talk. ASU nor U of A stop their baseball teams in May for finals. What about the basketball teams?

The "finals" excuse may be a ruse, but believe it when our AD says ASU will not play in the NM Bowl. It doesn't matter anyways, the NM Bowl is picking the Tucson-based AZ school anyways, not the Tempe-based one.

F the pac time to hook up with a real football conference. Go Big 10. Those fans understand how to support a bowl game.

rudyc wrote: F the pac time to hook up with a real football conference. Go Big 10. Those fans understand how to support a bowl game.

Yeah, I am sure Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, and Indiana would have great attendance at the NM Bowl 

I remember when Purdue and Indiana played in the NCAA basketball tournament in The Pit, different years, they brought thousands of fans here.

DvLOBO wrote: I remember when Purdue and Indiana played in the NCAA basketball tournament in The Pit, different years, they brought thousands of fans here.

Actually SunDevilFroggy doesn't know Midwesterners very well, particularly Big 10 fans.  They travel and travel very well to support their teams.  A cold sunny December day in NM beats a cold, cloudy day in the Midwest.   Iowa will never be kept out of a bowl with a 0.500 or greater record simply because their fans travel. 

I think dropping the Pac 12 and picking up the Big 10 would be a great idea for the NM Bowl.  It would also give us a chance to show Jim Delaney that the little sisters of the poor can play some football.

I know the Big Ten as well as any of y'all do.

Sure, any BIG team will support their team in the Rose Bowl or Capital One Bowl, and just about any BIG team would support their teams pretty good in the NCAA tourney.

That said, the BIG DOES NOT support their 6-7 win bowl teams that well outside of Michigan, Penn St, Ohio St, and Nebraska. If a 6-6 or 7-5 Big Ten team that was NOT any of the teams I just listed trust me, they would not support the NM Bowl any better than your typical Pac-12 program.

BS Michigan sold all of their tickets to play in the '84 Holiday Bowl when that was a total bring down for Michigan. Lost to bYu too. You have no clue, dude. The pac is a bunch of wanna be's who are fair weather fans. I saw ucla in the Las Vegas Bowl, the fans, the band were lame.