MU bowl possibilities: Fiesta, Holiday, Alamo or Sun
Two regular-season games left for the Tigers and just over three weeks to go until bowl bids are made official.
Where things stand with MU and the Big 12:
Fiesta: The winner of the Big 12 title game goes here unless they are in the national title game. This is Mizzou’s only hope for a BCS bowl. Win the Big 12 North and beat the South champion for a Jan. 5 game in the desert. Odds are, however, that the Big 12 South champion (Texas Tech, Oklahoma or Texas) has a good shot at winning the Big 12 title game and making the BCS title game.
Cotton: This is the last Cotton Bowl to be played in the Cotton Bowl. The Dallas game (Jan. 2) has the next pick among Big 12 teams. If we assume the conference has two teams in the BCS games (one as Big 12 champion, and one as a BCS at-large), then the choice here comes down to whichever South team is left (Tech, OU, Texas) and Missouri. The Tigers were here last year so don’t expect a return.
Holiday: The San Diego game (Dec. 30) has the next choice and it will probably come down to Oklahoma State or Missouri. If all goes according to form, both the Cowboys and Tigers would be three-loss teams. Will it matter that Oklahoma State won the regular-season game? Probably not. It all comes down to whom the Holiday thinks will sell more tickets and make the more attractive matchup with a Pac-10 team. Probably a coin toss. ESPN predicts Missouri while CBS Sportsline is going with Oklahoma State.
Gator: Up next in Big 12-affiliated bowls in the picking order, the Gator doesn’t have to go Big 12 every year and is hoping for Notre Dame instead. And that’s where it gets tricky. By picking Notre Dame (or if the Gator goes Big East) that means the Sun Bowl gets a Big 12 team. (There are certain clauses that allow the Gator Bowl to jump ahead of Cotton or Holiday but those chances seem remote this year.)
Alamo: The San Antonio game (Dec. 29) has the next choice and is left with whichever team the Holiday Bowl passes on (Oklahoma State or Missouri) as well as Nebraska or Kansas. If Missouri gets skipped by the Holiday, the question will be if San Antonio wants the Tigers back in town again. MU played there in the Big 12 title game last year against Oklahoma. The Cornhuskers have a good history in San Antonio so it could be time to throw out the record books for selection.
Sun: The New Year’s Eve game in El Paso is a fun trip and matches a potential Big 12 team against a Pac-10 team. If somehow Missouri gets passed by Holiday or Alamo, this is the landing spot.
Insight: That leaves the Dec. 31 game in Tempe with Kansas.
The Big 12 has a tie-in with the Independence and Texas Bowl but right now it’s a long shot for other Big 12 teams to get the six wins needed to be bowl eligible although Colorado (5-5), Texas A&M (4-6) and Kansas State (4-6) have mathematical chances.
I would rather play the Alamo Bowl than the Sun Bowl…. nobody goes to the Sun Bowl… the thing is half empty regardless of who is playing in it.
It’s amazing to me how badly that Ok State loss will haunt us all the way to El Paso….
January bowls will mean nothing once again if Northwestern or Iowa are playing on January 1st, but much better Big 12 teams(MU, OSU) are stuck in lesser bowls.
“The Tigers were here last year so don’t expect a return.”
In the last 30 years 9 teams have played in the Cotton Bowl in back to back years, but yet Reid Laymance assumes that is can’t happen this season?
“it’s a long shot for other Big 12 teams to get the six wins needed to be bowl eligible although Colorado (5-5), Texas A&M (4-6) and Kansas State (4-6) have mathematical chances.”
Another Brilliant Post by Reid Laymance……
Cotton Bowl hasn’t had any repeat invites since Texas in the 1999 and 2000 games. The rest were when the Southwest Conference sent its winner as an automatic so they didn’t have a choice.
Reid says: “The rest were when the Southwest Conference sent its winner as an automatic so they didn’t have a choice.” Almost…Notre Dame went back-to-back in both 1993-1994 and in 1978-1979.
Alabama went back to back in 1981 and 1982. Let’s see…Alabama…NOT Southwestern Conference. Research.
True, but only Texas has gone back to back since the formation of the Big XII and its tie-in to the Cotton Bowl.
How about if Mizzou just beats Kansas again at Arrowhead on New Year’s Day. I never get tired of J-Hoax bashing.
Missouri best chance to have respect from others is to win out and win the Big 12 Championship. I think playing TT in the Big 12 Championship is Missouri best chance to win it.