By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer
“The city of Las Vegas is a world-class destination that will be attractive to the participants and fans from our schools, and the support provided by the Raiders organization and ESPN will create a tremendous opportunity to elevate this game into a must-see event during the bowl season,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement.
The Las Vegas Bowl has been matching the Pac-12 and Mountain West or BYU in a game played on the first Saturday of bowl season. The new Las Vegas Bowl will be played after Christmas and receive the Pac-12’s top team not participating in the College Football Playoff or a New Year’s Six game.
For the SEC, Las Vegas becomes the farthest point west in its bowl lineup.
“The Las Vegas Bowl provides the SEC with a new and exciting destination for our student-athletes and traveling fans at a location outside our traditional geographic footprint and in a much-anticipated matchup with a Pac-12 Conference opponent,” Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
The Las Vegas and Charlotte deals will replace the Holiday Bowl in San Diego for the Big Ten. The conference is also adding the Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix to its lineup, and will no longer send teams to the First Responders and Armed Forces bowls in Texas.
The Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit will match a Mid-American Conference team against the Big Ten, starting in 2020. The Atlantic Coast Conference did not extend its deal with the Quick Lane Bowl after six years.
The SEC added a new agreement with the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Florida, and did not renew its contract with the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana. The SEC will head into the new bowl cycle with 10 postseason slots , not counting the playoff. Over the last five years, the SEC has only had enough bowl-eligible teams to fill its Independence Bowl slot twice.
The Big 12 is sticking with its current eight bowl partnersthrough the 2025 season.
I’m so starved for football news I actually read every word of this.
Come back tomorrow for the ranking of the best SEC vs B10 bowl games ever played. It’s a must read, every word of it.
LOL!
I know the feeling Jaws. Even if I am feeling lousy, I still get on here and read what is available. I may not comment, but this time of year it is much ado about nothing but opinions. I am already for the season to start. It was mentioned that the Vegas game would be a must game to watch, but I contend as a fan, every game is a must watch game…even the supposed lesser teams. GO GATORS!!!
And you contend rightly, Ed. I have never been able to take a pass on any game the Gators have been in, or may be in, against big potatoes or small fries. However much I rail against the proliferation of bowls, where two 5-7 teams from another galaxy far, far away may chance to meet……….at least this one has two good conferences playing each other.
I predict Vanderbilt vs Rutgers will be a sell out. 😎
6 – I only know that I am right because I am never wrong…lmao. I got that phrase from my late Mother whom will have passed one year ago tomorrow. I’m not an emotional cat, but that first Mom’s day without her was very different. Anywho, I watch every game with the same fervor as the next. I may enjoy wins more than others such as free shoes university or university of puppies. It is time to start watching last years games again this summer as tv really sucks more this time of year than normal sucking. I might actually drug myself up to go see a game like Vandy and Rutgers if I were able to acquire a ticket. 😉 GO GATORS!!!
Condolences, bud…..know the feeling.
I watch ’em all, too. Especially now that the offense is FUN again.
Jaws – I know right? Now the O is back with the D and much more enjoyable to watch. The next few months are going to be tough, but I can make it. GO GATORS!!!
It’s only one game, which hopefully we will not find our Gators in too often, but Vegas is okay with me; four hour drive, or forty-five minute flight. Easier than cross country to the Swamp, a door I have not darkened (I am ashamed to admit…) since 2006.
2006! that’s blasphemy except you did say you were ashamed to admit so that makes it almost ok. I live close so I am one to talk.
65:
I like to blame two buddies with whom I graduated. We used to get together for a game every five years, but the family stuff got in the way more and more for them, and we haven’t done it since 2006.
BTW, if I were never to attend another game, at least the last one I did get to was a @#%$& doozy: South Carolina. Nobody speaks much about Jarvis Moss when it comes to great Gator moments, but without him, no natty against T-osu.
Hell Albert I live here and cannot go to all the games. Budget, life, etc. You’re still following and posting. Maybe if the game out there coincides with a business requirement I’ll go to one out there.
First:
Here’s to all that didn’t come home from D Day.
Here’s to the Greatest Gen
Here’s to the vets of all ages.
Second:
Here’s to Gators and Gator Fans!
If I could drink (current meds do not allow even a taste. 🙁 )
I would toast to the first and after a few minutes toast to the second.
But I will offer a salute to all the above.
HOOAH , AIRBORNE and GO GATORS!
Hey 65 — classy salutes, especially to the D-Day generation.
I was listening to LTG Jerry Boykin yesterday and the interviewer commented that those guys braved going into hell itself for God and Country. Gentleman that he is, Boykin didn’t correct him……but he did point out, “There’s that, and that’s after the fight is over. But they did what they did, at the time, for the guy on their left, the guy on their right, the guy behind them and the guy in front of them — that is, their brothers….their team…..they couldn’t bear the thought of letting them down….that’s why the Army wins wars, the team, the small units in action”.
By God, he just said a mouthful, didn’t he? I’ve never heard it put better.
And of course, last night I had another one of my D-Day anniversary dreams. This one featured none other than our own GatorEd directing traffic on Omaha Beach, holding up one of his hillarious signs, and cussing out generals. Good thing I woke up when I did, I might have wet the bed if I didn’t! Damn, it’s great to be an American, and it’s great to be a Gator.
Where in the world do you live, Albert?
I would assume he lives in San Diego and Los Angeles areas…as I was stationed at Ft. Irwin and there were times my flights would end up in Vegas even though I started out of one of the other two. GO GATORS!!!
Los Angeles South Bay area since 1995, 6.
I somehow get the feeling that’s not the best fit for you, Al……but I’m not one to talk given some of the places I’ve hung my hat. 😉😉
Trade Vegas for Shreveport …. (please don’t hate me Shreveport folks but Vegas …. is Vegas), yeah that seems pretty solid. But I agree with Albert in that I hope our Gators don’t play in this game too often.
So the next big milestone on our way to Aug 24 in Orlando is SEC Media Days. It’s gonna be a long six weeks fellas 🙂
#MeToo! I always felt the Independence Bowl was a great venue, but who’s potential was never reached for one reason or another. I remember the days when it was ranked ahead of the Peach Bowl!