I can't help but feel that this explanation is a flimsy one... TCU Planning to Decline Bowl Invite TCU was unable to land a spot in the Bowl Championship Series. Now it appears the Horned Frogs may turn down the next best thing. The school is planning to decline an expected invitation to the GMAC Bowl because of academic considerations, athletic director Eric Hyman told The Washington Post on Wednesday night. TCU had its sights sets on a BCS bowl, but those hopes were dashed by a loss to Southern Miss on Nov. 20. As a result, the Horned Frogs will likely finish second in Conference USA and earn an invitation to the GMAC. However, Hyman says the school will likely decline the bowl bid because the game falls in the middle of their exam period (Dec. 18). The bowl could have pitted a pair of impressive mid-majors (TCU and Miami-Ohio) against each other. "I can't do that," TCU Athletic Director Eric Hyman told the Washington Post on Wednesday night. "I have to be sensitive to our young people. They are student-athletes, but they are also students, and they are coming to school to get an education. We cannot disrupt their exams. It's not fair to them." A GMAC official was stunned by TCU's sentiments. Bowl president Jerry Silverstein told the newspaper he had informed Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky of plans to invite TCU. "He told us everything is fine," Silverstein told the paper. "We have a seven-year deal with Conference USA and have never had a problem. I think [TCU] can do whatever they have to do to come down here. I would be absolutely shocked if they don't." By passing on the bid, Hyman would be giving up the $750,000 bowl payout plus considerable national exposure. "I understand why they want us," Hyman told the Post, referring to GMAC officials. "But on the flip side, I want them to understand that the priority for us this time of year is success in the classroom and in exams. There are alternatives to us." Silverstein said he had no alternative plans. "I sympathize with them," Silverstein told the paper. "I never would ask a school to disrupt anything. But we have a bowl to put on. We are honorable people and hope they can resolve any problems they have." "We've had several conversations, and they're ongoing," Hyman told the paper. "What I'm saying to them is real. It's not a matter of trying to position for something else." Theoretically, TCU could still end up in another bowl with ties to Conference USA. The winner of Conference USA will be invited to the Liberty Bowl, but Southern Miss (8-3, 7-0) is in first place right now after beating TCU on Saturday. The GMAC Bowl is entitled to select the second-place finisher. The Hawaii Bowl gets the next choice, followed by the Fort Worth Bowl. Memphis (8-3, 5-3) is third in the Conference USA standings. Louisville (8-3, 4-3) is fourth. TCU has one regular-season game remaining, against SMU on Saturday. Hyman told the newspaper that the Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 25) and Fort Worth Bowl (Dec. 23) would not conflict with TCU's exam schedule. In two previous GMAC Bowl appearances, TCU (10-1, 7-1) held its exams one week earlier. "We have gone down to the GMAC Bowl and had a wonderful experience," Hyman told the paper. "But this is bigger than a bowl game."
This is the first time in a long time anyone has appeared overly concerned about the academic welfare of TCU's athletes. (As someone pointed out on another board, they're wanting to "move up" to another conference, even if it involves long travel to every game... now, that's tough on players trying to get their educations.) Why don't they just come out and say "we're holding out for a better bowl"... or at least "our grandmother is sick" or "we have to wash our hair that night".
I hope they lose the rest of their games. Who do they think they are, Notre Dame? If "academics" were so important, why even play the season. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but they've played on Thursday before, right?
Isabel and gr8-1, That is what I am thinking, too. I mean they had a great season, but they shouldn't let one loss to a decent team like Southern Miss deflate their season! It is like they really believe they should be in a BCS bowl game. This whole thing smacks of sour grapes to me.
Or maybe they're just punishing the kids for letting 'em down by losing. This way, they'll know it's either an undefeated season or nothing.
I'd be pissed if I was a TCU player - especially a senior. That's just a crappy thing to do to your players.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they were behind it. I wish more teams would do this, but they never would. Maybe if teams would refuse to go to these joke bowls, they'd either get rid of them or they'd look at going to a playoff system.
Well, the Fort Worth Bowl would be a home game for them. I could see there being some merit in that. I know it would be a "lesser" Bowl, but anything they'd be eligible for is equally crappy in most people's eyes.
wfaa.com Channel 8 in Dallas reported last night that TCU is considering a bowl game in Hawaii on Christmas Day. The irony is that Texas CHRISTIAN Univ. would be willing to sacrifice and play a football game on CHRISTMAS day, but will pass up the bowl in Mobile due to exams. rename the school to Texas Contradiction Univ.
Too funny. I'd want to go to a "lesser" Bowl too even if it had to be played in Hawaii. What a joke of an excuse though, I hope TCU gets stuck in the Fort Worth Bowl.
TCU is likely to play in the Fort Worth Bowel. They passed up on the mobile bowel because they have played there 2 times already (1999 and 2000) and they don't want to go there again. So they pretty much man handled the C-USA and appear that they are going to get what they want. A bowel game in their home city. Suddenly somebody at TCU -- the Harvard of the Southwest -- remembered that the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 18 conflicted with final exams. How noble. How lofty. How committed to the academic endeavors upon which colleges and universities were founded in the first place. How pompous. How arrogant. How incredibly full of it for TCU to pass off what is nothing more than a transparent scheme to play a home game in the Fort Worth Bowl as the pursuit of high ideals. How weak-willed and lacking in leadership Conference USA was to allow such maneuvering to occur. So the Frogs didn't want to visit Mobile again, having played there in 1999 and 2000. That is their right. What is not right is TCU's getting to pick its place in the Conference USA pecking order, particularly when it means the Frogs would essentially be tying up two spots. Where has Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky been while all of this plotting and scheming and -- OK, we'll say it -- lying has been going on? Does anyone swallow the line that if the calendar-challenged gang at TCU had at the last minute discovered a conflict between final exams and a $14 million to $17 million payout from a BCS bowl that the Frogs would be sitting at home on New Year's weekend studying textbooks instead of playbooks? ---Houston Chronicle
This was too funny to not point out. I wonder if this bowel game will be largely dominated by blockage or a running strategy. Certainly I think the tight ends will play a key role in whichever team's victory. God help the opponent of whichever team employs the run and shoot offensive scheme. Okay, I'm through.
