Bowl game set

[GOARMYSPIKES]

FWIW. Our bowl pays out more than the Navy bowl, and significantly more than the Tulane bowl (double, over $1m).

That said we all wanted a P4 brand scalp to hang up.

Take the $$$ or Take the Opponent?

I bet we committed to the $$$ and the Independence bowl before knowing the opponent.
We were publicly announced as the "headliner" first. Just conjecture.

[Dude69]

Very disappointing. But it is done. Now after we beat Navy on Saturday the focus is to destroy Marshall. If not a beating vs Marshall then all of the complaining is kind of embarrassing. May I add the time slot sucks too. Two East Coast teams 2115 EST slot. Beat Navy Bigly! First things first.

[narthuro]

In the era of the Playoff and the transfer portal, players will opt out of bowls at a higher rate. No bowl is "prestigious" any more, but Marshall is a conference champion in the Sun Belt, which might be a tougher league than the AAC top-to-bottom.

The issue is that Huff is about to leave Marshall. A lot of players are probably going to leave with him. If that wasn't the case, I would be really excited about this bowl, more than a game against a 6-6 SEC or ACC team. But Marshall is going to come to Shreveport with half a team. Army may still lose even with those factors, and it might still be a good game, but it's hard to get excited about this one.

[keco616]

The game sucks for Army for various reasons, but most importantly it doesn't elevate the program. If Army wins they're just a nice little G5 team with 13 wins. If they lose to a Sun Belt team in a bowl, it casts doubt on their legitimacy.

Whereas, if Tulane takes down Florida, they'll be talked about as a 2025 Playoff Darkhorse. If Navy takes down Oklahoma, its a giant kill for the squids and speaks loudly amongst college football fans and recruits.

[DoubleNuts]

The game sucks for Army for various reasons, but most importantly it doesn't elevate the program. If Army wins they're just a nice little G5 team with 13 wins. If they lose to a Sun Belt team in a bowl, it casts doubt on their legitimacy.

Whereas, if Tulane takes down Florida, they'll be talked about as a 2025 Playoff Darkhorse. If Navy takes down Oklahoma, its a giant kill for the squids and speaks loudly amongst college football fans and recruits.

Exactly right. This is a disappointing opponent, even as Sun Belt champ. Florida and Oklahoma are cfb bluebloods, and beating either would get a lot more attention than beating Marshall. Brand names are important, and Florida/Oklahoma have huge brand name recognition even though both are in down years. A random fan or a random person surfing the tv will take an interest in a game with brand name power. SEC fans would tune in to watch Army beat their SEC rivals. Marshall doesn't have that pull at all in my opinion, and therefore our match up with them is easier to ignore. It would also help shut up all the people who have been chirping our weak SoS this last week: "You wouldn't be .500 in the SEC!" etc.

[armyhockeyfan]

Haven't posted for awhile but this did disappoint me.

Memphis - West Virginia
East Carolina - NC State
Tulane - Florida
Navy - Oklahoma

Army vs Marshall?

[PrideandDream]

Just to be clear we signed a deal through '25 with the Idependence Bowl. This year the bowl tie in should have been, wait for it, a PAC 12 team! HA! But Wash St was the only eligible team as Oregon State only won 5 games. However it seems that Wash St had other bowl options and chose the $5M payout and better location of the Holiday Bowl in Florida and a more winnable opponent vs Syracuse. So part of this, at least the location is of our own doing because we couldn't get bowl games because the conferences had tied them all up remember. And of the options unfortunately this is the biggest payout but in the worst location. As many have said it's the opponent that is lackluster the most. I think what we really want is to prove this is a really good Army team. Especially after the ND embarrassment. A game agains Marshall has no upside and all downside. Even if we win it doesn't allow us to be any higher ranked at the end of the year. The real problem is that the independence bowl doesn't have enough money or clout anymore to attract better conference affiliations to get a better matchup. Not just the money but also the location. I hope we hang 70 on Marshall and I hope we hang 50 on Navy and embarrass them. Might as well use this as fuel to drive this team to destroy some opponents at the end of the year. Unfortunately the most unhappy person is likely Jeff Monken and I hope this travesty doesn't motivate him to want to leave even more.

PD

[wpgrad]

If purdue didnt hire monken or illnois or kansas…and now he’s among highest paid G5…dont really see where he goes

But this bowl game, location and opponent all suck. I’ve attended every other bowl but not doing this one in friggin shreveport with 8:30pm kickoff

[PrideandDream]

I worry about UNC for Monken. Puts him in the south and with a program that really wants to find a way to win and has resources. Look at Vandy and how they have begun to run the ball and play physical. Lays out a model for Monken's style to work.

The big question is NIL and Portal and Monken's feeling towards that and if universities see his lack of experience with those things as a big enough hurdle not to hire him.

PD

[ColdWarYushok87]

Well said by (mostly) everyone.

Who gives a shit about Marshall? Total slap in the face. We continue to get disrespected at every turn.

One more game that matters. Beat Navy.