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Bailey's
Take on Conference USA
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From the Anchor Desk
Friday, November 30, 2001
By Brian Bailey
Sports Anchor of WNCT-TV 9 |
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ECU's Post-season Hopes Still Alive
After Thursday Night's Bowl Drama
©2001 Bonesville.net
They played in the
rain in Birmingham with bowl bids at stake for both teams.
In the end, it was
Alabama that improved its bowl chances, and it was Southern Miss that opened
the door for East Carolina.
As I reported on the
11 p.m. news on Thursday night, we had conflicting reports on the on the
intentions of GMAC officials for their bowl.
According to a source
in Mobile, the bowl was going to wait until Friday morning to make it
official. That person indicated that I would not be incorrect in saying that
East Carolina was going to get the bid.
I was very confident
in the story, until I talked with a source that was in the press box in
Birmingham watching the Alabama win over Southern Miss.
That source indicated
that both GMAC Bowl officials and those from Conference USA were saying that
Mobile would take Southern Miss,
regardless of the outcome of Thursday night’s game.
Also, the Associated
Press story out of Birmingham on the game said that Southern Miss was
expected to get the invitation from the GMAC Bowl.
If that indeed was
the case, then why didn’t the GMAC Bowl make their announcement earlier in
the week? The GMAC Bowl is set for December 19th, so time was
certainly a key factor in any decision.
As I stated on the
air, my “gut” feeling is that East Carolina will get the not from the GMAC
Bowl. I really believe that they like that match-up between ECU and Marshal.
The Pirates should be able to run the football at will, while the Herd would
look to exploit the Pirate secondary.
But, by the time you
read this, things may have changed. Predicting bowl pairings is certainly
not an exact science. One man’s “done-deal” is another man’s “maybe”.
Here’s hoping that
the Pirates will get a chance to play one more game. Personally, I’d rather
go to Houston then Mobile, but at this point, any postseason game will do.
Conference USA This Week
Alabama 28 Southern Miss
15
Alabama helped the
East Carolina
cause by beating Southern Miss in the rain in Birmingham. Ahmaad Galloway
ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns to lift the Crimson Tide to their sixth
win of the season.
With its third
straight win, Alabama (6-5) became eligible for a bowl game, likely the
Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn.
The game was played
in windy, rainy conditions and included six first-half turnovers, a safety,
three botched extra-point kicks and three missed field goals.
Army vs. Navy
With all that has
happened in our country since September 11th, perhaps we should
all take time out to salute these two academies in this 102nd
meeting between Army and Navy.
The series is tight,
with the Black Knights leading 48-46-7. Navy, though, has won the last two
games.
This year’s game
moves back to Philadelphia, where 75 of the games in the series have been
played.
Last year, Navy came
into the game without a win, and picked up a victory over Army. This year,
the Midshipmen come into the game without a win again.
Navy is working with
an interim coach, as defensive coordinator Rick Lantz is 0-2 after taking
over for Charlie Weatherbie.
Louisiana-Monroe at
Cincinnati
Cincinnati needs a
win to secure a second straight seven-win season and back-to-back bowl trips
for the first time since the 1949-50 seasons.
Louisiana-Monroe is
the former Northeast Louisiana. ULM
is in its first season in the Sun Belt Football Conference. The Bearcats
have won all four games in the series by 13 or more points.
Cincinnati should
accept a bid to the Motor City Bowl to face Toledo on Saturday.
Houston at (16) Georgia
The Cougars go for
the unwanted perfect season in this game. Houston is 0-10, and a big
underdog against nationally ranked Georgia. This would be the first 0-11
campaign in the school's and Conference
USA’s
football history.
The last time
Georgia hooked up with a C-USA team was in
the league’s first season, the very first weekend of league play. In that
game Houston beat the Bulldogs 11-7 in Athens.
Don’t look for a
similar result this time out.
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Brian Bailey.
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archives.
02/23/2007 01:19:54 AM
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