MSU bowling in Arizona?
Let the bowl speculation begin. Joe Rexrode of the Lansing State Journal writes that Michigan State fans may need to wait until December 2nd to find out where the Spartans are heading for their first bowl game since the 2003 Alamo Bowl.
Rexrode speculates that Michigan State may be headed for Tempe, Arizona on December 31st for the Insight Bowl. The Spartans would face a Big 12 opponent.
MSU’s bowl destination will be…
… the Insight Bowl on Dec. 31 in Tempe, Ariz. That’s just a guess, but it does look like the most likely scenario.
Here’s how it breaks down for the Big Ten bowls:
Rose: Ohio State
Capital One: Illinois
Outback: Wisconsin
Alamo: Michigan
Champs Sports: Penn StateThen you have MSU, Indiana and Purdue all tied at 7-5 overall, 3-5 in the league. The Insight picks next, between those three. MSU bombed both of those teams. And while that does not compel the Insight to pick MSU, they are looking for the most competitive team available. More importantly, they’re looking for the team that will bring the most fans and draw the best TV ratings.
Dave Dye of the Detroit News also mentions that the Insight Bowl is MSU’s most likely holiday destination but also adds that the Champs Sports Bowl is a possibility in Orlando, Florida.
The Insight could get its choice of three 7-5 teams — MSU, Purdue and Indiana. The Spartans beat both teams by a combined score of 100-58.
If the Big Ten receives a BCS at-large bid — Illinois is a possibility, especially if Hawaii loses a game — the Spartans could end up in Orlando at the Champs Sports Bowl Dec. 28 against an ACC opponent.
No official announcement was made Saturday night. The bowls likely will have to wait until the BCS at-large picture clears up. The BCS selections aren’t official until Dec. 2.
It’s also worth mentioning that despite MSU’s 52-27 pounding of Indiana earlier this season, at least one Indiana writer believes that IU will be heading to the Insight Bowl instead of MSU. That would leave MSU headed to the Motor City Bowl. Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star believes that Indiana will be the Insight’s choice due to the fact that former IU coach Terry Hoeppner, and now his wife Jane, had a great relationship with Insight Bowl officials.
That leaves the Insight Bowl (Dec. 31 in Tempe, Ariz.) or the Motor City Bowl (Dec. 26 in Detroit) as the Big Ten’s final two slots for IU, Purdue and Michigan State. All three teams finished with 7-5 records, and all three were 3-5 in the Big Ten. The fact that Michigan State beat both IU and Purdue has nothing to do with the equation. There is no tie-breaker. The way it works is that the Insight Bowl will have its choice of the three teams. Whichever two are left, will be the choice of the Motor City Bowl. Whichever team is not selected will have a chance with one of the non-Big Ten tie-in bowls that wasn’t able to fill its allotment of guaranteed conference teams.
If I was to make a guess, I would think IU will be an attractive team for the Insight Bowl. The Insight Bowl people have been coming to IU games for the past two seasons, and were actually hoping that IU beat Purdue last season because they may have taken IU to their bowl last year. I know that Terry Hoeppner, and now his wife Jane, had a good relationship with the Insight Bowl people and my guess is that they would like IU there.
I think the Motor City Bowl would prefer Michigan State because of the local draw, and from what I understand they would not be real interested in a rematch between Purdue and Central Michigan. Purdue won the first meeting 45-22.
Full story