Liberty Bowl

Well folks we well not have a marquee matchup in the Liberty Bowl like the one we had last year. Boise State vs. Louisville was a great matchup but this year we have Fresno State vs. Tulsa, two teams that met when they were in the WAC. Ah, let me rush out and buy my tickets now because I want to see this match up. I want to see a team that brings a three game losing streak, Fresno State, play Tulsa, whose star player is a Tight End. Now you will never hear me say that Memphis should be in the Liberty Bowl this year but I believe that they jumped the gun when they invited Fresno State. Since they were invited, Fresno has lost to Nevada(38-35) and LaTech (40-28), this does not bode well for the City of Memphis or the Liberty Bowl in terms of fans and visitors to the city. Think about it you have two teams that will have to travel from Oklahoma and California and neither of these teams draw well at home. Fresno averages 39,307 and Tulsa averages 22,826.The Memphis Tigers drew 23,000 when they were consistent losers. So for the fan, who does not have a rooting interest in these teams what is the draw? Neither of these teams have ever had a following here or a true national following, so why were they chosen? Tulsa was chosen because of the CUSA contract but couldn't they have waited to choose another team to play Tulsa? Last year the Liberty Bowl drew a record crowd and it is yet to be seen what type of interest this year match up will generate. I know one thing is for sure they will not even come close to last year's crowd when Boise and Louisville played.