LITTLE ROCK — Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson placed a trophy in Arkansas State Coach Gus Malzahn’s hands Saturday at Liberty Bank Stadium after the Red Wolves secured their second consecutive conference title in a 45-0 rout of Middle Tennessee.
Benson said Sunday that when he left Jonesboro he was confident three weeks worth of negotiating would pay off with ASU accepting a berth in the Liberty Bowl against Conference USA champion Tulsa.
And Terry Mohajir, who has been ASU’s athletic director for two months, said he felt equally at ease.
“Absolutely, we thought it was all in place,” Mohajir said.
Instead, after a series of outcomes dented the BCS bowl structure causing a ripple effect throughout the bowl system, the Red Wolves (9-3) accepted an invitation for a return trip to the Go-Daddy.com Bowl, where the Red Wolves will face Mid-American Conference runner up Kent State (11-2) on Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala.
“The players are pumped up,” Mohajir said of the Red Wolves reaction to facing a Golden Flashes team ranked No. 25 in the final BCS standings released Sunday. “They want to go show that they’re a top-25 program. I think we’re at that level right now.”
It also offers a chance to wipe away frustrating memories of a 38-20 loss to Northern Illinois in the same game last year, when the Red Wolves were led by interim coach David Gunn and remnants of staff after Hugh Freeze left to take over at Ole Miss.
It will be the third trip to the Mobile-based bowl for Malzahn, who served as offensive coordinator for Tulsa when it won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 when the game was known as the GMAC Bowl.
“We’re playing a top-25 team, and we’re excited about the opportunity to play in the GoDaddy.com Bowl,” Malzahn said in a statement “Mobile is a football town. They show up, support the bowl and do a great job with the way they treat the guests and players, so it’s a great bowl.”
Until Sunday afternoon, it appeared ASU, with a school record 19 victories over the past two seasons, would make a 70-mile trek to Memphis for a New Year’s Eve match up with the Golden Hurricane.
Benson said Sunday that Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrhart attended the Red Wolves’ 45-23 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 8 in Jonesboro, starting a three-week span during which Sun Belt officials pressed Liberty Bowl officials to place ASU in the game.
The New Orleans Bowl bypassed using its pick on Arkansas State, selecting Louisiana-Lafayette for a second consecutive season, in order to leave the Red Wolves available for the Liberty Bowl.
“The New Orleans Bowl did not snub Arkansas State,” Benson said.
Benson said he was confident ASU had lived up to its end of the deal with its “outright Sun Belt championship in a decisive win over Middle Tennessee State in the way we were hoping for” in front of representatives from the GoDaddy.com Bowl and the Liberty Bowl.
“When I left Jonesboro yesterday [Saturday] I was very confident that based on what happened that the chances were very, very good they would be talking about Arkansas State playing in the Liberty Bowl,” Benson said.
A trickle-down sequence involving the outcomes of the MAC and Big Ten Conference championship games altered those plans.
Northern Illinois knocked off Kent State 44-37 in double overtime Friday to claim the MAC title, vaulting it to No. 15 in the BCS on Sunday.
Then, unranked Wisconsin throttled Nebraska 70-31 in the Big Ten title game on Saturday, knocking the Huskers from No. 12 to No. 16 in the BCS standings while the Badgers remained unranked but reached the Rose Bowl.
Under BCS rules, a school from a conference without an automatic bid is guaranteed a BCS berth if it finishes in the top 16 of the BCS standings and ahead of a conference champion from a league that receives an assured bid.
That’s what happened after Northern Illinois finished ahead of Wisconsin, knocking No. 11 Oklahoma out of the Orange Bowl and back into the regular rotation of seven tie-ins for Big 12 Conference members.
“Obviously Northern Illinois qualifying for the BCS changed the at-large pool,” Benson said.
It knocked Iowa State (6-6) out of an assured bowl spot, and gave the Liberty Bowl a chance to nab the Cyclones. The Liberty Bowl didn’t hesitate in inviting them, also bypassing Louisiana Tech - which declined an invite from the Independence Bowl - and ASU.
Ehrhart was not available Sunday for comment but told The Commercial-Appeal that officials “felt it was in the best long-term interest of our bowl as we get into future contract negotiations next year to establish a relationship with a BCS conference such as the Big 12.”
Benson said he didn’t know what led to the Liberty Bowl going a different direction - “You’ll have to ask them,” he said - but said ASU was the best fit for the game.
“Bowl selections aren’t always done on what seems to make the most sense or most attractive,” Benson said. “You take the proximity of Jonesboro to Memphis, the fact Arkansas State is one of the hottest teams finishing the season, there isn’t any doubt in my mind Arkansas State is the best team for the Liberty Bowl.”
GoDaddy.com Bowl
ARKANSAS ST. VS. KENT ST.
WHEN Sunday, Jan. 6 WHERE Mobile, Ala.
TIME/TV 8 p.m. Central/ESPN
Sports, Pages 13 on 12/03/2012