LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas State fans might want to monitor the score Saturday of a Big East match up between Connecticut and Cincinnati to see if a spot opens up in the BBVA Compass Bowl.
If that seems odd, well, it is.
For ASU (8-3, 6-1), the focus this week falls on a de facto Sun Belt Conference title game against Middle Tennessee (8-3, 6-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Liberty Bank Stadium, but deciphering its potential bowl destination remains tricky.
The only topic Coach Gus Malzahn wants to discuss is Arkansas State’s preparations to secure a second consecutive outright league crown, saying that the Red Wolves’ ultimate bowl landing spot will “take care of itself.”
“We put ourselves in control of our own destiny to have a home game to play for the conference championship,” Malzahn said. “We couldn’t ask for much more than that.”
But with five bowl-eligible teams and tie-ins to two, the New Orleans Bowl and GoDaddy.com Bowl, first year Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson is working the phones lobbying bowls to take his teams.
Benson said Monday it’s a “big weekend ahead for the Sun Belt Conference and we couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
Ideally, Benson would present the trophy to the Sun Belt’s champion and unveil where its top two teams will play in the postseason. But that might not happen if noncontracted bowls are still sorting through what teams are available.
“We want to maximize all of our options,” Benson said. “We’re trying to maximize bowl opportunities and create best possible outcomes to create win-win situations for bowls and teams.”
There are currently 73 bowl-eligible teams for 70 available slots, but three BCS conferences - the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East and Big Ten - and Conference USA might not be able to fulfill their obligations.
ASU officials remain at ease about the process even if the Red Wolves were to lose to Middle Tennessee. Last week, ASU System President Charles Welch said the Red Wolves’ attendance, which ranks first in the Sun Belt and No. 60 nationally at 82.8 percent of stadium capacity, along with Malzahn’s brand of football are enticing.
“We’ve still got to take care of business in our last game, and there has to be some other dominoes that fall,” Welch said last week.
Representatives from the New Orleans Bowl and Liberty Bowl watched the Red Wolves play in person, and school officials have heard of potential interest from the Heart of Dallas, Military, Independence and GoDaddy.com bowls.
The New Orleans Bowl fell out of play Saturday when it offered a bid to Louisiana-Lafayette, which won the same game last season on a last-second field goal against San Diego State. The New Orleans Bowl is obligated to take the Sun Belt champion at least every three years, which means it will have to next season.
Next up is the GoDaddy.com Bowl, which generally takes the second-place finisher from the Sun Belt and pits it against the runner-up from the Mid-American Conference title game between No. 21 Northern Illinois (11-1)and No. 17 Kent State (11-1) on Friday.
The Red Wolves faced the Huskies last season in a 38-20 loss with a largely depleted coaching staff after Hugh Freeze left for Ole Miss and current cornerbacks coach David Gunn served in an interim role.
GoDaddy.com Bowl Executive Director Frank Modarelli said Monday that the committee “wouldn’t hesitate” to bring back ASU, which sold out its 7,500-seat ticket allotment and brought 15,000 fans to Moible, Ala.
The Libery B owl has shown interest by its presence at ASU’s 45-23 victory against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 8, but the Memphis-based game has its eyes fixed on an eligible team from the SEC.
On Saturday, Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Erhart watched Mississippi defeat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, making the Rebels (6-6) the SEC’s ninth bowl eligible team. But the BBVA Compass Bowl picks ahead of the Liberty, and ASU could wind up a suitable option.
“We’re going to try and have some talks with the league,” Ehrhart told The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. “Again, like the old days, the bowl was in control. Now, it’s really in the hands of the league office and contracts of the league.”
There’s also a chance a Sun Belt team could wind up in the Little Ceasar’s, Military, BBVA Compass or Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl.
“We’ve been in contact with those four bowls over the course of the past several weeks,” Benson said. “It has heightened over the past 48 to 72 hours.”
Representatives from the BBVA Compass Bowl and Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl will watch Pittsburgh (5-6) vs. South Florida (3-8) and Connecticut (5-6) vs. Louisville (9-2) to see if they will have teams from the Big East. Losses by UConn or Pitt could open spots for Sun Belt teams.
The Military Bowl, which is based in Washington, D.C., could be in trouble if Georgia Tech loses to Florida State and finishes with a 6-7 record.
Under an NCAA guideline adopted in July, teams with sub-.500 records are not eligible unless there aren’t enough teams to fill bowl slots.
Georgia Tech has filed a waiver with the NCAA to participate, similar to one granted to UCLA last season after it lost in the Pacific-12 title game, but it’s unclear if it will be approved.
Sports, Pages 15 on 11/27/2012