Karab said:

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BellCountyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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No-win situation, how? Win the game and you win.

That should be our only concern right now. Our record this year didn't earn us this degree of entitlement.

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Boy, you are thick-skulled. If we win it will be, "it's just Air Force…what a patsy." You know it's true.

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I hate to tell you... But ever since the CFP, bowls stopped mattering and they matter less each year that goes by. As the CFP expands, they'll matter even less.

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This particular Baylor team needs every extra practice they can get their hands on. Too bad Kyrone Drones won't be with them to participate.

Which you could say about a number of players on both sides of the ball in multiple games this season.

Just like every other season in the history of any sport.

Mothballs said:

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If Shapen had thrown the ball to a wide open Ben Sims as time was running out against TCU we wouldn't be talking about Air Force or the Armed Forces Bowl right now.

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But we would have conspiracy theories flying around here about the XII being shafted by the CFP committee instead.

Golden Helmet said:

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Which you could say about a number of players on both sides of the ball in multiple games this season.

Just like every other season in the history of any sport.

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A win over TCU this season would be viewed as a signature win worthy of a better bowl game and perceptually a better bowl opponent (P5).

bear2be2 said:

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BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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No-win situation, how? Win the game and you win.

That should be our only concern right now. Our record this year didn't earn us this degree of entitlement.

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Agree, but neither did OU's record or OSU's finish or KU's finish earn anything bigger than the last pick either.

The problem with the game is that is a no-win situation for Baylor and even worse we end up playing in TCU's stadium while they are practicing for the playoff. If Baylor wins, they were suppose to win, so what. If they lose, they lose to a non-P5. It all goes back to the WVU loss. When the scoop and score occurred and the Drones interception followed later, our bowl situation was locked down.

I hope the team takes this as a slap in the face and responds well.

BellCountyBear said:

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bear2be2 said:

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BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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No-win situation, how? Win the game and you win.

That should be our only concern right now. Our record this year didn't earn us this degree of entitlement.

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Boy, you are thick-skulled. If we win it will be, "it's just Air Force…what a patsy." You know it's true.

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Who cares what others think? The truth is most aren't thinking about us at all right now because we haven't given them any reason to.

Regardless of the outcome of the Armed Forces Bowl, the national perception (if there is one at all) will be that one mediocre team beat another. And you know what? Those who think that will be right.

blackie said:

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bear2be2 said:

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BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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No-win situation, how? Win the game and you win.

That should be our only concern right now. Our record this year didn't earn us this degree of entitlement.

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Agree, but neither did OU's record or OSU's finish or KU's finish earn anything bigger than the last pick either.

The problem with the game is that is a no-win situation for Baylor and even worse we end up playing in TCU's stadium while they are practicing for the playoff. If Baylor wins, they were suppose to win, so what. If they lose, they lose to a non-P5. It all goes back to the WVU loss. When the scoop and score occurred and the Drones interception followed later, our bowl situation was locked down.

I hope the team takes this as a slap in the face and responds well.

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No one but Baylor fans are going to be dissecting this bowl game that way. In fact, few outside of these two fan bases will even watch it at all.

Baylor football is irrelevant on the national stage this year. We're not eliciting national opinions -- strong or otherwise -- right now. And neither will the outcome of this bowl game.

We're playing for pride and a winning record at this point. And if our team shares our fan base's entitlement, we're going to get beat by a solid Air Force team and post our second losing record in Aranda's three-year tenure.

Bottom line is this. The program needs an overhaul in many ways. I hope Aranda sees that. He does at least in defense. We run an offense that isn't entertaining and does not draw eyeballs. We had more eyeballs and bowl respect going 6-6 with the offense we ran prior to 17. We need a brand overhaul bad. Aesthetically our bland branding goes along with our boring football almost as a match. You go 6-6 and do it in the most boring ways possible, this is what you get.

TCU has become what we were (at least this season). They have the exciting quick offense (which isn't about throwing down field all the time btw) it helps them even the playing field and win lots of games. They are now one of Nike's pet swag projects. I don't know how long Sonny can keep it running, but they reminded me of our 13 or 14 team in many ways.

Johnny Bear said:

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KIA said:

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We need to accept being picked last. Baylor fans don't travel. Never have, never will.

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The 2015 Cotton Bowl and 2022 Sugar Bowl say hello.

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The 2015 Cotton Bowl was an awesome display of support from Baylor fans. You could not ask for a better turnout by Baylor. That being said, however, the place was far far far from full because we have very few t shirt fans that are necessary to fill up stadiums. You need rivalries to interest fan support and MSU was certainly no rival.

The 2015 Cotton Bowl was unfortunately the end of an era that was was built from scratch beginning with the Texas Bowl and season after season of improved winning records.

I was surprised at the large turnout for the Sugar Bowl even though it probably paled in comparison to other programs turnouts in previous Sugar Bowl's.

The turnout for the Big 12 Championship by Baylor was abysmal. Absolutely pathetic.

When you have to give away promotions to get fans to show up in a rather medium sized stadium, well, you have the answer as to why bowls do not fight for Baylor.

Probably 85% of real football fans will never watch the meaningless bowls other than to check the scores and a play or two.

Mothballs said:

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If Shapen had thrown the ball to a wide open Ben Sims as time was running out against TCU we wouldn't be talking about Air Force or the Armed Forces Bowl right now.

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LOL! "woulda, coulda, shoulda"

Are we changing topics of discussion?

KIA said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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KIA said:

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We need to accept being picked last. Baylor fans don't travel. Never have, never will.

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The 2015 Cotton Bowl and 2022 Sugar Bowl say hello.

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I was at the Sugar Bowl. Easily 25:1 Ole Miss fans. I may really be underestimating.

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You must of been drinking with all the "Ole Miss" fans Looked like 60-40 to me. Of course, their 60 vanished into thin air at the end of the game. Never seen anyone drink so much in my life! I was at the Georgia Sugar Bowl too, now that one was more like 75-25

Mothballs said:

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If Shapen had thrown the ball to a wide open Ben Sims as time was running out against TCU we wouldn't be talking about Air Force or the Armed Forces Bowl right now.

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Actually, I'm not sure that's true. If we beat TCU, and all other results remain the same, this is probably how it would've ended up:

KSU to Sugar
TCU to Alamo
UT to Cheese-It
Okla to Texas Bowl
TT/Okla St./Baylor (all tied at 7-5): to Liberty/Guaranteed Rate/Armed Forces
Kansas to ???

Seems to me BU would still be in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Believe me, I'm pissed off AF! (see what I did there?)

Shakesbear said:

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Mothballs said:

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If Shapen had thrown the ball to a wide open Ben Sims as time was running out against TCU we wouldn't be talking about Air Force or the Armed Forces Bowl right now.

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LOL! "woulda, coulda, shoulda"

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I'll take Shoulda for $200 Alex!

BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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Not shafted, ****ty year.

BellCountyBear said:

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We have a better conference record than OU and KU, yet they get better Bowl games with better (brand name) opponents. Playing AF is a no-win situation for the Bears.

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And I seem to recall beating both on their own turf. Maybe it was a bad dream.

Johnny Bear said:

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KIA said:

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We need to accept being picked last. Baylor fans don't travel. Never have, never will.

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The 2015 Cotton Bowl and 2022 Sugar Bowl say hello.

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I was at both and in comparison to MSU and Ole Miss, Baylor represented okay but not what would normally be expected for a school whose majority of its alums live in the same town (2015) as the bowl game. And a 90 minute flight away in the case of 2022.

With most of the hardcore Baylor football fans present at the game, not many left to contribute to the TV ratings.

No matter what you argue, we will never bring the butts and eyes that Texas and OU fans will.

Chamberman said:

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Johnny Bear said:

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KIA said:

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We need to accept being picked last. Baylor fans don't travel. Never have, never will.

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The 2015 Cotton Bowl and 2022 Sugar Bowl say hello.

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I was at both and in comparison to MSU and Ole Miss, Baylor represented okay but not what would normally be expected for a school whose majority of its alums live in the same town (2015) as the bowl game. And a 90 minute flight away in the case of 2022.

With most of the hardcore Baylor football fans present at the game, not many left to contribute to the TV ratings.

No matter what you argue, we will never bring the butts and eyes that Texas and OU fans will.

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With all due respect, if we're going to compare, what UT and OU do is immaterial unless we're looking for yet another excuse. A more fruitful comparison would be BU's own attendance (not ticket sales) + media viewership year by year since McLane was built, including post-season play. Just looking for trends.

This was the line at Texas Tech before 8 a.m. today to buy tickets for Tech’s Texas Bowl game vs. Ole Miss. Ironically they’re waiting in line adjacent to what will be Tech’s $204 million football facility project, one of nation’s largest college football development centers pic.twitter.com/FFU0C9f4LQ

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 7, 2022

boognish_bear said:

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This was the line at Texas Tech before 8 a.m. today to buy tickets for Tech’s Texas Bowl game vs. Ole Miss. Ironically they’re waiting in line adjacent to what will be Tech’s $204 million football facility project, one of nation’s largest college football development centers pic.twitter.com/FFU0C9f4LQ

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 7, 2022

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I'm looking forward to that game

canoso said:

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With all due respect, if we're going to compare, what UT and OU do is immaterial unless we're looking for yet another excuse. A more fruitful comparison would be BU's own attendance (not ticket sales) + media viewership year by year since McLane was built, including post-season play. Just looking for trends.

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What is at issue is why is Baylor looked down upon when it comes to monetary money to be made for bowl invites, community $ spent, television advertising, etc. It's not an excuse it's just a fact that we're a smaller institution, have been and with no plans to grow much bigger.

Chamberman said:

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canoso said:

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With all due respect, if we're going to compare, what UT and OU do is immaterial unless we're looking for yet another excuse. A more fruitful comparison would be BU's own attendance (not ticket sales) + media viewership year by year since McLane was built, including post-season play. Just looking for trends.

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What is at issue is why is Baylor looked down upon when it comes to monetary money to be made for bowl invites, community $ spent, television advertising, etc. It's not an excuse it's just a fact that we're a smaller institution, have been and with no plans to grow much bigger.

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In other words, sort of like TCU (current total enrollment 12,273)?

Chamberman said:

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canoso said:

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With all due respect, if we're going to compare, what UT and OU do is immaterial unless we're looking for yet another excuse. A more fruitful comparison would be BU's own attendance (not ticket sales) + media viewership year by year since McLane was built, including post-season play. Just looking for trends.

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What is at issue is why is Baylor looked down upon when it comes to monetary money to be made for bowl invites, community $ spent, television advertising, etc. It's not an excuse it's just a fact that we're a smaller institution, have been and with no plans to grow much bigger.

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canoso said:

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In other words, sort of like TCU (current total enrollment 12,273)?

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Yes, but the great equalizer is winning. They can't ignore winning. We and Aranda were the darlings last year, even not making the CFP, but finishing #5. This year it's TCU's turn.

Chamberman said:

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canoso said:

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With all due respect, if we're going to compare, what UT and OU do is immaterial unless we're looking for yet another excuse. A more fruitful comparison would be BU's own attendance (not ticket sales) + media viewership year by year since McLane was built, including post-season play. Just looking for trends.

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What is at issue is why is Baylor looked down upon when it comes to monetary money to be made for bowl invites, community $ spent, television advertising, etc. It's not an excuse it's just a fact that we're a smaller institution, have been and with no plans to grow much bigger.

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You do realize that Baylor is not really small right? Compared to UT, A&M Ohio St yes. But Baylor and U of Oregon are about the same size for perspective.

You find me a Baylor alum on par with Phil Knight and what he does for the school, then we can talk comparison.