After the 2002 season, the University of Virginia football team was disappointed to receive a berth to play in the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, figuring its second-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference warranted better than the ACC's fifth-best affiliated bowl.
Tire Bowl officials, despite landing a better-than-expected team, were hardly thrilled to have the Cavaliers, given the reputation of their fans for not traveling to bowl games.
Last month, the Cavaliers were ecstatic to be invited back to the Tire Bowl, where they defeated Pittsburgh on Dec. 27, after finishing in the middle of the ACC. And bowl organizers could not have been happier. Virginia, it seems, has begun to shed its reputation for not traveling well to bowl games after bringing more than 22,000 fans to Charlotte in 2002 and 26,000-plus last month.
In 2002, the Cavaliers were passed over by the Gator, Peach and Tangerine bowls in favor of Maryland, North Carolina State and Clemson, three teams that lost to Virginia and finished lower in the ACC standings.
In 2003, Virginia finished in a three-way tie for fourth in the ACC but managed to get the nod for the Tire Bowl over Georgia Tech, which is geographically closer to Charlotte. Though Virginia (7-5, 4-4) finished with a better overall record than Tech (6-6, 4-4) and defeated the Yellow Jackets, there was no guarantee it would get the nod over Tech (which played in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, on Jan. 3).
Though school and conference officials tirelessly lobby bowl committees to follow a selection process that reflects conference standings, head-to-head games, national rankings and strength of schedule, those factors usually receive little weight relative to a school's ability to bring legions of fans.
Attendance, of course, is what determines whether a bowl game is a success. Since many events are publicly subsidized and break-even propositions at best, they must show an economic impact to ensure their survival. The only way to do that is to attract hordes of fans to fill hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions.
"Merit is not ignored," said Tim DeSchriver, an assistant professor of sports studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. "But if you have two teams fairly close together in terms of record and ranking, the bowl committee is going to go with the better-traveling team."
"You've got to be able to maximize economic impact," said Mike Schulze, director of communications and sponsorship for the Outback Bowl in Tampa. "It's all about generating exposure to showcase the community."
A reputation for traveling poorly can work against a successful season. Recruiting becomes more difficult if a school plays in a lesser bowl (with lesser visibility) than its record might otherwise command. None of this is lost on coaches.
In 2002, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen used Virginia as an example to implore fans to travel to the Peach Bowl, even if the event wasn't as prestigious as the Orange Bowl, which featured the Terrapins after the 2001 season.
"Bowls select teams whose fans have a track record of traveling to support their team," Friedgen wrote in an e-mail to the Maryland boosters. "If you don't think it's important, ask the University of Virginia, who were selected to play in the fifth-pick bowl for the ACC."
Other factors come into play. Bowls generally will welcome back a team in consecutive years, especially if it drew well, but often try to avoid rematches of regular-season contests. Bowl officials also worry that fans of teams that traveled far to attend a major bowl the previous season might not make the same commitment to a less prestigious bowl the next year.
"Bowls are about a good football game but also about a good crowd," said Will Webb, director of the Continental Tire Bowl. "You want to do everything you can to produce an impact for your city, not just for football fans."
Pete Williams can be reached at pwilliams@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
