Originally Posted by
dawg80
I liked it. Old Cotton Bowl Stadium. And the atmosphere of a Big 10 team, with their HUGE band...it felt like a bowl game. The only gripe, I guess, is there didn't appear to be a lot of other activity at the stadium, to get fans involved. Maybe there was and we just missed it. It was at Christmas, Dec 26, as I recall. Me and mine were in Houston with my son's family and drove up to Dallas the morning of the game, went to the game, and then drove home afterwards. With family and friend obligations re: the holidays, it was the best I could do to include the game in our busy social calendar. hah!
For me, the best bowls for Tech means the best possible opponent, and like it or not, that usually means a P5. Navy was an awesome opponent! Loved that bowl game. They were ranked....yes, Pawdawg, Navy was ranked...and besides, they have a great reputation and are highly respected in CFB. Nice crowd of about 40K and great atmosphere in Fort Worth.
Illinois is not exactly a football powerhouse but they are in the Big 10, one of the so-called "elite" conferences, and as such bring tradition to the table. Tech will always be the David to such a Goliath, even when we are clearly the better team. I like the underdog role. The HoD Bowl can be successful if it matches a G5 vs P5. Fans like to watch such games. The UCF vs. Auburn bowl game drew a huge national TV audience, even though it was on at the same time as other bowls. (one of the drawbacks of a January 1 bowl game....lot of competition for attention).
The best of the 4 recent bowls I have attended, for fan involvement, was the NO Bowl. The Fan Fest in the plaza adjacent to the Dome is simply awesome. The Armed Forces Bowl had such a fan fest, but it was in a temporarily constructed, fenced-in area, and they misjudged how many people would attend. It was a sardine can in there.
Anyway, we are riding a 4-game win streak in bowls, one of just four programs who can make that claim (Wisconsin, Georgia, Utah, and TECH), and I am looking forward to getting "one for the thumb" this year.