NDSUstudent
12-03-2012, 08:19 AM
Louisiana Tech, with a 9-3 record and the highest scoring team in the country, isn't going to a bowl game.
La Tech athletic director Bruce Van De Velde told The Associated Press that Independence Bowl organizers offered a spot in their game on Saturday afternoon, but the Bulldogs had other possible options still available to them. Van De Velde said he asked the Independence Bowl for more time to make a decision, but was told by game organizers that they couldn't wait.
"Nobody turned a bowl bid down," he said. "We asked for more time to vet two other opportunities that we had that we felt good about."
Van De Velde said he told the Independence Bowl organizers: "Anybody you are going to get to replace us will be there on Sunday. Just give us time to evaluate these opportunities."
The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., had already invited Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt Conference.
Independence Bowl chairman Jack Andres said organizers had to set a deadline for Louisiana Tech. They were concerned if they waited they would be stuck with a team that was barely bowl eligible and too far away from Shreveport to bring many fans to the game.
"We had to make some decisions to get somebody in there. We've got sponsors, hotels. There's a lot of money riding on this," he said.
"Before we made another deal we called them back. We said, `We're still willing to have you at the bowl, but need to know fairly quickly.' So we gave them a deadline and they didn't call us back until way later than that. If you don't call us back, that's a `No.' And we made another deal so we'd have a quality bowl team."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/02/louisiana-tech-independence-bowl-game_n_2229014.html
La Tech athletic director Bruce Van De Velde told The Associated Press that Independence Bowl organizers offered a spot in their game on Saturday afternoon, but the Bulldogs had other possible options still available to them. Van De Velde said he asked the Independence Bowl for more time to make a decision, but was told by game organizers that they couldn't wait.
"Nobody turned a bowl bid down," he said. "We asked for more time to vet two other opportunities that we had that we felt good about."
Van De Velde said he told the Independence Bowl organizers: "Anybody you are going to get to replace us will be there on Sunday. Just give us time to evaluate these opportunities."
The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., had already invited Louisiana-Monroe from the Sun Belt Conference.
Independence Bowl chairman Jack Andres said organizers had to set a deadline for Louisiana Tech. They were concerned if they waited they would be stuck with a team that was barely bowl eligible and too far away from Shreveport to bring many fans to the game.
"We had to make some decisions to get somebody in there. We've got sponsors, hotels. There's a lot of money riding on this," he said.
"Before we made another deal we called them back. We said, `We're still willing to have you at the bowl, but need to know fairly quickly.' So we gave them a deadline and they didn't call us back until way later than that. If you don't call us back, that's a `No.' And we made another deal so we'd have a quality bowl team."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/02/louisiana-tech-independence-bowl-game_n_2229014.html