NFL Tickets
It turned out to be quite a decent Independence Bowl between Miami and South Carolina, but there is one nagging question on my mind.
Did either team really want to be here?
Oh sure, to the public the Hurricanes and Gamecocks are happy to conclude their season with a bowl game, but Shreveport, LA isn’t quite where they wanted to play it.
With apologies to the tourism bureau, I’ve been through Shreveport, and it is a nice city. But to college football fans, finishing a season in Shreveport means one thing: our team didn’t do well enough.
The Independence Bowl had trouble selling tickets up to game time, because both schools’ fanbases would have rather played their game in New Orleans, Miami, Pasadena or any other glamorous location that suggests a New Year’s Day bowl game or a trip to the college football playoff.
So how do both teams get over this? Simple: get better.
Under Al Golden, Miami has been .500 or better all four seasons, but only once has the team had eight wins or more in the regular season. The last time the Hurricanes competed in one of the big bowls on New Year’s Day was the Orange Bowl in 2003.
The bigger question is Steve Spurrier at South Carolina. Three straight seasons of 11-2 records and now this? The Gamecocks also finished the regular season with a 6-6 record. The last time a Gamecocks program won just six games in the regular season was 2007.
Now do you see why fans couldn’t get too excited about this game?
No offense to the Independence Bowl promoters and the executive staff, but teams with a sense of entitlement will always feel like they don’t belong at certain games. The Hurricanes and Gamecocks put on a good show, but they should have been honest and said they would have rather been elsewhere.
There’s only one way to do that.
Next season has to be better for both programs.
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