Minium: Media Speculation About ODU Bowl Destination: New Orleans? Myrtle Beach? Boca?

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – Media speculation about where Old Dominion’s football team might play in a bowl game runs the gamut, from Orlando or Boca Raton, Florida to Shreveport, Louisiana and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

But at this time of year it’s usually the smart thing to pay attention to veteran sports writer Brett McMurphy given that the last time ODU went to a bowl, he was on the money in predicting who and where Old Dominion would play.

More than a week before it was announced the Monarchs would meet Western Kentucky in the 2023 Famous Toastery Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, McMurphy wrote that the Monarchs were headed to Charlotte to meet WKU.

Now, he’s predicting the Monarchs will take on Western Kentucky again, but this time in the New Orleans Bowl, which is played at the Caesars New Orleans Superdome at 5:30 p.m.

And McMurphy is not alone in saying the Monarchs are headed for the Big Easy. ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and the CBS Sports Network also predict the Monarchs and Hilltoppers will meet in New Orleans.

Bruce Stewart, ODU’s deputy athletics director and chief operating officer, cautions that speculation at this point is just that, speculation.

“They are guessing, but they are educated guesses,” said Stewart, who has been the senior administrator for ODU football since the program began in 2009.

“Brett McMurphy, he seems to have a good read on things. I do listen to him. I don’t listen to most of the others. I think most of the speculation is click bait.”

All of this assumes that ODU takes care of business on Saturday when it hosts Georgia State in its final home game. A victory would be ODU’s fifth in a row and the Monarchs (8-3, 5-2 Sun Belt) would finish second to James Madison in the East Division.

Stewart cautioned that the unexpected often happens on bowl selection day.

The Monarchs thought they were headed to New Orleans a week before the regular-season ended in 2016. But Southern Miss, a team the Monarchs defeated handily, won its final game to become bowl eligible.

Instead, the Monarchs headed to Nassau in the Bahamas, where they defeated Eastern Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl to claim their first bowl game victory.

“Southern Miss is a short drive to New Orleans,” he said. “And sometimes bowl consideration boils down to proximity.

“These bowls have a financial component to them. Bowls are going to be interested in schools in their region that can move the turnstile and provide TV viewership.”

Southern Miss and Troy, who meet Saturday to determine the West Division championship, seem to be prime candidates for the New Orleans Bowl.

Even so, ODU has an aura about it this season that the New Orleans Bowl might find more attractive than a regional connection. The Monarchs won handily at Virginia Tech, lost a close game at No. 2 Indiana and have a star quarterback in Colton Joseph.

ODU’s up-tempo offense, with a bevy of talented wide receivers, and violent, swarming defense are entertaining. And the Monarchs are simply blowing out opponents.  

Sports Illustrated certainly thinks the Monarchs have gravitas – SI has ODU meeting Texas Christian University, a Big 12 team, in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on Dec. 30. The Independence Bowl is supposed to include a Conference USA team but CUSA might have difficulty filling all of its bowl slots.

Where else might ODU play?

Truth is, any of nearly a dozen places.

The Athletic has ODU taking on Kennesaw State in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Dec. 17. Kennesaw State is a relative newcomer to FBS but is competing this weekend for a bid to the Conference USA championship game.  

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and the College Football News have ODU taking on FIU in the Cure Bowl on Dec. 17 in Orlando. USA Today projects ODU to take on Jacksonville State, another Conference USA relative newcomer to FBS, in Myrtle Beach. 

Where ODU might end up playing is a difficult question to answer as the postseason bowl process has become more complicated over the years.

The Sun Belt has direct tie-ins with five bowl games:

Tuesday, Dec. 16
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 17
StaffDNA Cure Bowl, Orlando, Florida, 5 p.m., ESPN
68 Ventures Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday, Dec. 19
Myrtle Beach Bowl, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 12:00 p.m., ESPN

Tuesday, Dec. 23
New Orleans Bowl, New Orleans Caesars Superdome, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

However, at least seven and perhaps nine Sun Belt teams will be bowl eligible by the end of the day Saturday, meaning two or more will take slots in bowl games not directly affiliated with the Sun Belt.

That means the Monarchs could end up anywhere from Idaho to Texas to Florida.

Other bowl games with Group of 5 affiliations:

Monday, Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Boise, Idaho, 2 p.m., ESPN

Tuesday, Dec 23
Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans, Boca Raton, Florida, 2 p.m., ESPN

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl, Frisco, Texas, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wednesday, Dec. 24
Sheraton Hawai’I Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii, 8 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 27
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, Tucson, Arizona, 4:30 p.m., The CW
Isleta New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 5:45 p.m., ESPN

The chances of ODU going west of the Mississippi are slim, given that few fans would travel to Idaho, Arizona or New Mexico.

The final call for many bowl games will come from ESPN, which owns 17 bowl games outright and televises most other games. The bowl games themselves have a lot of input. The Sun Belt office and ODU will also be able to weigh in.

In essence, the Sun Belt bowl lineup is operated like a draft. ESPN has the first bowl choice among Sun Belt schools and then the New Orleans Bowl gets to pick second. ESPN then chooses third and fourth.

ODU surely will be gone by the fourth round. 

The catch here is that a team picked by ESPN can be sent to a game without a direct Sun Belt connection. And if ODU heads to bowl not directly affiliated with the Sun Belt, the Boca Raton Bowl appears to be the most likely.

It is owned by ESPN and Sun Belt teams (James Madison in 2024 and App State in 2021) have played there in two of the last four seasons.

The game is played at FAU Stadium, a familiar venue for ODU as the Monarchs and Florida Atlantic University were once Conference USA rivals. ODU has a large alumni base in the greater Miami area. 

Four years ago, when ODU met Tulsa from the American Athletic Conference in the Myrtle Beach Bowl, the Monarchs were supposed to meet a team from the Mid-American Conference. But ESPN officials liked the ODU-Tulsa matchup better.

“There are bowl tie-ins,” Stewart said. “But there may be swaps between conferences to provide better matchups. So, you never know until it’s officially announced.”

The official announcement will come at noon on Sunday, Dec. 7, when the College Football Playoff pairings are officially unveiled. But be prepared to wait. There's no telling when during the two-hour show that the bowls will actually be announced. 

Stewart will convene a meeting Monday at 1 p.m. of stakeholders from all across campus: the alumni association, the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, ODU Licensing and many others. Planning must be done to ensure there is entertainment for ODU fans and donors who make the trip.

ODU must plan for both a bowl game that’s drivable, meaning the team and fans could bus or drive there, or one that would require charter flights. And since chartered jets are difficult to come by, ODU will immediately begin making calls the moment officials know where they are headed for the official travel party.

ODU has been to two drivable bowls – in Charlotte in 2023 and Myrtle Beach in 2021 – and went outside of the United States to play in the 2016 Bahamas Bowl.

In 2016, the Monarchs had to pack nearly all of their equipment into a container and have it shipped by boat to the Bahamas.

ODU fans have traveled well to all three bowl games. More than 1,000 went to the Bahamas and dwarfed the contingent from Eastern Michigan. About 5,000 traveled to Myrtle Beach in 2021 and turned Coastal Carolina’s stadium into an ODU home field.

More than 2,000 ventured to Charlotte and again, ODU fans outnumbered those from WKU.

"We're beginning to build a reputation as a school that travels well to bowl games," Stewart said. 

"Our student attendance this season was especially strong. Visiting teams marveled at not only how many students turned out, but also their enthusiasm. And they traveled well with us to our last two bowl games.

"Our long-time fans, the ones who have been with us since the beginning, I appreciate them immensely. They’ve been the backbone of our program. I know our coaches and players appreciate their support this season. 

“Regardless of where we go, we want to make sure that it’s a great experience for everyone, for our student-athletes and coaches, their families and our dedicated and loyal fans.

“This team has played so hard and so well.  Our players have earned an outstanding bowl experience."

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

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