ASU’s on way back to Mobile
A group of 14 Arkansas State seniors will finish their careers in a familiar place.
ASU is expected to accept a bid to play in the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 4 in Mobile, Ala., a person close to the discussions told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday night. It will be the fourth consecutive season the Red Wolves will play in the bowl game, which will match ASU against a team from the Mid-American Conference.
An official announcement is expected today.
ASU (7-5) finished its regular season with a 6835 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday, short of a Sun Belt Conference title but eligible for bowl consideration. Coach Blake Anderson said after the game he thought his team deserved a spot in a bowl game, and Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said Sunday that he wasn’t sure how long the process would take.
The Sun Belt’s bowl process had been held up by Georgia Southern’s waiver appeal to the NCAA and the College Football Playoff. Georgia Southern won the outright conference title in its first season in the league but is ineligible for a bowl game because it is in its first season at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
The school requested last week a waiver to be allowed to play in the postseason but was denied. Its appeal of that ruling was denied Tuesday afternoon.
In a joint statement Tuesday between the Sun Belt and the College Football Playoff, it was announced that since the
league champion was not eligible for a bowl, the Sun Belt’s bowl partners did not have to wait for the College Football Playoff’s selections, which are scheduled to come out Sunday. One conference champion from the Group of Five conferences will be picked for one of the bowls connected to the playoff.
Al.com reported that South Alabama accepted a bid to the inaugural Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. The New Orleans Bowl, which gets first pick of Sun Belt teams, is expected to invite Louisiana-Lafayette for a fourth consecutive season.
The Red Wolves are expected to have their head coach with them for this trip after being led by interim coaches in their three previous trips to bowls.
Then-defensive coordinator John Thompson served as interim coach for ASU’s past two bowl games after Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin left to take other jobs following the completion of the regular season. Thompson led ASU to a 17-13 victory over Kent State in 2013 and to a 23-20 victory over Ball State last year.
David Gunn served as interim coach in a 38-20 loss to Northern Illinois after Hugh Freeze left for Ole Miss.