The Peach Bowl is no longer in play for recently floundering East Carolina; back-to-back losses to Temple and Cincinnati sunk the Pirates’ major bowl aspirations. But going to a bowl is a gift for a great season, which ECU has had.
If the Pirates beat UCF to end the regular season and send Shane Carden out with a bowl victory, ECU can secure back-to-back 10-win seasons.
So who do some of the experts think the Pirates will play?
Louisiana Tech — Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Jan. 2
Playing after New Years wouldn’t be so bad for the Pirates. Unfortunately ECU fans won’t be as thrilled with playing another Group of Five team from its former conference — Conference USA.
But Louisiana Tech (7-4) has put on quite the performance in only its second season in the C-USA. The Bulldogs have an opportunity to play undefeated No. 19 (AP) Marshall in the C-USA championship game if it can survive defending West Division champion Rice on Saturday.
If the Bulldogs defeat Rice, then send a minor shock wave through the college football landscape by knocking off Marshall, the projected opponent for ECU will change to a lower-tier C-USA team — perhaps UTEP or Western Kentucky.
The Pirates should be motivated to play in any bowl game their invited to since it will be Carden’s final game wearing the purple and gold. But playing a team from C-USA won’t cause ECU to salivate over its competition.
The Armed Forces Bowl is located in Fort Worth, Texas. You can do worse than playing outside of Dallas.
Boston College — Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman, Dec. 27
The BC Eagles are step above Louisiana Tech being from the ACC, but their current 6-5 record won’t wet the Pirates appetite.
Boston College is a decent team that possess a strong rushing attack lead by former Florida QB Tyler Murphy. It also has a big win over the USC Trojans and a near upset of defending national champion Florida State in Tallahassee on its resume.
This match-up would feature offenses with contrasting styles, which would add an interesting element to the game. The Pirates have already played, and beaten, two ACC opponents in 2014, which brings the appeal of this game down a few points.
The Military Bowl is played in Annapolis, Maryland at Navy-Marine Corps. Memorial Stadium. Decent location, and only a couple states up north from North Carolina.
Florida — Birmingham Bowl, Jan. 3
A match-up with Florida in a January bowl would normally be a dream come true for the Pirates. The Gators are from the SEC, they’ve won two national championships in the 2000s, and they consistently contend for conference titles.
Well, at least until Will Muschamp took over. This group of Gators don’t look quite so appetizing.
Florida (6-4) has struggled mightily this season to produce any consistency on offense. Muschamp was fired two weeks ago after his team dropped an overtime game to struggling South Carolina at home. By the time this game is played, Florida will have an assistant coach leading it.
Despite this not being a vintage Gator team, I imagine ECU players and fans would love to notch a bowl victory over a prestigious program like Florida. It would also be nice to chant “A-A-C” after beating a team from the S-E-C.
BYU — Miami Beach Bowl, Dec. 22
Miami is considered of the few “Destination” vacations in the U.S., and for the Pirates, its their destination bowl spot.
College football data-cruncher and analyst Phil Steele believes ECU is headed to Miami to play another team that had major bowl aspirations on its mind earlier in season. The Miami Beach Bowl isn’t as glamorous as playing in the Peach Bowl, but with the Pirates now a game behind Cincinnati, Memphis, and UCF for the AAC title, a bowl game in Miami for second place is nothing to complain about.
BYU (7-4) isn’t a Power Five member, but the Cougars have the most illustrious history of any program not in a Power Five league.
BYU vs. East Carolina would be one of the best bowl matchups outside of the New Years Six bowls and the College Football Playoff, and this is the top bowl option left for the Pirates.
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