Liberty Bowl Could Become a Blue Blood Extravaganza
Down years from Florida and Texas could send the schools to the Liberty Bowl for the first time.
This past weekend, Kansas dealt Texas their second loss to the Jayhawks in five years, one more loss to the Jayhawks than the Longhorns had from 1902-2015. The loss pushed the Longhorns to 4-6 with their bowl hopes in serious jeopardy.
Other than Kansas, the other winners of the game were the Liberty Bowl’s organizers. The loss likely pushes Texas to the bottom half of the Big 12’s bowl lineup. For reference, here is the Big 12’s order of selection:
Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA)
Alamo (San Antonio, TX)
Cheez-It Bowl (Orlando, FL)
Texas Bowl (Houston, TX)
Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN)
Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Phoenix, AZ)
Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX)/First Responder Bowl (Dallas, TX)
At the top, the Sugar Bowl should take the league champion or highest-ranked non-playoff team. Next, the Alamo Bowl is likely to take one of the trio of Oklahoma, Baylor, and Oklahoma State, while the Cheez-It Bowl will take the last team to be selected.
From there, the Texas Bowl will likely choose Texas Tech or Iowa State as the Red Raiders have not gone to that bowl since 2015 and the Cyclones have never appeared in the game. All of this takes us to the Liberty Bowl’s pick.
The Liberty Bowl would have to choose between either Kansas State and Texas. Texas has never appeared in the Liberty Bowl over the course of the bowl’s 61-year history. Even more shocking is the fact the Longhorns have not played a game in the Volunteer State since 1925.
Sure, Kansas State would have the better record, but they have two things working against them in their pursuit of the Liberty Bowl, their relative lack of brand power compared to Texas and their relatively recent appearance in the Liberty Bowl in 2015.
For a bowl that has hosted some of the biggest names in the sport, adding Texas to its already illustrious history is a huge draw. Sure, no one will mistake this Texas team for one of Darrell K. Royal’s or Mack Brown’s great teams, but the Longhorns are a big name nonetheless.
However, becoming bowl eligible is enough of a challenge for the Longhorns as it is. The Longhorns have a defacto bowl-elimination game next week against 4-6 West Virginia. After that game, 7-3 Kansas State awaits them on Black Friday. Saturday’s loss to Kansas shows that no game is a guaranteed win for the Longhorns and 5-7 or even 4-8 is a realistic possibility.
Their opponent could be another blue blood in Florida. The Gators are a toss-up for bowl eligibility at 5-5 with Missouri and Florida State left. The Gators have also never appeared in the Liberty Bowl before.
Unlike the Longhorns, Florida frequents Tennessee with the Volunteers being their division rivals in the eastern part of the state. Yet, the Gators have only played in Memphis once before in a 1989 non-conference game against the Memphis Tigers. Along with this, Florida fans hardly visit the region for games with Ole Miss being in the opposite division of the Gators.
Long story short, the game would be a rare opportunity for both fan bases to explore the Birthplace of Rock and Roll. The Liberty Bowl would have a matchup the New Year’s Six bowls would only dream of.
If the both schools are able to put the pieces together to salvage their underwhelming seasons, Memphis would be a solid consolation. An appearance from the Longhorns and Gators would further cement the Liberty Bowl’s legacy as one of college football’s most storied bowl games.