How the Appalachian State football team can still make a New Years Six bowl game

Appalachian State remains in the hunt for a spot in one of the so-called New Years Six bowl games, even if it will take a few twists and turns to find it.

The Mountaineers likely will be sitting fourth in line for the big bowl spot when the College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday evening, but they retain a chance of leap-frogging the other three teams for what likely will be a berth in the Cotton Bowl.

Regardless of the intrigue, coach Eli Drinkwitz made it clear Monday that the bowl spot is an issue to be settled on the field, and first, Appalachian State (11-1) has to beat Louisiana (10-2) in the Sun Belt championship at noon Saturday in Boone.

“The highest-ranked Group of 5 team plays in a New Years bowl game,” Drinkwitz said. “I just don’t think there should be jockeying from conference officials to settle the issue.”

Drinkwitz didn’t get into specifics Monday about what he meant as “jockeying,” but said that, “Not conference affiliations, but strength of schedule and performance on the field, should determine” which school gets it.

Due to alliances between the bowls and the Power Five conferences, the Cotton Bowl will house this year’s Group of Five (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West and Sun Belt conferences) representative. Many analysts predict the Cotton Bowl, set for Dec. 28 in Arlington, Texas, will match the Pac 12’s Utah with the Group of Five representative — that is, if the Utes don’t get a playoff spot.

In last week’s CFP rankings, Memphis (18), Cincinnati (19), Boise State (20) and Appalachian State (25) were the Group of Five’s top teams. Analyst Wayne Staats wrote Monday on the NCAA website that he expects this week’s rankings to have Memphis at No. 16 after its victory over Cincinnati last Saturday, with Boise State (19), Cincinnati (20) and Appalachian State (23) also in the race.

In order for the Mountaineers to land in a New Years Six game, here are the events that would most likely have to transpire first:

• Appalachian State beats Louisiana, by an impressive margin. Style points will help, plus
• Cincinnati defeats Memphis in the American Athletic championship game (it would help the Mountaineers if neither AAC team is impressive Saturday), plus
• Boise State loses, on its home field, to Hawaii in the Mountain West championship. The Broncos routed Hawaii, 59-37, in a regular-season meeting.

Appalachian State beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 17-7 in early October and topped Louisiana twice last season — including in the Sun Belt title. Should the Mountaineers beat the Ragin’ Cajuns again, then the bowl question could get interesting.

Should the Mountaineers win Saturday but not get the New Years Six bowl berth, they will represent the Sun Belt in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, set for Dec. 21.

A loss Saturday means Appalachian State would go elsewhere for postseason play. One analyst, ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, predicted the Mountaineers will lose in the Sun Belt title game and play Dec. 31 in the Belk Bowl at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium against Pittsburgh.

Drinkwitz didn’t want to get into any of that speculation.

“We are playing for the conference championship Saturday,” he said. “I’m just trying to help make us the best we can be.”

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 1:23 PM.