MU climbs in bowl projections after win

The most important man to Missouri’s football postseason fate might have been sitting in row two, seat 27 of the press box at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Tom Fridena, a representative of the Insight Bowl, in his 36th year of bowl-related work, wasn’t even supposed to be at the Missouri-Kansas game.

He was in Winterset, Iowa, eating Thanksgiving dinner with his grandchildren when he got a phone call. The guy who was supposed to go was sick, and Fridena had to replace him. The canary yellow jacket normally worn by Fiesta and Insight Bowl officials had to be shipped overnight to Friedena.

After Saturday’s Missouri win, Fridena was all smiles and said how impressed he was with the Tigers. Then, he delivered the first piece of good, bowl-related news Missouri fans have heard in weeks.

When asked if he believes the Tigers will be available when the Insight Bowl has its selection of the No. 6 Big 12 team, he had this to say:

“Probably not,” Fridena said. “Eight wins is fantastic. Forget the game last week, this is a fantastic team. We hope they’re available ... We’d love them.”

A bowl picture that was once pretty clear for the Big 12 teams became very murky this weekend. First, Texas A&M knocked off a Texas team that nearly everyone had pegged for a BCS game. With Oklahoma defeating Oklahoma State and sliding into the Big 12 Championship Game, Texas and its large fan base, which traditionally travels as well as any in the nation, are suddenly available. With a two-game losing streak to end the season, it’s hard to peg exactly where Texas fits in the bowl picture, although the Alamo Bowl would likely be the furthest it could fall.

In addition,11-1 West Virginia, which was once a good possibility for the Gator Bowl according to bowl officials in Jacksonville, lost at home to unranked South Florida.

“The interesting aspect is that the conference has got to make sure that everybody is happy,” Fridena said. “It’s conceivable there will not be any announcement until later on in the week.”

Where does that leave Missouri? The Tigers are the No. 5 team in the Big 12 standings but not necessarily in the eyes of the bowls. Fridena thought the Sun Bowl would be a strong possibility to jump back into the Big 12 bowl picture and snatch Missouri after most projections had that bowl out by virtue of the Gator Bowl taking a Big 12 team.

The Gator Bowl also doesn’t have to jump the Holiday and Cotton Bowls in the selection process. That’s just a one-time clause. It can sit in the fourth spot in the Big 12 pecking order if it chooses to, which would leave it with the third pick, which would almost certainly be Texas, Texas A&M and either Oklahoma or Nebraska, all teams that traditionally travel well to bowl games.

The Alamo Bowl said last week it would at least talk about Missouri if it defeated Kansas, but bowl officials were enamored with Kansas State and Texas Tech.

Should the Sun Bowl have a Big-12 pick, it would seemingly pick Missouri ahead of Texas Tech, considering the Red Raiders already played in El Paso, Texas, earlier this season.

MU athletic director Mike Alden said he doesn’t anticipate knowing what bowl the team will go to until next Sunday.

“I think that the Big 12 championship game will decide a few things, so maybe there are a few bowls that will hold off,” Alden said. “Now and then again, if some folks decide that they’re going to lock onto a few people, then it may free up some things and we may know earlier.”

As it would appear right now, though, the worst-case scenario for the Tigers would be Tempe, Ariz., for the Insight Bowl.

“You see, I’m one of 33 votes,” Fridena said. “We meet Monday at 4:00 p.m., and we’ll have hopefully a spirited discussion. We have Minnesota already in line from the Big 10. Everything should fall into place except in the championship games we could see a surprise.”

As for the Missouri players, they were just happy to talk about anything other than a losing streak.

“I just want to go to the best one,” said tight end Martin Rucker. “I want the best gifts now.”