WKU awaits bowl bid
December 2, 2013
Arkansas State accepted the Sun Belt Conference’s invitation to the GoDaddy.com Bowl for the third consecutive year. Many signs pointed to WKU receiving the nod for that bowl game because a GoDaddy.com Bowl representative was in attendance for WKU’s 34-31 win over the Red Wolves Saturday.
Despite getting the head-to-head win and finishing with a better overall record, WKU (8-4, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) finished No. 3 in the final Sun Belt Conference standings behind Arkansas State (7-5, 5-2 SBC) since the Red Wolves have the better Sun Belt record.
As of now, no announcement has been made as to where the Toppers could play in the postseason.
Sun Belt Conference commissioner Karl Benson said on Monday morning’s teleconference that the league is in talks with many bowls.
“There are potentially 13 bowl eligible teams that will be in the at-large field,” Benson said. “Headed up by Notre Dame along with 12 other at-large teams including at least four from the Sun Belt, if not five should South Alabama win on Saturday.”
South Alabama and UL-Lafayette battle for the Sun Belt Conference title Saturday at 7:00. A Jaguars win would give seven teams in the conference bowl eligibility, with winless Georgia State being the only team excluded.
| TEAM | CONF | OVERALL |
| * – Louisiana-Lafayette | 5-1 | 8-3 |
| * – Arkansas State | 5-2 | 7-5 |
| * – Troy | 4-3 | 6-6 |
| * – Western Kentucky | 4-3 | 8-4 |
| * – Louisiana-Monroe | 4-3 | 6-6 |
| South Alabama | 3-3 | 5-6 |
| * – Texas State | 2-5 | 6-6 |
| x – Georgia State | 0-7 | 0-12 |
Below are a list of potential bowl games Benson said the league is looking into, meaning WKU could possibly land in either of these:
— Beef O’ Brady Bowl, St. Petersburg, Fla. Dec. 23 (American No. 6 v. C-USA)
— Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl, Detroit, Mich. Dec. 26 (MAC v. Big Ten No. 8)
— Pinstripe Bowl, New York, N.Y. Dec. 28, (Big 12 No. 7 v. American No. 4)
— Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA Dec. 31, (SEC No. 10 v. ACC No. 7)
— Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dallas, Texas Jan. 1, (Big 10 No. 7 v. C-USA)
— Compass Bowl, Birmingham, Ala. Jan. 4, (SEC No. 9 vs. American No. 5/C-USA)
