LSU Takes A Pre-New Years Bowl Bid In Texas Bowl

Not sure how good the Tiger faithful feel about it, but the Bayou Bengals are going bowling in Texas.

The LSU Tigers football program accepted a bid to play December 29th against Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl, which takes place at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Not familiar with the Texas Bowl? Well, it's LSU's first trip, and the game has only existed since 2006. The Texas Bowl replaced the Houston Bowl, which failed after only five years (2000-2005). The game does have standing agreements with the Big 12 and SEC, but that's a strong leap from some of the teams that have played in the game before.

The history of the Texas Bowl is dotted with flash-in-the-pan programs. Partially because the game has tried hard to invite a Texas-based team every year, but you've seen programs like Houston, Rice, Syracuse, Navy, and Western Michigan take part in the short history of the bowl game. Now you might be able to say that the Texas Bowl selection team has an eye for talent, the Bowl's MVPs include NFL players Ray Rice, Andy Dalton, Mikel Leshoure, and Ryan Tannehill.

As far as THIS year's Texas Bowl, LSU might not be happy about their draw either. Texas Tech will play, what appears to be a home game, 8 hours away from their campus. Even though the game is less than 5 hours away from Baton Rouge, playing a Texas-based team IN Texas will not feel like neutral field.

Texas Tech also comes into the game with a high octane offense, ranking #2 in the nation in total offense. Pretty typical for a high-flying Tech offense.

Throw the 'all time' record out the door on this one, because even though LSU is 2-0 all time against Tech, both of the wins came pre-1960. There's not much to build momentum on from victories that took place before most of the LSU player's parents were born.

The game may not be ideal for LSU, but it is their 16 straight bowl game under Les Miles.

There was a lot of talk about the Independence Bowl somehow swinging and LSU bid, but we all know now that didn't happen. Even though both bowl games feature an SEC tie-in, the Texas Bowl offers a $1.7 million payout, while the Indy Bowl offers a $1.2 million payout...and yes, $500,000 CAN make the difference when you're trying to land an SEC team.