Tis The Season…Bowl Season

We had the BCS Bowl Announcements last weekend and it is time to make your travel plans and get your tickets.  And unless you are a big time donor or long time season ticket holder odds are you have to get tickets through the Secondary Market or fight the rush to get the minimal amount of tickets available on Ticketmaster.  First thing is first, if you want to search and compare prices on different sites use TicketStumbler.

A few tips for those heading to for the Bowl Season.

Florida Bowls:

1. If you are going to Tampa/Miami/Orlando area’s take advantage of all the regional airports.  Flying into Ft. Myers isn’t a bad option for Tampa.  And the drive across the Everglades to Miami goes from pretty cool/boring as you see hundreds of Alligators.
2. Stay with Family or Friends if you can!
3. Look for Condo/Timeshare Rentals and compare to Hotel Prices.  You might be surprised with the deal you can get, especially if you have a big group of people.
4. Go Early or Stay Late.  Hey you are in Florida in January, have some fun while you are there.  Hang out on the Beach, or check out Cruise Deals for after New Years and take a vacation.
5. Road Trip.  Gas prices are the lowest they have been in 5 years.  Take advantage and take the Family across America.  It might be cheaper then flying.

Cross Country Tips:

1. Take the family on a cross country vacation to and from the Bowl game.
2. Rent an RV for the trip, it might be cheaper then a hotel and airfare.
3. Stay with Friends and Family, always a good idea.
4. Buy a Bowl Package, it might be pricier but it will contain tickets, flight, hotel and usually transportation.
5. See if you can use hotel or credit card points for your hotel nights.

Tailgating/Game Tips:

1. If you are coming a long way buy drinks/food at a local grocery store and buy a Styrofoam cooler for them.
2. If you are close to home tailgate as usual, no need to change a good thing.
3. Find out when the parking lots open and be early, that will give you plenty of time to enjoy the last game of the season.
4. Visit your school’s hospitality tent (or stop in on your opponents tent at your own risk).
5. Bring your school’s colored beads, you will be a hit and make sure to spread them out to the opposition.
6. Get your merchandise early.  T-shirts and Patches go quick so make sure you get what you want early.
7. Take a walk around and visit other tailgates.  Bowl games are great places to make new friends!
8. Make sure you bring sunglasses (Especially if your game is in Florida/California/Arizona).
9. If you don’t have your own tailgate visit the sponsorship tailgate (it may cost you to get in though).
10. Enjoy your opponents band/tradition you never know when you will play them again.

So let’s take a look at the Bowl Schedule and Prices.

	Date/Time/TV	Bowl	Site	Opponents
	Saturday Dec. 20 Time 4:30 ESPN	St. Petersburg Bowl St. Petersbury Bowl TicketsFrom $58	St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field	South Florida vs. Memphis
	Saturday Dec. 20 11:00 am ET ESPN	EagleBank Bowl EagleBank Bowl TicketsFrom $60	Washington, DC RFK Stadium	Navy vs. Wake Forest
	Saturday Dec. 20 4:30 pm ET ESPN	New Mexico Bowl New Mexico Bowl TicketsFrom $35	Albuquerque, NM University Stadium	Colorado State vs. Fresno State
	Saturday Dec. 20 8:00 pm ET ESPN	Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas Bowl TicketsFrom $47	Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium	Arizona vs. BYU
	Sunday Dec. 21 8:00 pm ET ESPN	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl New Orleans Bowl TicketsFrom $45	New Orleans, LA Louisiana Superdome	Troy vs. Southern Miss
	Tuesday Dec. 23 8 :00 pm ET ESPN	San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Poinsettia Bowl TicketsFrom $42	San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium	TCU vs. Boise State
	Wednesday Dec. 24 8:00 pm ET ESPN	Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl Hawaii Bowl TicketsFrom $44	Honolulu, HI Aloha Stadium	Hawaii vs. Notre Dame
	Friday Dec. 26 7:30 pm ET ESPN	Motor City Bowl Motor City Bowl TicketsFrom $32	Detroit, MI Ford Field	Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic
	Saturday Dec. 27 1:00 pm ET ESPN	Meineke Car Care Bowl Meineke Car Care Bowl TicketsFrom $57	Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium	North Carolina vs. West Virginia
	Saturday Dec. 27 4:30 pm ET ESPN	Champs Sports Bowl Champs Sports Bowl TicketsFrom $43	Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl	Florida State vs. Wisconsin
	Saturday Dec. 27 8:00 pm ET ESPN	Emerald Bowl Emerald Bowl TicketsFrom $70	San Francisco, CA AT&T Park	Miami vs. Cal
	Sunday Dec. 28 8:00 pm ET ESPN	PetroSun Independence Bowl Independence Bowl TicketsFrom $20	Shreveport, LA Independence Stadium	Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
	Monday Dec. 29 2 :00 pm ET ESPN2	PapaJohns.com Bowl Papajohns.com Bowl TicketsFrom $95	Birmingham, AL Legion Field	Rutgers vs. NC State
	Monday Dec. 29 8:00 pm ET ESPN	Valero Alamo Bowl Alamo Bowl TicketsFrom $28	San Antonio, TX Alamodome	Northwestern vs. Missouri
	Tuesday Dec. 30 4:30 pm ET ESPN2	Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl Humanitarian Bowl TicketsFrom $24	Boise, ID Bronco Stadium	Nevada vs. Maryland
	Tuesday Dec. 30 8:00 pm ET NFL Network	Texas Bowl Texas Bowl TicketsFrom $18	Houston, TX Reliant Stadium	Western Michigan vs. Rice
	Tuesday Dec. 30 8:00 pm ET ESPN	Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Holiday Bowl TicketsFrom $30	San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium	Oregon vs. Oklahoma State
	Wednesday Dec. 31 12:30 pm ET ESPN	Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Armed Forces Bowl TicketsFrom $30	Fort Worth, TX Amon G. Carter Stadium	Air Force vs. Houston
	Wednesday Dec. 31 2:00 pm ET CBS	Brut Sun Bowl Sun Bowl TicketsFrom $15	El Paso, TX Sun Bowl Stadium	Oregon State vs. Pitt
	Wednesday Dec. 31 3:30 pm ET ESPN	Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Music City Bowl TicketsFrom $3	Nashville, TN LP Field	Vanderbilt vs. Boston College
	Wednesday Dec. 31 5:30 pm ET NFL Network	Insight Bowl Insight Bowl TicketsFrom $35	Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium	Minnesota vs. Kansas
	Wednesday Dec. 31 7:30 pm ET ESPN	Chick-fil-A Bowl Chick-Fil-A Bowl TicketsFrom $60	Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome	LSU vs. Georgia Tech
	Thursday Jan. 1 11:00 am ET ESPN	Outback Bowl Outback Bowl TicketsFrom $59	Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium	Iowa vs. South Carolina
	Thursday Jan. 1 12:00 pm ET CBS	Konica Minolta Gator Bowl Gator Bowl TicketsFrom $65	Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Stadium	Clemson vs. Nebraska
	Thursday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET ABC	Capital One Bowl Capital One Bowl TicketsFrom $73	Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl	Michigan State vs. Georgia
	Thursday Jan. 1 5:00 pm ET ABC	Rose Bowl presented by Citi 2009 Rose Bowl TicketsFrom $230	Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl	Penn State vs. Southern Cal
	Thursday Jan. 1 8:30 pm ET FOX	FedEx Orange Bowl 2009 Orange Bowl TicketsFrom $17	Miami, FL Dolphins Stadium	Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
	Friday Jan. 2 2:00 pm ET FOX	AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic Cotton Bowl TicketsFrom $63	Dallas, TX Cotton Bowl	Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss
	Friday Jan. 2 5:00 pm ET ESPN	AutoZone Liberty Bowl Liberty Bowl TicketsFrom $45	Memphis, TN Liberty Bowl Stadium	ECU vs. Kentucky
	Friday Jan. 2 8:00 pm ET FOX	Allstate Sugar Bowl 2009 Sugar Bowl TicketsFrom $140	New Orleans, LA Superdome	Utah vs. Alabama
	Saturday Jan. 3 12:00 pm ET ESPN2	International Bowl International Bowl TicketsFrom $42	Toronto, Canada Rogers Centre	UConn vs. Buffalo
	Monday Jan. 5 8:00 pm ET FOX	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl 2009 Fiesta Bowl TicketsFrom $160	Glendale, AZ Univ of Phoenix Stadium	Ohio State vs. Texas
	Tuesday Jan. 6 8:00 pm ET ESPN	GMAC Bowl GMAC Bowl TicketsFrom $52	Mobile, AL Ladd Peebles Stadium	Ball State vs. Tulsa
	Thursday Jan. 8 9 :00 pm ET FOX	BCS National Championship BCS National Championship TicketsFrom $490	Miami, FL Dolphin Stadium	Oklahoma vs. Florida