Independence Bowl Chair Responds To Team Participation Rumors

Perhaps you have seen reports that a couple of college football teams declined to play in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl game in Shreveport on December 30. Well, the organizers of the local bowl game say that is simply not true.

In fact, Bowl Chair Sarah Giglio sounds a little ticked in a social media post she put up to address the situation.

Giglio says she always hears great things about our bowl game when she talks with "coaches, ADs, and conference personnel." She adds "they ALWAYS talk about how wonderful their bowl experience is here. We've gotten calls from teams who had previously participated in our bowl, calling us from whatever other bowl they're at, saying they wished they were back in Shreveport, so this BS about teams "paying a fine to get out of coming to Shreveport" is just completely untrue."

Giglio says she was in the room when the decisions were made and the person making these claims were not in the room. She says:

There is a team of people--actual human beings--who work incredibly hard to bring this game to our area and provide an outstanding experience for student-athletes, so maybe some folks should live by the old adage "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

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Giglio wraps up her statement by saying

We are incredibly excited to welcome La Tech and Coastal Carolina, and I hope our community shows them the same love that I know our Bowl team will.

There are several college football teams who have opted out of playing in ANY bowl games. That list includes Notre Dame, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Florida State, Auburn, UCF, Baylor, Rutgers and Temple. The Big 12 is fining Iowa State and Kansas State $500,000 for refusing to play in a bowl game.