Since there are now 3,453 bowl games every season (OK, there are "only" 40), it's really hard to fill every slot because there aren't going to be enough bowl-eligible teams. That means some 5-7 teams will receive invites as long as they have strong APR scores, and one of those schools could be Texas.
Well, it seems that Texas, which just fired Charlie Strong and hired Tom Herman to replace him, will not accept that bid if it's offered.
multiple #Bowls officials told me they have it on good authority that #Longhorns will not accept a bid, even if things break their way sat.
— Kevin Lyttle (@klyttleAAS) December 2, 2016
Now, this is a decision that I can understand. First of all, when you're Texas, accepting a bowl bid with a 5-7 record isn't really a good look. Secondly, at this point Texas probably just wants to close the book on the 2016 season and get started on next season.
On the flip side of that, teams that go to bowl games get extra practices, so I can see a scenario in which Tom Herman would want to hold those practices to get an early idea of what he has to work with heading into next season. Apparently Herman doesn't think there's much of a benefit to having those practices.
Frankly, the only people that should really be bothered by this news are the bowl games that were hoping to get Texas and its fans to come to their game.
