It is hard to determine just what a bowl game is worth.

For the coaches it means extra practices, helping prepare the younger players for the future.

Most use the three weeks of workouts more as a way to get ready for next fall rather than the game itself.

The school gets a few dollars and more importantly a three-hour plus infomercial about itself.

You saw proof of this Friday when Louisiana Tech played Illinois on one of ESPN’s networks. Exposure never hurts.

A week ago it was Louisiana-Lafayette getting the same treatment during its bowl game.

Funny, while ESPN was calling it Louisiana-Lafayette I didn’t hear any Cajun fans ragin’ about wanting to be called the University of Louisiana.

If they are that upset about the ULL label they could always decline the bowl game itself. I’m sure the fine folks at Louisiana-Monroe would be happy to go in their place.

Unlike LSU — which is exposed enough — playing in a bowl game means everything to the other Louisiana universities.

LSU gets all the attention it can handle during the regular season and a bowl game is expected. At the other places it’s the holiday gift that keeps on giving.

Not only do the players get the extra work but the future gets brighter as coaches use the games as great recruiting tools.

Kids want to go where they can play on television and get a nice trip if possible. Imagine the players from Central Michigan getting to play in the Bahamas Bowl this year.

Great weather, play football and know your friends are watching you back home. And in a lot of cases freezing.

It makes all the sense in the world to play at a school that has a history of bowl-playing.

That has helped fuel the recent success at ULL. The last four years the Cajuns have gone on to play in the New Orleans Bowl, winning all of them.

It may seem old going to the same place, but getting on national television is never a bad thing.

Missing a bowl can be costly.

Louisiana Tech, which won the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Friday, was making its first trip back to holiday fun since the debacle of two years ago. Back then La. Tech turned down a bid to the Independence Bowl, now being called the Duck Commander Bowl, in hopes of a bigger game.

The bigger bowl never came calling and that decision helped push both the head coach and the school’s athletic director out the door.

Shreveport was looking pretty good by the time the university and its fans realized nobody else was calling.

The program was set back a year and now has rebounded.

Granted, the Heart of Dallas Bowl isn’t one of the big ones, but we are not talking about the blue chip recruits here. These schools are fighting for the next level of players, many of whom are choosing between places like Monroe, Houston or Lafayette while also having an eye on schools like our own McNeese State.

Unfortunately, McNeese plays at the FCS level, which has a playoff system but no bowl games.

Even when McNeese made the playoffs last year they were done long before the bowls began and never got that extra exposure.

Bowl games are big money and great exposure for schools, good teaching moments for coaches, fine learning experiences for players and bragging rights for fans.

It is hard to put a dollar value on any of those, even if the game starts at 10 a.m. — like the one ULL played in New Orleans.

When it comes to bowl games even the early bird catches the worm.(MGNonline)