34 Bowl Games starting tonight, and wrapping up with the BCS Championship on January 7th. And, no, I did not make up some of these bowl game names. Here we go. Enjoy.
December 19
New Mexico Bowl --- Fresno State Bulldogs over Wyoming Cowboys
St. Petersburg Bowl --- University of Central Florida Knights over Rutgers Scarlet Knights
December 20
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl --- Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles over Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
December 22
MAACO Las Vegas Bowl --- Brigham Young Cougars (#14) over Oregon State Beavers (#18)
*** First game with ranked teams. Tough match-up to call. Should be a close game and I would not be surprised if it goes the other way.
December 23
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl --- Utah Utes (#23) over California Golden Bears
*** It's not the Sugar Bowl like last year, but Utah caps their second consecutive good season with another bowl victory.
December 24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl --- Southern Methodist Mustangs over Nevada Wolf Pack
December 26
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl --- Ohio Bobcats over Marshall Thundering Herd
Meineke Car Care Bowl --- Pittsburgh Panthers (#17) over North Carolina Tar Heels
*** North Carolina playing close to home, but Pittsburgh caps their nice season and gets their tenth win.
Emerald Bowl --- USC Trojans (#24) over Boston College Eagles
*** Emerald Bowl and USC? Who saw that coming? Although disappointed, Pete Carroll gets his team ready for the game, and they roll over Boston College.
December 27
Gaylord Hotel Music City Bowl --- Clemson Tigers over Kentucky Wildcats
December 28
AdvoCare V 1000 Independence Bowl --- Georgia Bulldogs over Texas A&M Aggies
December 29
Eagle Bank Bowl --- UCLA Bruins over Temple Owls
Champs Sports Bowl --- Miami Hurricanes (#15) over Wisconsin Badgers (#25)
*** Nice match-up of Miami's speed versus Wisconsin's power, with the Hurricanes speed being the difference.
December 30
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl --- Idaho Vandals over Bowling Green Falcons
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl --- Nebraska Cornhuskers (#22) over Arizona Wildcats (#20)
*** Nebraska's defense showed the nation they are good, actually very good in the Big 12 championship game, and I think they keep the momentum against a good Arizona team.
December 31
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl --- Houston Cougars over Air Force Falcons
Brut Sun Bowl --- Stanford Cardinal (#21) over Oklahoma Sooners
*** Stanford ends their surprise season with another victory over a known football school.
Texas Bowl --- Navy Midshipmen over Missouri Tigers
Insight Bowl --- Minnesota Golden Gophers over Iowa State Cyclones
Chick-fil-A Bowl --- Virginia Tech Hokies (#11) over Tennessee Volunteers
*** Lane Kiffin has done a nice job in his first year at Tennessee, but Virginia Tech is better in all aspects and will get their tenth win of the year.
New Years Day 2010
Outback Bowl --- Auburn Tigers over Northwestern Wildcats
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl --- Florida State Seminoles over West Virginia Mountaineers (#16)
*** This one is all with my heart. FSU pulls it out in the farewell game of Bobby Bowden's great career.
Capital One Bowl --- Penn State Nittany Lions (#13) over LSU Tigers (#12)
*** Now starts the games matching up higher ranked teams. Penn State beats a LSU team that never looked as well as their ranking claimed during the season.
Rose Bowl --- Oregon Ducks (#7) over Ohio State Buckeyes (#8)
***Oregon's speed will be too much for Ohio State to handle, as the Buckeyes will have no answer for the Ducks quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli and his run or pass threat.
Allstate Sugar Bowl --- Florida Gators (#5) over Cincinnati Bearcats(#3)
*** Could Florida suffer the same fate as last year's SEC Championship game loser, Alabama? I don't think Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow allow that to happen to the Gators. Cincinnati wants to finish undefeated and show they belong with the "big boys", but the loss of Coach Kelly may still be in the back of the team's minds.
January 2
International Bowl --- South Florida Bulls over Northern Illinois Huskies
Papajohns.com Bowl --- South Carolina Gamecocks over Connecticut Huskies
AT&T Cotton Bowl --- Oklahoma State Cowboys (#19) over Mississippi Rebels
*** Both teams thought their season would end better then this, especially Ole Miss which was ranked as high as #4 early in the season.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl --- East Carolina Pirates over Arkansas Razorbacks
Valero Alamo Bowl ---Texas Tech Red Raiders over Michigan State Spartans
January 4
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl --- Texas Christian Horned Frogs (#4) over Boise State Broncos (#6)
*** Seems like the bowl game at the kiddies' table. Both these teams wanted to play bigger conference opponents in their bowl game, but instead will face each other. TCU's offense has been very good all year, and that will be the difference in the "Little BCS" game.
January 5
FedEx Orange Bowl --- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (#9) over Iowa Hawkeyes (#10)
*** Georgia Tech's speed and option offense will be too much for a gritty Iowa team.
January 6
GMAC Bowl --- Central Michigan Chippewas over Troy Trojans
January 7
BCS National Championship --- Alabama Crimson Tide (#1) over Texas Longhorns (#2)
*** Alabama's offense was able to move the ball and score against a good Florida defense, while Texas' offense struggled against Nebraska's defense. While the Longhorn offense will play better then they did in the Big 12 championship game, Alabama will play even better. Mark Ingram helps put a BCS championship title on his resume by showing the country why he won the Heisman Trophy for this season.
Showing posts with label BCS Bowls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCS Bowls. Show all posts
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
The SportsFan Buzz Podcast (12/14/2009).....
Today's podcast (taped Friday, December 11th) is all college football. I am joined by my friend Richard Ramos as we discuss Bobby Bowden (Rich lives in Tallahassee), how we both dislike the BCS and maybe a solution, and Rich's beloved USC Trojans. Enjoy.
The SportsFan Buzz: December 14, 2009
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
The SportsFan Buzz: December 14, 2009
You can find and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
New Year's Bowling.....
Five undefeated teams after the regular season and conference championships have all been played out. Not what the head honchos who run the Bowl Championship System (BCS) wanted to see when they checked the boxscores Sunday morning. Neither was it the scenario that college football fans wanted to see, because we knew what was coming next. Computer generated standings that would place the top two teams (meaning top two conferences) into the championship.
College football fans have seen this story before and no matter how many times it plays out, it is never well received, and this year is no different. While Alabama against Texas is a nice match-up, there are questions about whether any of the other three undefeated teams, TCU, Boise St., and Cincinnati should or could match-up with the two “big boys”. Unfortunately, we will not know the answer to the question in the championship game, and in only one of the other bowl games when Cincinnati takes on Florida in the Sugar Bowl, because TCU and Boise St. were matched up in the Fiesta Bowl.
The BCS Bowl games spread out over seven days look like this:
January 1st - Rose Bowl: Ohio St. vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinnati
January 4th - Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Boise St.
January 5th - Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa
January 7th – BCS Championship: Alabama vs. Texas
The BCS was set up to help avoid the arguments that used to take place when we were dealt “split championships” and no true champion for the college football season. It has not done what it set out to accomplish, as we now have annual arguments over who ends up and how they ended up in the BCS Championship and more cries for a playoff format. While we have gotten the best team as the winner of the championship game in most cases, it has not always been matched up against the best opponent, so that does not make for a clear cut champion.
With no playoff and none anywhere in sight, arguments about the championship game participants, and bowl games spread out over seven days, it is not an appealing set-up for many college football fans. I think it is time to scrap the BCS and do something drastic, and that is to go back in time, but with a little tweak. Why not go back to New Years Eve and Day bowl games to wrap up the college season?
Here is my proposal for these “elite” bowl games to be played on those two days / nights. First, there would be six bowl games in this group. They would include the four we already showcase with the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta, with the two additional games being the Cotton and Chick-Fil-A, which I would rename The Peach Bowl, brought to you by Chick-Fil-A.
I would bring back conference affiliations with each of the bowls, except for the Fiesta, which I would keep independent from a conference tie-in. The Rose would keep the Pac 10 and Big 10, while the Sugar would keep the SEC, and the Cotton would get the Big 12. For the Orange and Peach, they would get the ACC and Big East as their associations, but I would put the Peach Bowl as a New Year’s Eve game, and they would get the lower of the two ranked champions as the host team.
Then just like the old system, the bowls would recruit schools to get the best match-up or full stadium.
So under my bowl system, here is what New Years Eve and Day would look like in three weeks.
New Year’s Eve:
Peach Bowl – Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Fiesta Bowl – Penn St. vs. LSU
New Year’s Day:
Cotton Bowl – Boise St. vs. Texas
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Ohio St.
Orange Bowl – Florida vs. Cincinnati
Sugar Bowl – TCU vs. Alabama
How is that for a New Year’s Day line-up of games? There probably is still no clear cut #1 team, but when you have five undefeated teams going into the bowl games, you are never going to get a consensus top team.
We are not going to have five undefeated teams each year, so we also need a way to have the top two teams play each other if the scenario warrants it. Actually, that is my tweak or adjustment to make this different then the old system. Once every four years a conference champion can “challenge” another team, which could and should allow more top team match-ups. Yes, this leaves their bowl game with no affiliation for that year, but in that case, the affected bowl game would get first pick of all other available teams in trying to put together its bowl match-up. Not perfect, but nothing is at this point, and there are smarter people then me that might find a little better way to get this to happen.
With going back to this system, the big bowl games are back to where they belong on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (If the holiday falls on a NFL Sunday, then they just play those games on January 2nd.) just like they started, when we used to celebrate the college game on the holidays. It also gives more of a chance, albeit slim, for the smaller conferences to face off against the larger conferences for the National Championship.
College football fans deserve better then what we have, so while not perfect, going back in time might be the best solution we have available to us. Also, getting back New Year's Day with wall to wall college bowl games involving the top college teams sounds like a great way to recover from the night before and the ringing in the of that New Year.
College football fans have seen this story before and no matter how many times it plays out, it is never well received, and this year is no different. While Alabama against Texas is a nice match-up, there are questions about whether any of the other three undefeated teams, TCU, Boise St., and Cincinnati should or could match-up with the two “big boys”. Unfortunately, we will not know the answer to the question in the championship game, and in only one of the other bowl games when Cincinnati takes on Florida in the Sugar Bowl, because TCU and Boise St. were matched up in the Fiesta Bowl.
The BCS Bowl games spread out over seven days look like this:
January 1st - Rose Bowl: Ohio St. vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinnati
January 4th - Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Boise St.
January 5th - Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Iowa
January 7th – BCS Championship: Alabama vs. Texas
The BCS was set up to help avoid the arguments that used to take place when we were dealt “split championships” and no true champion for the college football season. It has not done what it set out to accomplish, as we now have annual arguments over who ends up and how they ended up in the BCS Championship and more cries for a playoff format. While we have gotten the best team as the winner of the championship game in most cases, it has not always been matched up against the best opponent, so that does not make for a clear cut champion.
With no playoff and none anywhere in sight, arguments about the championship game participants, and bowl games spread out over seven days, it is not an appealing set-up for many college football fans. I think it is time to scrap the BCS and do something drastic, and that is to go back in time, but with a little tweak. Why not go back to New Years Eve and Day bowl games to wrap up the college season?
Here is my proposal for these “elite” bowl games to be played on those two days / nights. First, there would be six bowl games in this group. They would include the four we already showcase with the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta, with the two additional games being the Cotton and Chick-Fil-A, which I would rename The Peach Bowl, brought to you by Chick-Fil-A.
I would bring back conference affiliations with each of the bowls, except for the Fiesta, which I would keep independent from a conference tie-in. The Rose would keep the Pac 10 and Big 10, while the Sugar would keep the SEC, and the Cotton would get the Big 12. For the Orange and Peach, they would get the ACC and Big East as their associations, but I would put the Peach Bowl as a New Year’s Eve game, and they would get the lower of the two ranked champions as the host team.
Then just like the old system, the bowls would recruit schools to get the best match-up or full stadium.
So under my bowl system, here is what New Years Eve and Day would look like in three weeks.
New Year’s Eve:
Peach Bowl – Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Fiesta Bowl – Penn St. vs. LSU
New Year’s Day:
Cotton Bowl – Boise St. vs. Texas
Rose Bowl – Oregon vs. Ohio St.
Orange Bowl – Florida vs. Cincinnati
Sugar Bowl – TCU vs. Alabama
How is that for a New Year’s Day line-up of games? There probably is still no clear cut #1 team, but when you have five undefeated teams going into the bowl games, you are never going to get a consensus top team.
We are not going to have five undefeated teams each year, so we also need a way to have the top two teams play each other if the scenario warrants it. Actually, that is my tweak or adjustment to make this different then the old system. Once every four years a conference champion can “challenge” another team, which could and should allow more top team match-ups. Yes, this leaves their bowl game with no affiliation for that year, but in that case, the affected bowl game would get first pick of all other available teams in trying to put together its bowl match-up. Not perfect, but nothing is at this point, and there are smarter people then me that might find a little better way to get this to happen.
With going back to this system, the big bowl games are back to where they belong on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (If the holiday falls on a NFL Sunday, then they just play those games on January 2nd.) just like they started, when we used to celebrate the college game on the holidays. It also gives more of a chance, albeit slim, for the smaller conferences to face off against the larger conferences for the National Championship.
College football fans deserve better then what we have, so while not perfect, going back in time might be the best solution we have available to us. Also, getting back New Year's Day with wall to wall college bowl games involving the top college teams sounds like a great way to recover from the night before and the ringing in the of that New Year.
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