And if the national championship game was not already distasteful enough, just look at the rest of the BCS bowls! The only decent match-up is the Fiesta Bowl. But after that, you have unranked Wisconsin (with an asterisk due NCAA sanctions on Ohio St and Penn St) in the Rose Bowl. Yes, they are a good team that had some close games go the other way, but a loss is still a loss . . . and they have FIVE of'em. For most teams, that is barely bowl eligible. Then we have Louisville, another punching bag from the Big East who did not play one ranked team all year, in the Sugar Bowl. Now that West Virginia has bailed, the conference is in serious trouble if they want to keep that AQ status ("except for Rodriguez, you're all a bunch of rejects!").
And, of course, one-loss NIU is going to the Orange Bowl. Let that sink in . . . the Huskies are going to the Orange Bowl! That one loss came from 4-8 Iowa! The only ranked team they played was Kent St! Not to mention that they are NIU! Upon receiving the bid to the Orange Bowl, the school is required to take 17,500 tickets for the game . . . but their average attendance for home games is just over 15,500. We heard this story two years ago when Uconn couldn't sell their tickets and lost over $1.6 million (and that's after factoring in their share of the bowl payout). I know that we're getting a four team playoff next year, but that will not fix the numerous problems that we see surfacing every December, not least of which is the growing number of 6-win teams in bowl games (13 this year).
That said, enjoy watching and picking this year's bowl games:
| Bowl | Team 1 | Team 2 | Stadium: Location | Date: Time | TV |
| New Mexico | Nevada | Arizona | University Stadium: Albuquerque, NM | 12/15: 1:00 | ESPN |
| Famous Idaho Potato | Toledo | Utah State | Bronco Stadium: Boise, ID | 12/15: 4:30 | ESPN |
| Poinsettia | BYU | San Diego State | Qualcomm Stadium: San Diego, CA | 12/20: 8:00 | ESPN |
| Beef 'O' Brady's | Ball State | UCF | Tropicana Field: St. Petersburg, FL | 12/21: 7:30 | ESPN |
| New Orleans | East Carolina | Louisiana-Lafayette | Superdome: New Orleans, LA | 12/22: Noon | ESPN |
| Las Vegas | Boise State | Washington | Sam Boyd Stadium: Las Vegas, NV | 12/22: 3:30 | ESPN |
| Hawaii | SMU | Fresno State | Aloha Stadium: Honolulu, HI | 12/24: 8:00 | ESPN |
| Little Caesars | Central Michigan | Western Kentucky | Ford Field: Detroit, MI | 12/26: 7:30 | ESPN |
| Military | Bowling Green | San Jose State | RFK Stadium: Washington, DC | 12/27: 3:00 | ESPN |
| Belk | Duke | Cincinnati | Bank of America Stadium: Charlotte, NC | 12/27: 6:30 | ESPN |
| Holiday | Baylor | UCLA | Qualcomm Stadium: San Diego, CA | 12/27: 9:45 | ESPN |
| Independence | Lousiana-Monroe | Ohio | Independence Stadium: Shreveport, LA | 12/28: 2:00 | ESPN |
| Russell Athletic | Virginia Tech | Rutgers | Florida Citrus Bowl: Orlando, FL | 12/28: 5:30 | ESPN |
| Meineke Car Care | Minnesota | Texas Tech | Reliant Stadium: Houston, TX | 12/28: 9:00 | ESPN |
| Armed Forces | Rice | Air Force | Amon G. Carter Stadium: Fort Worth, TX | 12/29: 11:45 a.m. | ESPN |
| Pinstripe | Syracuse | West Virginia | Yankee Stadium: Bronx, NY | 12/29: 3:15 | ESPN |
| Kraft | Navy | Arizona State | AT&T Park: San Francisco, CA | 12/29: 4:00 | ESPN2 |
| Alamo | Texas | Oregon State | Alamodome: San Antonio, TX | 12/29: 6:45 | ESPN |
| Buffalo Wild Wings | TCU | Michigan State | Sun Devil Stadium: Tempe, AZ | 12/29: 10:15 | ESPN |
| Music City | NC State | Vanderbilt | LP Field: Nashville, TN | 12/31: Noon | ESPN |
| Sun | Georgia Tech | USC | Sun Bowl: El Paso, TX | 12/31: 2:00 | CBS |
| Liberty | Tulsa | Iowa State | Liberty Bowl: Memphis, TN | 12/31: 3:30 | ESPN |
| Chick-fil-A | Clemson | LSU | Georgia Dome: Atlanta, GA | 12/31: 7:30 | ESPN |
| Gator | Northwestern | Mississippi State | Everbank Field: Jacksonville, FL | 1/1: Noon | ESPN2 |
| Heart of Dallas | Oklahoma State | Purdue | Cotton Bowl: Dallas, TX | 1/1: Noon | ESPNU |
| Outback | Michigan | South Carolina | Raymond James Stadium: Tampa, FL | 1/1: 1:00 | ESPN |
| Capital One | Nebraska | Georgia | Florida Citrus Bowl: Orlando, FL | 1/1: 1:00 | ABC |
| *Rose | Stanford | Wisconsin | Rose Bowl: Pasadena, CA | 1/1: 5:00 | ESPN |
| *Orange | Northern Illinois | Florida State | Sun Life Stadium: Miami, FL | 1/1: 8:30 | ESPN |
| *Sugar | Florida | Louisville | Superdome: New Orleans, LA | 1/2: 8:30 | ESPN |
| *Fiesta | Oregon | Kansas State | U. of Phoenix Stadium: Glendale, AZ | 1/3: 8:30 | ESPN |
| Cotton | Oklahoma | Texas A&M | Cowboys Stadium: Arlington, TX | 1/4: 8:00 | FOX |
| Compass | Pittsburgh | Ole Miss | Legion Field: Birmingham, AL | 1/5: 1:00 | ESPN |
| GoDaddy.com | Kent State | Arkansas State | Ladd-Peebles Stadium: Mobile, AL | 1/6: 9:00 | ESPN |
| *BCS National Championship | Notre Dame | Alabama | Sun Life Stadium: Miami, FL | 1/7: 8:30 | ESPN |
2 comments:
Just think if we had the good old days (circa 1993). The Rose Bowl would be the same. K-State would be in the Orange Bowl against Florida State. Alabama and Notre Dame in the Sugar. A&M would get maybe Georgia in the Cotton? Oregon would play in the Fiesta against Oklahoma? How would those be for bowl matchups. We need to hack off about a dozen bowl games, tell the 5th place finisher in the MAC sorry, but you're putrid, and give the mid-tier bowls some flexibility so they can arrange the best matchups. Yes, money and hotel rooms and the like will always play a part, but we can try.
-Guess Who
Just as it was 3? years ago, the New Mexico Bowl may be the best game of the entire bowl season. Unless you like defense. Good decision, Nate, to DVR the game in case it was a classic.
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