So now it seems like I've copied an idea from one of my fellow bloggers, but since this was a piece I had been working on for the last few days, I'll still post it:
Some predictions for bowl season....
Navy v Utah…. If you’re a football purist, Navy’s triple option wishbone offense is fun to watch but with their head coach leaving to coach the Ramblin’ Wreck, I like Utah in this one. Plus, the Midshipmen beat Notre Dame this season for the first time since the FDR administration (or something along those lines) so isn’t that enough success for one season?
Florida Atlantic v Memphis…. I’m pretty sure UK beat Florida Atlantic this season and I don’t remember thinking they were very good at the time. I’m assuming Memphis is better than that. Give me Penny Hardaway’s alma mater.
Southern Miss v Cincy…. Brian Kelly has Cincy’s program moving in the right direction. The Bearcats play tough defense and have been tested numerous times by quality teams in the Big East. All I know about Southern Miss is that Boise State thumped them on a Thursday night game on the blue turf. I like the Bearcats in this one.
Nevada v New Mexico… or as Curly Davis would say “New Vada v New Mexico”. I love it that New Vada runs an innovative offense called the “pistol”. I love it that their freshman QB is like 6’8” and weighs a buck forty. Give me New Vada.
BYU v UCLA … Rematch from September (which UCLA won 27-17 in Pauley Pavilion). This time around, with UCLA’s coaching search still ongoing, I like BYU to knock off the Bruins. Also, I’m hoping Rick Neuheisel gets the job at UCLA. Currently, he’s the Ravens offensive coordinator, so the results speak for themselves. If not Neuheisel, then maybe Petrino?
Boise State v East Carolina… I like the Broncos to win, but for some reason, I really think this could be a great game. How much longer till Chris Petersen moves on to a major program?
Purdue v Central Michigan… Another rematch from September (Purdue won 45-22). Can I say that I hate it when the bowl people create rematches that aren’t interesting? Does anyone really think that when Central Michigan lost to the Boilermakers earlier, they all left the stadium thinking, “I’d like to see those guys again.” Give me Purdue. Again.
Arizona State v Texas…. I hope Mack Brown’s motivational speech before this game includes the line “Vince Young isn’t walking thru that door…. Ricky Williams isn’t walking thru that door.” Arz State is a program on the upswing. Texas lost the last game of the season to a Texas A&M program that is in a state of complete disarray. Sun Devils win in a high scoring game.
BC v Mich St… In Matty Ice’s last college game I see the Spartans leading 17-7 early in the 4th quarter only to see their lead evaporate when Matty Ice engineers another thrilling 4th quarter comeback. It would be a fitting end to a nice collegiate career. BC 21 Mich St 17
TCU v Houston… I like it that this is the Texas Bowl and both of these teams hail from the Lone Star State. Sadly, that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge about these two teams. Give me the Horned Frogs b/c they have a cool nickname and LT played there.
Maryland v Oregon State…Even though they have some of the ugliest uniforms in the world of sports, give me the Beavers over the Terps.
UConn v Wake Forest... This would be a very interesting basketball game from like 5 or 10 years ago. Who knew they were both good at football too? I’ll take UConn.
UCF v Miss. St… Missississiisssiippi State completely embarrassed UK at Commonwealth this season en route to a 7-5 campaign. Turns out maybe Sly Croom actually does know what he’s doing as a coach and the gray mustache is simply beautiful. Give me the Bulldogs over the Knights.
Penn St v Texas A&M… Two traditional football powers colliding in the tradition rich Valero Alamo Bowl. With the Aggies looking for someone to fill the legendary shoes of Dennis Franchione, I’ll take Joe Pa’s boys to handle A&M and their 400 pound halfback.
Alabama v Colorado… I really like this game… seriously. Within the next two seasons I look for both of these schools to return to being major factors on the national level. Sure, Nick Saban is slimy, but I still believe he’s a hell of a coach (even though this season was a huge disappointment). Dan Hawkins might very well be crazy but I think his insane ways will eventually rebuild a very strong program for the good folks of Boulder. Since I’m blinded by my love for the SEC, give me the Crimson Tide. This ain’t intramurals, brother.
More to come in a few days....
Friday, December 21, 2007
Bowl Preview (Part 1)
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8 comments:
You're such a copycat. Ugh.
Haha... Shouldn't you be paging Dr. Musgrave to 3507 or something?
Haha...It should be criminal to beep or page her due to the 13,000 patients she rounds with on an hourly basis. In all seriousness though, tough break for Big Willie Style last night. My thoughts are with you.
The Florida Atlantic game has another storyline that I wanted to use, but it seems played to death to me. The fact that they were not around when I began high school makes me happy to see them doing so well, so soon.
Neuheisel cannot go to UCLA for one simple reason. The reason he was let go at UW was because he was involved in an office pool bracket and got busted. Being that the smart money is on UCLA to take home the championship this year in hoops, I don't see him being able to avoid this temptation.
Najeh can fill in for Too Fast Willie. If we can play defense, we'll be ok. Just further proves our theory that all RBs are interchangable.
I thought about the Neusheisel- gambling idea, but decided not to work it into the piece.
Hey Davis - I actually think Central Michigan can beat Purdue. I realize it's not a sexy match-up and I wouldn't care less otherwise, but I've had the fortune to do some stories on CMU's quarterback Dan LeFevour. He's a pretty impressive kid who joined Vince Young this season as just the second player to rush for 1,000 yards and pass for 3,000 in a single season. And he's just a sophomore. I realize he plays in the MAC, which was down this year, but that's still a hell of an accomplishment. His coach told me that in 20 years of coaching, Dan was maybe the sixth or seventh kid he'd ever seen that had the "It Factor." I've interviewed a lot of coaches and they don't just throw that shit around, so I took him seriously. Even Tiller at Purdue joked that he fired the assistant coach who overlooked LeFevour when he came to their passing camp in high school. So, I don't know, it could be a good game if CMU beats up on the paper lion that is Purdue. I'd like to see a MAC team take it to a mediocre Big Ten squad.
My early post-season Bowl awards...
Least Creative Name: tie - Texas Bowl and New Mexico Bowl. Can we really not think of any better names? Isn't there a local Mexican restaraunt or a Chi-Chi's that could co-sponsor these two bowls? Hopefully there will be a day when we have 50 bowl games for all 50 states. Even the fucking Hawaii Bowl has a sponsor.
Most Puzzling Bowl Name: International Bowl - Pitting the nation of Rutgers against the nation of Ball State. WTF? Oh, it's in Toronto? Toronto is basically Michigan's better-looking cousin. Do you even have to get a passport to go to Toronto?
Freakiest Bowl Name: Konica Minolta Gator Bowl - I'm not sure what a Konica Minolta Gator is, but goddamn it sounds scary! Maybe it has cameras for eyes or maybe it's a machine that lives underwater. Either way, it's fucked up that it has enough money to sponsor a bowl game.
Misspelled Bowl Name: Brut Sun Bowl - Considering that this game is being played in El Paso, TX, and given the nature of the people I know that wear Brut cologne, I feel like this one should be the Brut, Son Bowl. As in, "A man, you don't smell like cigarettes. What is that?" "That's Brut, son!"
Biggest Missed Bowl Opportunity: Meineke Car Care Bowl and AutoZone Liberty Bowl - The winners of these two bowl games should have to play each other. There should also be a bowl game between the cast of Pimp My Ride and the cast of Trick My Truck where the winner of that game plays the Meineke v AutoZone winner. This would prove once and for all who has superior knowledge of automobile repair where such things should be settled - on the football field.
Biggest Ripoff to Paying Customers: AllState BCS Championship Game - If you are an Ohio State fan, you should seriously just stay at home and watch the game. You will be a lot less pissed off at halftime when your team is down 31-7. You'll be glad you didn't spend the money and use up your sick time at work. And there will probably be finger food and beer at your house that won't cost you $8.50 a pop.
I remember LeFevour, oddly enough, from the first game of last season when they took on Boston College. The starting QB at the time, got destroyed on the sideline and insert Dan to the game. That being his first college game ever his impact was negligable however I strongly remember them running an offense when the QB lined up behind the center and the rest of the linemen were lined up really far away. They ran that a couple of times and accomplished nothing from it, but it was great for the viewing audience. Really crazy.
Clyde, I just thought I'd let you know that I really love that joke about the International Bowl. I actually have dual citizenship with the United States and Rutgers.
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