Bowl Season Kicks Off

The first day of the 2008-09 bowl season got underway with four games, two in their inagural state. The winners were Wake Forest, Colorado State, South Florida (see picture) and Arizona.

Navy losing to Wake Forest was my disappointment of the day. The midshipmen were playing as close to home as possible in Washington DC. They got out to a two touchdown lead, but saw the Deamon Decons dominate the rest of the way.

Fresno State lost to the hands of Colorado State. The Bulldogs should have fared better this season, but never recovered from its loss to Wisconsin. FSU needed a win more than any other team on this day. What was once a promising season has turned into quite the disappointment.

South Florida dominated in their game with Memphis. It should've have in the inagural magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl in nearby Clearwater / St . Pete. The Bulls are better than what the Big East gave them in bowl assignments, but they need to attain a BCS birth. In a conference that isn't among the nation's elite USF has had their chances to take that next step, but have faltered.

Finally Arizona made the Pac 10 begin a respectable streak of winning bowl games. This is an impressive win over BYU and is a good start for the conference. Other games it should win include Oregon over Oklahoma State, and USC over Penn State.

Early Look at the Bowls

The bowls have been announced and the Hawkeyes are heading back to Tampa, Florida and the Outback Bowl for the third time since 2003. This has become a fan favorite for many Iowans and those that I have spoken to are excited about a return trip. I'm looking to returning to Hat Tricks, a earlier Night Out on the Town. The match-up is with the "Ole Ball Coach," Steve Spurrier. The former Florida Head Coach should have his hands full in trying to stop Iowa running back Shonn Greene.

A look at other bowl games.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl--BYU v Arizona. Is there not a worse fit for team and bowl than Las Vegas and Brigham Young? This will be the fourth straight trip to Vegas for the Cougars. Its a good thing the game is already sold out.

Independence Bowl--Louisiana Tech v Northern Illinois. This game is the only bowl on national tv that night. It was originally to pit a representative from the Big 12 and SEC, but neither had enough eligible teams. This is definitely not the match-up those in Shreveport were looking for, but on the other hand, not many want to spend the holidays in Shreveport.

Hawaii Bowl--Hawaii v Notre Dame. How is that for a reward? A 6-6 Irish team is able to travel to the islands to take on a very tough Hawaii team. It isn't very Christmas-like to place the Irish on the 24th. There will be little Christmas cheer for Notre Dame from this college football fan.

We'll pick on the Big Ten's bowl games as December progresses. My inital prediction is that the conference will not have a winning record. The teams with the best opportunity for victory are Iowa and Michigan State.

College Football Week 10

After an exciting weekend of Big Ten Football, the ladies of Minnesota will present the wrap-up of week 10.
Can anyone remember a Saturday of Big Ten Football that found every game settled in the last minute of play? First, an Adam Weber throw was intercepted by Northwestern and returned for a touchdown to break a 17-17 tie. The Gophers, instead of playing for overtime, threw over the middle and endured a devastating defeat. Then Michigan State came back from 11 down in the fourth quarter to kick a 45 yd field goal with :12 to play. A couple of mental breakdowns from the Wisconsin coaching staff contributed to the defeat. Purdue brings the hook 'n ladder from the back pages of the playbook to defeat Michigan with :27 to play. The win for the Boilermakers sent the Wolverines to the bowl sideline for the first time in 33 years. And finally, a Matt Eller field goal, broke a 24-24 tie with Iowa with :30 to play followed by an Ricky Stanzi intercepted pass. Although the conference is mediocre, that doesn't mean it doesn't have exciting finishes.
Exciting finishes were found elsewhere around the country. Pittsburgh took four overtimes to beat Notre Dame in South Bend. BYU defeated Colorado State 45-42 in a back and forth game that whoever scored last, won the game. And in a game that lived up to the hype, Texas Tech defeated the #1 Texas Longhorns on a touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree that left :01 on the clock.
And finally, on the eve of Election Day I just witnessed the interviews of Barack Obama and John McCain. When asked what sports issue they would change Obama wants a playoff while McCain would eliminate performance enhancing drugs. Based on that alone, I could not vote for Obama.

College Football Week 2

The Big Ten was perfect this last weekend of college football. However, don't buy into the propoganda the Big Ten Conference is selling. On its web site, the conference used the word "Dominating" to describe the process its teams took to win all eleven games. Let's take a look at the competition. Michigan wins by ten at home over a middle of the pack Mid-American Conference team, Miami (OH). Ohio State wasn't able to pull away until late over in-state rival, Ohio. Ohio isn't a traditional power of the MAC. Teams such as Iowa, Inidana, Illinois, Michigan State and Purdue won easily over Florida International, Murray State, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Northern Colorado. Perhaps the more impressive victories came when Minnesota won on the road at Bowing Green and Northwestern won at Duke. Of course Duke isn't a traditional power in the ACC, but David Cutcliffe has the program in the right direction. Penn State was able to overpower Oregon State, a team which may end up in the bottom of the Pac-10.

Syracuse, it is time to move on. A year ago there was no sign of improvement yet the school decided to let Greg Robinson return for a fourth year. While I believe a head coach should have four years to establish his program, there has been no signs that make anyone think the Orange will return to it national prominence under Robinson. With a loss at Northwestern followed by a home loss to Akron and Penn State this upcoming week, Syracuse is well on its way toward another 9+ loss season.

The worst call of the week goes to the Pac 10 officiating crew in Seattle. Washington's quarterback scores a touchdown to bring the Huskies to within one with a few seconds to go on Brigham Young. While celebrating the touchdown, the Washington QB throws the ball up in excitement. The official throws the flag for excessive celebration and the Huskies kick the PAT fifteen yards further back. The kick is blocked and BYU wins. Has the college game got to the point where spontaneous enthusiasm is penalized. This is a game played by 18-22 year olds and they are supposed to have fun. Allow them the opportunity to celebrate as long as it isn't excessive or showing up the other team.