Trent's Touchdown - Non-BSC Bowl Week

Welcome to the best time of the year. No, I don’t mean the time to exchange all your crappy Christmas gifts for cool stuff (yeah, loved the sweater). I’m talking about college bowl time. It’s the time when mediocrity in college football is rewarded with millions of dollars. This week, we’ll just go with the non-BCS bowls, and then right before the BCS showdowns, I’ll give my breakdowns on those big games.

1) The Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (in San Diego) – Arizona State (11) vs. Texas (19) (ESPN at 8 PM on 12/27) – This game is going to answer a lot of questions. Is ASU overrated and Texas underrated? (possibly). Did ASU deserve a BSC bowl bid over someone like Illinois? (definitely). Is Colt Brennan a good quarterback? (not really). Even after the gag job against USC, I think ASU is being unfairly maligned. They are a good team that came together at the right time under the right coach. Are USC and Oregon (with Dixon) better? Definitely, but they are still the class of the Pac-10 this year and deserve to be rewarded. Texas took advantage of a soft Big 12 (it’s always soft) to get where they were going, it’s just the Kansas and Missouri took better advantage of it.

2) The Chick-Fil-A Bowl (in Atlanta) – Clemson (15) vs. Auburn (23) (ESPN at 7:30 on 12/31) – Everyone wants to talk about the Clemson offense against the Auburn defense. I want to talk about the Clemson defense against the Auburn offense, since this will be the key to the game. Will Clemson’s offense put up points? Probably. I just don’t think Auburn will score on Clemson’s defense. That is probably the must underrated facet of the Clemson football team. They are a bunch of speedy ball-hawks who will knock people around. Auburn’s offense has been sketchy all year. You didn’t know if they would have a great game or stink up the joint. I think Clemson wins, but they have a knack of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

3) The Outback Bowl (in Tampa) – Tennessee (16) vs. Wisconsin (18) (ESPN at 11:00 AM on 01/01) – Brace yourself everyone, but I’m going to finally admit it. Erik Ainge isn’t that bad of a quarterback (get me to say the same about Drew Weatherford, and it just might be the end of the world). He managed the game very well in the SEC Championship and his defense kept them in it. Wisconsin is tailor made to lose to Tennessee. They are a one trick pony (the run game) and once you take that away from them, you have them beat. A competent defense should be able to beat them (which explains why they only had 3 conference losses).

4) The AT&T Cotton Bowl (in Dallas) – Missouri (6) vs. Arkansas (Fox at 11:30 AM on 01/01) – Oh boy, when you talk about one dimensional teams, Arkansas has to be at the top of the list. And when you talk about teams getting screwed out of a BCS Bowl, Missouri has to be at the top of the list. Missouri is a team that used the softness of the Big 12, coupled with the bias shown to the Big 12 to its advantage. Unfortunately, they lost to Oklahoma twice and everyone fell in love with Kansas. When it comes to Arkansas, you have to talk about McFadden, Jones, and their running game. Yeah, they beat LSU, but lost to Alabama, Kentucky, Auburn, and Tennessee. They beat most teams but slugging it out offense to offense. Missouri is not going to let you do that, as their offense is too prolific and Chase Daniels is too good.

5) The Capital One Bowl (in Orlando) – Michigan vs. Florida (12) (ABC at 1:00 on 01/01) – I think more people would have believed this to be the National Championship Game at the beginning of the season instead of the Unfulfilled Expectations Bowl. Both teams had there problems. Michigan had hubris and injuries going against them. Florida had hubris and a lack of talent (polished talent, not athletic talent). All you really needed to do was just watch both teams to realize they didn’t have it. Michigan just seemed off all year, and Florida was great the first few games, then just sort of leveled off. As much as I would want Michigan to win this one, I don’t think they can, for one reason. Tim Tebow. Say want you want about the Heisman Trophy winner, but Michigan has shown all season long that they can’t stop a running quarterback. Thankfully for them, they were able to mask that in the Big 10. Put them in the SEC, they would have lost 8 games.

6) The Brut Sun Bowl (in El Paso) – South Florida (21) vs. Oregon (CBS at 2:00 on 12/31) – Welcome to the Your Bubble Got Burst Bowl. South Florida came out of the shoot and beat teams like Auburn and West Virginia and climbs to number 2 in the polls, then they lose three straight and no one cares about you anymore. Oregon came out and beat Michigan, USC, and ASU and get to number 2 in the polls, then Dennis Dixon blows out his knee and the Ducks lose three straight and no one care about you anymore. With USF, it was just because they weren’t that good talent wise, but smart play let them exploit people. With Oregon, the injury to Dennis Dixon was the worst possible thing to happen at the worst possible time. He wasn’t only the quarterback; he was the emotional heart and soul of that team. When he went down, the whole team crumbled around him. If Dixon stays healthy, he’s the Heisman Trophy winner and the Ducks are in the National Championship Game.

Extra Point:

7) Minus my joke at the beginning, I like the lesser valued bowls outside the BCS Bowls. They give us all one last shot to see our favorite teams. To lament one or two bad breaks and to celebrate the classic plays and victories. To see the teams that burst on to the scene and made us believe that a nobody could contend for a place on the big stage. To see players play for that one last shot at glory. To see fans bonding one last time as they watch their team play one more game for one more victory. I’ll be watching the Chick-Fil-A Bowl on 12/31. I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat, rooting for Clemson, watching them beat the crap out of Auburn. Lamenting the loss to BC, but celebrating the victory over FSU. Years from now, I won’t remember that Clemson played in some bowl named after a fast food restaurant; I’ll remember that they played another game in a very good season. This is an experience I’ll share with ever fan of a team not in a BCS Bowl.