Category by category rankings of the bowl games, starting with the losers.
By Watching these you are contributing to the problem of too many bowl games because anyone will watch. Run away from these games like the plague. They are disgraceful matchups at best.
35. Motor City Bowl (Little Caesars Bowl) – Toledo vs Florida International
This is going to be awful. If there are going to be bad matchups, at least give me the potential for a fun shootout. Florida International plays decent defense but has no offensive talent that can even standup to Toledo's meager MAC level offensive talent. The only way this is close is if the game is some sort of unwatchable defensive war.
34. New Orleans Bowl – Troy vs Ohio
File this under the same as the above game, except the other way. The Sun Belt team has the offense and Ohio has shown little all season. Also, the nightmare of last season's Ohio-Marshall game is still fresh in my memory.
33. New Mexico Bowl – UTEP vs BYU
Only a good game for those nostalgic about old WAC rivalries that don't mean anything. BYU was awful at the beginning of the season while UTEP took advantage of the worst schedule in the country including both New Mexico schools, Memphis (who might have somehow been worse than the New Mexico schools) and FCS Arkansas-Pine Bluff to get bowl eligible.
32. GoDaddy.com Bowl – Miami (OH) vs Middle Tennessee
Poor Miami. They won their league and get rewarded with this stinker. Middle Tennessee managed to lose to Minnesota before Tim Brewster got fired. As they were the only team to do so, shouldn't that eliminate the Raiders from bowl consideration?
31. Holiday Bowl – Nebraska vs Washington
It's a needless rematch. Needless rematches should never happen in bowl games. Boo.
BY watching these you are merely wasting time while also contributing to the bowl glut. Hardcore football fans will enjoy and checking the score is allowable to see if its close.
30. BBVA Compass Bowl – Kentucky vs Pittsburgh
Two players keep this from the scrap heap of the lower category: Randall Cobb of Kentucky (one of the best all-purpose offensive players in recent memory despite his low profile) and Dion Lewis (who had an awful season until his explosion in the snow against Cincinnati in the season finale). Other than those tow, look away as these teams are awful power conference teams with no other redeeming value to watch.
29. Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl – Louisville vs Southern Miss
A bad matchup, but at least there is an intriguing matchup. The Southern Miss offense has been very good against suspect competition since getting disemboweled in their opener by South Carolina. At the same time, Louisville has built a decent defensive resume against the offense challenged Big East. One of these will show its for real. On the other side of the ball, the less said about the Louisville offense and Southern Miss defense, the better.
28. Military Bowl – Maryland vs East Carolina
Maryland does nothing appreciably well until its finale, but they will happily bomb away against East Carolina with what might be the worst secondary to ever reach a bowl game. At this point, the Pirates might as well start four freshmen back there next season no matter what's coming back. Nothing could possibly be any worse than this tear was. Also, the East Carolina version of the Texas Tech Air Raid has put up stellar numbers all season long. Average to bad teams, but has some entertainment value until you get sick of seeing receivers 30 yards open in the secondary.
27. Pinstripe Bowl – Syracuse vs Kansas St.
This would be higher except that the Syracuse offense is awful and the defense is very good. This means the Orange will suck all life out of the stadium and your television too.
26. Meineke Car Care Bowl – Clemson vs South Florida
Only to see Clemson pass rushing stud Da'Quan Bowers before he is off the the NFL. Avoid the other side of the ball if possible. South Florida has a decent defense and Clemson's offense has been MIA since Kyle Parker took that hit to the back in the Auburn game in September.
25. TicketCity Bowl – Texas Tech vs Northwestern
Would have been much higher considering how entertaining Northwestern normally is but for dan Persa's injury. Robbed of him the Wildcats won't be much resistance to the Red Raiders.
Worth tuning in for at least for a few minutes. These games aren't total disgraces for the most part and should at least be decent, entertaining and close for much of the way (with one glaring exception)
24. Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl – Nevada vs Boston College
The Nevada offense has been amazing on the ground for a few years now. They put everything together this season with the best team in school history. Now, the great ground game meets Boston College and the top-ranked run defense in college football. Nevada should win because Boston College can't score, but the matchup of the Nevada offense and the BC defense is well worth tuning in for.
23. Fiesta Bowl – Connecticut vs Oklahoma
Here is the glaring exception to close games, but its tough to move a BCS game much lower than this no matter how underserving one of the teams is. The only way this remains close is if Oklahoma fails to show up and its BCS yips from recent seasons show up again.
22. Music City Bowl – Tennessee vs North Carolina
North Carolina's players have shown a ton of heart this season overcoming the whole suspension fiasco to reach a bowl game while Tennessee has found a spark with a four game winning streak to close the season behind freshman quarterback Tyler Bray. The Vols could take the next step back towards SEC contention here, or North Carolina will have one last hurrah before the NCAA lowers the boom in the offseason.
21. Armed Forces Bowl – SMU vs Army
Just for the contrast in styles. The Army option game and the SMU run 'n' shoot should produce a highly entertaining game.
20. Poinsettia Bowl – San Diego St. vs Navy
Same here though San Diego St. is a bit more balanced than SMU and both teams are a bit better here.
19. Humanitarian Bowl – Fresno St. vs Northern Illinois
As long as Fresno St. doesn't start hemorrhaging when they see the Blue Turf again (see 51-0 loss at Boise St.), this game should be highly entertaining (also contingent on Northern Illinois wanting to be there after seeing coach Jerry Kill leave for Minnesota this week). The Fresno offense has been very good this season (with one glaring exception) while Northern Illinois was great all season through the MAC except for the championship game.
18. Liberty Bowl – Central Florida vs Georgia
The Golden Knights get one last shot at a BCS team this season after losing to NC State and Kansas St. They have a top 25 scoring offense and a top 15 scoring defense. Meanwhile, Georgia recovered from its horrible start behind a very good offense that helped the Bulldogs to a 5-2 finish. I'm interested in seeing quarterback Aaron Murray continue his development.
17. Texas Bowl – Baylor vs Illinois
Two very good offenses and suspect defenses? Sign me up for this. Robert Griffin will likely have his way with the Illinois defense. Meanwhile, the Baylor run defense will need to show up or Mikail LeShore and Nathan Scheelhaase are going to go crazy for the Illini.
16. Insight Bowl – Missouri vs Iowa
After taking most of the last month of the season off, the question here is if Iowa will bother showing up. If they do, we will have a closer than expected defensive duel between a Tigers team with an underrated defense and overrated offense and a Hawkeye team that has one of the best defensive lines in the country when motivated to play.
15. Alamo Bowl – Oklahoma St. vs Arizona
Arizona collapsed down the stretch, but its passing game is good enough to turn this into an entertaining shootout with Oklahoma St., the best offense in the country not playing in the National Title Game.
Good-Solid Matchups. These games are worth watching and maybe even going a little out of the way to see. Each has some quirk or hook that differentiates it from the games in the previous category.
14. Outback Bowl – Florida vs Penn St.
Two big brand name programs that have a few weeks to get the offense fixed after disappointing seasons. Both were 7-5 that felt much worse. The winner here heads into the offseason with their heads held high and a preseason top 25 rankings next season. The loser has a lot of questions to answer.
13. Sun Bowl – Miami vs Notre Dame
Brian Kelly lucked out with this matchup. There aren't a ton of 7-5 power conference teams his Fighting Irish could beat, but Miami is one of them. Notre Dame could be one win away from an underserved spot in the preseason top 25 next season. For Miami, will they have a coach by this time and what will the mental state of the team be after seeing coach Randy Shannon fired?
12. Hawaii Bowl – Hawaii vs Tulsa
I expect 100 points and 1000 yards of offense. Anything else would be a disappointment. These two teams have it in them though.
11. Independence Bowl – Georgia Tech vs Air Force
I enjoy watching option football. It is entertaining and keeps the game moving. Watching two option teams will be a treat. For those who don't like option football, downgrade this game two categories despite its competitiveness. Georgia Tech stinks.
10. Tangerine Bowl (Champs Sports Bowl) – West Virginia vs NC State
NC State has no defense and West Virginia has no offense. Meanwhile, NC State has a great offense and West Virginia has a great defense. Will be fun to see which teams weakness steps up to win this game.
9. Gator Bowl – Mississippi St. vs Michigan
Bulldogs curtailed Cam Newton better than anyone else all season. Now they get to try and handle Denard Robinson. At the same time, the Michigan defense will try to stop someone, anyone. Of the SEC teams possible for this game, Mississippi St. gives them the best shot. Also, will Rich Rodriguez have a job after the game if his team loses.
8. Peach Bowl (Chick-fil-a Bowl) – South Carolina vs Florida St.
Steve Spurrier against Florida St. Right there makes this appointment television. On top of that, both teams are trying to bounce back from conference title game losses and salvage their seasons here. Should be a good game
Appointment television. Figure out a way to watch these games. They are the cream of the bowl season and each should be a competitive, close game with superior athletes making plays down the stretch. In other words, everything we love about college football.
7. Las Vegas Bowl – Boise St. vs Utah
Utah was way overrated at number five and then stayed dead from the TCU game for another game and a half. Other than that though, the Utes have been solid all season. On the other side, Boise St. has been incredible all season except for one half of football in Reno. In this game, the Utes will try to keep the offense balanced and score with Boise St., especially now that Nevada has shown that the Boise St. defense can be beaten.
6. Citrus Bowl (Capital One Bowl) – Michigan St. vs Alabama
Nick Saban faces off with his former team for the the first time. His team now has holes that have been exposed numerous times this season, but Michigan St. may not be well equipped to exploit them in their first tradition January bowl game since Saban led them to this game in 1999 (and bolted for LSU before the game was played).
5. Cotton Bowl – Texas A&M vs LSU
This game has everything. We have the Les Miles crazy factor. We have whatever LSU is going to try and pass off as a passing game. We have the best team in the Big 12 with its incredibly hot quarterback who led them to wins over Oklahoma and Nebraska in the second half of the season. We also have the beginning of next season now. The winner here will likely be in the top 10 of the preseason polls next years and might crack the top five.
4. Orange Bowl – Virginia Tech vs Stanford
Both of these teams are among the hottest in the country. Virginia Tech has looked like a top five team since they realized the season started during the 2nd quarter of the East Carolina game (game three) while Stanford has played one bad half of football all season (too bad for the Cardinal it was at Oregon at the same time the Ducks were loading the gun up for the second half slaughter). The teams look even as the Virginia Tech defense has improved each week since the debacle against James Madison and the offense has been the best since Michael Vick was the quarterback. At Stanford, Andrew Luck is the best pocket passing quarterback we have seen at this level since Peyton Manning. He will be amazing in the NFL and it will be quick. His march to the top pick in the draft begins here.
3. Sugar Bowl – Arkansas vs Ohio St.
Ohio St. vs the SEC. Sign me up. The Buckeyes have never beaten the SEC in a bowl game (0-9 all-time). Now they get another chance against Arkansas and its explosive offense. The question is the Arkansas defense. They gave up 31 points to Mississippi St. and its average offense and 23 to LSU and its average. Since this winning streak began, the Razorbacks have been average on defense. Can Pryor and the Buckeyes take advantage and get ready for another run at the BCS Title Game next season?
2. Rose Bowl – TCU vs Wisconsin
Wisconsin mauls opponents on offense. TCU does the same on defense. That battle will be the best of the bowl season. The other side with TCUs underrated offense taking on the best defense it has seen all season should be entertaining as well.
1. BCS National Championship Game – Auburn vs Oregon
Get ready for a track meet (since most of the damage will be done on the ground, track meet is a better description than shootout for this game). The Tigers and Ducks are going to run it up and down the field on each other. The only potential flaw is if one of these two gets a big first half lead (entirely possible since neither has bothered to show up until halftime multiple times this season), the game might be over considering the dominant second halves both of these teams have played this season.
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