Matchup: TCU vs Louisiana Tech. The first bowl game of the the season where both teams deserve to be in a bowl game without question. TCU won 10 games again and won the Mountain West despite an awful non-conference run that included losses to in-state rivals SMU and Baylor (one of those forgivable, the other not). Louisiana Tech used the confidence it gained from taking Mississippi St. to overtime and rode it to a surprise WAC championship in year 2 under Sonny Dykes. While TCU is heavily favored, it is one of the few champion vs champion matchups of the bowl season (along with the Rose, Orange and GMAC).
Matchup Pedigree: Ehhh. TCU has a great recent history and won the Rose Bowl last season. Before the last decade though, nothing since the first half of the 20th Century. Louisiana Tech has never done much of anything, but it has been respected more than many of its WAC brethren since its win over eventual SEC Champion Alabama in 1999.
Locale: OK. The stadium won't be full (that honor is reserved for the more prestigious Holiday Bowl), but San Diego is as nice a bowl destination as anywhere else.
Entertainment Value: High. TCU's offense has been really good and fun to watch all season. It's defense hasn't been up to normal level, meaning a shootout is a possibility.
Corporate Nonsense: HA HA ha ha..... San Diego County Credit has got to be the most ridiculous sponsor of a national bowl game there is. Who outside of San Diego cares? At least Beef O Brady's and Belk are found in multiple states. San Diego County Credit Union can only be found in... wait for it... SAN DIEGO.
Bowl Pedigree: Evidently higher than it should be. This game should be one of the bastard children being cut from the bowl season given its presence in the same stadium as a more prestigious but ultimately still minor December bowl game. Instead, it gets a conference champions matchup. Meanwhile, the infinitely better Las Vegas Bowl (more on that game tomorrow) gets a conference runner up and middling Pac-12 team that fired its coach (or course all of the middling Pac-12 teams except Cal fired their coaches).
Game Prediction: TCU has Casey Pachall is playing right? Yes? OK. TCU bombs away on the Louisiana Tech defense and La Tech, for all its improvement, still hasn't recovered offensively from the Derek Dooley experience.
TCU 38, Louisiana Tech 20
Should you watch: Yes. Conference champions matchups in bowl games don't happen as often as they should. In addition, watch to scout TCU in advance of its ascension into the Big 12 next season.
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