Matchup: Conference USA Champion Southern Miss somehow got shipped out to this game to face Hawa... WHAT? Nevada?!? That's... unfortunate. As of a few days ago, the Wolf pack had sold 10 tickets to the game. No, that's not a typo. And yes, Hawaii should always get a waiver to play in this game, even if it is 2-10, just to have some people in the stadium.
Matchup Pedigree: Southern Miss and Nevada are fine, well-known mid-major programs.
Entertainment Value: Really High. Nevada has the nation's top ranked offense in yards per game and Southern Miss is the champion of the most defense optional league in all of college football.
Corporate Nonsense: Not too bad. Sheraton as a sponsor of a game in a big tourist spot at least fits. Of course, the better sponsorship would be Hawaiian Airlines, but they are tied up with the basketball tournament being played on Oahu right now.
Bowl Pedigree: Awful, even with a conference champion involved. This once was a good game, in its previous incarnation (the Aloha Bowl, played on Christmas Day). Then the organizers got greedy and started a second game (the Oahu Bowl). Instead of doubling the fun, the fun died. Along with the fun went the Pac-10 tie in and the at-large that was staffed by decent teams looking for network tv exposure on Christmas (ABC owned the contract). Now, the bowl exists so Hawaii can go to a bowl game because what bowl executive in its right mind would ever invite Hawaii unless forced to. Who from Hawaii wants to travel to the mainland for a football game? Bowls were created for cold weather fans to go to places like Hawaii. Even worse, Hawaii isn't in the game. That means this game has to take a team from Hawaii's awful conference because what major conference want the tv sinkhole known as Hawaii and wants to fly its teams out there every year? Needless to say, this game stinks, unless a good Hawaii team is involved.
Game Prediction: Nevada's offense didn't really roll until it hit WAC play. Southern Miss is better than any other WAC team (and all of Nevada's non-conference opponents except Oregon) and thus will slow down the Wolfpack enough to win comfortably.
Southern Miss 44, Nevada 28
Should you watch: That depends on your family situation. Are they driving you insane yet? If so, watch the game and escape for a few hours. If not, avoid the game until the insanity kicks in, then check the score at halftime to see if its worth watching. If there is no insanity coming, have a Merry Christmas and please tell the rest of us how to not be annoyed at our dysfunctional families (that we love very much).
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