First Look at the Bowls

As usual, there's a mixed bag of games and a lot of them (35). That's right, 70 of 120 Division I-A teams are going bowling (58.3%).

I like four of the five B(C)S match-ups, which is unusual given the pairings the past couple years. Oregon and Auburn should provide a highly entertaining game. Wisconsin and TCU is quite an intriguing match-up, with TCU's top-ranked defense going head-to-head with the mammoths on the line for the Badgers. Ohio State and Arkansas is another interesting match-up. The Buckeyes have had trouble with SEC speed in previous bowl games, but will the end result be different this time around? Virginia Tech has won 11 straight games, including the ACC Title last Saturday night against Florida State, and they'll be squaring off against the 1-loss Cardinal of Stanford. The only such game I'm not very excited about is the Fiesta Bowl, where Big XII Champ, Oklahoma (11-2), faces Connecticut (8-4), the Big East Champion. I don't want to take this game for granted. We've seen this before. Three years ago, Oklahoma faced Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl and we all know what happened then. I don't see that happening this time around, though.

In what could be the shortest game in the history of college football, Georgia Tech will be facing Air Force. Both teams run the option offense. Expect about a 40:1 ratio in run:pass plays, not many penalties, not many stoppages in play and more pass attempts by punters and place kickers than quarterbacks.

One match-up I'm very disappointed by is the Holiday Bowl, which pits Nebraska (10-3) against Washington (6-6). Nebraska lost the Big XII Championship game by 3 to Oklahoma and they get pitted against a 6-6 Washington team that needed to win their final 3 games, including a 7-point win in the Apple Cup against 2-10 Washington State, in order to become bowl eligible. That's not even the worst part. The worst part is the fact these two have already played one another this year. Nebraska went to Seattle and won the game 56-21. Do we really need to see that again? What motivation will the Huskers have for the game? They're 19th in the polls, were runner-up in their last season in the Big XII and their reward is a re-match with a 6-6 team they trampled by 35 points earlier this year? For Washington, they'll have an extra bit of motivation. It will be senior quarterback, Jake Locker's final game for the Huskies. He finished an awful 4 for 20 passing the football in the first game against the Huskers this year. This pairing makes no sense to me. If both teams come out to play, Nebraska should have no problem doing away with the Huskies yet again, but motivation will be a big question mark.

Motivation will be an interesting common denominator for many of these bowl games: Connecticut/Oklahoma, Nebraska/Washington, Alabama/Michigan State, Utah/Boise State, Missouri/Iowa, Arizona/Oklahoma State, Mississippi State/Michigan and Notre Dame/Miami (Fla.). I already went over the Fiesta and Holiday Bowls. In the Capital One Bowl, the defending champs, Alabama (9-3), will face Michigan State (11-1). The Spartans will come out with an extra bit of fire, trying to prove they are a legit top 10 team and should have been B(C)S worthy, while Alabama has to be disappointed with how their season ended. Boise State was one game away from being invited to a B(C)S game and will want to prove themselves. Utah has a solid team, but as they showed against TCU (lost 7-47), they are not an elite team and Boise should be able to dispose of them pretty easily. In the Insight Bowl, Big XII runner-up, Missouri (10-2), may have a hard time getting motivated to face an Iowa (7-5) team that has been a major disappointment, coming off an embarrassing loss to Minnesota (3-9). Iowa, meanwhile, may go one of two directions. They could feed off the frustration of the season and come to play in this game, as a start to next year's season or they could continue to snowball. It'll be interesting to see how focused both teams are. Another Big XII team faces a similar test as Missouri. Oklahoma State (10-2), the Big XII South runner-up, will face Arizona (7-5), losers of 4 straight going into the bowl game. Will the battered Wildcats get healed up by bowl time? Will they not care about the result of this game and lose their 5th straight or decide to end the season on a positive note by defeating a top 10-caliber team like Oklahoma State which could vault them back into the Top 25 at season's end? On the other side of things, will the Cowboys feel as if they deserve a better bowl bid and not play up to their ability? Mississippi State and Michigan have some coaching questions, which brings up a lot of uncertainty going into the Gator Bowl. Bulldogs' coach, Dan Mullen's name has been circling the airwaves the past couple weeks with regard to him potentially going elsewhere (Miami, Fla.). I have yet to hear of his interest level in that position or others. Michigan's Rich Rodriguez has been hearing a lot about his name in recent weeks as well, but for a different reason. This is his 3rd season with the club. After going 3-9 in year 1 and 5-7 in year 2, Rodriguez led the Wolverines to a 7-5 record this year. The team appears to be improving, but will he be around to see this trend continue? Will these decisions be made before the game or after the game? Will this game play a factor in the decisions? How distracted will the two teams be due to the rumors? Will Michigan feel an extra ounce of motivation in an attempt to save Rodriguez's job? Finally, in the Sun Bowl, Notre Dame finished the year 7-5 and on a good note under first year head coach, Brian Kelly. Miami (Fla.) had high hopes for this year, but closed the regular season at 7-5 with a 23-20 overtime loss to South Florida, which ended head coach Randy Shannon's reign there. Will Miami have a coach by the bowl? How focused will the team be? Will Notre Dame want it more than the Hurricanes?

Some other match-ups I'm looking forward to are:

LSU (10-2)/Texas A&M (9-3): If you like defense, this should be a fun one. LSU doesn't usually win pretty, but the Mad Hatter (Les Miles) finds ways to win. A&M, meanwhile, started the season off sluggishly, but got hot late, with wins over Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas. First one to score 17 may win this one.

West Virginia (9-3)/NC State (8-4): The Mountaineers are the best team in the Big East this year (sorry UConn). As usual, they have speed coming out of the backfield and a rather underrated defense. NC State just finished their best season under coach Tom O'Brien and have a few playmakers of their own, starting with quarterback Russell Wilson.

Illinois (6-6)/Baylor (7-5): Both teams appear to be heading in the right direction. This will be Baylor's first bowl since 1994, led by electrifying quarterback Robert Griffin. Illinois was a pain in the backside for a lot of Big Ten teams this year and with their solid ground game and stingy defense, they appear to be heading back in the right direction under head coach, Ron Zook. Baylor had anything but a spectacular defense this year, so this will be an interesting match-up.

North Carolina (7-5)/Tennessee (6-6): Carolina had the epitome of a rollercoaster season this year. It started before their opener against LSU, as multiple players were suspended from the game and that was just the start. Tennessee had to get hot at the end of the year in order to become bowl eligible under first year coach Derek Dooley. They needed overtime to beat UAB (4-8) and if not for a mathematical error by the coaching staff (13 players on the field? Really), the Vols would have defeated 10-2 LSU. It'll be interesting to see how this game unfolds and which club can end their rollercoaster of a season on a high.

Georgia (6-6)/Central Florida (10-3): Since receiver A.J. Green came back from suspension, the Bulldogs have been a different team. He provides the vertical, home-run threat Georgia didn't have at the start of the season. Central Florida is no team to take lightly, as their record should indicate. Not only did they lead Conference-USA in points allowed per game, George O'Leary's Golden Knights have a fairly dynamic offense as well. UCF has played such teams as Georgia close both this year and in years past under O'Leary. Will they finally be able to come out victorious?

Florida State (9-4)/South Carolina (9-4): To me, this is a fascinating match-up, as it pairs two teams coming off very solid regular seasons, but both ended in a disappointing fashion, as both were dominated in the ACC and SEC Championship Games. Both appear to be on the rise and on the brink of becoming an elite team, but have yet to get over that hump. Will this game provide a starting point for that to occur next season?

Texas Tech (7-5)/Northwestern (7-5): Neither team is outstanding, but both run entertaining offensive schemes and should make for quite the popcorn film. No matter which way the pendulum swings, expect the final score to be close. Northwestern's games were decided by one score 7 of 12 times (58.3%).

Florida (7-5)/Penn State (7-5): Two typically dominant programs in their respective conferences had down years this year. Both offenses struggled to generate points consistently. Penn State began playing better with a switch at quarterback, but at 7-5, both Joe Paterno and Urban Meyer have to be disappointed going into this game. Will this game provide a springboard for another run in 2011?

Northern Illinois (10-3)/Fresno State (8-4): This should be called The Pain in the Butt Bowl. Neither of these two Non-AQ teams are afraid to play anybody out-of-conference and more times than not, they give their AQ opponents all they can handle. Now, they face one another in what should be a high-scoring affair.