Bowl Chronicles, 89 and Counting Edition

Submitted by jamiemac on

Hawaii Bowl, 8pm
Notre Dame vs Hawaii. Lines ND -2, O/U 49

One of my favorite streaks in the history of sports is in jeopardy tonight. Not ND's 0-9 record in bowls, nor the fact ND has not won a bowl game since 1993.

Nope the streak in question is the fact that 89 different schools have won bowl games since the Fighting Irish last celebrated a bowl victory.

How long is that draught? So long that when Arizona--one of the worst teams from a BCS leage over the previous decade--won their bowl game on Saturday, it was the second time the Cats had won a bowl since the Irish won their last one.

Folks, that is not good.

Sadly, that streak will come to end tonight. I have not felt this way about a sports streak since the Rangers were trouncing the Canucks in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. With that win, we lost the infamous chant of '1940, 1940' that we could serenade the Rangers with every year they would be eliminated from contention, a testament to how long it had been since the New Yorkers had hoisted the Cup.

I made no money on that back then, but I expect to make some cash tonight on the Irish finally getting of the schnide in postseason.

First, a couple more words about this bowl losing streak by the Irish. There are only 117 teams in DI, so we're 3/4s of the way to seeing every team win a bowl before ND does again. My hopes for seeing that to fruition came to a halt when this matchup was announced a few weeks ago. Sadly, with teams like Buffalo, La Tech, Ball St in the mix this season, I thought we had a great chance of getting into the 90s. Of course, with teams like Indiana out there in the college football world, it was doubtful that every team was going to get a bowl win before ND. So, we might as well put a few bucks and ND and make this sucker worth our while.

Hawaii is not a bowl team. The only reason they qualified is due to a three game winning streak in November against the dregs of CFB, New Mexico St, Idaha and Wassau. Those clubs have a combined four wins between them.

The Rainbows can not run the football, are terrible on the O-Line and commit way too many penalities for my tastes. Throw in the fact that in the post June Jones, Colt Brennan era, they're not the smooth running passing machine they had been and you have to wonder how Hawaii stays in this one for four quarters.

For the Irish, I feel Tenuta and Cornflakes can do enough on defense to keep Hawaii at bay. As long as they dont give the 'Bows a short field, Hawaii wont score more than 20 points tonight.

On offense, ND has a tremendous advantage with Michael Floyd and Golden Tate. The Bows can't cover them. Floyd is a beast and will go for 100 yards and two scores. ND's O-Line is much improved over a year ago, they will keep Claussen clean and Jimmah will have one of his best days of the season. They'll also run the ball effectively late in this game, so there wont be any meltdowns like the Syracuse debacle.

Remember, the ND players want to be here. Their fans might be pissing and moaning about playing a game so far away, on a Holy Day and the band not being there, but this game is one big snowball being thrown back at their fans on behalf of the team. The players are tired about hearing about this bowl losing streak. They will play on fire tonight. Honestly, I would expect ND to play their best game of the season tonight.

The Pick: ND to win on the moneyline, -130.....3 Units....check out this stat I dug up doing research: Road favorites against the moneyline coming off a loss of 28 or more points after the midpoint of the season are 33-4. I'll take that historical trend to the bank tonight and sadly waive goodbye to one of my favorite stats in sports.

Comments

Real Tackles Wear 77

December 24th, 2008 at 10:16 PM ^

Ugh...this is not good. ND gets the most favorable bowl matchup possible, and based solely on their blowout win, people are gonna be talking about them being "back" and how they are gonna compete for a national title next season

willywill9

December 24th, 2008 at 10:26 PM ^

Stopped reading after the Rangers bashing....

Just kidding... sort of. I think the above metric is lame though. Can't we just say it's been ~14 years since ND has won a bowl game? I mean, does it really matter that Syracuse won a Gaylord Hotels Music City bowl in 1999?

And did you really knew that stat before ESPN showed it today? If so, that's impressive. I hadn't heard it before today. Looks like it's going to end though...

jamiemac

December 24th, 2008 at 11:31 PM ^

.....have you ever read the Phil Steele preseason mag?

Its the best out there for the intense college football fan....like 5,000 word previews on each team....its a must read for anyone like us who eat, drink and sleep CFB....i preorder it and get it in June.

Anyway, for the last several years, he has mentioned in the 'outlook' portion of ND preview about how many teams have won a bowl since ND has. That's when I first read this stat.

When ND was looking like a Gator or Sun Bowl team, I was stoked because I figured the number would grow.

Its 49-14, so it obviously wont.....which is sad, except for my winning bet.

Sorry about the Ranger bashing....i look forward to rapping with you on this blog when I am in my 70s, so I can chant '1994, 1994'

LOL....actually, the Blue Shirts are looking pretty good this winter.....Happy Holidays!

willywill9

December 24th, 2008 at 11:42 PM ^

Sounds awesome, I'll have to look into that mag. I'm 50/50 on ND. My step dad went there, and I used to like ND as any catholic kid in America would. When we play ND, I hate them with a passion. when they're playing a powerhouse team like USC though, I'll root for ND any day (unless it's against Michigan's best interest.) The better they are, the better it is for us, especially when we beat them.

As for 1994..what a great year! Knicks and Rockets duked it out in the finals. I'm still convinced the Yankees would have won it all that year too, had it not been for the strike. (This of course was before I began hating the Yankees.) It was a great year to be a New Yorker! I hope it's not another 50 or so years before Lord Stanley blesses us with his presence!

jamiemac

December 24th, 2008 at 11:16 PM ^

Well...Saturday's start of Bowl Season and the Bowl Chronicles got off to a lousy start.....lost five units, plus the requisite juice.

But, I have won five units back the two nights.

Nine straight days of Bowls begins on Friday, plus a few extra BCS games after that......I look forward to some fun times.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannakah everyone.

And, as always, Go Blue!!!!

Jim Harbaugh S…

December 25th, 2008 at 2:43 AM ^

did not "trounce" the Canucks in the finals.

That was a great series, the Rangers won 4-3 and IIRC the Canucks had a few great chances to tie game 7 at the end of the third period, but just couldn't capitalize.

jamiemac

December 25th, 2008 at 11:33 AM ^

....it ended up being a great series, although the NYR did open a 3 games to 1 lead.

Needless to say, as a Red Wing fan I am still bitter about the 1994 playoffs....the Shark debacle.

The Canuckleheads dominated games 5 and 6 to force Game 7.....which was a great game....so was the Devils-Rangers Eastern Conference Finals as well.

Trounce was too strong a word....but like 89 and Couting last night, 1940 still went by the wayside.

On a personal note, long time, not talk JHS.....hope you and your family are having a great Holiday season and I look forward to you talking me out of Penn State as the week goes on!!! Although, I dont think the Nits are as weak as the Fighting Zookers from last year.

Tubes

December 25th, 2008 at 8:37 AM ^

Honest question:

Why play the moneyline at -130 when you only have to lay 2 points to get it at -110 (or, at worst, -115)?

I only like to play money lines on underdogs. But then again, I hardly put any time, effort or money into gambling and just kind of do it on a whim.

jamiemac

December 25th, 2008 at 11:40 AM ^

...because I am a wimp and worry wort.

I hate playing favorites....and just in case a game likes this goes into OT or something else funny happens, I figure its worth spending the extra 20 bucks to eliminate the spread....if I win, its all irrelevant and if I lose, in this case, I dont think its a lot of extra money....overall, its probably not the soundest of strategies....i think the way that Navy game ended with ND last month kinda intimidated me into the ML last night.

I am predominantly an underdog bettor in CFB. I hate laying points and playing the moneyline is an example of how uncomfortable I am laying points.

And, you are dead on....always throw a little down on the underdog ML if you are already taking the points....you will come out ahead in the long run.

We should watch that this last week of December...put say $50 bucks on each Dog ML.....we'll probably only win 40 percent of the time, but we'll come out with a good profit.

I've been told in Bowl Season, thats the way to go....lets keep an eye on it.

Tubes

December 26th, 2008 at 11:14 PM ^

I like that strategy in the bowl season, where I feel there is a higher degree of unpredictability due to the several variables (time off, unusual non-conference matchups, whether or not teams will be up for their game) that aren't present during the regular season.

For a 3-point spread, taking the underdog ML can usually turn your -110 into +130 or +140. Those are the types I usually look at.

jamiemac

December 27th, 2008 at 3:16 PM ^

How about FAU last night at +7.5

The ML was +250...since this thread started, you would be 1-0 on dog ML.....lets say $50 a bet, you'be be up $125.....put three $50 wagers on today's 3 ML, and even if go you 0-3 you're don the equivalent of Juice.

This is profitable in the long run over bowl.

I am an underdog player and this is something I need to add to my bag.