OT - The BCS bowl matchups
Somehow, I feel in the minority here, and maybe elsewhere too, but I believe the BCS bowl matchups this season are some good ones. My own personal feelings of the matchups follows:
BCS title - The #1 and #2 for a good part of the season, including swapping the top spot several times. Considered by many to be two of the most explosive offensive teams in the country, even if defense isn't the priority between them. Should be a very high scoring, entertaining game.
Rose bowl - This is the one that I feel many people feel differently than me. Most would have loved to see a Wisky/Stanford matchup, but I believe that TCU is a top five team. This might be the strongest opponent in a BCS bowl game a mid-major has played so far. Wisky is a senior-laden, experienced team that rarely does anything to beat themselves, playing ball-control offense very well and with a stout overall defense. TCU is known for it's defense. They currently have the top overall defense and are top-five against rushing and passing. Against AF, a team that averages 318yds/gm on the ground, TCU held them to 184. Should be a good, smashmouth type football game and a win by TCU would definitely elevate the status of mid-majors.
Sugar bowl - A great SEC/B10 matchup, even if it's that team down south. Lots of storylines in this game, including: Will Mallett get a victory over tOSU before his recruit-mates from UM will? Will tOSU break it's SEC BCS bowl curse?
Orange - As I said in the Rosebowl piece, most would rather see Stanford in it, however, the matchup of them against VT could be a good one. VT is riding an 11-game win streak after a disastrous start to the season. They dropped out of the top ten, and the rankings, just to raise themselves, not only into the top 25, but all the way into the top ten again. One has to wonder: If they had beat BSU, would they be unbeaten and playing for the MNC instead? A win over a very good Stanford team would be a great end to their season. Stanford, on the other hand, is riding an 11-win season, losing only to the #2 team(after leading them at the half). No comments on what a win would do for Harbaugh.
Fiesta - Probably the least competitive bowl, though it does have some interesting storylines(at least for us). UConn could be the worst BE BCS representative, although Pitt might say otherwise. Even so, UConn is a team that we beat and a win by them over OU raises their status, along with the BE's, in everyone's eyes. On the flip side, OU might feel slighted by the BCS in that their opponent isn't even a top 25 team. A win means nothing, really, while a loss would very likely tell the cfb world that the B12 is on a serious decline. I doubt UConn wins this one, but I do remember 08' where Alabama came out flat and stayed that way in a loss to a team everyone thought they would beat handily.
All-in-all, I think these are the best matchups possible out of all of the teams, with some of the interesting storylines that are centered amongst them.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:45 AM ^
I agree. I am looking forward to most of the games, no so much the Fiesta. Not a big fan of UConn being in that one, but that's how this shitty BCS works (and I seriously doubt it will ever change). I concur with the Wisconsin v. TCU game, that should be fun to watch, as will the others.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^
Is it really all that bad that I want to see TCU blow the doors off Wisconsin? I subscribe to the "root for Big Ten in bowl games" mantra but I really want to Wisconsin to get hammered. I think they have been very unsportsmanlike with they way they've poured on unnecessary points against teams (like Indiana). I really hope the bad karma comes and bites Beilema in the a--.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
.....agree with you profit. Wisky, while being good, has an a** for a coach who thought nothing of ordering chopblocks, or running up scores.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:48 AM ^
The Rose Bowl never should have joined the BCS. TCU should be playing UConn and Stanford should be playing Wisconsin.
December 6th, 2010 at 1:21 PM ^
the Rose Bowl is part of the BCS because the Big Ten and Pac Ten joined the BCS. If the old bowl alliances were still extant, it would be Oregon vs Wiscy in the Rose; and most likely: Auburn vs TCU in the Sugar and OU vs VaTech in the Orange.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
I'm actually really looking to see how well UConn does against Oklahoma. We still really have no idea if they are a decent team that just started slow or a bad team. If they hang with, or beat, Oklahoma it might be more of a reason to consider our win against them impressive. Again if they get blown out then it really doesn't do anything because people already thought they sucked.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
I think Stanford vs. Wisconsin would have been one of the best bowl matchups of recent memory if it actually happened; Much like when Texas played Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^
Obvious bias disclaimer aside, I'm not sure the Stanford/VT game will be as competitive as it looks at first blush. VT's successes in the ACC and relatively good offense hide some glaring defensive deficiencies. I mean, I'd love to have the kind of "problems" they have on defense, but Stanford should be able to exploit them. Probably going to be a high-scoring game.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:55 AM ^
Maybe, but I'm part of the crowd that thinks the Pac-10 is weak overall and is going to get a rude awakening this bowl season.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
Can't be much of an awakening when it only involves 4 teams. Part of it comes from SC not being eligible so you end up with a 6-6 Washington team preparing to get smoked (again) by Nebraska in the league's top non-BCS bowl game. The fact that the league is way down also doesn't help though.
As for Oregon and Stanford, I'm not expecting implosion. Both are good teams, but it is quite possible that one or both are in over their heads with no real strong evidence to suggest otherwise (neither has beaten a really strong team this year and their most recent out of conference exploits aren't terribly convincing). Very curious to see how they play on the bigger stage.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
The Pac 10 played very well against non-conference competition, before they beat up on each other in conference and weakening their records. Which is what happens when you play 9 conference games.
At any rate, here's a summary of how the Pac 10 performed in non-conference action (games against BCS/quality competition and losses in parenthesis):
12-0 Oregon: 3-0 (W @Tennessee 48-13)
11-1 Stanford: 3-0 (W @Wake Forest 68-24, W @ND 37-14)
8-5 USC: 3-1 (W @Hawaii 49-36, W v. UVA 17-14, W @Minnesota 32-21, L v. ND 16-20)
6-6 Washington: 1-2 (L @BYU 17-23, W v. Syracuse 41-20, L v. Nebraska 21-56)
7-5 Arizona: 3-0 (W v. Iowa 34-27)
6-6 Arizona State: 2-1 (L @Wisconsin 19-20)
5-7 Oregon State: 1-2 (L v. TCU 21-30 in Dallas, W v. Louisville 35-28, L @Boise State 24-37)
5-7 Cal: 2-1 (W v. Colorado 52-7, L @Nevada 31-52)
4-8 UCLA: 2-1 (L @Kansas State 22-31, W @Texas 34-12)
2-10 WSU: 1-2 (L @ Oklahoma State 17-65, L @SMU 21-35)
Overall Record: 21-10
Record v. Bowl Eligible Teams: 6-10
Pac 10 Bowl Eligible Teams (inc. USC) v. Other Bowl Eligible Teams: 5-3
Record v. BCS Teams (inc. ND): 10-5
Road Record (inc. OSU-TCU): 6-8
Conclusions: The Pac 10 performed very well in non-conference play. Every team played at least a decent non-conference schedule and most acquitted themselves well. This suggests that the Pac 10 as a conference is strong, but there is a degree of parity in the conference after Oregon and Stanford that led to the lower teams beating each other up.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^
......with your premise that the P10 was strong this year. Even within your stats, their overall record vs. Bowl eligible teams kinda sucks. And on top of that, they didn't have a single, solitary win over anyone generally regarded as good. I realize the scheduling is what it is, and that some teams in their OOC schedule were thought to have been better than they actually were(Texas?), but their best OOC game was a loss to Wisky at the beginning of the season.
Oregon beat Tennessee, but so did all of the good SEC teams.
I think that Oregon and Stanford are very good, but the rest of the P10 kinda sucks which, to me, takes their overall strength down past the SEC, B10 and even the B12.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
The best win out there is Arizona beating a 7-5 Iowa team at home by seven points thanks to a long INT return for a TD (Stanzi'd!) and a 100 yard kickoff return.
Washington and USC tied for third place in the league. Would you be impressed with the Big 10 if MSU had gotten blown out by Nebraska at home and lost to a 6-6 BYU team? Would you be impressed if they had lost at home to a Notre Dame team playing a freshman back up QB?
The Pac 10 is not the victim of parity. It is the victim of having two good teams and eight very mediocre squads.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
Not to sound like a jerk, but it's not like the ACC is a strong or even mildly strong conference this year either....
December 6th, 2010 at 12:14 PM ^
.....would think that the ACC overall is a good conference. However, it is very likely that if VT had beaten BSU to start the season, VT would be in the MNC game ahead of Oregon or Auburn. They blew through their ACC schedule with the lone exception of the GT game. The rest of them weren't even close.
One shouldn't mistake a game with VT this year as being easy at all, even considering the relative weakness of the ACC overall.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
Unless they still lost to James Madison... Now THAT would have been something to see - a 1-loss top 5 team whose only loss is to a 1-AA team!
December 6th, 2010 at 12:32 PM ^
.....people agree that they had a huge letdown after the BSU loss. I don't think they even come close to losing the JMU game if they beat BSU, in which case they might have been 13-0 at this point, blowing through the ACC conference easier than Oregon did through the P10.
December 6th, 2010 at 12:53 PM ^
Of the Stanford / VT matchup.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:00 AM ^
Sucks. No two ways about it. And I'm just not excited to watch TCU. Sure, I know they're good...but I just don't care. The Granddaddy is a little damn shabby, as far as I'm concerned. Maybe it's just me.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:04 AM ^
Lines are still trickling out, but most sites have the BCS sides out at least
TCU -3 over Wisco
OSU -3 over Arky
Stan -3 over Va Tech
OU -17.5 uver UConn
Auburn -3 over Oregon......o/u 74.5
I respect TCU. But, its going to be hard not taking the Badgers and those three points.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^
BCS - I hope Oregon drops a nuke on Auburn. I hate Cheaty McCheaterson and his fake ass comments.
Rose - I have no idea who to root for. I think Wiscy is the class of the B10 but I also want to TCU to prove that mid-majors are legit and deserve serious discussion a win by Wiscy (or a blowout) only hurts their cause.
Sugar - Again I'm torn. I want to see the B10 do well but it would be OSU. I hate the ESSS EEE SEEE and a win would only continue the nonsenical hype of that conference.
Orange - I hope Stanford rolls. Don't care for the ACC or VaTech.
Fiesta - Can Stoops find a way to choke it up on a national stage yet again?
December 6th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
I was really hoping OU would get Stanford in the Fiesta, that way I could have totally written off the Va Tech and the Orange and not watched it. Stanford Oklahoma would have been an interesting match up of old school offense versus a more spread type attack. Oh, well, at least this will be the first time in quite a while that I pay attention to the Gator Bowl
December 6th, 2010 at 11:34 AM ^
The Big 12 champion is locked into the Fiesta Bowl (excepting cases where the Big 12 champion goes to the NC) and the Fiesta Bowl was locked into the last choice of teams this year. And there was no way anyone was going to voluntarily take UConn.
December 6th, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
BCS has given the best matchups, just the most competitive across the board. Sorry, but I am more interested in seeing how TCU does against a team generally regarded as very good, rather than an uninteresting TCU/UConn bowl that no one would watch.
As well, the OrangeBowl matchup between Stanford and VaTech will be a very good one as well. I don't think, even with VT's problems on D, that Stanford has seen a D this good all year, and VT's offense is slightly underrated, as their running game is decent.
As to the RoseBowl, the historical B10/P10 matchups haven't been that historical in the recent past, and IMO, the idea of a Stanford/Wisky game would be a snoozer, even though the game itself might be pretty good.
December 6th, 2010 at 2:28 PM ^
Holy cow. I didn't realize just how much they extended the bowl season this year. I remember when everyone was in a tizzy because the MNC game was on Jan 4, which violated the sanctity of 1/1, although everyone got over it. Then it was Jan 7 or something the last few years. Now it's on Jan 10!
- Jan 1: Rose, Fiesta
- Jan 3: Orange
- Jan 4: Sugar
- Jan 6: GoDaddy.com (srsly?? MTSU, Miami NTM)
- Jan 7: Cotton (LSU, TAMU)
- Jan 8: Compass Bowl (Pitt/Kentucky)
- Jan 9: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (really?? Nevada, BC)
- Jan 10: MNC
WTH are the godaddy.com, compass, and fight hunger bowls?