2009-10 College Football Bowl Season thread
 

I didn't see a thread for this, so I guess I have to start it.

My picks for the upcoming bowl season:

Dec. 24 - Hawaii Bowl
SMU (+15) over Nevada

There's little question that Nevada is the better team. But 15 points is an awful lot to give, even against a terrible team, and SMU isn't half bad.

Dec. 26 - Emerald Bowl
Boston College (+9) over USC

Several things going on here. First, BC has had a great recent record in bowl games. Second, this is a major step down for USC. And third, I'm not convinced that USC is all that good. I'm happy to get 9 here.

Dec. 31 - Sun Bowl
Stanford (+8) over Oklahoma

I actually think Stanford is the better team at this time and might be a fair bet outright. Getting 8 is a true gift.

Jan. 1 - Gator Bowl
West Virginia (-3) over Florida State

FSU has looked good this season... a long time ago. Bowden's old team should win comfortably.

Jan. 1 - Sugar Bowl
Cincinnati (+11) over Florida

Yes, Tebow is a great (college) player. Yes, Florida has a fine defense. But Cincy isn't chopped liver, and even with a new coach, I think they'll keep it close enough to cover.

Jan. 2 - Alamo Bowl
Texas Tech (-8) over Michigan State

Conventional wisdom says this is a poor matchup for MSU. I happen to agree with the conventional wisdom.

Jan. 4 - Fiesta Bowl
Boise State (+7) over TCU

I'm not as convinced as the "experts" that TCU is that much better than BSU. They may not be any better at all, but let's let the game decide that. It should be close.

Jan. 6 - GMAC Bowl
Central Michigan (-3.5) over Troy

My heart sunk when CMU beat MSU back in late summer. But CMU has turned out to be a pretty good team. I have a soft spot for Troy (long story), and they should expose enough soft spots for whomever takes over to lose by more than the spread.

DISLAIMER: Point spreads and discussion for entertainment purposes only.

If Kelly was still there, I would have been tempted to take Cincinnati straight up.

Astounding that both Wyoming and Rutgers are playing on the same day.

In any case, I doubt the Pokes will be able to get past Fresno State. Nonetheless, I'm happy they're in the postseason again. A good job by the new coaching staff.

Meanwhile, Rutgers will hopefully win their bowl at the Juice Box.

I guess this is a college football catch-all but the Joe McKnight story is rather laughable. Here is the bizarre e-mail sent by the guy who bought McKnight...I mean his GF a car.

Joe McKnight story was 'rushed,' Santa Monica businessman says | The Fabulous Forum | Los Angeles Times

According to the latest line, SMU is now a 12.5 pt dog vs. Nevada. I'm wavering in my support for them. BC is now a 7.5 pt dog vs. USC. The other lines are more or less the same, but it's early for them.

Oh, and don't forget to check out these minor bowl standbys:

* The sponsor's commercial being played over and over and over ad nauseum.
* The university's commercials, usually at or near halftime.
* The sponsor's VP being interviewed by the network (the sideline reporter if they have one). He/she will mention how great it is to have two wonderful teams playing in fantastic (insert stadium name here) in wonderful (insert city name here). He/she will also mention how honored they are to be a sponsor for the Xth year and how they hope to make it a long-term partnership.
* Standard shots:
- The dude(s) painted in the team colors. Bonus points for spelling out the team's name or nickname.
- The cute kid in the stands. Bonus points for being asleep or yawning.
- The cheerleaders.
- The sign holder that tries to connect the network's abbreviation to the team and/or favorite player. Demerits for saying "Sportscenter is next". Bonus points for saying "World Series of Poker is next".

Were you aware that Stanford is going to be without their starting QB when you made that bet? I still think they could cover, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't. The defense is below-average.

I didn't know that, and I should have. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference. I still like Ivy West to cover.

What can I say, BYU plays tonight against Oregon State and I truly hope we see the BYU that played against Oklahoma and not the one that made FSU look like a top team.

Cougars and Beavers. Isn't that a new show on NBC?

I think BYU will show up ready to play, but I’m not sure the Beavs will hold up their end of the bargain. A few of the players even came out and said what a letdown it is to be in the Las Vegas bowl after being so close to the Rose Bowl. Hopefully the Seniors will give the younger guys a kick in the ass and get them ready to go.

Solid game defensively for BYU so far, but that wind is just sick, it's eliminating the passing and kicking game basically of the team playing into it.

Another bowl, another MWC victory. 3-0 so far. Sorta funny that all three have come in MWC stadiums, but hey...wins are wins nonetheless.

PAC-10 is 0-fer

SMU doing nasty things to Nevada

WOW!!! Did not have that pegged. Go Ponies.

Kickin' ass and takin' names- once every quarter century.

That June Jones guy is a decent coach huh? who woulda thought ?? ;)

its funny, I don't see how 91% of the country saw nevada winning this game. lets see we have June Jones who is probably the best passing/QB coach in the country, and runs a great passing offense. Then you have Nevada's pass defense ranked 119th out of 120 teams in FBS. It seemed like anyone who coulda done a bit of research would of bet on SMU to at least cover, if not win.

:D

SI

Nevada was without two of it's three RBs who had 1,000 yards as well.

I always love watching Havili play. :)

I can't wait to see the attendance numbers for this game. I'm sure it will say that there are ~30,000, but I'd be shocked if there are more than 8,000.

Nice BS call during the USC-BC game.

USC's offense could be a bit more explosive but I am liking what I am seeing so far. Perhaps they can start throwing med and long range passes to mix it up.

wow...the refs are absolutely FUCKING bc over in this game to try to throw it to USC

seriously - "blocked into the ball?" ummm no...he was fucking engaged in the block when the ball bounced up and hit him. that was some serious bullshit

That was an amazing catch by Williams.

Is Williams draft-eligible? He looks pretty damn impressive tonight.

Yes and he is almost certain to go pro early. I expect he'll announce sometime early this upcoming week. He'll be missed. He's been a great player for USC. He's clearly been the MVP this year.

Speaking of players going early, USC sideline reporter states that DE Everson Griffen announced immediately after the game while on the field that he is declaring for the NFL draft.

+1

I didn't have a horse in the race but I was dumbfounded by that call. Horrible, just horrible!!!

it was pretty clearly a hometown-call. not to mention the long reception the USC guy caught earlier on the sidelines where it seemed to me he hadn't established possession before he landed out of bounds and yet it was still ruled a reception inside the 10.

Punt call was BS, reception was the right call. If it "seems" to you that he was out of bounds then I think you are agreeing there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call on the field, no? But no argument about the punt call, that one turned the momentum of the whole game right there.

BC is an OK team if they can find a QB, USC was unbelievably average again. Hopefully this will be Bates' last game as he rejoins Shanahan wherever he ends up (Redskins?). I've seen enough bizarre playcalling this season to last me a lifetime.

no...as far as the reception call - from the angle they showed on tv it looked as if he hadn't caught the ball when his feet last came down in bounds. pretty clearly IMO.

I've been away from the Net for awhile, and I don't have much time now. I just want to note that I'm 1-1 so far. No, I didn't know that SMU was that good. And yes, I knew USC could be that good.

I'll come back to this thread with updated lines and other thoughts. But for now, thank you for the discussion.

Nashville is very blue.....Clemson traveled very poorly, uncharacteristically so.

And DAMN its cold....

I guess they're disappointed about not going to the Gator Bowl.

Actually it was a slap to not be in the Peach, Gator and Citrus bowls, but we did what we came to town to do, lets hope Diddy does the same...

BTW it was funny to listen to Kentucky fans chanting "SEC,SEC,SEC" as they walked out of the stadium. The ones not screaming SEC were talking about basketball...

Then ESPN runs a story that says Clemson is now 3-9 in their last 12 against the SEC....it was later corrected to 9-3.

ESPN just announced that Mike Leach is suspended from coaching Texas Tech in their bowl game. Evidently a player is claiming he was put in an electrical closet for several hours after complaining about an injury. Bizarre.

Specifically, they are saying he was put there after a concussion. I could see wanting someone to be in a dark room for a migraine, but this is bizarre and seemingly undefensible if true. The rumor is that it is Craig James' kid - actually ESPN's story now says it is his son.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls0...ory?id=4776848

I think we're starting to see the fissures of what we've come to know as college athletics -- especially in the revenue sports -- slowly but surely. I can't imagine this system as we know it will last another decade.

I can't believe A&M let Georgia run back a f'n kickoff after they finally scored.

And I really can't believe they gave up a blocked punt to set Georgia up on their 2. It's suddenly 14-7 UGA less than a minute left in the half.

And this is on top of a blocked FGA earlier in the game.

Say huh?

While college sports are always changing and evolving, this seems like an odd spot for this comment. I can't imagine how the Leach situation would ever trigger the comment. I realize you're making a larger point (and I'm not sure I agree with the larger point), but this Leach thing wouldn't rank in the top 100,000 of things to ever effect the college football or college athletic landscape.

aTm gets a nice little "gift" from the officials in re-spotting the ball three yards forward, preventing them from snapping the ball for a spike and a last second field goal attempt.

I can't believe A&M was bowl eligible with this QB.

Jerrod Johnson? He was phenomenal against Texas but definitely boom or bust. Plus, A&M was 6-6 with one win over a decent team (Texas Tech), so they weren't really good.

Looks like a case where a kid has one over his head game (re: Texas) and then returns to his actual level. This is like watching Jaybo Shaw except with INT's instead of fumbles.

Overall I agree on his competency except he seemed to be pretty good at avoiding INT's - only threw 6 all year coming in. His good games outside Texas were vs. non-BCS teams or iowa st/baylor, and he had some terrible games in blowouts vs. Arkansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma (12-33 115 yds 7 rush 0 yards :eek:). Then again, given A&M's defense and terrible special teams tonight he hasn't been their biggest problem.

Granted, the Aggies came apart on special teams & the defense has just been abused for the last half hour or so but honestly this just strikes me as another case that illustrates the example of the difference between conferences. A&M looks like a three-win team if they played in the SEC, maybe better than Vandy but that's about it.

I was hoping more people would think that way, but after opening at 7/8 it's up to Oklahoma -10 in most places.

Other games that have shifted - AF (+7, down to +4.5) vs. Houston, Auburn (-4.5, up to -9) vs. Northwestern, West Virginia (from +1 to -2.5) vs. FSU, Florida up from 10.5 to 13 vs. Cincy, South Florida from -7 to -10 vs. Northern Illinois, Arkansas from -10 to -7.5 vs. ECU and TCU going from 4 to 7.5 point favorites vs. Boise. (plus Georgia had gone from -4 to -6.5 tonight, which looks good so far)

Well at least A&M manages to score against the second string defense

Even if I don't like the smarmy SOB, Richt was funny trying make sure he avoided the Gatorade bath and the players were kind of funny getting the OC Bobo by surprise instead.

I still say there's something I must be missing, but we shall see. As a 10 point dog, the outright odds on Stanford should be something like +300 (or 3-1 in more conventional form; bet $100, win $400). That's mighty tempting, IMO.


Thank you for the research. It's interesting the way the lines have moved. Florida-Cincy I kind of expected with the Meyer saga. I still like Cincy, even though it's a temp coach vs. two saints.

One line not mentioned that I expect to move a bit is TT-MSU. Leach is being keelhauled and I have no public opinion on what may have happened there. They picked the D.Coord to coach, which is interesting. I think he'd be a lot happier with a 7-point win than Leach would, and may work toward that end. But fundamentally Tech is still a red hot passing team, and MSU still has those problems against the pass, in addition to the suspensions.

I think Mike Leach put the wrong James in the closet. He should've put Craig James in the closet, locked the door, and threw away the key.

It being Craig James' kid makes the story even stranger. Wonder what ESPN thinks about it. I did see that James was supposed to do the TT bowl game, but they've pulled him from that already.

Hasn't Vegas had something of a love affair with Oklahoma in general this year? I thought I saw somewhere that if Vegas odds were used as a ranking system, Oklahoma would have been a top 10 4-loss team late into the season.

Edit: Stanford's starting their backup QB since Luck had finger surgery. Backup's a 5th year senior that has thrown 3 passes this season.

Prichard isn't a slouch

That was surprising start. Who would have thought Temple would have passed?

I can tell who didn't think they would pass (UCLA's defensive coaching staff).

Oh, another note to the staff: if Prince isn't interested in showing up today, please get someone in there who is.

It's time to bring in Craft. BRO wants to see Brehaut, but this game isn't about the future, it's about not being embarrassed.

Field Goal U

Temple back to the Big East, but this time as an all-sport member. UMass upgrades and maybe Villanova, too? Add Memphis as an all-sport member, kick out DePaul and there you have your 16 basketball schools and football goes to 12.

You know, for when Rutgers/Pitt/Syracuse leaves...

Akeem Ayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It wasn't so much if they'd blow it, just how they'd figure out which way to do it.

Feels good to finish on a high note

That was a high note? :p

Baby steps

Brian Price declares

Great start to the Badger game... *sigh*

Miami opens up with a kickoff return for a touchdown only to be called back ono a stupid play by one of the Canes to block in the back on the 10 yard line when his runner is 5 yards ahead of him. Not that it mattered much as it took two plays to score.

The Badgers pin the Canes and force a 3 and out and are threatening now goal to go. Badgers also lost one of their better lineman to a knee injury but he might come back..

Heh...that bowl visit just supplied more cash to the conference than a certain recent visit to a bowl in the Bay Area. ;)

And I'm sure 17 year old recruits care about that, rather than the fact that the team was almost embarrassed by Temple, a team with one of the worst reputations in the FBS. Don't get me wrong, it would have been even worse to have lost that game, but I'd hardly call it a high note for the Bruins.

Badgers dominating this game so far in the trenches. A turnover has kept this game semi-close. Hopefully this can carry over into the second half(unlike most of their games this year. The Badgers were really good in one half and bad in the second half a lot).

Hold the Canes to no more points this half and I'll take that.

my brother just pointed out...the "illegal shift" motion by the ref looks like ummm...something else

Sua-Filo is going on his mission

Crap

Well, I wasn't the one who called it a high note. I would just argue glass houses and all that...

Let's just say, UCLA probably got a lot more positive momentum out of this postseason than the Trojans did, since they're supposed to be in a BCS bowl, and UCLA just wanted any bowl.

That one hurts, but I'll support the kid, if that's what he wants to do. He'll come back bigger and stronger and even more mentally prepared.

This gives Abele his chance and some of our other young players.

You're stretching pretty badly here. No 17 year old kid knows about or cares about Temple. Pete Carroll can show the box score for the first half, Rick can show the box score of the second half.

4 wins to 7 wins is a high note no matter what you might try to spin

Badgers have given Miami all the chances in the world to stay in the game.. and the refs too while you're at it. I thought the defense had given up less than 100 yards in the game until I remembered Miami's two big offensive plays(one came at the end of the first half and the other at the start of the second half, both of which amounted to nothing for the Canes).

Rock on, Badgers! They return LOTS of players next year. LOTS.

As I speak, the Badgers pin Miami on the 1 yard line and then give up a 25 yard run with a 15 yard penalty on top of that. Ugh. Helping Miami stay in it... and then the Badgers pick up their first defensive turnover of the game. That should about do it for the Miami Hurricanes. Woohoo!

Looks like another late season collapse for the Canes, which has become an annual tradition under Randy Shannon. He's done some great things for this program, but I sure hope he buys a fucking clue and learns how to coach by next season.

Go Wisconsin! Go Big Ten!.

Its nice to see a ranked opponent beaten. And from the ACC. Awesome.

Almost spoke to soon.

Can't really argue with this. The B12 South is about equal to the SEC East but the SEC West is head and shoulders above the B12 North.It's not just Vegas it's pretty much every computer-based system. Other than the Texas Tech aberration that I can't explain (tA&M beats Tech by 22, OU beats tA&M by 55, Tech beats OU by 28 in consecutive weeks?) they lost by 12 points combined to BYU, Miami, Texas and Nebraska, all out of state (even if BYU was essentially a home game.) Stanford got hype for beating Oregon and USC back to back, but then lost to Cal (minus Jahvid Best) and beat ND in the last minute to close the season. They've also given up at least 34 points 5 of their last 7 games ans are starting a backup QB who, MrBug's assertion aside, has a 15-22 td/int ratio and slightly over 6ypa in a season and a half of starting, and pretty much singlehandedly gave away games vs. ND in 2007 and 2008 from the little I've seen of him. Weird things happen in bowl games if one team cares and the other doesn't, and Oklahoma has a history of playing poorly out of state, but I'd be careful there with laying too much on Stanford to cover (-110) - but (cutting across the entire preceding paragraph) if you can actually get a money line in the 300 to 400 range that's pretty good value.

Worst use of a recovered onside kick ever, Canes.

Updated lines on the relevant games:

* Stanford is still +10 vs. Oklahoma, with the money line at +300
* West Virginia is now favored by 2.5 vs. Florida State
* Cinicinnati is now +13 vs. some other team
* To my surprise, the Texas Tech-MSU line hasn't moved - TT is still favored by 8, with the over/under at 60.5
* Boise State remains +7 vs. TCU
* Central Michigan is still -3.5 vs. Troy

I still like the Cardinal to cover, and I also like the odds to win outright. I like the UNDER in the Alamo Bowl better than I like the spread, though that should be OK (I hope).

P.S. I'm alternating between being sick of "I Am The Champion" and being inspired by it.

It takes a competent QB to beat Oklahoma's defense. They will stack the box and force the pass.

P.S. That song sucks, and was possibly written by a 5 year old.

It's a positive now...unless he has a change of heart while out there and decides to become a Cougar....But I know Norm as long as he is there will know how to get the missionaries in shape when they get back...

Just hope he doesn't get sent to Central or South America where he will potentially lose a ton of weight and muscle mass.

I'll be very surprised if Norm is still at UCLA in 2 years. There are more rumors out there that he won't even be back next year.

Edit: Not to mention even the LA times is picking up on it:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-...6133904.column

If thats the case I would say the Xavier becomes a Cougar or Ute after his mission.

Stacking the box doesn't really work against Stanford. Their offensive live + FB Owen Marecic + Heisman runner up Toby don't care if you put 9 in the box. If they want to run, they will. They still need some passing to win this game, but stacking the box is an empty threat that Stanford has heard all season.

Chow will be back next year for sure. The Times has been trying to send him out for a month or two now, to San Jose State, back to USC, to the NFL, to retirement. They really need to just stop; their track record is very poor.

ESPN's Ted Miller is reporting him as coming back, too.

The X man actually says he'll be back to UCLA "if Coach Neuheisel is still here." So I'm not sure even Chow leaving would keep him from coming back, although certainly it won't help if Chow is not here when he returns.

Except this isn't vs. a PAC-10 defense anymore. Oklahoma is 4th in ypc against, 7th rush defense, (also 7th in overall yards against per game and 7th in scoring defense). Stanford's best opponent in terms of run defense was Arizona St - 24th in ypc against and 18th in rush yards against and Gerhart put up 125 on 27 carries (4.6ypc) against the Sun Devils. I wish I wasn't working tomorrow so I could watch Gerhart vs. a real defense.

Oklahoma's defense is vaunted enough to be considered impressive for any conference. Gerhart is going to get his. He always does. Can Oklahoma keep the 4 and 5 yard gains at that? They need to wrap him up, and prevent the runs into the secondary. If they can force 3rd and 7-10's, then Pritchard will have to play like he did against USC in order for Stanford to win, which I wouldn't bet on.

Gerhart will get his. I would bet on that.

Y'know, I can usually find something remotely interesting about nearly any bowl matchup but is there a less interesting pairing than Bowling Green vs Idaho? That's not even a good I-AA regular season game.

35-35.. it's a pretty good game!

Make that 42-35. Wow.

Edit: ESPN breathes a huge sigh of relief that this will not run too much longer and run into the next game

Are YOU KIDDING ME?

And ESPN360.com just cut out

Speak too soon? :D

Hahahaha.

Big bomb, caught with pass interference on the defense.. and it looks like via the ESPN Game tracker that they scored the TD on the next play with :04 to play..

but ESPN360 doesn't have it on the live feed (the alloted time ran out, and no one extended it)

and they went for two, and got it. What a crazy finish. (betcha some ESPN guy called down to the coach and said "If you send this to OT, we will bury you forever! END THIS GAME ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!)

Zona getting destroyed early

If 125 yards on 25-30 carries in a double digit loss is "getting his" then sure, but then why was he a Heisman candidate? If you think he's getting close to 200 or averaging 6+ a carry, I highly doubt it. Time will tell though. (and the early Pac-10/B12 returns here aren't promising)

Why was he a Heisman Candidate? Consistency. Every game he could be counted on for at least the numbers you mentioned, and in the biggest games Stanford played, he had his best games. Why should I assume he's not gonna do what he's done in just about every game for 3 years in his final collegiate game? Because Oklahoma has a good defense, including a great DT? I guess I could assume things will be different. I wouldn't bet on it, though. You apparently would

Meanwhile, Arizona is getting their asses kicked. Foles had better find some rhythm with his receivers. Nebraska is just dominating both sides of the ball.