Gig 'em Especially the talking heads in the media. So why bitch about it? What does it matter? As my father said once, if you don't like it, don't watch it. Actually, he never said that. But it's something he would say.
If you don't pay a bowl game any attention, what's the point in hating it?
Although, I do have one gripe about the current bowl system. It's not that there's 25 or so meaningless smaller bowl games being played in mid-December with 6-6 teams.
It's that the second-tier bowl games have dropped off significantly in terms of their importance and position in the college football scheme.
Everyone pays attention to the crappy bowl games and the BCS bowl games. Ignored are the Cotton Bowl, Citrus Bowl, Holiday Bowl and these other bowls that have been around for a long while, were almost always played on New Year's Day and always had really good teams going.
Now, they can't play on New Year's Day because of the influx of crappy bowls and their role in terms of hosting good teams is eliminated due to the BCS bowls.
To bowl games of regional significance:
Insight Bowl
Missouri vs. Iowa
A really good game. Two ranked teams that played well in the season that incurred several hiccups that derailed their BCS hopes. Also, their proximity to each other should be interesting. What do you do with two midwest universities? Send them to Arizona, of course.
Texas Bowl
Illinois vs. Baylor
I don't think Illinois is any good and I think the Bears don't know any better. Illinois plays zero defense and has lost to any team of significance this year.
Alamo Bowl
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona
Talk about spitting the bit. Arizona was riding high until four straight conference losses. Meanwhile, OSU's looking for win No. 11 and potentially a pretty high pre-season ranking should they wind up around the top 10 this year.
Armed Forces Bowl
Army vs. SMU
Of all the talk of schools losing money having to pay for travel, SMU must feel pretty good. What's the big difference between the Armed Forced Bowl and the Honolulu Bowl? Nil. Why not save the money, play at home and enjoy a holidays in the continuous 48?
Pinstripe Bowl
Kansas State vs. Syracuse
New York Yankees. Get it? K-State as disappointing of a team as you'll find and I hope they lose by 20.
Holiday Bowl
Nebraska vs. Washington
I give a little credit to Washington. They could've packed it in after getting nailed by Oregon and Stanford. Instead, they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps and beat Cal, Washington State and UCLA to end the season and finish 6-6. Meanwhile, Nebraska crapped the bed against Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma to wind up here. Mixed with the Pelini Brothers Fight and Anger Club, it's been a bad year for the Huskers.
TicketCity Bowl
Northwestern vs. Texas Tech
The new Cotton Bowl game at the old Cotton Bowl. And what a turd in the toilet this is!
Rose Bowl
Wisconsin vs. TCU
A really, really good game. Nothing against this. The black-and-blue badgers from the Big Ten against the upstart Horned Frogs, on the verge of going to the Big East. The Frogs are 5-4 in bowl games under Gary Patterson. But since moving to the Mountain West and entering their prime, they've won four of five, which included last year's loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. A big test for TCU if they want favor in pre-season rankings.
Fiesta Bowl
Connecticut vs. Oklahoma
Connecticut is a team that was shut out by Louisville before rolling off five straight against the best of the Big East and taking the conference. I feel like OU should win by five or more touchdowns.
Cotton Bowl
LSU vs. Texas A&M
I don't know how good a game this is as much as it's an interesting match-up for us locally. We've longed for the Aggies to right the ship. They have. Now I can't help but feel they're going to get their ass whipped by the seasoned LSU team that plays as good a defense as you'll find in the country. Again, A&M's proved they can win as evidenced in their 9-6 win over Nebraska.
