Interesting Bowls?

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Eric
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Interesting Bowls?

Postby Eric » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:12 pm

I wasn't wowed with this year's slate of games, but we have a couple of cool matchups on the horizon. Central Michigan and Western Kentucky will play again in the Bahamas Bowl. Obviously it has been a few years, but you would have liked to see some variety. I don't see any way Central can win this time unless there is some "vacation effect" afflicting WKU's offense. But seeing a bowl in the Bahamas will be pretty cool. San Diego State plays Navy in the Poinsettia, so it's a rehash, but that was some time ago. UL Lafayette will be going to the New Orleans Bowl for what I believe will be the 4th year in a row. They draw Nevada, so that could be a great game if you like watching spread rushing offenses go at it.

Two of my early favorites are Memphis/BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl and Marshall/NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl. The MAC and C-USA champs get a shot at each other. NIU's offense has been spotty at times so Marshall's offense might be too much to handle. I think Memphis, even at 9-3 and even while missing ECU and UCF, is a fringe top 25 team with a good defense. BYU will have their hands full in this one, but they can more than hold their own. This game is a true tossup.

Western Michigan and Air Force should be a great watch. Air Force is flying (sorry) under the radar and they put a great season together. They have something of a passing threat this year and the defense looks improved, but they are still a little undermanned on that side of the ball as usual. I'd like to see if Western can put together a good effort on the ground. I think this one could go all the way down to the wire. The Broncos might be a little disappointed if they were forced into this game instead of one of the Florida bowls or the game in the Bahamas. I don't know what Donovan might think, but I think those locations are a little nicer than Boise this time of year :lol:

Duke and Arizona State meet in the Sun Bowl. Have these teams every played? Really unique matchup there. Boston College and Penn State at Yankee Stadium will be a huge draw. Look away if you enjoy points, because Christian Hackenberg is unlikely to provide any. Texas and Arkansas will rekindle their Southwest Conference days in the Texas Bowl. I like this matchup a lot and it could go either way, should be a defensive battle. The Music City Bowl usually doesn't land a lot of elite programs, but this year they got Notre Dame and LSU into the mix. Notre Dame is sliding hard though, I wonder if the time off will recharge their competitive batteries. Louisville and Georgia in the Belk could be an outstanding matchup, but I have a feeling this game will be a dud. I don't know which team will win though.

Maryland and Stanford in Santa Clara will be ugly. Maryland probably has no business flying out to central California to play Stanford in a road game. They're not going to be able to move the football in that one. I was worried about Minnesota's draw in their New Year's bowl, but they can handle a Missouri team that has problems putting points on the board. Mizzou has a good defensive line though, so they will have to throw the football at some point, but I'm surprisingly leaning Gophers in this matchup, something I wasn't expecting to do. Wisconsin draws Auburn in the Outback; I think Wisky will lick their wounds and rebound, but I still like Auburn. This game might send the single-game bowl record for combined rushing yards.

I like all of the "New Year's Six" matchups. Baylor and Michigan State will be a great watch. Ole Miss and TCU will be interesting, but Ole Miss will have to show up with their A game on offense. As good as their defense is, Ole Miss has this weird tendency to sputter and it all stems from Bo Wallace's turnover tendencies. Boise State sneaks into the Fiesta at #20. I'm a fan of the way the "Access Bowl" has been set up because in the old BCS, this team wouldn't have gotten a crack at it. With the playoff really being the focal point of the new bowl system, I'm okay with lessening the standards because these "New Year's Six" games are all about fielding interesting-yet-worthwhile matchups. Plus Arizona is a winnable game for the Broncos.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Dossenator » Mon Dec 08, 2014 12:42 am

I am excited for the Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs Texas. Looks like I am making the trip to Houston to watch the Razorbacks squash the Longhorns.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Eric » Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:16 am

Dossenator wrote:I am excited for the Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs Texas. Looks like I am making the trip to Houston to watch the Razorbacks squash the Longhorns.


Cool 8)

I'm usually tempted to head down to Detroit for the bowl game, but I haven't gone to one since 2007. Especially with the MAC out of the picture, my interest in those matchups have dwindled. They expect me to pay to see Rutgers and North Carolina arm tackle one another :roll:
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby highfly24 » Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:17 am

Eric wrote:Two of my early favorites are Memphis/BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl and Marshall/NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl.


These are the 2 that interested me when I was looking at the schedule. Love the Marshall/NIU game, this one could be a real fun one. I am also looking forward to the TCU/Ole Miss game. Kansas State/UCLA could be intriguing too. You know what Snyder and K. State bring but what UCLA team will show up? Utah/Colorado St, UGA/L'ville, and ASU/Duke also.

Plenty of dud matchups in my eyes, and not just the 6-6, 7-5, type teams. My opinion is that Baylor thrashes Mich St in the cotton. Mich State doesn't play well against up tempo, Baylor could really push the tempo here. Baylor will take out their, and the conference's, frustration of being left out on a conf foe of the team that got in. Case will be further made when Alabama handles Ohio State with relative ease. Does that mean Baylor is a top 2 team, no but they will play like one here.

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Derek » Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:49 pm

Ga is going to the Belk bowl. Good. Serves them right. I hope it makes people mad. I hope Louisville stomps a mud hole in them, and people start to question a program on the verge of decline. Recruits notice Ga's constant stumbles.

Am I even going to watch???? That's a funny question....

NO! :evil:


The Peach Bowl will be a GREAT game I think. Probably the highest "ranked" team they have ever had at one of those games. TCU must be ticked. National Championship discussion to the Peach Bowl. :lol:

And why did Capital One drop the Citrus bowl? Because FedEx got tired of wasting money on the Orange?? Wasn't aware that happened. That used to be the biggest bowl outside of the BCS bowls in terms of payout and usually picked the SEC #2 team. Now that it's a "Buffalo Wild Wings" bowl it might change.

The Cotton bowl is going to be a slobber knocker...meaning that Michigan State is probably going to get killed by an angry dissed Baylor.

Interesting games it looks like.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby donovan » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:18 pm

I am looking forward to the Fiesta Bowl. Arizona is more than a decent team. I want to see if the Broncos can run with the big boys.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Derek » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:13 pm

donovan wrote:I am looking forward to the Fiesta Bowl. Arizona is more than a decent team. I want to see if the Broncos can run with the big boys.


I'm sure they can, I have Arizona by 10 "in my head".
They’re either going to run the ball here or their going to pass it.

The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to break.

See, well ya see, the thing is, he should have caught that ball. But the ball is bigger than his hands.

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby CFP Admin » Mon Dec 15, 2014 6:19 am

I like the fact that 10 of these are first-time matchups:
Utah State-UTEP
Air Force-Western Michigan
South Alabama-BGSU
BYU-Memphis
Duke-Arizona State
Texas A&M-West Virginia
Louisville-Georgia
Maryland-Stanford
Arizona-Boise State
Florida State-Oregon

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Eric » Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:06 pm

CFP Admin wrote:I like the fact that 10 of these are first-time matchups:
Utah State-UTEP
Air Force-Western Michigan
South Alabama-BGSU
BYU-Memphis
Duke-Arizona State
Texas A&M-West Virginia
Louisville-Georgia
Maryland-Stanford
Arizona-Boise State
Florida State-Oregon



I'm surprised that Georgia/Louisville and A&M/WVU have never played each other. I was a little surprised that Utah State and UTEP never played each other since they used to be in the WAC, but then I remembered that UTEP left and then Utah State joined. Still, they aren't separated by a lot of area, seems like a natural non-conference type of game.

Othern than South Alabama and Bowling Green, if I had to put money on the most-likely-to-never-have-occurred game, I'm taking my chances with Arizona State and Duke :lol: . That is a left-field matchup. Everything points to ASU winning that, but everything pointed to A&M slaughtering Duke last year and that game was controlled by Duke for the most part. Normally I'd put ASU pretty high up on my points list, but I've been had by these kinds of games before :roll: The weather will play a big part in this one. El Paso can get windy this time of year. I remember Pitt and Oregon State playing each other to a 3-0 game (I think OSU won, but don't quote me).
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby highfly24 » Mon Dec 15, 2014 10:13 pm

Eric wrote: I remember Pitt and Oregon State playing each other to a 3-0 game (I think OSU won, but don't quote me).


I remember that game and I feel Or State won as well. It was pretty pathetic to watch that I do recall, and yet we did.

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby billybud » Tue Dec 16, 2014 9:31 am

While FSU hasn't placed PAC teams much...they have played a home and home series with USC, UCLA in the Emerald Bowl (my favorite trip), and four games with Arizona State.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Cane from the Bend » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:59 pm

CFP Admin wrote:I like the fact that 10 of these are first-time matchups:
Utah State-UTEP
Air Force-Western Michigan
South Alabama-BGSU
BYU-Memphis
Duke-Arizona State
Texas A&M-West Virginia
Louisville-Georgia
Maryland-Stanford
Arizona-Boise State
Florida State-Oregon


That is an interesting point. . . I like watching first ever pairings.
Some of these are truly standout oppositions.

Duke-v-Arizona St
Arizona-v-Boise St
Louisville-v-Georgia
FSU-v-Oregon

I think these are all quality match ups ...

BYU-v-Memphis has potential ... so does UTEP-v-Utah St

I think Air Force is going to dismantle poor Western Michigan, and Maryland is gonna have a tough outing against Stanford.

And I don't know what to think about the A&M/West Va game.

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Spence » Tue Dec 16, 2014 2:54 pm

There are a lot of competitive matches this year. My bowl pickum is proving harder than I thought it should be. I have lots of upsets - which bothers me. :lol:
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain

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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby billybud » Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:44 pm

The Fix is in....

SEC refs to call the Rose Bowl while PAC 12 refs call the Sugar....

Why not refs who have no skin in the game...like Big 12, AAC?


The guys wearing the tin foil hats who are attuned to these things have already declared an Oregon-Bama final with the refs strategically placed to make that happen.
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Re: Interesting Bowls?

Postby Spence » Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:57 pm

billybud wrote:The Fix is in....

SEC refs to call the Rose Bowl while PAC 12 refs call the Sugar....

Why not refs who have no skin in the game...like Big 12, AAC?


The guys wearing the tin foil hats who are attuned to these things have already declared an Oregon-Bama final with the refs strategically placed to make that happen.


Doesn't matter who calls the Sugar. Do they call holding in the PAC-12? I'm just glad they don't have B-10 officials in the Sugar.
"History doesn't always repeat itself but it often rhymes." - Mark Twain


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