Orange Bowl: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
These two teams have very different styles in how they attack you. Iowa likes to mix up the run with the pass, while Ga. Tech likes the triple option or wishbone look and will pound you to death. Why the Orange Bowl took Iowa over Cincy is that they travel very, very well. Last year the Cincy faithful didn't show up and the Orange Bowl officials did want to embarrass themselves again. The great part about this game being so late it will allow the Iowa team to get Ricki Stanzi, their qb and host of other injured players back. How physical these two teams play should make it somewhat entertaining to watch.
Sugar Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Florida
The interesting part about bowl games is sometimes you get match ups where one teams wants to be there and the other doesn't. Florida expected to be in the National title game, New Orleans is not where they wanted to spend their New Year. This was the case last year when Alabama faced Utah, and got blasted. Its all about mindset, and the Gotors have the right guy leading them to face the Bearcats. Tebow will have his guys focused, I believe he will not want to leave college on a two-game losing streak. The game Cincy played over the weekend against Pitt showed how resilient this team is. I found it interesting that Brian Kelly let Pitt score so his offense would get the ball back with a lot of time left on the clock. Pitt should have recognized this and kicked a field goal. but they didn't and Cincy is BCS bowling for two years in a row. Hopefully Brian Kelly stays at Cincy. If he takes the Notre Dame job it will be a huge distraction to his team. Rumors have been circulating that he is meeting with them tomorrow. Building the Bearcats into a powerhouse is a good thing for college football. Kelly is not Notre Dame's first choice. They will hire him because the other big name's of Meyer and Stoops will turn them down. Would Kelly be a good fit? Sure, but its not what their rabid fan base wants. He should stay at Cincy where he is appreciated and he could dominate the Big East.
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Ohio St.
I just don't think Ohio St. can put up the points and can consistently stop the Ducks offense. This is not he typical finesse Oregon football team. These Ducks are physical and like to pound the football. Buckeyes offense is inconsistent at times and their defense has a tendencies to get ran over by teams that run the ball consistently. This is going to be a tougher game for Ohio St. than facing USC. Oregon may not have the talent of USC, but they are solid and play great team football. I think the Ducks are going to shock the Buckeyes. The Big Ten really needs to rethink its schedule because the long layoff ends up hurting their teams. Even though they can heal up, not playing for over a month causes their teams to come out flat. They might want to throw in bye weeks and move games until after Thanksgivings and into the first week of December.
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Boise St.
I love these two teams, what I dislike is them playing in this game. This is just like the NCAA selection committee pitting Butler vs. Gonzaga. No one wants the mid majors to play against the BCS conference schools and beat them. It happened last year in the Sugar Bowl. Utah took down Alabama and the year before that Boise St. shocked Oklahoma. It makes it easier to pair these two schools together and have a loser so that at least only one non-BCS school is undefeated. These two teams played last year and TCU won 17-16. This year I expect a few more points being scored but TCU should still win.
BCS National Championship: Texas vs. Alabama
In a previous post I said that I believe Texas will win. The way that the Texas offense played in the Big 12 championship could make one almost change his pick. Positive for Texas is that Bama doesn't have anyone on the D-line named Suh. Wil Muschamp worked under Saban and knows his tendencies. Saban will try and make sure his team doesn't read their press clippings. McElroy played well and Ingram is a beast, but I just think the stars are aligned for Texas. Saban defense will get some pressure on McCoy. Texas needs to run the ball well to negate that pressure. Now if they can just score more than 12 points...
No comments:
Post a Comment