Surviving bowl glut
With the exception of a two-day break on Saturday and Sunday, and a gap on Jan. 2, there will be at least one bowl game to watch every day until the BCS championship in Miami’s Orange Bowl on Jan. 4.
From Wyoming to Hawaii and UAB to Connecticut, it can be a bit overwhelming trying to figure out which games are worth the effort and which ones to skip.
“I’m stunned at the amount of meaningless games this year,” said CBS Sportsline college football writer Dennis Dodd, who will cover the Orange Bowl. “There’s only so many Bowling Green-Memphis games you can take. I personally can find a reason to watch any of these games, but one of the effects of the BCS is that it has set itself apart from the rest of the bowls.”
So, not to be outdone by the BCS, here are five non-BCS games you don’t want to miss.
Liberty Bowl: Louisville (10-1) vs. Boise State (11-0), Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m. (PST), ESPN. Consider this your New Year’s Eve treat. The Cardinals are one defensive stop away from being undefeated and really causing a stink in the BCS. They lost late, 41-38 to Miami when the Hurricanes scored in the game’s final minute.
Expect a lot of points – the fewest either team scored in a game this season was 28.
Louisville’s Stefan LeFors threw for 2,403 yards, 18 TDs and just two interceptions, while Boise State’s Jared Zabransky tossed the ball for 2,728 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Holiday Bowl: California (10-1) vs. Texas Tech (7-4), Dec. 31, 5 p.m., ESPN. New Year’s Eve treat No. 2. The Bears were bypassed by Texas on the season’s final week in the BCS and their reward for a nearly perfect season (Cal’s only loss was on the road to top-ranked Southern Cal 23-17) is a short trip to San Diego to play the Red Raiders. Texas Tech hung with Oklahoma (28-13 loss) and handed Nebraska its worst defeat in the program’s 114-year history, 70-10.
GMAC Bowl: Memphis (8-3) vs. Bowling Green (8-3), today, 5 p.m., ESPN. The Tigers have been good (20-13 season-opening win at Ole Miss), bad (49-10 loss to Cincinnati) and good, but not good enough (56-49 loss to Louisville).
Meanwhile, the Falcons have scored at least 38 points in their eight victories. They fell short in their season opener to Oklahoma, 40-24.
Citrus Bowl: LSU (9-2) vs. Iowa (9-2), Jan. 1, 10 a.m., ABC. The Hawkeyes have won seven straight after dropping consecutive games early in the season at Arizona State and at Michigan.
LSU has won six in a row after early season setbacks to Georgia and Auburn.
LSU coach Nick Saban may just stay in Florida after this one, possibly his last in the gold and purple, as he’s the top candidate for the Miami Dolphins head coach vacancy.
Peach Bowl: Miami (8-3) vs. Florida (7-4), Dec. 31, 4:30 p.m., ESPN. The last time these two teams met in the postseason, a brawl erupted on Bourbon Street days before the Sugar Bowl.
But this one doesn’t have all the hype surrounding a national title game because, well, … neither team is in any kind of title hunt.
Still, it is Florida-Miami and you can bet next year’s Gators want to show incoming coach Urban Meyer (who will coach Utah in the Fiesta Bowl) what they’re made of. With a win, the Gators will have beaten state rivals Florida State and Miami and still fired their coach.
Five quarterbacks to see
We all know that Southern Cal’s Matt Leinart won the Heisman, Oklahoma’s Jason White won it last year and Utah’s Alex Smith finished in the Heisman’s top five. But there are some players getting ready to suit up that, if playing in at a higher-profile school, could have found their way to the Heisman ceremony.
Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo. The junior threw for 3,475 yards, completed 71 percent of his passes and had 27 TD tosses and just eight interceptions.
Connecticut will have its hands full in the Motor City Bowl on Monday. Gradkowski threw for at least 200 yards in every game, including a 455-yard, 6-TD effort against Ball State.
Dan Orlovsky, Connecticut. Speaking of the Huskies, they have a pretty good signal caller of their own. The 6-foot-5 senior threw for 3,115 yards, 21 TDs and 14 interceptions. He has a 445-yard outing to his credit in a 42-30 loss to Syracuse.
Darrell Hackney, UAB. The three-year starter had his finest season yet and hopes to cap it with a victory against Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl on Friday at 4 p.m. (ESPN). The 6-2 junior threw for 2,653 yards, 24 TDs and seven interceptions. He was consistent (13 of 19, 150 yards) in an upset of Mississippi State and was electric (448 yards, two touchdowns) in a loss to Tulane.
Gino Guidugli, Cincinnati. The Bearcats senior is one of a few quarterbacks who would call a 2,402-yard season a bit of a letdown. But it’s true. In four years as the Cincinnati starter, that’s his lowest total yards output. On the flip side, his 24 TD passes are a career high, seven interceptions a career low and QB rating of 148.0 a career best.
He has been a part of two bowl losses, but hopes to finish his Cincinnati career with a win over Marshall in the Fort Worth Bowl on Thursday (3:30 p.m., ESPN).
Timmy Chang, Hawaii. If late Saturday nights aren’t for you, then you probably haven’t seen Chang throw it around. The NCAA’s career passing leader threw for 3,853 yards this season with a career-best 34 TD passes and 13 interceptions. The Warriors finished with three consecutive wins, including come-from-behind victories against Northwestern and Michigan State to earn a berth to their backyard bowl, the Hawaii Bowl, against UAB.