The BCS Bowls, and a correction

In my previous post, I said that we had 3 teams bowling for the first time: Akron, UCF, and USF. Alas, I forgot the poor Indians of Arkansas State in their first bowl game. So to all those with any affiliation whatsoever to Arkansas State, I apologize for the mistake. Also, I apologize that your first bowl trip probably won't have much of a chance of turning into your first bowl victory.

Now, on to the BCS Bowls, and the continuing count of how badly I predicted the turnout this year:

The Fiesta Bowl (a.k.a. the All At-Large Bowl) - Notre Dame vs. Ohio State (10/50)
The Fighting Irish return to Arizona for a bowl, albeit a much higher profile one this year, while Ohio State gets its first BCS bid since winning it all in the Orange Bowl in 02. ND and tOSU have met only 4 times in their entire history, most recently in 1996. While this will be highly watched and highly profittable, I don't think this game will be close at all. Why, you might ask, since both teams are 9-2? Ohio State lost to #2 Texas by 2 points, and #3 Penn State by 7. ND lost to #1 USC by 3 and Michigan State in OT. The same Mich. State that both Ohio State and Penn State manhandled in conference play. It's be a good year, but you're not winning this one, Charlie Weis.

The Sugar Bowl (a.k.a. I think the Mountaineer is a little too interested in Uga) Bowl - Georgia vs. West Virginia (11/52)
West Virginia has one loss all year, to Virginia Tech, and pretty well dominated most of its Big East competition all year long. Georgia, meanwhile, is one long pass play (Auburn) and playcalling so conservative even Tom DeLay isn't comfortable (Florida) away from being undefeated. While the SEC has had a down year on offense, it has certainly had an up year on defense, and by the time this bowl rolls around, we'll get to see some good proof as to reason behind that. If it's because the SEC defenses were just that good this year, expect Georgia to spank WVU in much the same manner as it did LSU. If it's because the O's were just that bad, expect a back and forth game that Georgia manages to come away with. It'll be experience versus youth, and the old man under center for Georgia (hasn't Shockley been there since the firsth Bush administration?) will carry the day against the freshman that could romp in the Big East. Guess what, Pat White and co.? The SEC ain't the Big East, and the Dawgs will get this done. Still no call on whether on the Mountain Man will successfully woo Uga, though.

The Orange (Stay, and Get Your Condo, Coach) Bowl - Penn State vs. Florida State (12/54)
The two winningest coaches in all of Division IA history. Probably the two oldest coaches to ever face off in a bowl game (79 vs. 76). A team on the rise after 4 troublesome years out of the past five. A team seemingly in a freefall, despite winning its conference championship. A coach who is 6-1 against the other (though the six wins came against West Virginia, not FSU). The battle of the next generation running the offenses. While an 8-4 FSU and a 10-1 PSU doesn't quite have the same punch as a one-loss WVU or one-loss Va Tech (if they hadn't laid an egg, anyway), this matchup sure has plenty of drama surrounding. On paper, JoePa and the boys in blue should be able to advance him to being merely 5 games behind Bobby's boys (though I still protest the 30 odd wins Bowden received at what is now Samford as counting - why not count all of John Gagliardi's or Eddie Robinson's wins, then?). But FSU has been able to play up when it needed to (Miami, Boston College, Va Tech), despite looking awful in its losses (NC State, Clemson, Virginia, Florida). Really, at the end of the day, this game will be determined by one person: Michael Robinson. Penn State has cakewalked to victory most of the year, as long as Robinson didn't turn the ball over and played well. If there are less than two turnovers by Penn State on Jan. 3, the Nittany Lions get JoePa his first bowl win of the 21st century. If not, this game is a toss-up.

The Rose Bowl (a.k.a. Does this really need an alias?), National Championship Game - Texas vs. USC (14/56)
What does this game come down to? One thing - can USC continue to roll against a team that seems to be able to play defense? USC has looked far more vulnerable than the Horns all season long, without a significant difference in the quality of opponents (just plain awful Big 12 North and slumping A&M and Oklahoma vs. the Pac 10). Plus, the Trojans haven't had to face any team with a QB has mobile as Vince Young. While I think the talent levels in this one are close to equal, and I'd give Pete Carroll a nod as the better coach, the Horns stop Pete's bid to be the next Bud Wilkinson on Jan. 4. It'll be close, but the Horns have the better defense and have beaten the better of the two at-large BCS teams, and will bring home the hardware to Texas for the first time in all of the Ocho's writers lifetime.

That's it - that's my rundown on the bowls this year. May my picks be better than my predictions (a truly bad 12 of 56 - stupid LSU and Va Tech losing their conference championship games!).