Sunday, November 20, 2005

BlogPoll Week Thirteen: Orange Crushed/Reggie Rolls

Fresno State made its best bid to thwart the USC-Texas Rose Bowl we all thought was imminent, and maybe if Paul Pinegar hadn’t neglected the fact that sometimes safeties are involved in plays, they would have succeeded. But sadly, Pinegar’s Zabransky-esque second half performance combined with Reggie Bush locking up his Heisman (if Vince wins after that performance, Tivo needs to be given to all voters so that they can see West coast games) means that unless another Reggie (McNeal) or Maurice Drew have the game of their careers, it’s looking like Pasadena will still be seeing Bevo and Traveler lock, uh, hooves.

Looking Ahead

With only two weekends left, I don’t think it’s too soon to start looking ahead to the bowl season. We’re going to trust CollegeFootballNews.com with their predictions, despite the fact that Oregon might slip into the Fiesta Bowl’s second berth, because I really think some of these match-ups are fantastic. Without any attempt to jinx any of the teams below – except maybe for Texas and USC – let’s run through some of the more exciting match-ups.

(One problem with the bowl season this year: Because New Years Day falls on a Sunday – the same Sunday as Week 17 of the NFL season – they moved all of the games to the 2nd, which sucks. Even worse, they moved off some of the usual New Years Eve games back a day, meaning the only games over December 31st/January 1st will be the Car Care Bowl, Liberty Bowl and the House Bowl. That is no good.)

Rose Bowl – USC vs. Texas - Duh.

Orange Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. Ohio State - Maybe it’s only because Chad and I play this game once a week on NCAA 2006, but I’m sure this could be really fun. Troy Smith and Marcus Vick have both played pretty well throughout most of the season, save for the Penn State and Miami games, and there’s enough playmakers on the defense to make things sticky for the playmakers on the offense. It be worth the price of admission to see AJ Hawk and Bobby Carpenter spying Vick.



Fiesta Bowl – Notre Dame vs. Penn State - I think I’m the only one in South Bend who wants to see us play the Nittany Lions, and I’ll leave it at that because I don’t want to jinx my selfishness.

Gator Bowl – Miami (FL) vs. Louisville - A rematch of their Thursday night classic from last year in which Devin Hester kept Bobby Petrino’s team out of the BCS and national championship discussion. It be interesting to see if the Cardinals could score on the Canes D away from home, and to see if Kyle Wright can make some positive strides going into what should be a national championship campaign in 2006.



Cotton Bowl – Texas Tech vs. Alabama - This is sort of like the Texas Tech/Navy bowl game two years ago, only Alabama can probably score a few more points than the Midshipmen did. (Not a lot more, just a few more.) Nice contrast of styles.

Outback Bowl – Michigan vs. Georgia - This at least looks pretty good on paper, doesn’t it?

Peach Bowl – Georgia Tech vs. South Carolina - The Ol’ Ball Coach and Calvin Johnson starring in primetime? I’m in.



Sun Bowl – Minnesota vs. UCLA - The Sun Bowl is usually good for a fun game, and with neither team bringing a defense, that’s a good recipe.

Independence Bowl – Missouri vs. Florida- The site of my favorite bowl game of all time, the Independence Bowl throws out two big-time playmakers in what could also be billed as a sort-of Disappointment Bowl, with Urban Meyer and Chris Leak taking on Brad Smith.

There’s some other fun ones – Florida State/Nebraska, Iowa/Oklahoma – but there’s a lot that still needs to be shaken down. I hope half of the games listed stay the same, as their overall awesomeness definitely make up for the lack of New Years action.

The Poll

1) Southern Cal
2) Texas
3) Penn State
4) Louisiana State
5) Notre Dame
6) Virginia Tech
7) Ohio State
8) Oregon
9) Auburn
10) Miami (Florida)
11) Georgia
12) West Virginia
13) Fresno State
14) UCLA
15) Alabama
16) Louisville
17) TCU
18) Florida
19) Florida State
20) Iowa
21) Wisconsin
22) Michigan
23) South Florida
24) Georgia Tech
25) Clemson

No comments: