Bowl Musings!!!!

Sorry for the late post...Christmas traveling and all. I'll paste these...you'll have to trust that I didn't write these "posthumously"

Greetings to all this Christmas season. I hope that everyone is in good spirits, as you all should be, since Bowl season is upon us. I've quoted Andy Williams before, but I'll do it again. It's the most wonderful time of the year. I've not finished taking a close look at the entire card of bowl games, but I figured i'd give you some thoughts on the games today. I doubt seriously that I'll have any thoughts on the Sunday game, the R&L Carriers Excrement Bowl or whatever it is. On second thought, I really shouldn't disparage any of these bowls, since we all know I'll be watching and wagering on all of them, and Lord knows that there are plenty of amateur comedians posing as sports media that do plenty of that. Which reminds me of one of my pet peeves....I was listening to a radio program during one of my countless death marches across this godforsaken state of half-hearted facial hair, and the hosts were having a contest of who knew less about some of the teams that made bowls. Now, keep in mind that these jackasses are paid to know sports. Why do people like to flaunt their ignorance? More evidence that I hate everyone, and you all should too.

The Big Ten is going to expand, and the reason they give is that it will help them in the current BCS format because they currently fall out of the public eye because they finish their season earlier than everyone else and don't play a conference championship game. I apologize for my dullardness, but I'm missing the logic here. Hasn't Ohio St played in the MNC game three times since '02? Didn't they make it twice in a row just a couple years ago? Wouldn't adding another game to potentially lose HURT their chances? Here's two scenarios: 1.Ohio St has one loss on Nov 22. They beat michigan that day. they finish 11-1, their season is over. Florida has one loss. They beat Florida St on Nov 22. Now they play LSU or Alabama, who both have 2 losses in the SEC championship game. Who has a better chance to end up with one loss? Which team's conference set up makes it tougher? Am I missing something here? Anyway, the Big Ten's possible expansion will probably set the groundwork for an 8 team playoff, and if a playoff is inevitable, this is what they should do...if a playoff is inevitable:

Expand the Big Ten and the PAC 10 to 12 teams apiece so the top 6 conferences all have title games, effectively creating a first round of playoffs that first week of December. You then eliminate any crying from a conference also ran not making it. You have to win your conference to be in, period. Throw Utah and BYU in the Pac 10, so you continue to have a network of travel partners, much like it currently exists now. Add Nevada and Boise to the Mountain West and make them the 7th automatic bid to the BCS. The 8th team is whoever's champion of the remaining conferences is ranked the highest. If you made those changes, you'd be eliminating almost all of the possible teams that are currently beefing about being left out of the current set up. Seed the teams 1-8 and switch off each year between the 4 BCS bowls on who gets which game. Add two more games the following week for the winners and a title game the week after, again at revolving sites. (Sorry Rose Bowl purists, but the Rose Bowl blew it by bastardizing themselves in the first place when they agreed to become part of the deal back in the 90's. Once Washington St played Oklahoma that one year, the sanctity was gone for me, so screw it.)It's going to cause problems for fans having to travel for poitentially 4 neutral site games, but at least we won't have some sort of 16 team abomination that destroys the bowl system.

Here's my thoughts on the Saturday games. I'd characterize these both as also rans, not numbered musings, though I think I'm going to keep track of all the games I bet. What the hell...

Wyoming +11 v Fresno St: Wyoming might be one of the worst teams statistically on paper to make a bowl in a long time. Their offense is ranked in the low 100's and their defense isn't much better, but they beat some bad teams and plied up 6 wins. They find themselves matched up with Fresno, who can't stop anyone on defense, but has a nice running game thanks to RB Ryan matthews, who led the country in rushing this year. Wyoming, however, held up well against against teams with weak defenses, which Fresno certainly is. We also know that Fresno has a hell of a time scaring up any resolve to play teams they can't prove anything against, and Wyoming would qualify as one of those teams, just like another 6-6 MWC team Colorado St did last year. CSU beat Fresno outright as an 8 point favorite. I just think the motivational edge goes to Wyoming, and I think they'll find themselves having success moving the ball with their modified spread. i'll take the points.

UCF +3 (I'll be buying up from 2.5 if necessary) v Rutgers: Big situational edge here for UCF who is better offensively than a lot of people think. They'll be playing close to home and reports are that they'll have a good contingent of fans there in St Pete. Rutgers kids are taking finals as late as this morning with proctors on site, and they've only had one week off since the end of their season to prepare. They probably won't have one of their key playmakers Tim Brown, who has a bad high ankle sprain. Also, UCF stops the run very well and is 6th in the country in sacks, while Rutgers doesn't run it all that well and is 112th in the country in giving up sacks. UCF will probably have some issues moving it on Rutgers as well, but i think positive momentum will carry them to some big plays, which Rutgers has been prone to giving up this year. The Knights are due for a loss in the postseason..it just looks like there are too many peripheral disadvantages for them to overcome this year.

that's it for now....Take care everyone!!!