Christmas Gift Comes Early for Some Bowl Teams

Christmas gifts came early for several college football teams when they were selected to play in a post season bowl game. With the long-play version of the bowl season kicking off this weekend it is worth noting (or maybe not) the background on some of the recipients of these gifts.

Sat. Dec. 19 New Mexico Bowl Wyoming (6-6) vs. Fresno St. (8-4)
Wyoming staggers into this game winning just two of their last six games and they struggled to beat a poor Colorado St. team, who lost their last nine in a row, 17-16 in the finale.

Sat. Dec. 26 Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl Marshall (6-6) vs. Ohio (9-4)
For those of you who thought the Pizza Bowl was Laverne DeFazio’s father’s bowling alley/pizza shop on that goofy 70’s TV show, you are right, but they are not the title sponsor of this bowl game in Detroit. Marshall (not Penny) fired their head coach at the end of the season and will play this game with a lame duck staff unless the interim head coach actually gets named head coach. To get the minimum of six wins for bowl eligibility Marshall defeated Southern Illinois, Tulane, Bowling Green, Memphis, Tulane, Alabama-Birmingham and SMU. Impressed? They lost to a 4-8 UTEP team 52-21.

Mon. Dec. 28 Independence Bowl Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5)
A&M started off 3-0 and then went 3-6 the rest of the way, including 3-5 in a softer Big 12 conference this season. The Aggies were a roller-coaster team evidenced by their 62-14 loss to Kansas State, who didn’t have enough Division I wins to be bowl eligible.

Tues. Dec. 29 Eagle Bank Bowl UCLA(6-6) vs. Temple (9-3)
This would make for a good basketball match-up, but not necessarily on the gridiron. UCLA backed into this game. If Army had beaten Navy in the season’s wrap-up game last weekend then Army would play Temple. Thanks to Navy, UCLA will play in the nation’s capitol against the Owls. The Bruins started 3-0, then lost five in a row before closing with three wins in their last four outings. UCLA was 3-6 in the PAC 10.

Thurs. Dec. 31 Insight Bowl Iowa St. (6-6) vs. Minnesota (6-6)
Glancing at this match-up you might think what lure does this game have? A winning season! It’s obvious that the winner of this game can say they had a winning season, which they can’t say just yet, whereas the loser has a losing season…pretty simple. Each team had a not quite, but near-signature win. ISU was granted eight turnovers by Nebraska in barely edging the Huskers, 9-7. Three of their other five wins were over North Dakota St., Kent State and Army. The Goophers, or excuse me…Gophers, beat Northwestern. Both teams finished 3-5 in their league play.

Fri. Jan 1 Gator Bowl Florida St. (6-6) vs. West Virginia (9-3)
The bowl committee decided to let Coach Bobby Bowden go out on a high note by taking the Seminoles over much more-deserving, higher ranked teams for this traditional New Year’s Day bowl. After 34 years as a head coach and being ranked second all-time in career wins he deserves the benefit of the doubt . FSU was the model of inconsistency. Early in the year they barely got by Division I-AA Jacksonville State, 19-9, they then headed out to Provo, UT to pound BYU, 54-28, only to return home to lose to South Florida who had a red-shirt freshmen starting his first game at QB. FSU finished 4-4 in the ACC.

As a thank you to the bowls who selected them it will be interesting to see which teams cease the opportunity presented to them. By making the most out their post-season practices and putting their best product on the field they can quiet the nay-sayers who may have thought they weren’t bowl worthy.