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From the near-weekly grudge matches in the SEC to the Big East's Thursday night thrillers, Ohio State-Michigan and USC-UCLA, the 2006 regular season was inordinately exciting. Hope you enjoyed it -- because this year's bowl lineup looks about as promising as
Night at the Museum.
Starting right at the top with the national title game no one's particularly thrilled about (Ohio State-Florida) and the classic Rose Bowl neither team wanted to be in (USC-Michigan), the Blowout on the Bayou (LSU-Notre Dame) and the basketball game disguised as an Orange Bowl (Wake Forest-Louisville), there simply aren't a lot of matchups screaming for your attention like last year's Rose (USC-Texas), Fiesta (Ohio State-Notre Dame) and Orange (
JoePa vs.
Bobby) bowls did.
And that's just the BCS games.
This particular bowl season as a whole is incredibly lacking in depth. In most years, the Alamo Bowl is one of the better December games; this year it's Texas-Iowa. For this, you can blame conference partnerships, which are locked in before the season is even played. It's because of them that 8-4 Penn State is playing on New Year's in the Outback Bowl while 10-2 Rutgers is playing in the Texas Bowl.
Nevertheless, I dutifully compiled my fourth annual bowl rankings, ranking the 32 postseason games in order of potential viewing interest. Let me know which number you get to before your eyes start flickering ...
1)
BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 8): Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (11-1). With a month to prepare, expect Florida coach
Urban Meyer to draw up every conceivable
Tim Tebow/
Percy Harvin trick play imaginable.
Jim Tressel's plan: Get
Troy Smith to the stadium.
Troy Smith will try to give Jim Tressel his second national title in five seasons as they play Florida on Jan. 8 in Glendale.
2) Rose (Jan. 1): Michigan (11-1) vs. USC (10-2). If anyone was more thrilled than the Gators with the BCS standings, it was the Tournament of Roses committee. Whoever wins will have solid case for No. 1 -- in the 2007 preseason poll.
3) Fiesta (Jan. 1): Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2). It will be (
Adrian)
Peterson vs. (
Chris)
Petersen, assuming Adrian's collarbone heals in time. It will also be OU's Peterson vs. Broncos tailback
Ian Johnson, who ran for 24 touchdowns in 11 games.
4) Sugar (Jan. 3): LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2). The game should be a boon to New Orleans' ravaged economy. Not only will Irish fans descend on the city, but there's also a decent chance they'll be hitting the Bourbon Street bars by halftime.
5) Capital One (Jan. 1): Wisconsin (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-3). By beating Arkansas, Florida earned a national championship invite and gave LSU a BCS berth. The best the Badgers can hope for is the title of best third-place team (in conference standings) in the history of college football.
6) Orange (Jan. 2) : Louisville (11-1) vs. Wake Forest (11-2). Alabama is in the Independence Bowl, Florida State in the Emerald Bowl and Miami in Boise, while the Orange Bowl hosts Wake Forest and Louisville. Someone get
Beano Cook a glass of water.
7) Chick-fil-A (Dec. 30): Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4). If you're looking for offensive fireworks ... maybe ESPN Classic will replay last year's Sugar Bowl. If you want to see two red-hot, defensive-minded teams scrap it out, however, this is your game.
8) Cotton (Jan. 1): Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4). Nebraska hasn't played in the Cotton Bowl since 1980 and Auburn hasn't been there since
Bo Jackson's last season in '86. Don't worry guys -- that stadium looks
exactly like you left it.
9) Holiday: Cal (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3). On the list of rare sights in Southern California, a team running the option -- as the Aggies like to do with QB
Stephen McGee -- ranks right up there with real breasts and 12 inches of snow.
10) Outback: Tennessee (9-3) vs. Penn State (8-4). A recuperated
Joe Paterno returns to the sideline for the first time in two months. The Nittany Lions' offense, feeling inspired, decide they will try to score
two touchdowns.
11) Gator: West Virginia (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech (9-4). At last, Georgia Tech QB
Reggie Ball runs into a secondary even
he can complete passes against. (WVU ranks 100th nationally in pass defense.)
12) Poinsettia (Dec. 19): TCU (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5). The Poinsettia lucked into this one. The nation's leading rusher, NIU's
Garrett Wolfe, goes up against the nation's No. 4 rushing defense.
Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe, who leads the nation with 158.3 rushing yards a game, faces a stiff test against a TCU defense that's allowing just 67.6 an outing on the ground.
13) Las Vegas (Dec. 21): BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5). The Cougars are the best team you haven't seen -- which isn't your fault, seeing as their last game on basic cable was Sept. 23.
14) Liberty (Dec. 29): Houston (10-3) vs. South Carolina (7-5). While Florida is back to playing for national championships, the Ol' Ball Coach is figuring out how to score on Conference USA's champion.
15) Sun (Dec. 29): Oregon State (9-4) vs. Missouri (8-4). El Paso's bowl game is now sponsored by a brand of cologne. Brut -- for guys who want to smell not bad, but not exactly overwhelming.
16) Texas (Dec. 28): Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5). This is a fitting matchup, seeing as
Greg Schiano is in the midst of engineering a
Bill Snyder-caliber program turnaround at Rutgers.
17) Music City: (Dec. 29): Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5). With so many playmakers on both sides, I'm tempted to rate this one higher, but what are the chances something involving Clemson will live up to its potential?
18) Hawaii (Dec. 24): Hawaii (10-3) vs. Arizona State (7-5). Just for old time's sake,
Dirk Koetter should leave his suddenly improved defense on the mainland so we can watch one last 50-45 shootout before he goes.
19) Meineke (Dec. 30): Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3). Tom O'Brien must have it easy recruiting.
I promise if you come to BC you'll have the chance to go 9-3 and play in a mid-level bowl. No really -- I can guarantee it in writing.
20) Champs Sports (Dec. 29): Maryland (8-4) vs. Purdue (8-5). It's appropriate that this game is being played near the Magic Kingdom -- because there had to be some magic involved for these teams to win eight games.
21) Alamo (Dec. 30): Texas (9-3) vs. Iowa (6-6). It will be a de facto home game for the 'Horns, which is good, because they may need to pull someone from the stands if QB
Colt McCoy gets hurt.
22) Emerald (Dec. 27): UCLA (7-5) vs. Florida State (6-6). This one will be worth it just for the halftime interview with
Bobby Bowden -- when he's asked how his team plans to gain its second first down.
23) International (Jan. 6): Western Michigan (8-4) vs. Cincinnati (7-5). Cincinnati just hired
Brian Kelly from Central Michigan, and now the Bearcats are facing Western Michigan. Do they open next season with Eastern?
24) GMAC (Jan. 7): Ohio (9-4) vs. Southern Miss (8-5). The Eagles have reached the postseason nine times under
Jeff Bower, but this year marks a milestone: They've finally reached a January bowl.
25) Insight Bowl (Dec. 29): Texas Tech (7-5) vs. Minnesota (6-6). After years and years of December trips to El Paso and Nashville, it figures the Gophers finally get to go somewhere warm the year they go 6-6.
26) Armed Forces (Dec. 23): Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5). From the people who brought you such classics as Cincinnati-Marshall (2004) and Houston-Kansas (2005), it's the bowl formerly known as Forth Worth.
27) New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 22): Rice (7-5) vs. Troy (7-5). Two words:
Jarrett Dillard. He's a Biletnikoff finalist, he has 20 touchdowns receptions and he's the lone reason to watch this game. He plays for Rice, by the way.
28) PapaJohns.com (Dec. 23): South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5). USF remains the one BCS-conference team people refuse to acknowledge is a BCS-conference team -- even after the Bulls beat Louisville and West Virginia.
29) Independence (Dec. 28): Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6). Ladies and gentlemen, it's the first .500 Bowl. The stakes are higher than for most games: Someone's "bowl season" is about to become a "losing season."
30) MPC Computers (Dec. 31): Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6). Miami doesn't just show its displeasure with a coach by firing him -- it then makes him stand on a blue turf and freeze his butt off for three hours.
Larry Coker will end his tenure at Miami on the Smurf Turf of Boise St. against Nevada
31) Motor City (Dec. 26): Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee State (7-5). Middle Tennessee -- which lost to Troy in its season finale -- became the first team in history to upgrade its bowl destination by choking away its conference title.
32) New Mexico (Dec. 23): San Jose State (8-4) vs. New Mexico (6-6). In these troubled times, it's reassuring to know the Lobos will never be homeless at Christmas -- so long as they're bowl eligible and this game somehow stays in business.
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