The Must List: BCS Bowls

I hate how these BCS games have been spread out over a eight day period. Call it nostalgia call it wanting things to stay the same but I loved the days when three of the BCS games were played on the first of the year and the title game was played a day or two later. Not anymore. Now all the games are spread out and the title game isn't played until 8 days after the first of the year. I hate that. I want to be a glutton on New Year's Day for college football and I don't get it. Instead we get two games on New Year's Day January 2nd and then three games spread out. I hate that these games are spread out. (The Schedule is via Justin again)

January, 2nd
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA):  Oregon vs. Wisconsin  5:00 (ESPN - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit, SR: Erin Andrews): One of the better bowl games of the season. Both of these schools have played in the Rose Bowl in the past two years and have lost. What I'm interested in seeing is how Oregon plays along the line of scrimmage. In all of Oregon losses the past three years one thing was in common. Oregon was blown away at the line of scrimmage against Ohio State, Auburn, LSU, and USC. Looking at Wisconsin's roster, they're huge on both sides of the line. Will Wisconsin also blow away Oregon on the line like the previous Oregon opponents who beat the Ducks? This is one part of the game I'll be paying attention to the most.



Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ):  Oklahoma State vs. Stanford  8:30 (ESPN - Sean McDonough and Matt Millen, SR: Heather Cox): This is another one of those games where you have to wonder if Oklahoma State will have a let down game after not being selected for the title game. Will Stanford also have a let down game? From an offensive standpoint I'm excited about this game. Both offenses are very exciting to watch while both of the teams defenses are to say the least, shaky.

January 3
Sugar Bowl (New Orleans, LA):  Michigan vs. Virginia Tech  8:30 (ESPN - Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge, SR: Holly Rowe): It's a shame that both of these teams are even in this game. Michigan State should be playing Boise State or Kansas State. Instead we're treated to two teams who didn't win their conference championship game and for Michigan a team that didn't even win their division. I'm a sucker though for bowl games and I'll be watching Michigan lose by 60 points on January 3rd. /RJBO'd


January 4
Orange Bowl (Miami, FL):  Clemson vs. West Virginia  8:30 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, SR: Lisa Salters): The poor Orange bowl always gets stuck with the absolute worst game of all the BCS games. Is anyone excited to watch Clemson versus West Virginia besides those teams own fan bases? If I had to pick one thing I'm excited about is the fact Dana Holgorsen in South Beach. If Holgo was getting kicked out of casino's in West Virginia, what's going to happen to him in South Beach? Will he go Nevin Shapiro and crash a yacht in the harbor? Will he get in a fight with Uncle Luke? The endless possibilities of Holgo in South Beach are astounding.

January 9
BCS Championship Game (New Orleans, LA):  LSU vs. Alabama  8:30 (ESPN - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit, SR: Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi): The rematch that no one wanted outside of the South. I have a theory why no one wants to watch this game, the first game was atrocious. After so much hype for their first game, both of these teams played a defensive quagmire with a field goal contest to decide the winner. Why would we want to see that again? That's the problem that so many people have with this rematch. If the first game wasn't so atrocious and more like the 2006 Ohio State-Michigan game, I'm sure more people would have loved a rematch.

As for the game itself, I don't expect anything else than what we already saw. A defensive quagmire with the team that has the better special teams winning. That's why I slightly favor LSU at the moment. Their special teams is simply better than Alabama's. Between Brad Wing helping LSU control field position and the Honey Badger returning punts, LSU could win this game just with their special teams alone. That's another reason to hate this game, the special teams in this game will be huge.