December 26, 2012

Must List: Bowl (Part 2)

(Schedule via Awful Announcing)

Saturday, December 29th
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: Rice vs. Air Force (ESPN, 11:45 AM) - Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Lewis Johnson: Now who isn't excited to watch a couple of 6-6 teams play for a Bell Helicopter? This game is proof that giving a trophy to everyone isn't always the smartest idea.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl: West Virginia vs. Syracuse (ESPN, 3:15 PM) - Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Tom Rinaldi: Ah two former Big East teams playing in Yankee Stadium, who can't get excited for this one? West Virginia is the team that interests me the most in this game. They started the year on fire, Geno Smith was a Heisman candidate, and then everything went to hell. West Virginia's offense couldn't keep up with their horrendous defense and you never heard another word about Geno Smith again.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Navy vs. Arizona State (ESPN2, 4 PM) - Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Jenn Brown: Stewart Mandel pointed out something hilarious in this bowl preview, Arizona State coach Todd Graham ranked his own team 20th in the country. But I'm sure Arizona State is number 1 in Todd Graham's heart. Coaches polls are the best.

Valero Alamo Bowl: No. 23 Texas vs. No. 13 Oregon State (ESPN, 6:45 PM) - Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich: Looking at the records of each of these teams, how the hell did Texas only lose 4 games? Didn't it feel like they lost all of their games this year? Also it was nice of the Alamo Bowl to give the Longhorns a home game against Oregon State.


Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: TCU vs. Michigan State (ESPN, 10:15 PM) - Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe: Here are two teams that underachieved this year. I was particularly disappointed in TCU this season. I just thought they would be better. One thing that should be guaranteed in this game is that it should be low scoring.

Monday, December 31st
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: NC State vs. Vanderbilt (ESPN, Noon) - Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill: Ah we're back to watching a team that fired it's coach, hired a new one, and will watch the interim coach the team in a bowl game. Nothing awkward there. Oh and you'll be subjected to a million, "Jordan Rogers is Aaron's little brother!" comments during this game.

Hyundai Sun Bowl: USC vs Georgia Tech (CBS, 2 PM) - Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson: Maybe this is just me, but I always imagine Gary Danielson moaning before jumping on a plane to go to El Paso to call a game that doesn't feature two SEC teams. I can only imagine the entire USC team moaned before jumping on a plane to go to this game. They were expected to be playing in a national championship game, instead they're playing the day before New Year's. I don't think Bane Kiffin planned this.

 AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Iowa State vs. Tulsa (ESPN, 3:30 PM) - Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza: Everybody loves bowl game rematches right? These two teams played each other at the beginning of the year and Iowa State thrashed Tulsa. Supposedly the Liberty Bowl turned down Louisiana Tech for Iowa State because they just love watching rematches.

Chick-fil-A Bowl: No. 8 LSU vs. No. 14 Clemson (ESPN, 7:30 PM) - Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards: The last time Clemson played in a bowl game West Virginia burned them like General Sherman vs. Atlanta. Not coincidentally this game is in Atlanta. I doubt though LSU will hang 70 points on Clemson this year.

Tuesday, January 1st
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl: Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern (ESPN2, Noon) - Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams: I don't know about you guys but when I receive my W-2 I always say, "I'm going to SLAY MY TAXES THIS YEAR!". Okay maybe not. As for the game something has to happen in that either Northwestern finally wins a bowl game or Miss State finally beats a ranked opponent.

Heart of Dallas Bowl: Purdue vs. Oklahoma State (ESPNU, Noon) - Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Kaylee Hartung: I'll say this about the Big Ten, their ability to get teams like Purdue into a New Year's Day bowl game is remarkable  Not even the SEC is that good at getting as many teams into a New Year's Day games. Also what kind of trophy do they give out for this game? Is it Jerry Jones' real heart? Is it a diamond heart you're suppose to give to your loved one at Christmas? Why am I so fascinated with this?

Capital One Bowl: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska (ABC, 1 PM) - Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele: Remember when a pissed off Georgia team faced Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl a few years back? Now imagine what a pissed off Georgia team is going to do to a Nebraska team that couldn't stop Wisconsin if they were given cattle prods?

Outback Bowl: No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan (ESPN, 1 PM) - Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Shannon Spake: THIS GUY DENARD ROBINSON SURE IS SOMETHING TO WATCH. THIS GUY BRADY HOKE SURE IS INTENSE  HE REMINDS ME OF A COACH WHO USED TO COACH HERE IN TAMPA. THIS GUY STEVE SPURRIER SURE KNOWS HOW TO RUN UP THE SCORE ON TEAMS. And here I thought the days of Gruden calling bowl games were over.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio: Wisconsin vs No. 6 Stanford (ESPN, 5 PM) - Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi: Brett Bielema was so excited about coaching Wisconsin in their third straight Rose Bowl, he fled to Arkansas. I would call Wisconsin the worst school to represent the B1G in this game, but then I forgot that Ron Zook and Illinois made an appearance in this game just a few years ago. What I'm saying is I expect Wisconsin to lose their third straight Rose Bowl.

Discover Orange Bowl: No. 15 Northern Illinois vs No. 12 Florida State (ESPN, 8:30 PM) - Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor: I'm happy Northern Illinois is playing in this game and is busting the BCS. What I don't get is how Northern Illinois with one loss got into this game so easily while a one-loss Boise State for two straight years couldn't even sniff a BCS appearance? No offense to the MAC, I'm going to offend the MAC, but losing to tough TCU and Nevada teams shouldn't be a bigger deal than losing to a terrible Iowa team. I personally think the BCS is just sticking it to Boise State by allowing Northern Illinois into this game.

Wednesday, January 2nd
Allstate Sugar Bowl: No. 21 Louisville vs No. 3 Florida (ESPN, 8:30 PM) - Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich: I never understood how Florida did as well as they did this year and if you read these Must Lists this year you would know I picked against them the entire year. I would pick against them again for this game, but I've been embarrassed enough.

Thursday, January 3rd
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: No. 4 Oregon vs No. 5 Kansas State (ESPN, 8:30 PM) - Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe: Forget Notre Dame vs Alabama, this is the best bowl game of the year. Two high powered offenses playing inside a dome with perfect weather conditions. You cannot bet the over enough for this game. Also I hope KState wins this game and the AP splits the national championship.

Friday, January 4th
AT&T Cotton Bowl: No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (Fox, 7 PM) - Gus Johnson, Charles Davis: This should be another exciting game which means it will be boring as hell but Gus Johnson will be yelling regardless.

Saturday, January 5th
BBVA Compass Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss (ESPN, 1 PM) - Eamon McAnaney, David Diaz-Infante & Paul Carcaterra: For the third straight year the Pitt Panthers travel to Birmingham, Alabama to play at crappy Legion Field in a bowl game no one cares about. Also you have to wonder if Pitt cashed in all their "Pittsburgh to Birmingham frequent flier mileage" for this game?

Sunday, January 6th
GoDaddy.com Bowl: No. 25 Kent State vs. Arkansas State (ESPN, 9 PM) - Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza:  If the trophy for this game isn't a Danica Patrick blowup doll then I would riot.

Monday, January 7th
Discover BCS National Championship: No. 1 Notre Dame vs No. 2 Alabama (ESPN, 8:30 PM) - Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox & Tom Rinaldi: This is one of those games where you root for the meteor because rooting for either Notre Dame or Alabama is rooting for two evils. As for the game I expect another barnburning national championship with the final score of 10-7. Because really neither offense is that exciting while both defenses are outstanding. This game really does have the potential to have a final score like the Florida State-Oklahoma national championship game 12 years ago.

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