Most intriguing bowl matchups

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ESPN's Mark Schlabach ranks the bowls:

1. BCS National Championship

2. Ohio State vs. Clemson

3. Rose Bowl - "Scoring figures to be at a premium"

4. Alabama vs. Oklahoma

5. Oklahoma State v Mizzou

6. South Carolina vs. Wisconsin

7. Oregon vs. Texas

8. Baylor vs. Central Florida - both in first BCS bowl

9. LSU vs. Iowa

10. Georgia vs. Nebraska

11. Texas A&M vs. Duke

12. Louisville vs. Miami

13. Fresno State vs. USC

14. UCLA vs. Virginia Tech

15. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - "features two of the country's hottest coaches: Tech's Kliff Kingsbury and ASU's Todd Graham."

16. Michigan vs. Kansas State

17. BYU vs. Washington - " If only the Huskies could pull incoming coach Chris Petersen out of the stands to run a few trick plays in its bowl game. Petersen, the former Boise State coach, will only watch as interim coach Marques Tuiasosopo directs the Huskies in their bowl game."

...

20. Arizona vs. Boston College - "Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey and Boston College's Andre Williams"

...

23. Houston vs. Vanderbilt - "two underrated coaches who have their programs headed in one direction"

...

28. Washington State vs. Colorado State - "It might not look sexy on paper, but these are two much-improved teams from a year ago. After going 3-9 in coach Mike Leach's first season, the Cougars are playing in their first bowl game since 2003.
The Rams went 4-8 in coach Jim McElwain's first season, but now they're playing in their first bowl game since 2008"

...

32. Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in New Orleans - "New Orleans certainly knows how to throw a party and this instate contest figures to be quite festive.
The Green Wave will play in their first bowl game since 2002 after laboring through 10 consecutive losing seasons until this year"

33. ECU vs. Ohio - "It's a pretty good quarterback battle between ECU's Shane Carden, who led the league with 3,866 yards (#6 in NCAA), and Ohio's Tyler Tettleton (#32 in nation in passer rating)"

...

35. UNLV vs. North Texas in Dallas
The Mean Green are playing in their first bowl since 2004. The Rebels are playing in their first bowl game since 2000. As Rebels coach Bobby Hauck told his team last month, "Hell may have just frozen over -- the Rebels are bowl eligible!"

 

[Ironbreaker]

17. BYU vs. Washington - " If only the Huskies could pull incoming coach Chris Petersen out of the stands to run a few trick plays in its bowl game. Petersen, the former Boise State coach, will only watch as interim coach Marques Tuiasosopo directs the Huskies in their bowl game."

meh. No need to run trick plays. Keep it simple. We have arguably the best RB in the country, the best TE in the country as well.

BYU is a decent team, so is UW. The difference being we have 2 of the best players in the country.

Use them. Repeatedly.

Tui's game plan should be Sankey, Sankey, Sankey, ASJ TD!!

 

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A&M and Duke-Yes I know it will be New Years Eve but alot of storylines in this game. This could be Johnny's last game and A&M's going for it's 3rd straight bowl win which hasn't been done in a long time. Duke is coming off their first 10 win season and a lost to FSU in the ACC championship game.

Duke is playing in bowl games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

 

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Athlon Sports bowl rankings

1. BCS Championship

2. Clemson vs. Ohio State

3. Rose Bowl - "defense should win out in Pasadena"

4. Oklahoma State vs. Missouri - "should be a high-scoring matchup."

5. Wisconsin vs. South Carolina

6. Alabama vs. Oklahoma - "two of the top programs of the BCS era."

7. Oregon vs. Texas

8. Baylor vs. UCF - "the Knights have the firepower to hang around in this game. Quarterback Blake Bortles... Running back Storm Johnson" are both really good

9. Miami vs. Louisville - "Next season, Miami and Louisville will be ACC foes."

10. Fresno State vs. USC - "one of the must-see matchups from the pre-Christmas bowls."

11. BYU vs. Washington - "Washington will be a tough opponent for BYU."

12. Iowa vs. LSU

13. Texas A&M vs. Duke - "as always, this game (Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year's Eve) is the perfect way to ring in the New Year. ... the Blue Devils are looking for their first postseason win since 1961.... A win over Texas A&M would cap an impressive season for Duke, which featured the first Coastal Division title in school history, along with the program’s first double-digit win total."

14. Virginia Tech vs. UCLA

15. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - "The Holiday Bowl is known for its high-scoring affairs and offensive shootouts, so it’s no surprise Arizona State and Texas Tech will meet"

...

19. Nebraska vs. Georgia - "Todd Gurley (Georgia) and Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska) are two of the best RBs in the nation."

20. Michigan vs. Kansas State - "the first meeting between these two programs."

21. Arizona vs. Boston College - "features the nation’s leading rushers in Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey (156 ypg) and Boston College’s Andre Williams (175.2 ypg)"

...

25. Rice (10-3) vs. Mississippi State (6-6) - "a victory over the Bulldogs would give the Owls their first 11-win season in school history."

...

27. Washington State vs. Colorado State - WSU QB Connor Halliday (#5 in nation in passing ypg) vs CSU RB Kapri Bibbs (#13 in nation in rushing ypg)

28. Pinstripe Bowl - "the Pinstripe Bowl has to
be a disappointment for the Fighting Irish"

...

30. Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in New Orleans - "Bragging rights in the state of Louisiana are on the line for this game, as less than 150 miles separate Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won the last two New Orleans Bowls, while this is the Green Wave’s first appearance in a bowl since 2002. ..... Despite the close proximity between the two schools, this is just the second meeting between Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette since 2001."

...

32. UNLV vs. North Texas in Dallas - "Yes, there are too many bowls, but it’s also good to see 35 postseason games when they create matchups like this one. UNLV is back in a bowl for the first time since 2000, while North Texas returns to a postseason game after a 12-year drought."

33. ECU vs. Ohio - "The Pirates should score plenty of points behind quarterback Shane Carden (32 TDs, 3,866 yards)...Ohio quarterback Tyler Tettleton will test a East Carolina defense ranked 90th nationally against the pass."

...

 

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Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports:

Some people would have you believe that 35 bowl
games is about 25 bowl games too many. Well,
I'll have you know that you shouldn't listen to
those people. Bowl games are awesome. Sure,
there are too many mediocre teams that go
bowling these days because there are so many
games, but you should cherish each and every
one of the games between mediocre teams.
Because in a few months you won't have any
football to watch at all and you'll be dying for a
New Orleans Bowl matchup between Tulane and
Louisiana-Lafayette.
So our advice to you is to watch every single
bowl game that you can this year

 

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CBS bowl rankings

1. BCS Championship

2. Rose Bowl - "It's not going to be a high-scoring game"

3. Clemson vs. Ohio State - "this game should be pretty great as it features two of the best quarterbacks and offenses in the country." (Ohio State has the #4/#7 offense, Clemson #11/#12)

4. Missouri vs. Oklahoma State - "could feature a whole helluva lot of points" (OSU hsd the #14/#41 offense, Mizzou #15/#16)

5. Oklahoma vs. Alabama - "while I give OU nearly no chance against Alabama in New Orleans this will probably be the game of the century." (like when Boise State beat Oklahoma?)

6. Wisconsin vs. South Carolina - "truth be told, I think these two teams are a lot closer than their rankings suggest...Which is why I think we're going to get a fantastic game on New Year's."

7. UCF vs. Baylor - "UCF has shown a tendency to play to its opponent all season, as we shouldn't forget this team's only loss was a close one to South Carolina."

8. Oregon vs. Texas - "pretty damn good for the Alamo Bowl."

9. Miami at Louisville - "this is actually a good matchup"

10. Duke vs. Texas A&M - "I'm not sure how great of a matchup this actually is, but I wanted to give the ACC some props for fighting for Duke here and helping them get the bowl it deserves."

11. Fresno State vs. USC - "Things worked out pretty well for the Las Vegas Bowl. ... there's a lot of talent on both of these rosters."

12. Iowa vs. LSU - "Stylistically both teams are pretty similar. And while your initial reaction may be to think LSU wins this one with ease, Iowa has a very stout defense (#7/#11 in nation) and the Tigers will be without Zach Mettenberger."

13. Virginia Tech vs. UCLA - "Honestly, the reason I have this game ranked so highly is just the idea of watching UCLA's Myles Jack at running back go against Virginia Tech's front seven."

14. Nebraska vs. Georgia

15. BYU vs. Washington - "Washington has a lot of talent and will be facing a BYU defense with its share of talent as well."

16. Utah State vs. Northern Illinois - "This game is close to nirvana for the college football hipsters that have been following both of these teams the last few years."

17. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - "The Holiday Bowl has a history of high-scoring games, and these two teams can certainly provide those. However the disparity between these two teams as far as talent is concerned is why I don't have it ranked higher. Maybe Texas Tech can prove me wrong."

18. Vanderbilt vs. Houston - "Odds are you haven't seen much of Houston this season, but it's an entertaining team. And then there's Vanderbilt which truly deserved a better bowl than the BBVA Compass"

19. Michigan 7-5 vs. Kansas State 7-5 - "Some late-night college football action for us all. We've seen the commercials for Buffalo Wild Wings, so there's no way to possibly know just what might happen in this game. No, wait, yeah there is. We know that no matter what happens Michigan fans will complain about it for four hours."

20. Marshall vs. Maryland - "the reason I've got it ranked this highly is the potential of Marshall's offense (#7/#13 in nation) and Rakeem Cato (#3 in nation with 36 TD passes) in any given game."

...

23. ECU vs. Ohio - "Sure, it's played indoors in a baseball stadium that barely even passes as a baseball stadium, but aside from what is actually an interesting matchup, you'll get to see repeated Beef O'Brady's commercials. And if you live outside the BEEF'S footprint, well, they're quite interesting."

24. Arizona vs. Boston College - "Two of the best running backs in the country will do battle"

...

28. Rice 10-3 vs. Mississippi State 6-6 - "Mississippi State needed an overtime Egg Bowl victory to get to a bowl game, and its reward is Conference USA champion Rice. Will Mississippi State beat Rice? Probably, but it's worth tuning in just for the possibility of an SEC team losing to Conference USA. Because Rice is actually pretty decent."

29. Minnesota vs. Syracuse - "if bowl games were actually about rewarding teams instead of making money, the Gophers would be in a better game than this one against a mediocre 6-6 Syracuse team"

30. Boise State 8-4 vs. Oregon State 6-6 - "I love the Hawaii Bowl because it's always there for me on Christmas Eve when I want to ignore the family for a bit, and while I'll be keeping that tradition going this year, this isn't the greatest matchup. You've got an Oregon State team that turned out to be very mediocre against a Boise State team that just lost Chris Petersen"

31. UNLV vs. North Texas - "Listen, I don't run a bowl game of my own, but I would watch the hell out of this game if it were played on like Dec. 23, but on New Year's Day? There's just no chance."

...

33. Pinstripe Bowl - "This game started out well enough when Notre Dame accepted a bid, because seeing Notre Dame in Yankee Stadium is interesting. But then they added Rutgers, who just finished a very uninspiring 6-6."

34. New Orleans Bowl -- Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Tulane - "I think it's great, but unless you live in Louisiana this game probably doesn't have much significance for you."

35. Colorado State vs. Washington State - "the first bowl game that will be played this year. ... the reason I ranked the Ball State vs. Arkansas State GoDaddy.com Bowl higher is that it's the 2nd-to-last game of the season. At that point you'll be looking to get your eyes on anything you can before it's all gone."

 

[KnightAndDay]

Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports:

Some people would have you believe that 35 bowl
games is about 25 bowl games too many. Well,
I'll have you know that you shouldn't listen to
those people. Bowl games are awesome. Sure,
there are too many mediocre teams that go
bowling these days because there are so many
games, but you should cherish each and every
one of the games between mediocre teams.
Because in a few months you won't have any
football to watch at all and you'll be dying for a
New Orleans Bowl matchup between Tulane and
Louisiana-Lafayette.
So our advice to you is to watch every single
bowl game that you can this year

 

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an SB Nation article had a panel of 11 people grade the bowls on a scale of 1 to 10 (you could give them all 10's if you wanted). only 12 bowl got an average of 6.5 or higher...

-10-

9.6 - BCS Championship Game - #1

9.1 - Clemson vs. Ohio State - #2

-9-

8.8 - Rose Bowl - #3

8.6 - Mizzou vs. Oklahoma State - #4

-8-

7.8 - Duke vs. Texas A&M - #5

7.64 - Oregon vs. Texas - #6

7.55 - South Carolina vs. Wisconsin - #7

7.1 - Louisville vs. Miami - #8

7.0 - Arizona vs. Boston College - #9

-7-

6.91 - Baylor vs. UCF - #10 (tied)

6.91 - Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - #10 (tied)

6.8 - Fresno State vs. USC - #12

(rest were 6.45 and below)

 

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another bowl ranking:

1. BCS National Championship

2. Ohio State vs. Clemson - "Clemson and Tajh should be able to move the ball on the Buckeyes."

3. Missouri vs. Oklahoma State - "Which team shows up with something to prove?"

4. Rose Bowl - "sets up to be all about defense"

5. South Carolina vs. Wisconsin - "could end up being the best game we see all NYD."

6. Alabama vs. Oklahoma - "The coaching match-up here may be one of the best in the bowl season, with Nick Saban and Bob Stoops"

7. Baylor vs. Central Florida - "this UCF team won at Penn State, gave South Carolina more of a fight than Clemson could, and won at Louisville."

8. LSU vs. Iowa - "Iowa is 3-1 against the SEC in their last four bowl games against the conference (4-1 if you include a win against Missouri in 2010)"

9. Georgia vs. Nebraska - "a rematch of last year's Capital One Bowl, which was quite entertaining"

10. Fresno State vs. USC - "there is a lot to like here"

11. Louisville vs. Miami - "the Cardinals look to show Miami just what is coming next season in the ACC."

12. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - "Can you say points? If you love offensive football than the Sun Devils vs. Red Raiders is right up your alley. ASU (the #9 scoring offense in the country) can score in bunches and Texas Tech (the #9 total offense in the country) has perhaps the hottest name in offensive football as its head coach-Kliff Kingsbury. ... just remember we’re talking about the Holiday Bowl, where crazy things happen, and the games are usually high scoring. Sit back and enjoy an affront to all things defense in this one."

13. Arizona vs. Boston College - "The nation's top two leading rushers square off ... The coaching match-up of Steve Addazio and Rich Rodriguez is pretty entertaining as well. I had this one down on my list before giving a strong second thought. It had to be higher so I bumped it up."

14. Oregon vs. Texas - "Oregon has shown cracks in the system this season, and Texas may be able to take advantage"

15. BYU vs. Washington - "This game has so much to pay attention to."

16. Houston vs. Vanderbilt - "Few teams were more improved from 2012 this season than Houston"

...

18. New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Tulane - "This may seem high for some, but I think this is a fantastic match-up for the New Orleans Bowl. Getting Tulane and Louisiana-Lafayette may be one of the best possible match-ups the bowl could have asked for. This will fly under the radar for many, but this one should be a lot of fun."

19. Texas A&M vs. Duke - "I love Duke's story, I really do. But after seeing what happened against Florida State, I have a bad feeling about this one."

20. Michigan vs. Kansas State

...

22. UCLA vs. Virginia Tech - "Virginia Tech's defense against this UCLA offense? I'll sign up for that. Virginia Tech's offense? I'll pass."

23. Pinstripe Bowl - "Notre Dame played for the BCS title last season. This year they take on a Rutgers team that barely reached the postseason"

...

29. GoDaddy Bowl: Ball State vs. Arkansas State - "The night before Gus Malzahn looks to lead Auburn to a national championship, his previous team at Arkansas State will look to take down Ball (So Hard) State, the MAC's top passing offense with Keith Wenning."

...

32. Colorado State vs. Washington State - "will kick off this year's bowl schedule with Mike Leach and his Washington State Cougars against a surprising Colorado State Rams team turning things around under former Nick Saban OC Greg McElwain."

33. Mississippi State vs. Rice - "Rice's dream season included a Conference USA championship and they will have a shot to upset an SEC team. The annual Dan Mullen spotlight could shine brightly on this one."

...

 

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Yahoo Sports bowl rankings

1. BCS National Championship

2. Rose Bowl - "These are two of the best defenses in the country, so we're expecting that it'll be a 45-35 passing explosion. No, it won't. We'll get a lot of running between the tackles."

3. Clemson vs. Ohio State - "Who's going to be the best quarterback on the field, Clemson's Tajh Boyd or Ohio State's Braxton Miller? The answer to that question will likely give us the winner of the game."

4. Oklahoma vs. Alabama - "Oklahoma is here by virtue of beating Oklahoma State on Saturday, and we all know why Alabama is here"

5. Wisconsin vs. South Carolina - "Wisconsin's ground attack (meets) Jadeveon Clowney"

6. Oklahoma State vs. Missouri - "could have the best chance of being the highest-scoring bowl."

7. Texas vs. Oregon - "The Texas defense has improved drastically with new DC Greg Robinson"

8. Central Florida vs. Baylor - "this isn't going to be a blowout."

9. Fresno State vs. USC

10. BYU vs. Washington - "Here's a four hour football game waiting to happen. BYU is second in the country in plays per game with 88. Washington is 11th with 82. Look for lots of snaps and lots of points."

11. Iowa vs. LSU - "this is the opposite of BYU vs. Washington. LSU will likely keep it close to the vest with true freshman Anthony Jennings at quarterback in place of the injured Zach Mettenberger. Close to the vest is Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz's football life philosophy."

12. Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech - "Ole Miss has three weeks to prepare for Georgia Tech's triple option. That shouldn't be too difficult given that the team uses a lot of zone read concepts."

13. Miami vs. Louisville - "Let’s go ahead and look at this as Louisville’s inaugural ACC game."

14. Boise State vs. Oregon State - "These offenses both have the ability to score a bunch of points, so that could make this one of the more offensively entertaining games of the bowl season."

15. Virginia Tech vs. UCLA - "It’s not often you get to see the Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year in one games and even rarer that it’s the same person. But UCLA’s running back/linebacker Myles Jack is a treat to watch and should give the Hokies fits."

16. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech - "If this game had been played early in the season it would have been near the top of these bowl rankings. Sadly, this is a Texas Tech team that lost its last five and Arizona State was beaten badly in the Pac-12 title game"

17. Nebraska vs. Georgia - "These two teams played an epic Capital One Bowl a year ago"

18. Duke vs. Texas A&M - "Duke has had a fantastic season, but they haven’t played an SEC-type schedule. Manziel should be able to leave college football on a very high note."

19. Vanderbilt vs. Houston: "There was a point where Houston was challenging for the BCS automatic bid from the AAC ... Vanderbilt is looking for its second consecutive 9-win season, yet another school record"

20. Arizona vs. Boston College - "This is going to be an epic running back matchup with Boston College’s Andre Williams and Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey."

...

22. Syracuse (6-6) vs. Minnesota (8-4) : "There probably hasn’t been a better story than Minnesota’s this season. Coach Jerry Kill left the sidelines to concentrate on managing his epilepsy and the Gophers rallied around him - and interim coach Tracy Claeys - to win eight games for the first time since 2003."

...

24. Michigan vs. Kansas State : "If the Michigan team that showed up against Ohio State in the final game of the regular season comes to play against Kansas State, this has the potential to be one of the better games of the bowl season. At the very least, we should see some good offense."

...

28. Washington State vs. Colorado State - "It took just two seasons for Mike Leach to bring Washington State to its first bowl game since 2003. The Cougars feature the nation’s fourth-best passing attack behind 4,000-yard passer Connor Halliday. Colorado State’s Kapri Bibbs, with 1,572 yards and 28 touchdowns on the ground, is one of the most underrated players in the country."

...

30. Pinstripe Bowl - Rutgers (6-6) vs. Notre Dame

31. UNLV vs. North Texas - "The first bowl appearance since 2004 for North Texas. UNLV will play in its fourth ever bowl game and first since 2000."

33. ECU vs. Ohio - "East Carolina reeled off victories over in-state rivals North Carolina (ACC) and NC State (ACC) this year. Ohio beat bowl teams North Texas and Marshall (who beat ECU this year)"

...

35. New Orleans Bowl: Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette - "The Tulane program was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, so it’s a nice accomplishment for the Green Wave to reach its first bowl game since 2002. They’ll face off with in-state opponent Louisiana-Layafette"

 

[KansasSooner]

I think any time you get to have Oklahoma and Alabama play it is must see football if for no other reason than their history.

 

[wiskyisgood12]

Michigan State-Stanford is definitely intriguing to me.

Wisconsin-South Carolina is also very intriguing to me.

Oklahoma State-Missouri is a match up not many people have been talking about, but it's a very exciting match up.

Also, Utah State-Northern Illinois..can the talented Utah State defense stop Jordan Lynch?

 

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Stewart Mandel of SI ranks the bowls

"Ranking the bowls has become my annual December tradition, with this year's column marking the 11th edition. Some years the list starts out juicy and tails off by about No. 12. This year's, on the other hand, boasts the kind of depth Bob Stoops would appreciate in a conference. The top is a little bit underwhelming. But the bottom half is much stronger than usual."

1. BCS National Championship Game

2. Rose Bowl - "two teams loaded with mean, hungry defenders"

3. Ohio State vs. Clemson - "After both of his team's last two games, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said the Buckeyes need to get their pass defense "fixed." Now, they'll face Clemson's Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins."

4. Missouri vs. Oklahoma State - "This should be a fun little Big 12 reunion. Drool over the matchup of Mizzou wide receiver Dorial Green Beckham against Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert."

5. Alabama vs. Oklahoma - "a glamour matchup between two decorated programs. As Utah learned in 2009, Alabama doesn't lose Sugar Bowls -- it "doesn't get up" for them."

6. South Carolina vs. Wisconsin - Three talented running backs -- Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and James White and South Carolina's Mike Davis -- also the one-year-anniversary of Jadeveon Clowney's famous play.

7. Baylor (11-1) vs. UCF (11-1) - "Everyone knows about Baylor QB Bryce Petty, but be sure to check out Knights QB and fast-rising draft prospect Blake Bortles."

8. Louisville vs. Miami - "Teddy Bridgewater will give his final NFL audition."

9. Fresno State vs. USC - "There's a high potential for crazy here."

10. UCLA vs. Virginia Tech - "Come for Brett Hundley, stay for Myles Jack, the Bruins' sensation who won Pac-12 offensive AND defensive freshman of the year honors. It's also once-highly-touted Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas' swan song. May it somehow be interception-free."

11. Oregon vs. Texas - "this is a nightmare matchup for Texas. You won't be able to look away."

12. LSU vs. Iowa - "The last time these programs met in a New Year's Day bowl in 2005, Iowa won on a walk-off 56-yard touchdown pass, and Nick Saban promptly left for the Miami Dolphins. Just think how much wackier things could get with Les Miles in the mix."

13. Duke vs. Texas A&M - "Johnny Manziel is apt to go off on Duke's 72nd-ranked defense. He'll finish up just in time to celebrate New Year's Eve, surely by playing cards in a quiet Atlanta hotel room."

14. BYU vs. Washington - "In the Huskies' last game before beginning the Chris Petersen era, quarterback Keith Price and running back Bishop Sankey will go up against a stout BYU defense (that is tied with Stanford as the #12 total D in the nation in fewest yards given up per snap). Cougars linebacker Kyle Van Noy will look to repeat last season's Poinsettia Bowl clinic."

15. Georgia vs. Nebraska - New Year's Day...Georgia tailback Todd Gurley (averaging 138.6 yards from scrimmage) vs. Nebraska tailback Ameer Abdullah (averaging 150.0 yards per scrimmage, only 1.6 behind Ohio State's Carlos Hyde for #1 in the Big Ten)

16. Arizona State vs. Texas Tech

17. Northern Illinois (12-1) vs. Utah State (8-5). - "Jordan Lynch needs just 119 rushing yards to become the sport's first member of the 2,000 passing yards/2,000 rushing yards club. Interestingly, Utah State allows just 107.4 rushing yards per game."

18. Arizona vs. Boston College - "The nation's top two rushers, Boston College's Andre Williams (175.2 yards per game) and Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey (156.0)"

19. Boise State vs. Oregon State - "The Beavers lost their last five games. The Broncos lost their most games in eight years, not to mention their head coach. This being the bowl business, somehow both teams will end their seasons in Hawaii, not New Mexico" (New Mexico Bowl got Colorado State vs. Washington State)

20. Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. Houston (8-4) - "Both teams got snubbed by bowls that took 6-6 squads ahead of them"

21. Michigan vs. Kansas State

22. Ole Miss (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5). - "In a game that should go back and forth, the team that has the ball last could lose."

23. Cincinnati (9-3) vs. North Carolina (6-6). - The Bearcats, oft-jilted by the ACC, will look to take out their frustration out on ACC commissioner John Swofford's alma mater."

24. Pinstripe - Notre Dame vs. Rutgers (6-6). - "when the final whistle sounds, Rutgers will be a Big Ten football school. Good prank, Jim Delany."

...

27. Rice (10-3) vs. Mississippi State (6-6) - "Mississippi State alums figure to overrun Memphis with cowbells. Rice alums figure to mechanically engineer a method for drowning them out."

...

29. Colorado State vs. Washington State - "WSU quarterback Connor Halliday averages 54.7 pass attempts per game, and he's about to face the nation's 111th-ranked pass defense. If Wazzu wins, his arm might not be able to lift the bowl trophy."

30. Buffalo vs. San Diego State in Idaho- "Buffalo stud linebacker Khalil Mack has 19 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, three interceptions and far more experience in cold weather than anyone on San Diego State."

31. GoDaddy.com Bowl- "It's a dream come true for those Ball State fans who held up "We Want 'Bama" signs during one of their Wednesday night MACtion games. Let us know if Mobile, Alabama is everything you imagined and more."

...

35. North Texas vs. UNLV - "a New Year's Day game played in the Cotton Bowl."

 

[Sox33OSU]

I think any time you get to have Oklahoma and Alabama play it is must see football if for no other reason than their history.

I was thinking the same thing about UCF-Baylor.

 

[KansasSooner]

I was thinking the same thing about UCF-Baylor.

You do realize Baylor does have some history right? Not much but like Kansas they make waves every 30 years or so...

 

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You do realize Baylor does have some history right? Not much but like Kansas they make waves every 30 years or so...

Baylor finished in the Top 25 once in the 40s, four times in the 50s, twice in the 60s, three times in the 70s, three times in the 80s. Two of those were when Baylor had Mike Singletary (79, 80) and two were with Hayden Fry at QB (49, 50)

From 1986 on, Baylor went 25 years without finishing in the Top 25 until 2011 with RGIII. if they beat UCF, it will be their second Top 10 finish in history, the other was 62 years ago in 1951 when they had College Football Hall of Fame OT Jim Ray Smith, who was on the Browns OL that blocked for Jim Brown

 

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News Day's 9 best of the non- BCS bowl games

Boston College vs. Arizona - It should be fun. Eagles RB Andre Williams against Arizona’s top rusher Ka’Deem Cherry (that is how they spelled it).

South Carolina vs. Wisconsin (ABC): This could be the best of the non-BCS bowls. It could also be one of the lowest scoring non-BCS games. Both teams feature big time running attacks. Wisconsin has James White and Mel Gordon, while South Carolina features Mike Davis.

Kansas State vs. Michigan - anytime two programs with history play each other for the first time it's usually worth a look.

Oregon vs. Texas - a win against Oregon would probably save Mack Brown's job

UCLA vs. Virginia Tech (CBS): This could be the game that puts UCLA QB Brett Hundley firmly on the NFL radar. If the sophomore QB can best Virginia Tech’s vaunted defense, he will be on his way.

Fresno State vs. USC (ABC): This is one of the more intriguing bowl games... this is a game worth paying for... Its show time for Fresno State’s David Carr. Nothing would be better for the Bulldogs than to knock off one of college football’s traditional power programs.

Louisville vs. Miami - Its show time for Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater is viewed as one of the top quarterback prospects in college. Nothing would be better for the Cardinals than to knock off one of college football’s traditional power programs.

Texas A&M vs. Duke: This could be Johnny Manziel’s final calling card. And there’s no doubt he will want to go out with a bang on New Year's Eve. If Duke plays with the just-happy-to-be-here attitude, Manziel could have a career day.

Pinstripe Bowl Notre Dame vs. Rutgers - Notre Dame playing in Yankee Stadium

 

[tshirt]

Forbes:

The 2014 Rose Bowl is one of the most expensive Rose Bowl tickets ever, and certainly the most expensive since we’ve been tracking the ticket market over the last five years.

Pent-up demand and proximity is making the difference. For Michigan State, it’s been 25 years since their last visit to the Rose Bowl. For Stanford, it’s a five-hour party bus down I-5. As a result Rose Bowl tickets have an average price of $978, which is over double the price of the last two Rose Bowl games .

It’s so expensive, in fact, that Michigan State’s Federal Credit Union is offering loans for students looking to attending the game, starting at a minimum of $1,000. With the deluge of debt that students are leaving school with, this hardly feels like responsible lending, however, when it comes to tickets for games in Pasadena, emotion clearly trumps responsibility.

ESPN:
Danny Daoud, a 2006 graduate of Michigan State said he "sat on hold for an hour and 55 minutes" to buy his tickets

 

[UTVolCountry]

MTSU vs Navy will be a good one. Everyone should watch.

 

[mutiger]

I understand that a lot of people are taking into the account that Mizzou's defense played poorly against Auburn, but then again Auburn's offense is on a roll. Mizzou's defense is actually pretty decent this season. Even after the Auburn fiasco the Mizzou defense gives up 22.3 ppg. We have given up some yardage this year, usually passing yardage. 10 of Mizzou's 11 wins were by more than 14 points, so teams got a lot of passing yardage with Mizzou up big.

Mizzou led the SEC in sacks and Turnovers created and margin. Mizzou has forced a turnover in 43 straight games.

So yes, Okie St has a pretty good offense and might score some points…..but Auburn is the only team to score more than 28 points on Mizzou this year.