The 2006 College Football Bowl Season is underway! It started off last night — not with a bang — but with a whimper as TCU (playing like a true Top 25 team) dominated NIU 37-7 in the Poinsettia Bowl. Husky fans, where you at? What the hell happened? I thought Wolfe was supposed to be unstoppable?
Hear ye! Hear ye! Let the rest of this thread be a clearinghouse throughout the Dope for College Football Bowl News, Arguments, Predictions, Smack Talk, etc.
I’ll start us off with a quick preview of tomorrow’s game:
THE LAS VEGAS BOWL
The Ducks of Oregon v. The Mormons of BYU… Wait… The Cougars, I meant to say.
Anyways, Oregon has been hit-or-miss this year with their new spread offense. Since beating Oklahoma through a totally unnoticed and undebated replay call, they’ve struggled - losing 3 in a row to USC, AZ State, and Oregon St. They’ve got a couple of talented QBs (Leaf and Dixon), but they’re not putting it together - and Oregon has definitely not been protecting the football late in the season. That said, when this offense works, IT WORKS. Without checking the stats, I’m pretty sure they finished up top 10 in overall offense. If things click, their offense could be shiny.
BYU on the other hand is the media darling. They’re a tough team which dropped a tough game to (another media darling) Boston College. They’ve got a stellar QB themselves in John Beck and a couple of decent workhouse backs. And they simply do NOT turn the ball over. They’re a 5 point favorite going in to this thing.
My take? Fall back to the safe old rules — take the veteran “safe” QB over the QB controversy. Take the team that protects the football. BYU holds off flashes of brilliance from Oregon to win this thing.
Alright Dopers lets discuss these bowls! If anybody else wants to preview / discuss a different bowl, by all means. Let’s get all Doperish and analytical here and enjoy ourselves before the dark coming months of NO college football.
Well, if we’re going to do that, I want to play Stanford. Of course, that whole trashtalk thing would go something like this:
Me: “Dude - you guys are a color. That’s absurd.”
Stanford Guy: “No, we’re not! Today, we’re a TREE! Raawrr. Gonna fall on you. Oooh, light myself on fire and burn you!!!”
Me: “That’s just sad. Sad, sad, sad.”
Stanford Guy: <hangs head in shame - goes back to cush job in corner office on top floor - gets hankypanky from his hot, blonde, Swedish golddigging secretary>
Well if that’s the case, then everyone would want to play Ohio State. A buckeye? Although it is a tough nut to crack. Unless the Nissan commercials are to be believed and a buckeye is actually a two story 40 ton rolling beasty.
That game was amazing. I had no idea TCU’s defense was so outstanding.
I thought it was funny that NIU, 2nd place in the MAC West, got to go to a bowl in San Diego while MAC West, and MAC champion Central Michigan gets to go to a bowl game in Detroit (the Motor City Bowl on December 26 vs. Middle Tennessee State). Something seems quite backward there.
As for the Las Vegas Bowl, is BYU going to bring any fans, or must all the devout Mormons avert their eyes from the glories of the Vegas Strip? No matter. I’m rooting for BYU just because Oregon’s unis are all so ugly.
Yep, how bout those Wildcats? If they manage to beat Clemson, then you guys will never get rid of Coach Brooks and get someone decent! Clemson is tough but totally schizophrenic this year. They’re also 10.5 point favorites - so I think UK might be able to slip up and surprise them. Definitely going to be one hell of an offensive show on both sides. Holiday Fireworks!
I’ll be honest, racer — me neither. They played like a top 25 defense. NIU’s offense looked like they were running in the sand compared to TCU’s guys.
Hehe. It’s sooo true. And they have like 50 different combinations of those uniforms. And they’re all ugly. I’m also still mocking Oregon for the Roboduck fiasco.
Maybe they’ll be the War Eagles in the Bowl Game. That way you country boys can just shoot 'em.
I gotta admit - I’d be concerned as a Nebraska fan after the Big XII Championship. But Auburn has laid a few eggs this season themselves — the Arkansas game and the Georgia game. Both games exposed ways to defeat the AU team. Namely: run it down their freaking throat, and rattle their QB.
Plus, (ignoring the conference championship game) it seems like Nebraska has really struggled against the high powered offenses - like USC and OK State. Auburn’s offense is really nothing like that. I’d say their balanced style is more like UT - and you guys gave them a tough game.
They had their chance — they opted for the cheap Harvard imitation rather than the suave Robberbaron mascot. They went for the Crimson and the Tree and God has plagued them for their temerity ever since.
OK fellas, another breakdown to keep things interesting:
UCLA is coming off a “save-your-coaches-ass” kind of wet dream game against USC. And what a sweet win for them - killing your crosstown rival’s National Championship dreams?* That’s the sort of thing that a college football fan can really appreciate. This bowl is - to put it mildly - only gravy. That said, they get a chance to go up against a pretty storied program and one of the legends of the coaching world. I’m feeling pretty bullish about UCLA’s defense right about now. Plus, Cowan played lights out against USC. And if he gets hurt, they’ve got a damn good QB in Ben Olson to step in.
And then there’s FSU. It’s not all Jeff Bowden’s fault - but damn their offense is inept. Blanked by Wake Forest? Come on. And they have QB controversy (an overarching theme so far in the games I’ve examined on the Dope) between Xavier Lee and Drew Weatherford. They’ve got a couple of good receivers, but this is a pretty down offense. Their defense is definitely athletic (a hallmark of all FSU teams), but they haven’t put it all together this year.
So here’s my take: I think that UCLA’s defense is going to have a field day. But I also think that FSU’s defense is going to play a good game. It’s going to come down to which offense can scrape together one or two good plays. I’ll take the veteran QB and the hot team in UCLA for the win. Sorry Bobby - UCLA in a defensive squeaker. But I don’t think they cover the 4.5 spread.
Hey Trojan fans - don’t worry about it. That Rose Bowl against Michigan is going to pretty damn fun. And The Men of Troy better be ready, cause Michigan is real good this year. Better than Oregon State even.
I heard from a friend of a friend that the college president got involved! Yes, the guy in charge of academics was upset about an extracurricular activity. Once I heard that, I stopped believing the story. Somebody had to make that up!
Besides, everyone knows the Sooners could’ve stopped the Ducks from scoring after that call… or made that field goal at the end to win it. Seems more sensible than a story about a college president whining.
I once worked in a cube farm, and got tasked with running the annual NCAA Tournament bracket for my section. The gal that won the thing made her choices on that basis. Karana was astounded, but amused.
As for bowls–
Florida will upset Ohio State for the National Title.
Go Gatech, you miserable average team! Go Reggie Bush and your 70 yard total offense! Go Calvin Johnson, dropping the only pass you’ll ever get thrown within 10 miles of your general aura!
Yea, I don’t care. I hate Gatech and am constantly annoyed by the stupid, ugly fans but I might watch. Might. If I stumble across it on TV, that is.
I went to last year’s Vegas Bowl (Cal vs BYU) and engaged in much online chat with BYU fans. The consensus was that, while Mormons are not going to tear the town up, there is no blanket prohibition against gambling. (Drinking…yes). So if you see someone playing nickel slots and nursing a diet coke, he’s a BYU fan.
The oft-repeated line about BYU (although I think it was originally said about Baylor’s Baptist fans) is that their fans come to town with the 10 Commandments and a $20 bill, and don’t break either one.
The Ducks sure stank up the joint, didn’t they? The “Pac-10 is soft” slander isn’t going to go away easy…although it was Pac-10 #5 vs #19 in the country, so the outcome shouldn’t have been shocking.
I will personally be in attendance at the Holiday Bowl next Thursday, if anyone wants an eyewitness report.
I take it, my rambling wreck of a friend, that you haven’t heard the news ?
Yeah, they looked horrible. I got a really bad feeling on their first offensive possession when they tried to get cute with the pitch-back and Leaf got sacked. Then two plays later, sacked again. Hoo-boy, I said to myself.
You’re right - that strictly based on the rankings, this shouldn’t have been a surprise. But I guess I got “power conference” fever like most people and thought that Oregon would at least play some football.
Seriously though, the Pac-10 is WAY down this year. Who’s good? USC is decent but not as tough as they have been. Cal has been hit or miss, but they can play ball. UCLA is playing tough now, although that Notre Dame loss still looms large.
Then it’s a pretty big drop off. Oregon? We saw how bad they are. Oregon State has really been up or down. And the Zona / Wash school are not good this year. Then you have Stanford.
I don’t want to be a Pac-10 hater. I like to watch a good Pac-10 offensive shootout. But they’re not too good this year.
Oh, most definitely. Report everything. I’m pretty excited - I think I’m going to go with Cal over A&M - although the Wrecking Crew has definitely been better this year.
In your dreams. It is my sincere belief there will be a shellacking the likes of which have never been seen, which forces a re-evaluation of the entire BCS system.
(Actually, I’m just a Buckeye-In-Law. I’m being loyal to Ivylad. Go Bucks and all that jazz.)
Clemson is tough but totally schizophrenic this year. They’re also 10.5 point favorites - so I think UK might be able to slip up and surprise them. Definitely going to be one hell of an offensive show on both sides. Holiday Fireworks!
. If only we still kept a cougar on campus to take to games!