Count me in as another who really doesn’t like this Jan 4th Rose Bowl. I think that’s pushing it a bit too far past New Year’s Day. The NFL schedule this year has really hurt. Heck, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get Jan. 2 off.
I’ll also add my annual comments about there are just way too many bowl games. I think the Fort Worth bowl drew about 500 fans last year!
Go Irish! Let’s bury the Davies’ years as a bad memory, not to be spoken of again…
The New Year’s Day bowl games are never played on a Sunday. In general, the NCAA doesn’t play Sunday games, and the NFL already uses the day.
The last time this happened was in 1995. The games were played on Monday, Jan. 2. Rose Bowl was Penn State 38, Oregon 20. Not that I’m implying anything about the real power of this year’s Oregon team… 
The Fiesta bowl has to be ecstatic. Ohio State + ND = “We’re in the money, We’re in the money.”
Great matchup OSU-ND. It’s a shame these two don’t play each other more often. I realize ND plays a few Big 10 schools already, it would be nice to see them pick up OSU after Michigan drops ND from the schedule. As a Michigan State fan, I’m bitter to see a BCS game with a team the Spartans did beat playing a team the Spartans should have beaten and seeing MSU not even go to a bowl. I like OSU in this one, the teams they lost to are no slouches.
U-M vs Nebraska. Two perennial powers having off years. Depending on which Michigan team shows up, it could be a blowout either way.
Florida State-Penn State Paterno and Bowden could wager their Social Security checks on this one. Seems to me that Penn State is far more deserving this year and winning the ACC is really no great feat. Penn State wipes the field with Seminoles.
Georgia-West Virginia The other networks can schedule a movie against this, after halftime everyone except Georgia fans will have left the laugher.
USC-Texas In Big 10 country, the thought of Texas being in consecutive Rose Bowls makes me want to puke. I want the University of Spoiled Children to win only because I like the Pac 10 a lot more than the Big 12. Actually I don’t think it’s even going to be close- USC’s defense is more skilled than anything the Horns have seen all year.
Is this true? If it is, I hadn’t heard…that would be too bad, as it’s quite the rivalry.
I hate to say this, since I like MSU (not more than ND, however) and would’ve liked to have seen them in a bowl, but – they had an awful lot of problems that made the ND game seem like more of a fluke than anything. What the hell happened?
Oh, and – since ND only lost to USC (ranked #1) and MSU (which you seem to feel “are no slouches”), why would that be a reason to pick OSU over ND?
UCLA fans are unable of engaging in trash talk except against USC and that’s been a pretty useless and humbling endeavor the last five years.
The Tournament of Roses agreed to move its parade and in turn, its game, to January 2 when January 1 was New Year’s Day because ministers in Pasadena objected to a parade on that day.
I think the other games have followed that tradition. I think a few minor bowls have sneaked in on Sunday January 1.
How the hell did Wisc end up in a Jan 2 bowl? I know these fans have nothing better to do than follow the team, eat cheese and get drunk, but Jan 2?
We’ll get blown out, we lose every time we play a SEC team. Then again, every time we play a SEC team it’s a top 10 team, and we’re floudnering around in the top 25. And we’re not really good enough to be a ranked 19 or 20 or wherever they are.
Maybe we can give OSU a pass on getting in, since one of the teams they lost to was TX, and OSU was in good shape to beat them, and probably should have.
Except for Wis, it’s looking good for Big 10 teams. Northwestern is gonna roll up Reggie Bush numbers against UCLA.
Wait a sec…
Emerald Bowl?? Where’s that one, Emerald City?
New Orleans Bowl? where’s that one being played, Atlanta?
Poinsettia Bowl?
Meineke Car Care Bowl! Mufflers for everyone!
Well the bottom line is MSU went 5-6 this year, so to lose at home to a losing team is a big black mark. Losing to Texas at home and Penn State on the road to me is more respectable than losing to Michigan State and USC, both at home. Both teams lost to a finalist at home, but compare losing at Penn State vs home against Michigan State.
What happened to MSU? Seems like what happens every year. At the first signs of adversity, they give up on themselves. Plus the kicking gave was an absolute disaster this year. Perhaps if the OSU game didn’t turn at the half and if they had beaten Michigan in OT, then the meltdowns against PU, NW, and Minn wouldn’t have happened.
It’s no reason at all, in my opinion, but how do you feel about the defenses Notre Dame has gone up against this year? OSU defense is like none they have seen.
I also see a problem for Notre Dame stopping OSU’s very hot offense.
Biggest problem for Ohio State will be Quinn throwing the ball 40+ times in this game, especially without (possibly) thier best coverage linebacker in Bobby Carpenter.
Charlie’s schemes scare me to death, but I think Ohio State is the better team.
I’m off 12/23-1/3. I’m gonna watch a whole lotta football this year. WE ARE PENN STATE!
I wonder if this is the first time OU has met OU …
They last played September 18, 2004 with Oklahoma winning 31-7. I don’t see it going that way again.
Well, despite their now very predictable annual November collapse (fortunate bit of scheduling putting Hawai’i at the end of the schedule to eliminate the bad taste of losing to Iowa yet again), Wisconsin still finished third in the Big Ten(11). Since Ohio State got a BCS wild-card slot, that opened up the Capitol One slot for Wisconsin.
Not sure if it is as true as it once was, but Badger fans do tend to travel well (and besides, where would you rather be on Jan 2nd?). The team still basks in the reflected glory of turning the Rose Bowl in a Wisconsin home game back in 1994 (thanks to some very apathetic UCLA fans) when it comes time for bowl committees to pick their teams. The fact that it is Barry Alvarez’s last game should help the Badgers sell out their ticket allotment.
Unfortunately, I don’t hold out much hope for a victory with the injuries that the team has, especially on the defensive line. A decent running back should be able to gouge them. I just hope the offense (which is fairly healthy) can keep the score respectable.
Very knowledgeable, Fiddlesticks. We’ve yet to go to Orlando, and since it’s 2 degress outside today, I think Orlando is going to be covered in red & white. We had 70,000 at the RoseBowl in '94. They did collapse this year, but losing to PSU and Iowa is nothing to be ashamed of. I just wished they play another team comparably ranked in the 15-25 area. Calhoun can be shut down, the Wis O-line isn’t like it used to be.
As much as I want to believe Wisconsin will win, they are decided underdogs. But anything can happen. That’s why they play the games!
Win one more for Barry!
Speaking as one of those apathetic UCLA fans in 1994 what made the Wisconsin fans change from "charming, quirky Midwesterners
that year (who would give you food from their tailgate party even if you were rooting for UCLA) into “large mass of obnoxious drunken frat boys” (who would pee on you in the restrooms if you were rooting for UCLA) in 1999?
Maybe it was the fact that UCLA was so disdainful of having to play Wisconsin that year?
Of course, I have no real answer to your anecdotal question, as I didn’t see that at all. As a UW alum living in Pasadena at the time all I know is that UCLA fans couldn’t sell their tickets fast enough, feeling like their season was a ruined after losing to Miami. Pride cometh before the fall.