Simulated Gameday Experience

With the postseason winding down, we’re down to just two teams standing. Er, um… wait… we arbitrarily picked two teams out of five contenders around this time last month, and said here you go, have fun. Indeed, the BCS has got to be breathing a sigh of relief, as unbeatens #3 and #4 fell in the last week. (Boise State, we’ll just conveniently ignore them, like in 2006 when they were the only team in the country to win all of their games.) But if you are planning on watching this game, don’t let that spoil your experience. This is a compelling matchup of two teams who came very close just a year ago, achieved perfection in 2009, and have earned the right to be in this game – even if another team should have earned that right too. (read more…)

We remember the first BCS Busters – Urban Meyer, Alex Smith, and the 2004 Utah Utes. We remember 2006 Boise State for the Hook ‘n Ladder and the Statue of Liberty in their epic Fiesta Bowl triumph. The 2009 TCU Horned Frogs, unlike any of the unbeaten midmajors before them and unlike their upcoming opponent in tonight’s Fiesta Bowl, received quite a bit of consideration for and discussion about inclusion in the BCS Championship Game. What separates these Frogs from the BCS Busters that came before them? (more…)

In retrospect, it’s my own fault I saved the Papa John’s bowl for last; of course I’m having issues with motivation when a bowl is pitting a couple of 7-5 teams against each other. The most notable on-field incident between South Carolina and UConn is UConn’s triple-OT win over Notre Dame, made famous because of a) the name of the team they beat and b) the significance of their first win following the tragic death of Jasper Howard. Aside from that, it’s a long way down; (more…)

In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have posted as quickly about the Leach firing as I did. Since that post went up with my initial thoughts, there have been a few developments: (more…)

The Liberty Bowl has fallen off a bit from its 2004 Louisville – Boise State clash-of-the-mid-majors tilt; sure, it reeked of an undercard, but for a bowl who’s typically sitting around second-level status, it counts as glory days. Since then, Conference USA got raided by the Big East and the Mountain West backed out of the picture; the Liberty Bowl capitalized on that by bringing in some essentially random mediocre SEC West team (note: capitalized is only used in the highest irony possible). Under this scenario, it’d make East Carolina and Arkansas squaring off wholly unexciting. (more…)