The Gator Bowl; Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Jacksonville, FL
Clemson (7-5) vs. Nebraska (8-4)
January 1, 2009, 1 p.m. EST; The Line: Nebraska +2 1/2
Overview
This game is an absolute sham, so much that it actually pains me to write this preview and prediction.
As much of a fan of college football as I am and as much as I'll be missing the game in a few weeks, I do not like the idea of this game. If I am the sponsor of this game, Konica Minolta, I want my money back.
This is everything that is wrong with college football and everything that is wrong with college bowls. This is greed over good, wrong over right, and just about the worst travesty in in bowl memory since the Florida State trip to the national title game over Miami after losing head to head against the Canes.
I dare one person to legitimately tell me how Clemson is a New Year's Day Bowl team. They only beat five Division I teams and the Gator Bowl had options to take other teams but chose Clemson because they traveled well, forget the fact that they played South Carolina State and The Citadel in the same season.
I know I'll hear from those whining Clemson fans again like I did before the season when I said their No. 9 ranking was the silliest thing that I had seen and that there was no way they were going to even get a whiff of competing for their own conference title, let alone a national title. Of course, we heard from a few of them after their hopes died five minutes into their first game, but the rest of them just vanished into thin air.
I am not buying into this piece of garbage of a game and everything that is wrong with the game I love and I am not going to waste another 30 seconds talking or writing about it; I won't be watching it or acknowledging it and I apologize to the Nebraska fans, some of the finest fans in the country, and even to the many great Clemson fans, but if you truly love the game it is the time and place to make a stand that says "I am not buying into this."
MITCH WILL NOT BE WATCHING OR PICKING THIS GAME IN PROTEST; IT IS EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY. IF WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, WHAT WILL STOP EVERYONE FROM SCHEDULING FOUR OOC GAMES AGAINST FCS TEAMS? WE ALREADY KNOW THEY CARE ABOUT MONEY MORE THAN THEY CARE ABOUT US.
See Mitch's picks of real college football bowl games against spread.
2 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
J T 6 months ago
o.k. mitch, you've made your point. now, who do you like?
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Andy Purvis 6 months ago
I agree Mitch. I will watch the game because I am a NU fan and have a vested interest. But, we have seen it for years, teams getting chosen for bowl games over more deserving teams based on fan travel, fans needing to book stays at hotels for multiple days, some teams having more deep pocket doners than others and maybe a fan base that spends more money at bowl sites.
Going back to 2001, I thought that Nebraska shouldn't have been anywhere near the Rose Bowl. Should have been Colorado or Oregon. But, I've often wondered if the powers that be wielded their influenece over the voters in each poll to try and get what they thought might be a better TV match up, that being Miami and Nebraska.
Have a Happy New Year!
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