Kraft Hunger Bowl 2011: UCLA vs. Illinois Destined to Be Ugly Matchup for Fans

The excitement surrounding the new head coaches taking over at Illinois (6-6) and UCLA (6-7) next season won't save college football fans from the brutal matchup they're in store for on Saturday afternoon in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (3:30 p.m. EST on ESPN)

The Fighting Illini lost six straight games to end the regular season, scoring no more than 17 points in any of the half dozen losses. 

Unfortunately for viewers of the Hunger Bowl, they won their first six games to become bowl eligible way back on Oct. 8. 

And then there's the UCLA Bruins, who allowed 49.5 points per game in their final two games of the season, losing by a combined 68 points. 

Their last win over Colorado in mid-November gave them their sixth and final win of the season, making them bowl eligible.

UCLA sports an embarrassing -8.4 scoring differential this season, which suggests they should be at home for winter break rather than warming up for a New Year's Eve bowl game.

Meanwhile, Illinois couldn't win more than two conference games this season, and they play in the Big Ten for crying out loud. 

The Fighting Illini are averaging just 11 points per game on offense since their losing streak began.  That's one touchdown and one field goal on average. 

To say that these offenses, or teams in general, are inconsistent would be an understatement. Neither squad is deserving of this stage, nor should fans of the sport be subjected to such ineptness.

When both teams come into a bowl game led by interim head coaches that should tell you something; in this case, it says that two awful football teams are being praised because of a "get money" bowl system predicated on milking fan bases out of every penny in their pockets.

Of course, no one knows for sure if these two teams will make for an enjoyable matchup, but the reality is that this matchup should never have been possible in the first place. 

UCLA was the Pac-12 runner-up this season after losing to Oregon, but there should be a rule eliminating seven-loss teams from playing in bowl games.

After all, what's stopping a 5-7 team from beating a 6-6 team in a bowl game?  Where's the line drawn?

For fans and every team that didn't get a bowl invite, Saturday afternoon's Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl matchup is flat out disrespectful. 

No teams in America are playing worse football these days than UCLA and Illinois, but hey, someone has to win.