2010 Bowl Schedule: The 6 Most Compelling Bowl Matchups
The Gavel has fallen. The verdict has finally been reached in the bowl courts for this 2010 football season. This year looked to be the year for the non-qualifying schools. It seemed that the big conference powers were bound to lose. Meet Auburn and meet Oregon. The automatic qualifiers stay alive for one more year.
Looking ahead to some of the bowl games this year, some of these contests really stick out. You have feel-good stories with Army in the Armed Forces Bowl facing an SMU that has not been bowling since 1984.
Looking at the Gator Bowl, you have a Dan Mullen-led team that is on the upswing out of Starkville and a Rodriguez-led Michigan team that has underachieved in his tenure so far. And yes, a non-automatic qualifier made it into a BCS game with TCU facing Wisconsin.
This bowl season brings some changes to the usual landscape and there are six games that really stick out to me for different reasons. This has been a great year of college football, looking to be capped by an amazing bowl season.
Army vs. SMU: Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
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SMU is most famously known as the team that received the death penalty. They found themselves so deep in NCAA trouble that football ceased to exist. It seemed like a sentence that turned a good football program into one that would never come back. Enter June Jones.
Kyle Padron has been a blessing at the quarterback position for a team that is traditionally used to the run. This season he has accounted for 29 touchdown passes and over 3,500 passing yards. Jones has always been a spread guru and he has taken that mentality to SMU and done quite well with it.
With Zach Line accounting for over 1,300 yards on the ground SMU has proven that it has more than just a passing attack as well. Using this dual threat ability is what has the opportunity to make this a great game to watch and a great team in the future.
With a close game to start the season at Texas Tech, and some key wins down the stretch, SMU is trying to prove it belongs with the big dogs in Texas. With a win here, June Jones may have his way.
Army vs. SMU: Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
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Army has been a force on the ground this season as well. With two rushers over the 500 yard mark and the quarterback Trent Steelman being one of the leading rushers and adding an additional 800 through the air, look for the Golden Knights to put some yards up as well.
This season has had its fair share of ups and downs for the Knights but with one game left against Navy, this team will no doubt be prepared. On top of the rushing attack, it’s always a feel-good story to have a military institute in the Armed Forces Bowl.
This game will come down to the more effective offense providing a spark. Yes, that seems cliché but the truth is a June Jones fast attack passing game versus an Army rushing attack is truly going to prove to be a chess match.
Army 24 SMU 21
Alabama vs. Michigan State: Capital One Bowl
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What does this game have in common that few people are going to point out? You got it! Nick Saban has been the head coach at both of these institutions. Of course he has made his bed in crimson and white lately but he took the Michigan State job in 1995 and spent four years there.
Enough for that connection but what makes these teams similar? They love to run the football. This game is almost the tale of two seasons with Alabama looking for a repeat championship and Sparty coming from virtual nonexistence to contender in the Big Ten.
Alabama was a team that had national title aspirations but those aspirations led to a three-loss season. Greg McElroy took this team on his shoulders in a couple games throwing the ball but the bread and butter of production from the Tide are and will be the two feature backs they have in Ingram and Richardson.
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Alabama vs. Michigan State: Capital One Bowl
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The Alabama defense will no doubt have its hands full in Orlando with an upstart Michigan State team that overachieved this season for its own expectations, but despite winning a portion of the Big Ten title, the Spartans were left out of a BCS game.
Don’t look for the game location and stage to make a difference for the Spartans. Look for the passing attack of Kirk Cousins to explode against a porous Alabama secondary and the punch of Edwin Baker to make a difference on the ground.
Baker comes into the game as a 1,000-yard rusher and a guy that has proven game in and game out that he can own the tough yardage situation. State has not been afraid to pull everything out of the cabinets this season and throw even the zaniest of plays at the craziest of times at the competition.
Look for Sparty to pull out a tough victory against an Alabama team that will be in letdown mode.
Michigan State 17 Alabama 16
Navy vs. San Diego State: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
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The Midshipmen have been no strangers to going bowling the past couple of years but the Aztecs have been. This will be only the eighth appearance in a bowl game for the Aztecs and the first since 1998. Brady Hoke has made quite an impact since arriving in San Diego and the Aztecs gave TCU all they wanted earlier this season.
Navy steps into this game with the fifth-best rushing attack in the nation. Going bowling has not been an issue for Navy in this past decade but winning the games has. This no doubt will be a head turner come game time.
With Dobbs at the helm and Teich in the backfield, it is going to be one of the toughest tests that the Aztecs have seen this season. Look for Brady Hoke to continue the turnaround in San Diego but take the loss this time in their own back yard.
Navy 31 San Diego State 17
Wisconsin vs. TCU: Rose Bowl
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What a Rose Bowl. This game is always competitive and it should be this season as well. Wisconsin brings one of the best rushing attacks in the nation into this contest. TCU brings a stellar and powerful defense into this game as well. Whoever wins the battle up front will determine the winner.
Wisconsin came into the season with a ton of respect and the realization that if they could make it past Ohio State, they should be in the driver’s seat to the national championship game. Michigan State saw things otherwise, but Wisconsin gets the final laugh with the BCS bowl bid.
Wisconsin has put 70 plus points on the board three times this season. Tolzien has been a force through the air and James White has been quite an impact freshman for the Badgers on the ground. Not saying that you will see 60 plus from the Badgers against this huge defense for TCU, but TCU’s body of work is not impressive.
Wisconsin vs. TCU: Rose Bowl
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TCU brings in Andy Dalton and an undefeated record to the Rose Bowl. The Horned Frogs also bring a championship defense to Pasedena and a national media chip on their shoulders. Every national talking pundit seemed to put Boise on top, but when that team fell nobody seemed to be on the purple and black bandwagon.
TCU has a lot to prove in this game. They must prove that not only do non-automatic qualifiers deserve to be on the big stage but that they themselves were contenders this year. Obviously with a shift to the Big East in 2012 the Frogs know the easiest path to follow, but this year they play Cinderella. Unfortunately, the body of work doesn’t prove a thing.
Wisconsin 38 TCU 14
Mississippi State vs. Michigan: Gator Bowl
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One team seems to be moving up while the other is sitting stagnant. Both of these coaches are rumored to be on the move but for all the wrong reasons. Can Rich Rod keep his team focused despite the rumors of his firing at the end of the season? Can Dan Mullen keep his Bulldogs on the right path and keep this unlikely season alive?
Mississippi State started the season with lofty goals. Without a marquee quarterback to start the season, it looked like Mississippi State would struggle and battle out the bottom half of the SEC with its cross state rival. Mullen and Chris Relf had different goals.
With playmakers like Ladarious Perkins and Chad Bumphis, the loss of Anthony Dixon did not seem to hurt as bad as expected. The Bulldogs are hungry for a win in this game and lobbied hard to get to the Gator Bowl. Finishing this season as the fifth best team in the SEC West makes it the fifth best team in the league. No one saw that coming.
Mississippi State vs. Michigan: Gator Bowl
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Michigan started the season on fire. The Wolverines were on the back of Denard Robinson. He was the early favorite for the Heisman, and Rodriguez looked the part of genius. Winning five in a row and starting the season with a win over the Big East champ, things were looking good.
Then came the Michigan State beatdown and the downward spiral began for the Wolverines. Robinson struggled to stay healthy for the remainder of the season and despite being one of the most dynamic players in college football, the Michigan defense forced this team into a lot of bad situations.
Unfortunately for Rich Rod, things aren’t looking good in Jacksonville. Mississippi State finishes this surprise season with nine wins.
Mississippi State 28 Michigan 24
Oregon vs. Auburn: BCS National Championship Game
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Who thought this would be the national title game this year? Amazingly I didn’t see any hands out there. This game would have been a mid tier bowl prediction to start the season but on January 10th it will determine the National Champion.
Oregon has the most points scored per game this season and one of the most prolific mixtures of the run and pass that has ever occurred on the football field. The Ducks have a Heisman hopeful in James and a threat with Thomas at the helm to throw the deep out to Maehl. This Duck offense is potent.
The one quote that stuck out the most to me this season when describing Oregon came from none other than Lane Kiffin. Yes the quote machine himself actually laid down some insightfulness. Oregon doesn’t do a lot of things, they just do a few things really well.
This Oregon team executes to perfection and allows for the team speed that it possesses to pull away from opponents. The turbo speed that they play offense at doesn’t outsmart the competition, it just seems to get the defense out of position time and time again, especially in the second half.
For the Ducks to be effective they have to control the ball in this game. Keeping an already sketchy Auburn defense on the field will no doubt give the Ducks the advantage there, but the rushing D for Auburn is no patsy.
Oregon vs. Auburn: BCS National Championship Game
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The story line for the Auburn Tigers this season has been good to great. It was a slogan that the team dawned early in the year in an attempt to show itself and its fans that the goal was to be a great team.
Cameron Newton provided a spark for that greatness that could be seen across the nation. His spark has been the size of a Comet. How does the Auburn team match up against the Ducks in this contest? Speed is the name of the game for Oregon but that is also a strong point for this Auburn defense.
For Auburn to succeed, it is multiple looks and formations and execution as well that breed’s success. The Auburn defense must play in position and the offense must prove that it can be effective. Newton will need a big night through the air and the rushing attack will have to be on as well.
The Tigers outweigh the Ducks at almost every position. Not only are they larger, but in most cases just as fast. The Tigers will over-pursue early but will settle in the second half. Early shootout ends late with a Tigers win. The size and speed SEC combo is too much for the Pac-10 in the first-ever title meeting between these two storied conferences.
Auburn 38 Oregon 34
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