Two-Loss Ohio State Turns Fiesta Bowl Into "Siesta Bowl"

The Fiesta Bowl, one of the greatest bowls of all, is heading for a ratings disaster this year with the inclusion of Ohio State. 

The Texas-Ohio State match-up will cause televisions to go off quicker than they did for the last Presidential news conference.

Played at University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 5, the Fiesta Bowl will probably be the fourth most popular BCS bowl. 

The Championship game, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl are all great games.  Only the Orange Bowl will have a smaller audience than the Fiesta Bowl. 

The Orange Bowl, between Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, looks to be a close competitive game but will host two of the lower-ranked BCS teams. There is a good chance that the 2009 Orange Bowl will not be a sell out.                                                                  

Ohio State is a team that brings little in the way of excitement to Glendale.  They lost to Penn State at home and USC blew them out of the Coliseum.  The best win they had this year was a 45-7 thumping of bowl-bound Michigan State.

It's pretty clear why the Fiesta Bowl Committee chose the Buckeyes...they travel well.  With one of the largest alumni in the country, Ohio State guarantees all the hotels will be filled and all tickets will be sold.

The Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl still have national championship implications because the AP will choose their No. 1 after the Championship game between Florida and Oklahoma.

It is conceivable that they might choose the winner of the Rose Bowl or and undefeated Utah team.

The Fiesta Bowl doesn't figure to a player in the AP's decision because Ohio State is out of it and a Texas win over a two-loss team won't win the title in the eyes of the AP voters.

The only appeal the Fiesta Bowl could have for a national audience is an exciting game between Texas and a real Cinderella like Boise State.  That won't happen.  

The last two Fiesta Bowls have been great.   The 2008 game was exciting because a heavy underdog West Virginia team not only beat Big 12 champ Oklahoma but they won by 20 points.

Who could ever forget the 2007 Fiesta Bowl?  Some call it the greatest college football game of all time. 

Little Boise State, from the WAC, upset the same school the Mountaineers beat: Oklahoma.  This was the game that really busted the BCS and changed the way pollsters started to think about non-BCS teams.

Ohio State is a good football team, but they played Texas two years ago in the regular season and their performance in the last two national championship games has been awful.  Last year LSU, beat the Buckeyes 35-28 and Florida upset them in the 2007 national championship game 41-14.

Is the country tired of Ohio State?  I think if you ask anybody south of Cincinnati and north of Sandusky the answer is a loud yes.

Unfortunately, the Fiesta Bowl Committee didn't choose undefeated Boise State to play The Longhorns this year.  Boise defeated Oregon on the road and closed their regular season with a 61-10 win over bowl bound Fresno State. 

The Broncos are a good football team and ever since they beat Oklahoma two years ago...you can't deny they belong.

It's all about money!