So Who's Looking Forward to Boise State-TCU?

You might laugh when I ask this question: who's looking forward to Boise State - TCU?

We all should.

This is, after all, the battle between the ninth and 11th ranked teams in the nation. This is big-time ball for victory in a bowl with an ultra-crappy name. Poinsettia doesn't exactly have the ring of the delicate balance between violence and poetry that is American Football, does it?

Anyway, in a fair world, Boise State may well be playing Utah for a national title. After all, both teams went through the season completely unbeaten. But we all know how unfair college football is.

Boise State, that team with blue turf and a knack of scheduling college football games at any other time than the norm (remember the time when they played a game at 9am PST in an effort to get the East Coast voters interested?), are pretty damned good this year.

The big reason is running back Ian Johnson (yeah, that one, who proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after the Broncos' shock Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma), who ran for over 700 yards and 12 touchdowns to cap a breathtaking career in Idaho.

But TCU have had their fun in 2008, too. Forever living in the shadows of Texas, Texas Tech and, er, Texas A&M (although they can legitimately say that they are Texas' third CFB superpower after the Aggies' dreadful 2008), the Christians (sorry, Horned Frogs) have a strong running offense, led by Joseph Turner and Aaron Brown, who both have put up near-500 yard seasons.

They've also beaten then ninth-ranked BYU this year, and run those Utes pretty damed close.

This Poinsettia Bowl is going to be a lot of fun—and expect some points from two teams who rank in college football's top 20 for offense.

VERDICT: A classic. Boise State 45, TCU 43