Bowl Games 2011: Texas A&M and More Teams That Will Win with Interim Coaches

The excitement of the college football bowl season extends far beyond the pageantry and the thrill of the games themselves.

If anything, the real intrigue of December and January lies in the annual game of (Lame) Duck, (Lame) Duck, Goose!

And boy, are there a lot of (lame) ducks out there this year. For these three teams, though, not even deceased fowl prowling the sidelines will keep them from racking up one more win before a new coach comes calling.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M is in a sort of Double Lame Duck situation, as the Aggies are without a head coach after firing Mike Sherman, and will be ditching the Big 12 for the SEC next season.

For now, the task will fall to defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter to help A&M, which came into 2011 as a dark-horse pick to win its league, and end its disappointing 6-6 season on a high note against Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl.

And he'll have plenty of talent with which to work to get the job done, especially on offense. Between senior quarterback Ryan Tannehill, running back Cyrus Gray and wide receivers Ryan Swope and Jeff Fuller, the Aggies' artillery will be locked and loaded to bring cheer to the fans at Reliant Stadium before Kevin Sumlin (most likely) takes over the program. 

Illinois

Speaking of Double Lame Ducks, Illinois will be one-half of one when it meets UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. The Fighting Illini got off to a flying 6-0 start this season before crashing back to Earth with a six-game losing streak.

That slide ultimately cost Ron Zook his job, leaving defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to match wits with Bruins offensive coordinator Mike Johnson, who's taken over in relief of Rick Neuheisel.

Illinois showed plenty of promise early on, beating four bowl-bound teams, and still boasts the same group of players that made that magic happen, including quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase. The Bruins defense will be hard-pressed to stop him or really do much of anything at all against a more talented Illini bunch.

Ohio State

Even with NCAA sanctions looming, Ohio State comes into the bowl season with easily the most optimistic Lame Duck situation of all.

After all, the Buckeyes just hired Urban Meyer and will face his former program, the Florida Gators, in the Gator Bowl. The Buckeyes' 6-6 record belies their tremendous crop of talent, led by freshman phenom Braxton Miller and running back Dan Herron.

Not to mention a fast, hard-hitting defense.

Granted, the Gators have seen much worse, stumbling their way through an SEC gauntlet that included games against Alabama, LSU, Georgia and South Carolina.

Still, OSU won't likely shed a tear for poor John Brantley, nor will Meyer feel much remorse after seeing what a mess he left behind in The Swamp.

Or Luke Fickell, for that matter, who will assimilate into Urban's staff after so valiantly replacing Jim Tressel for the season.