2011 Bowl Schedule: 3 Bowl Games That Promise to Be Better Than Awful Sugar Bowl

The Sugar Bowl is an absolute atrocity and should not even be considered a BCS bowl this season.

The fact that the No. 13 and No. 11 teams in the nation, Michigan and Virginia Tech, are considered a Top Five matchup while the Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 teams are left to compete in second-tier bowls is a joke.

While I realize that not every team near the top of the rankings can make a BCS bowl, the selection for the Sugar Bowl is especially heinous. Those are the most overrated teams in the Top 15, and I think that these lesser bowls should carry more weight when the final polls come out.

Cotton Bowl

This should be a BCS bowl without a doubt.

We are talking about the No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks, who have only lost to the two teams in the national championship game, and No. 8 Kansas State, runners-up in the second best conference in the nation, the Big 12.

How is this game less important than the Sugar or Orange Bowl? I have no idea.

Outback Bowl

These two runners-up in their conferences are playing in a very exciting bowl game that, unfortunately, doesn’t amount to much.

Sparty finished No. 17 after barely losing to Wisconsin, while Georgia ended up at No. 16 with no losses to any team ranked lower than No. 7 at the end of the season.

They arguably got screwed by the polls because of the voters' “What have you done for me lately" attitude and therefore got relegated to this game.

TicketCity Bowl

Houston was about to play for a BCS bowl until they blew it against Southern Miss, and no one wanted Penn State thanks to Jerry Sandusky.

Now, they play in the CottonBowl’s namesake stadium in a matchup that pits a high-scoring team with barely any history against a defensive program that now has a tarnished reputation.

It should be much more exciting than that ridiculous Sugar Bowl. 

2011-2012 Bowl Schedule

Date	When	Where	Bowl	Matchup	Network
12/17	2 p.m. EST	University Stadium: Albuquerque, New Mexico	Gildan New Mexico	Temple vs. Wyoming	ESPN
12/17	5:30 p.m. EST	Bronco Stadium: Boise, Idaho	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Ohio vs. Utah State	ESPN
12/17	9 p.m. EST	Mercedes-Benz Superdome: New Orleans Louisiana	R+L Carriers New Orleans	San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafeyette	ESPN
12/20	8 p.m. EST	Tropicana Field: St. Petersburg Florida	Beef "O" Brady's St. Petersburg	Florida International vs. Marshall	ESPN
12/21	8 p.m. EST	Qualcomm Stadium: San Diego, California	S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia	TCU vs. Louisiana Tech	ESPN
12/22	8 p.m. EST	Sam Boyd Stadium: Las Vegas, Nevada	MAACO Las Vegas	Arizona State vs. Boise State	ESPN
12/24	8 p.m. EST	Aloha Stadium: Honolulu, Hawaii	Sheraton Hawaii	Nevada vs. Southern Miss	ESPN
12/26	5 p.m. EST	Independence Stadium: Shreveport, Louisiana	AdvoCare V100 Independence	Missouri vs. North Carolina	ESPN2
12/27	4:30 p.m. EST	Ford Field: Detroit Michigan	Little Ceasars	Western Michigan vs. Purdue	ESPN
12/27	8 p.m. EST	Bank of America Stadium: Charlotte, North Carolina	Belk	Louisville vs. NC State	ESPN
12/28	4:30 p.m. EST	RFK Stadium: Washington D.C.	Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman	Toledo vs. Air Force	ESPN
12/28	8 p.m. EST	Qualcomm Stadium: San Diego, California	Bridgepoint Education Holiday	California vs. Texas	ESPN
12/29	5:30 p.m. EST	Florida Citrus Bowl: Orlando, Florida	Champs Sports	Florida State vs. Notre Dame	ESPN
12/29	9 p.m. EST	Alamodome: San Antonio, Texas	Valero Alamo	Washington vs. Baylor	ESPN
12/30	noon EST	Gerald J. Ford Stadium: Dallas, Texas	Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	BYU vs. Tulsa	ESPN
12/30	3:20 p.m. EST	Yankee Stadium: Bronx, New York	New Era Pinstripe	Rutgers vs. Iowa State	ESPN
12/30	6:40 p.m. EST	LP Field: Nashville, Tennessee	Franklin American Mortgage Music City	Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest	ESPN
12/30	10 p.m. EST	Sun Devil Stadium: Tempe, Arizona	Insight	Iowa vs. Oklahoma	ESPN
12/31	noon EST	Reliant Stadium: Houston, Texas	Meineke Car Care of Texas	Texas A&M vs. Northwestern	ESPN
12/31	2 p.m. EST	Sun Bowl: El Paso, Texas	Hyundai Sun	Georgia Tech vs. Utah	CBS
12/31	3:30 p.m. EST	Liberty Bowl: Memphis, Tennessee	AutoZone Liberty	Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt	ABC
12/31	3:30 p.m. EST	AT&T Park: San Francisco, California	Kraft Fight Hunger	Illinois vs. UCLA	ESPN
12/31	7:30 p.m. EST	Georgia Dome: Atlanta, Georgia	Chick-fil-A	Virginia vs. Auburn	ESPN
1/2	noon EST	Cotton Bowl: Dallas, Texas	TicketCity	Houston vs. Penn State	ESPNU
1/2	1 p.m. EST	Raymond James Stadium: Tampa, Florida	Outback	Michigan State vs. Georgia	ABC
1/2	1 p.m. EST	Florida Citrus Bowl: Orlando Florida	Capital One	Nebraska vs. South Carolina	ESPN
1/2	1 p.m. EST	EverBank Field: Jacksonville, Florida	TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl	Ohio State vs. Florida	ESPN2
1/2	5 p.m. EST	Rose Bowl: Pasadena, California	Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO	Wisconsin vs. Oregon	ESPN
1/2	8:30 p.m. EST	University of Phoenix Stadium: Glendale, Arizona	Tostitos Fiesta	Stanford vs. Oklahoma State	ESPN
1/3	8:30 p.m. EST	Louisiana Superdome: New Orleans Louisiana	Allstate Sugar	Michigan vs. Virginia Tech	ESPN
1/4	8:30 p.m. EST	Sun Life Stadium: Miami, Florida	Discover Orange	West Virginia vs. Clemson	ESPN
1/6	8 p.m. EST	Cowboys Stadium: Arlington, Texas	AT&T Cotton	Kansas State vs. Arkansas	FOX
7/1	1 p.m. EST	Legion Field: Birmingham, Alabama	BBVA Compass Bowl	SMU vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
1/8	9 p.m. EST	Ladd-Peebles Stadium: Mobile, Alabama	GoDaddy.com	Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois	ESPN
1/9	8:30 p.m. EST	Louisiana Superdome: New Orleans, Louisiana	Allstate BCS National Championship Game	LSU vs. Alabama	ESPN