Ah yes, it’s that time of year again. Temperatures are low all across the country, snow, rain, and cold are usual forecasts many meteorologists predict in every neck of the woods. Kids cross off dates on their calendars, eagerly anticipating that final day of school before being let free for winter break. Malls fill with adults trying to find the gift their children have been begging for the past few weeks.
Then there is, of course, College football bowl games. It might not have a catchy-ring to represent it like “March Madness” does for basketball, but there is no denying the excitement of “Bowl Season”.
Curious about what the season encompasses? Well here’s a break down of the simple logistics of what is in store: 35 games, 70 teams, four weeks, 25 days off hard-hitting, game breaking plays by some of the best, young collegiate talent in the nation. Bowling kicks off on December 18th and culminates on January 10th for the championship game.
With so many games, players, and teams; finding out which games will have the biggest buzz and major studs can be a pain to figure out. Luckily, that won’t be the case for 2011. Here are some non-BCS and BCS games that fans can watch while enjoying the holidays:
Capital One Bowl – Michigan State vs Alabama
How could this match-up not be intriguing; last year’s championship title winners and preseason number one ranked team going up against a program that shares the honors of winning the Big Ten this season?
In the infamous words of WR Terrell Owens: Get ya popcorn ready.
This game contains some of the best players and two of the top teams in college football with talent and value high enough to be a BCS matchup. Sadly though, this is a bowl game that will fall under the “other” category.
Alabama Running back (and 2009 Heisman trophy winner) Mark Ingram and 2010 second team All-American WR Julio Jones are the main features in a Crimson Tide offense that under-performed during the 2010 season.
Coach Mark Dantonio leads a Michigan State team looking for some admiration for a college known more for its basketball program. With an 11-1 record (their best finish ever), the Spartans will be drooling over the chance to knock off the highly decorated Alabama team in hopes of solidifying their arrival as a perennial, football program.
Gator Bowl – Michigan vs Mississippi State
Many games have a strong pull because of the teams, the talent of the players, or the rivalry between the programs. This is one of those games that have virtually none of these issues, but still has big significance dependent upon its outcome.
For weeks now, rumors and questions have been swirling around the Michigan’s program. Will Rich Rodriguez be fired? Who will come in to take over the program? Can Michigan really ever get back to what they used to be? If Rodriguez wants to start silencing the rumors and keep his job, he’ll need a big win at the Gator Bowl.
For Mississippi State, it’s all about winning to build on an impressive season for the program. They sport a running game that ranks 16th in college football and a brilliant offensive mind in Coach Dan Mullen. Beating Michigan will give them more respectability in their tough SEC conference, as well as their first bowl win since the Liberty Bowl in 2007.
BCS Sugar Bowl – Arkansas vs Ohio State
Want a very even match-up with promising talent, headline coaches and historic football programs? This is the game to tune into when January 4th rolls around.
Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and dual threat, junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor will head into New Orleans to face off against Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino and the strong arm of QB Ryan Mallett for one of the premier BCS bowl games in the Sugar Bowl.
Tressel leads a Buckeyes squad that is one of the best running offenses in the country (14th in college football) that can score an awful lot of points in a hurry. Along with a high-powered running attack, the team has a defense that is one of the stingiest in allowing points (third in the country).
Petrino will have no worries with his Razorbacks team currently 8th in the BCS rankings. Mallett runs a strong passing offense team that can hurl the ball all over the field (third in college football for passing yards) and players he loves to feed (five players with 40 receptions or more on the season).
No doubt, the key to this game will be Ohio State’s defense against the Arkansas offense. The edge of that battle will probably determine the victor of the game.
BCS Rose Bowl – TCU vs Wisconsin
This game will have numerous labels: a runner-up match, a debate an undefeated team not playing for the national title, a non-automatic qualifier against a major conference champion.
The TCU Horned Frogs are the David in this match up against the Goliath that is the co-Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers. TCU will be pushing hard for a win with hopes of ending any doubts the pundits have had all season about a top five, non-major conference program.
Wisconsin will be ready to give them their all when the kick off happens on New Year’s Day in Pasadena. They have a three-headed, monster running lineup (James White, John Clay, Montee Ball) that helps to make them one of the best running teams in all of football (12th in the nation). Their run game is also a main reason they average over 40 points per game.
TCU will surely be ready with such an efficient running game when they themselves sport one of most decorated defenses in the nation. Currently, they are the best in the nation in points allowed per game and have two All Americans on defense in safety Tejay Johnson (1st team) and linebacker Tank Carder (2nd team).
Wisconsin’s offense vs TCU’s defense is the key match up for this one.
BCS Championship Game – Auburn vs Oregon
The chain of bowl games end when the Auburn Tigers and Oregon Ducks roll through Glendale, Arizona on January 10th to see who can claim this season as college football champions.
This battle has the potential to be a high-scoring affair, with eye-popping plays from start to finish. Both teams rank in the top ten for scoring and rushing in comparison to the rest of the Division I colleges. That’ll happen when you have two of the most electrifying standouts in the nation.
This year’s poster boy in college football is Heisman trophy winner and 1st team All-American quarterback Cam Newton, and he is the main cog in the Auburn offensive engine. A dynamic athlete who can break plays with his legs, the junior QB can now also create plays with his arm. An impressive game, along with a win, for the young superstar will raise his stock in next year’s draft, which might be too tantalizing of an opportunity to pass up for his senior season in college.
The only problem is that the Oregon Ducks have one of the most explosive running backs in LaMichael James to counter the Auburn QB. The 2011 Doak Walker Award winner (for the best running back in college football) James is small in stature (five feet, nine inches tall at 185 pounds), but can break off some big runs (eight games with at least one run of 30 yards or more).
The Tigers will be a tough foe, but the Ducks have all the potential to topple them for the BCS title.
Bowling Season In College Football Now Open
