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Saturday, January 1, 2011

My New Year's Day Bowl Picks

Growing up, one of my favorite spectacles was watching all the various college football bowl games on January 1. My dad and I had such fun switching channels (before the advent of the remote control) to try to catch as much action from all the games that seemed to be played simultaneously. Of course, this was before the big moneyed interests -- the BCS -- came along and added more bowl games than you can shake a stick at. I'm waiting for them to add the Toilet Bowl to the future line-up!!

In the old days, only those teams with really good records got invited to a bowl game. These days all a team has to do is break even. As long as you win at least 6 games out of your 12 -- a paltry record of 6-6 -- you get in on the money bonanza. This new aspect has greatly depreciated the bowl experience for many fans.

My dad and I used to make our predictions for the January 1 games and then see which one of us was the better prognosticator. We haven't done it for years, but here are my choices.
  • Ticket City Bowl: Northwestern vs. Texas Tech - I don't care.
  • Outback Bowl: Penn State vs. Florida - Ditto.
  • Capitol One Bowl: Alabama vs. Michigan State - Ditto.
  • Gator Bowl: Michigan vs. Mississippi State - Ditto.
  • Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Connecticut - Ditto
  • Rose Bowl: Texas Christian (TCU) vs. Wisconsin - TCU!!!
That's right. The fellow who spends a lot of time bashing Christianity is rooting for the Christian college. What's up with that?

Go Horned Frogs!!

2 comments:

  1. Gotta go with the Big Ten, sorry. Even though I'm living in Texas, I'm a midwesterner. Go Badgers!

    And of course, I hope my Michigan teams win. Though I doubt Michigan can beat Mississippi State.

    And in a few days, Ohio State had better lose. Booo Ohio!

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  2. I'm indifferent to the Big 10. I'm supporting TCU because they are from the Mountain West Conference, a non-automatic qualifier. My preference would have been for Boise St. to be in the Rose Bowl, but that didn't work out.

    Since two of my three college degrees are from Arkansas schools and my wife and I still have a lot of relatives who live in Arkansas, I agree with the sentiments about the Buckeyes.

    GO RAZORBACKS! WOO PIG SOOEY!!!

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