Florida vs. Oklahoma

Gators -3 1/2 vs. Sooners

Controversy and the BCS seem to go together like cookies and milk. Once again there is an outcry over Oklahoma getting the nod with an identical record as Texas, even though the Longhorns beat the Sooners. If head-to-head matchups do not count, why bother playing the games is the sentiment of many college football fans, particular located around Austin, Texas.

But the game is what it is and it is still a terrific matchup of traditional college football powers meeting for the first time ever as Florida meets up with Oklahoma in Miami on Thursday, January 6th.

Two Heisman Trophy winners will match up as this year’s winner Sam Bradford will take on runner-up and last year’s winner Tim Tebow. Bradford was tops in the country with 48 touchdown passes against only six picks. Tebow was almost equally as solid with 2515 yards, 28 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He also rushed for 12 scores on the ground.

The Gators will be attempting to win their second title in three seasons and third overall title, while the Sooners are looking for their eight national title and first since 2000. The team made the championship game in 2004 and 2005, losing both times.

The controversy surrounding Oklahoma’s placement in this game takes a hit when it is shown that the Sooners (12-1) scored 58 points or more in each of its last six games, including posting 65 on the former number two team in the nation, Texas Tech. That stretch of offensive fireworks has not been seen since Tulsa had a similar run in 1919.

Florida (12-1) weathered an early head-scratching loss to Ole Miss to win their final nine games and dispatched number one and undefeated Alabama in the SEC championship game.

For the Sooners to claim victory, they will have to weather the Gators homefield advantage. While roughly 330 miles separates Gaineville and Dolphins Stadium, with all apologies to the Seminoles and Hurricanes, Florida is Gatorcountry, at least for this past decade. Making more comforting surroundings is the fact that the Gators have 13 players from or near Miami. A year ago, Ohio State was unable to weather the home-state advantage LSU held in the Superdome, roughly 76 miles from Baton Rouge.

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Tulsa vs. Ball State

Golden Hurricane -2 1/2 vs. Cardinals

The bowl season unofficially wraps up with the GMAC Bowl on Tuesday, January 6th in Mobile, Alabama as the Ball State Cardinals take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. This is the last “bowl game” before the BSC Championship game to be held in Miami two days later and one of the teams, Ball State, has as many losses as both teams in the championship game.

Even if they won out, Ball State (12-1) would not have been in the national title picture and perhaps not even in a BCS game. All those questions were moot when the Cardinals were destroyed in the Mid-American Championship Game held December 5th in Detroit. Ball State literally fumbled away their chance at a better bowl game when they let go of the ball four times, two of which were ran back for scores and the other two were turned into touchdowns in a 42-24 loss to Buffalo which dropped the Cardinals ten spots to number 22.

Star quarterback Nate Davis had a lousy game throwing an interception and was a part of all four fumbles. Davis has decided to stick around for another season after throwing for 3446 yards, 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

While one key member of the best Ball State team in decades is sticking around, the head man, coach Brady Hoke is gone. Hoke accepted the position of head coach at San Diego State and chose not to be on the sidelines for the GMAC Bowl. A interim coach for the game has not yet been announced.

David Johnson had an equally outstanding season at quarterback for Tulsa (10-3). Both quarterbacks involved in this game rank in the top 10 in passing efficiency. The Golden Hurricane were runners-up in the Conference USA this season, having lost the title game to East Carolina on December 6th.

This is the first meeting between the programs.

Tulsa is playing in their fourth straight bowl game, winning last year’s GMAC Bowl 63-7 over Bowling Green. That was the largest margin of a victory in a bowl game ever. This will be Ball State’s second straight postseason contest, but they have not fared well in bowl games. They have yet to win one in six attempts, including last year’s 52-30 loss to Rutgers in the International Bowl.

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Texas vs. Ohio State

Longhorns -8 vs. Buckeyes

The bowl championship series resumes Monday night, January 5th with a good matchup of the nation’s tenth and third team as Ohio State takes on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl to be held in Glendale, Arizona in a matchup of angry teams with some things to prove.

Ohio State (10-2) is the only 2-loss team in a BCS bowl this season and will be trying to reclaim its good name on a national stage. The Buckeyes struggles in the last two BSC title games are well documented, as was their throttling at the hands of USC, 35-3, earlier this season.

Meanwhile Texas (11-1) could not have done more to be included in the BCS title game. They beat one of the teams involved (Oklahoma), and have an identical record, but still are on the outside looking in. The only blemish on their record was an epic contest which saw the lead see-saw in the last five minutes of the game and saw Texas Tech ultimately claim the game 33-32.

Nonetheless, the Texas Longhorns will prepare for a battle with the Buckeyes with their Heisman Trophy runner-up Colt McCoy under center. McCoy set school records with 3445 yards, 32 touchdowns and a 77.6 completion percentage. He also led the team with 576 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

Despite many people not wanting the Buckeyes in this game due to recent performances, they hold the lead, along with USC and Oklahoma, for most BCS bowl appearances with seven.

The turning point in Ohio State’s season came when coach Jim Tressel made a change at quarterback after their embarrassment in Los Angeles. Terrelle Pryor took over the starting reins and helped the Buckeyes to an 8-1 finish. The freshman completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 1158 yards and 12 touchdowns. He only threw four interceptions during his starting role. Pryor also ran for 424 yards and five touchdowns.

While both teams are geared for offensive fireworks, this may turnout to be a defensive struggle as both teams were in the top 20 in scored defense.

The two teams recently played a memorable home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006 with the road team winning both contests, Texas in ’05, Ohio State in ’06.

The Buckeyes are 18-21 in all-time bowl games while the Longhorns are 23-21-2.

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Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic

Chippewas -7 vs. Owls

They had them right where they wanted them. Central Michigan, champions of the Mid-American Conference two years running was playing the team that wanted their title, in the snow, in Mount Pleasant. Yet the, then, undefeated Ball State Cardinals weathered both the winter storm and the Chippewa storm en route to a 34-21 victory. The loss sealed CMU’s fate within their conference. They would not repeat as champions, but circumstances came into play that sent Central to their third straight Motor City Bowl. They will take on legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger and Florida Atlantic at Ford Field in Detroit the day after Christmas.

When Buffalo handed Ball State a devastating loss in the MAC Championship Game, also played in Detroit, it muddied up the MAC bowl picture. Throughout it’s 12-year history, the Motor City Bowl has usually been the reward for the champion of the conference. But even though Buffalo won the MAC Championship, it made much more sense for them to head a few miles north to Toronto for the International Bowl on January 3rd. This opened up the door for Ball State to head to the Motor City Bowl, but the MAC and the bowl game decided to allow the Cardinals to have a better matchup with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl to be held in Mobile, Alabama on January 6, so the door swung open for the Chippewas (8-4).

CMU enjoyed its fourth straight winning season and earned a third straight trip to a bowl game, even though its regular season ended in the disappointment of Ball State and an upset loss to Eastern Michigan on the final game of the regular season. The Central Michigan Chippewas will attempt to avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time since October 2004.

Much was expected of Schnellenberger and the Owls this season after winning the Sun Belt Conference last year, but a devastating 1-5 start seemed to seal their fate. But the team responded by winning five of their last six games. During the stretch Florida Atlantic averaged 35 points and defeated Florida International 57-50 in overtime to win their final game and become bowl eligible.

The bowl game may be one of the more entertaining early bowl games because both teams feature potent offenses. Dan LeFevour and Central are ranked third in the MAC with 253.1 passing yards and 24th in the nation with 427.1 yards per contest. The Owls’ Rusty Smith led his conference with 2918 yards and 22 scores.

This will be the first all-time meeting between the schools.

This will be CMU‘s fifth bowl appearance, having gone 1-3 in previous appearances, including last year’s last second 51-48 loss to Purdue in last year’s Motor City Bowl. FAU went to their first bowl game last season and beat Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl. Coach Schnellenberger is 5-0 all-time in bowl games with FAU, Miami and Louisville.

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West Virginia vs. North Carolina

Mountaineers -1 1/2 vs. Tar Heels

North Carolina is beautiful this time of year, but Miami after New Years is even better. While both West Virginia and North Carolina can celebrate solid seasons by playing each other in the Meineke Bowl on December 27, they both know it could have been so much more.

Both teams went 2-2 in their last four contests which prevented them from residing at the top of their conferences, where they both sat before the final stretch of the season. If they would have held on, the teams would have met in the Orange Bowl.

For West Virginia (8-4), the losses were particularly tough. After winning five straight from September 27-November 1, the Mountaineers losses and wins to their conference foes the final four games of the year. They lost a second straight year to their rivals from Pittsburgh and also dropped a contest to Rutgers. Both of those losses were by a combined seven points.

Nonetheless the Mountaineers had a solid season in a transition year which saw Bill Stewart replace Rich Rodriguez as head coach. Stewart, a native of West Virginia, was named interim head coach when Rodriguez left for Ann Arbor prior to last season’s Fiesta Bowl. Stewart led his team to a 48-28 upset of Oklahoma, a participant in this year’s national championship game. One day after the victory, Stewart lost the “interim” tag in his title.

North Carolina (8-4) was 7-2 after nine games and they were not defeating patsies by any means, having posted victories over Connecticut, Boston College and Georgia Tech, all Top 25 teams. Each of those games, they won by 22.6 points. After their .500 stretch run, which included a final game victory over archrival Duke, the Tar Heels tied Miami for third in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Still it was quite a turnaround for Butch Davis’ team, who finished 4-8 a season ago.

These teams have met only once, in the 1997 Gator Bowl, with North Carolina winning 20-13 to finish their season 11-1 under then head coach Mack Brown.

This will be North Carolina’s 26th bowl game, but first since the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl. The Tar Heels will be looking for their first victory since they beat Auburn in the 2001 Peach Bowl. They have a 12-13 bowl record. West Virginia is 12-15 in their previous bowl games and have won three straight.

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Florida State vs. Wisconsin

Seminoles -5 1/2 vs. Badgers

A few years back an American television network produced some low-budget pieces involving rabid animals, out of control cars and other wacky activities and behavior. These shows were usually called, “When Animals Attack” or a reasonable facsimile. If someone produces a movie about this past year’s University of Wisconsin season, it should be named, “When Good Seasons Go Wrong.”

On September 27, the 3-0 Badgers visited Ann Arbor to take on the hapless Wolverines. They raced out to an 18-0 lead and put on cruise control until Michigan began climbing back into the game late in the third quarter. The end result was a stunning 27-25 loss when a holding call erased a game-tying two-point conversion. The game seemed to demoralize Wisconsin as they dropped their next four and five out of the following six.

The week following the Michigan loss, the Badgers faced off against the Buckeyes in Columbus and once again watched a late lead evaporate into a loss. Over one month later, on November 1, as Wisconsin tried to build on their first victory since September 13 the week before, the Badgers once again blew a late fourth quarter lead and watched the Spartans kick a game-winning field goal in East Lansing.

Yet coach Brett Bielema was able to get his players to play hard down the stretch to win three straight, become bowl eligible and achieve a 7-5 season, something unthinkable during the Badger’s losing skid. Their reward for the turnaround is a December 27th trip to Orlando to take on Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Seminoles (8-4) was the opposite of the Badgers. Florida State played well the first half of the season but stumbled their way down the stretch, landing in this bowl game. Florida State is now appearing in their third-straight non-January 1st (or later) bowl game after 15 straight years of going to January 1st (or later) Bowl games. The good news for Florida State, however, they now own the longest bowl streak at 27, after Michigan’s lousy season broke their streak of 33.

These teams have never met before.

This will be Wisconsin’s 20th bowl game. They have gone 10-9 in the previous 19, including last season’s Outback Bowl loss to Tennessee. This will be Florida State’s 37th postseason affair, having gone 20-14-2. They were defeated by Kentucky in last season’s Music City Bowl.

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California vs. Miami

Golden Bears -8 vs. Hurricanes

Miami was flying high and ranked for the first time in a number of years as they won their fifth in a row over Virginia Tech on November 13. With a 7-3 record and two games remaining, the Hurricanes were looking for possibly a New Years Day bowl game. Perhaps they were looking too hard because they dropped their final two games to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State, both on the road, by an average of nearly 15 points. Miami finished 7-5 and is headed to the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco to take on the California Golden Bears on December 27.

Meanwhile, at 6-4, California‘s season looked in peril prior to their final two games of the season. They had lost any shot at the PAC-10 title and were facing opponents whose seasons could be defined by an upset of the Bears. But Cal crushed their final two opponents, Stanford and Washington, by an average of 31 points to finish at 8-4 and be allowed the ability to take the short trip to San Francisco for their sixth straight postseason appearance.

Jahvid Best was vital to the Bears throttling of their Pac-10 opponents by rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-16 win against the Cardinal. If that performance was not enough the sophomore running back set a school record in the final game of the season with 311 rushing yards and four scores to help the Beats whip the Huskies 48-7.

With its proximity to Berkeley, this game will have the look and feel of a Cal home game, which is a distinct advantage for the Bears who won all seven of their home games this year. Miami was a so-so 3-3.

The Hurricanes season ending skid cost them a chance at the ACC title game. Their defense, in particular, let them down as they allowed a combined 691 yards in the final two losses. This flew directly in the face of the type of defense Miami boasted all season. Through their first seven games, the Hurricanes allowed only two opponents to rush for 100 yards, yet Georgia Tech ran for 472 yards in a 41-23 victory over Miami and NC State ran for a troubling 219 yards on the ground in a 38-28 win for the Wolfpack.

Still the Miami Hurricanes have to be happy with the turnaround they achieved from last year’s disappointing 5-7 season. This will be Miami’s 23rd postseason appearance in 26 seasons and 32nd bowl game overall. They have a 18-13 record and won their last bowl game, the MPC Computers Bowl, on New Years Eve 2006 over Nevada. California has been to 18 bowl games, going 9-8-1. In their five straight bowl appearances prior to this season, the Bears have gone 4-1, including last season’s victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The teams have not met since a home-and-home series over two years in 1989 and 1990 with Miami claming both games. Prior to that, they had met once before, back in 1964, which was Cal’s only win in the short series.

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TCU vs. Boise State

Horned Frogs -3 vs. Broncos

The best of the early bowl games will take place on Christmas Eve-Eve, Tuesday night, December 23, as number 11 TCU will take on number nine Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

Two seasons ago, Boise State (12-0) was the BCS buster. In arguably one of the best BCS games in the last few years, the Broncos used a number of trick plays to upset the old guard of college football, Oklahoma a few seasons ago. Boise State did not receive the amount of love they should have probably been shown for the entertainment value they would bring to the BCS games, frequently full of blowouts and mismatches and will, instead go to San Diego for an early bowl game.

Boise State did everything they could to try to nab a BCS berth this season. They won all 12 of their games by an average of 27.2 points, but saw Utah get the coveted, non-BSC conference spot in the Sugar Bowl. The Broncos had a shot to land in the Fiesta Bowl, but the game decided to pick Ohio State instead, despite being ranked lower.

The Broncos will face a worthy opponent in TCU (10-2) who won double-digit games in the regular season largely on the backs of their second-ranked defense in the nation. The Horned Frogs only lost to number two Oklahoma and number 10 Utah along the way. TCU will look to use their stellar defense to stop Boise State’s 12th-ranked offense which yields 39.4 points per game.

The Frogs meanwhile are holding opponents to 10.9 points per contest, second only to Southern California’s 7.8 points per game. Their offense if none to shabby either. They have five players with 400 yards rushing and hold onto the ball longer than anyone in the nation at 34:50. These factors will be critical in beating Boise State.

The teams have met only once before, also in a bowl game. The Boise State upset the 19th-ranked TCU 34-31 in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl.

This will be the Broncos ninth bowl appearance, having won five of those. The Horned Frogs will appear in their 25th bowl game. In the previous 24, they have gone 10-13-1.

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Arizona vs. BYU

Wildcats -3 vs. Cougars

Despite only two wins, BYU finds itself in a bowl game on the first day of bowl season-again. The Las Vegas Bowl is one of the four bowl games set for Saturday, the first day of the bowl season and BYU (10-2) finds itself in the game for the fourth straight time, this time facing Arizona (7-5).

Perhaps with only two losses, the Cougars deserved better, however their losses were costly ones. The first came to TCU on October 16. The unranked Frogs handled the Cougars easily, winning 32-7. The loss dropped BYU from number eight, their highest ranking all season. Finally with a chance to make a statement against archrival Utah, the Cougars fell on their face, losing 48-24 on November 22. The Utes were ranked number eight at the time and are now on the greener pastures, while BYU is in the familiar surroundings of Sin City.

Las Vegas is certainly a great place to visit and the Cougars have won their last two trips into Sam Boyd Stadium for the bowl game. For their opponents, Arizona, they are ecstatic to be there. The Wildcats enjoyed their first winning season since 1998 and capped a good regular season with a victory over archrival Arizona State on December 6. This will be the first bowl game for the program since they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl following the 1998 season to capture a 12-1 record.

The game should be a high-octane gun-slinging affair which befits the western style of Las Vegas. Both teams have great signal callers able to sling the ball. Max Hall leads BYU and helped the team climb to 19th in the nation is scoring with 35.3 points per game and 17th with total offense at 448.8 yards per contest. The Wildcats Willie Tuitama had a stellar year in the pass happy Pac-10 by finishing second in the conference with 2763 yards and 21 scores.

Arizona actually has quite a stellar defense with 302.1 yards given up, but have struggled away from home. In their five road games, they have given up 30.6 points per game, while at home they have limited opponents to 14.7 points.

It is a rarity for two teams to have played each other many times compete in a postseason contest, but this will be the third straight season that BYU and Arizona have met with the teams splitting the pair. This will be the 22nd game between the programs which used to reside in the Western Athletic Conference.

The two game winning streak in the Las Vegas Bowl followed a four-game bowl losing streak for BYU. The Cougars have attended 26 bowl games and has gone 9-16-1 in those contests. This will be the Wildcats’ 14th bowl game and have won five and tied one of the previous 13.

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Wake Forest vs. Navy

Demon Deacons -3 vs. Midshipmen

Believe it or not, bowl season is upon us and the official kickoff of this season is with the inaugural EagleBank Bowl in Washington. The game is slated to kickoff at 11am Eastern time Saturday morning and it will also kickoff a day of early college bowl games.

This bowl game will feature a rare rematch from the regular season as Navy (9-4) looks to defeat Wake Forest (7-5) again. On September 27, the Midshipmen walked into Winston-Salem and claimed a grueling 24-17 victory. This win was noteworthy for Navy because not only did they give Wake Forest its first loss of the season (3-0 at the time), it also marked the first time since Navy has beaten a ranked team since 1985.

The Navy loss was a crushing defeat for Wake Forest which never looked the same after. The game prior, the Demon Deacons displayed outstanding defense as they shut down Florida State in Tallahassee 12-3. With the Navy loss, Wake Forest sputtered to a 4-5 finish, but was able to win their final game, 23-10, over Vanderbilt.

As harsh as the loss for the Demon Deacons was, the win had as great of an impact on the Midshipmen’s season. Navy had come into that game after allowing 76 points in losses to Duke and Ball State, but was able to dominate defensively against Wake Forest. With that victory, Navy was able to win five of its final seven games, including crushing defeats of Northern Illinois and arch-rival Army by a combined 50-0.

In addition to their strong defense down the stretch, Navy boasted the top rushing attack in the nation with 298.3 yards behind the phenomenal duo of Shun White and Eric Kettani. White finished with 1021 yards and eight scores while Kettani contributed 932 yards and four touchdowns on just 176 carries. Kettani’s best game was against Wake Forest when he dashed for a career-high 175 yards.

Despite the loss earlier this season, the Demon Deacons hold a 6-3 lead in the series against the Midshipmen. Wake Forest had their four-game winning streak in the series snapped with Navy’s win earlier this season.

This will be Wake Forest’s ninth bowl game, having gone 5-3 in the previous eight, including last season’s 24-10 win over Connecticut in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Navy is 6-7-1 in their previous 14 bowl games. This bowl will be Navy’s sixth straight bowl game, their longest stretch ever. They lost last season’s Poinsettia Bowl 35-32 to Utah.

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