2009 College Bowl Edition

The bowls are all in place except for Army's Eagle Bank Bowl. It's win-and-in for the Cadets with a bowl bid riding on a win against Navy.

To me, the 2009 BCS National Championship is about as pointless and unfair as even the BCS can get. Why should Alabama even have to play #2 Texas since they just came out of a #1 vs #2 matchup in the SEC title game? I was under the impression that there was no playoff in FBS football. Alabama thrashed #1 while Texas luckily and I mean luckily escaped Arlington with a last second win vs. Nebraska... and Alabama now has to play #2 again? Champion teams acquire merit throughout the course of their seasons and not during the postseason - since a fair FBS postseason ceases to exist. When the season ends with #1 vs #2 isn't it kind of pointless to play a special national championship bowl beyond that?

The Gator Bowl is intent on running its reputation into the ground, first with their intended snub of Big East bowl qualifiers in favor of Notre Dame - (6-6 and ineligible for Gator Bowl selection) then inciting the ire of the ACC by selecting 6-6 Florida State above teams with more wins. Both Florida State and Notre Dame ran their coaches out of town for those same .500 seasons - but if those teams were good enough for the Gator Bowl - I think it's time to rethink the prestige of the Gator. The combined 12 wins of the two teams that the Gator Bowl really wanted- would barely qualify a team to play on New Years' day:

Notre Dame's wins:

Nevada
Michigan State
Purdue
Washington
Boston College
Washington State

Florida State's wins:

Jacksonvile State
BYU
North Carolina
NC State
Wake Forest
Maryland

But that's what it is, FSU vs. West Virginia in the Gator Bowl.
My condolences go to West Virginia as the afterthought Big East selection and to the Big Ten and SEC as the next in line to inherit this drama-queen of a bowl game. AP #15 Miami, an ACC team that was bumped due to the Florida State selection will help to immediately raise the profile of the Champs Sports Bowl as they will face #25 Wisconsin in one of only three non BCS meetings of ranked teams.

Those other non BCS top 25 matchups are:

#18 Oregon State vs. #14 Brigham Young - Las Vegas Bowl

#20 Arizona vs. #22 Nebraska - Holiday Bowl



Other notable bowl snubs:

North Carolina was also overlooked by the Gator Bowl and will play in Charlotte's bowl game for the 3rd time in 6 years, where they will meet 9-3 Pitt.

Missouri (8-4), was passed on by the Insight Bowl in favor of Iowa State (6-6) and will play 6-6 Minnesota in the Texas Bowl which is played on the same day as the Insight and has the added bonus of actually being shown on TV. If I'm Missouri, I'm grateful for that snub.

Boise State and TCU were both overlooked for the BCS national championship game in favor of more deserving Texas and Alabama teams, but their Fiesta Bowl matchup should give one team's fan base a voice to claim national championship recognition. It's too bad for those teams that 3 other squads ran the table, but neither of these two teams are the best in FBS, anyway. Boise vs. TCU in the Fiesta is as close as a non-BCS conference team will come to playing for the BCS national title, and that will stir the debate.

BSU President Bob Kustra has openly criticized the BCS system, which can deny teams in the five conferences that do not have automatic bids the opportunity to compete even after undefeated seasons.

In October, he expressed support for a push by Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch for a Justice Department inquiry into the BCS.

Kustra has endorsed a playoff system instead.

I don't have much advice for the BSU president except: this is D1-A. If Boise wants to play in a playoff that bad they can go down to the FCS and enjoy playoff football almost every year.


Here's a list of teams that were eligible but not selected for any bowl:

6-6 teams
Louisiana Monroe
Louisiana Lafayette
Kansas State

6-7
Hawaii

Notre Dame (6-6) thumbed their nose at these hopeful teams (and at me) by refusing any bowl bids. Good for them, whatever - those missed bowl practices are reps you can't get back and that could play a role next year considering the coaching change and the likely departure of Jimmy Clausen.
(ESPN Insider subs.)

UCLA is still waiting for the outcome of the Army/Navy Game to see if they might be selected to face Temple in the Eagle Bank Bowl.

If Army makes it through, the Eagle Bank Bowl vs Temple might be the least sexy matchup of the bowl season. Temple won the regular season game against Army 27-13 in front of 14,275 fans. Say what you will about a second Army/Temple matchup - I'm sure the Army players would love another shot to get back the one that got away.