Arbitrary Bowl Predictions 2006- The BCS Bowls

BCS Bowls

Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA
Rose Bowl
January 1, 2007, ABC
BCS vs. BCS (Big 10 vs. Pac 10 if available)
Bowl Matchup: Michigan vs. USC
The Stadiums: No one can seriously doubt that the Rose Bowl still deserves the title of “Granddaddy of Them All” when it brings us pairings like this. First the Tournament of Roses provides the best parade in the United States. (Yeah, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, you heard me!) Second, it seems to be the only bowl game that still cares about maintaining the traditional match-up that made it famous. On top of all that few bowls can regularly combine programs as great as the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. The two teams represent two titanic stadiums. Everyone who truly loves college football has an image of these stadiums in their mind already, but I’ll go ahead and glob on some colorful descriptions.

Amongst the reasons why it’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine is that you get to call Michigan Stadium home. The stadium, popularly known as the Big House, has one of the simplest designs you could imagine. Brick scaffolding supports an ellipsis of metal bleachers that surround the playing flied. Yet the simple design belies the fat that the Big House is quite simply the largest football stadium in the world (Oh, shut up international readers you know perfectly well what I mean when I say football!). That rings of fans can impose its presence on the field like few other home crowds. The field itself rests just beneath the natural ground level to intensify the experience for the players. I imagine that for a visiting football team playing at Michigan must feel a little like drowning in a never ending sea of maize and blue. When over 100,000 people regularly cram into stands that were first built before Prohibition, that lack any real modern amenities, that are completely unsuited for a night game, and that provide no protection from the harsh elements of autumn in Michigan, you know there’s a lot of passion in that stadium. That kind of passion is what truly makes the Big House one of the best stadiums in all of sports.

With that in mind I can safely say that the home field for the USC Trojans is every bit as impressive. While the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum cannot seat quite as many as Michigan Stadium it still is one of the largest football stadiums in the country. The concrete façade decorated in a neoclassical style has an imposing effect on anyone who enters the stadium. One can easily imagine how it must have felt to have entered the ancient Coliseum in Rome to do battle. The open air seating here allows for fans to bask in the glory of the Southern Californian sun and make every football game a celebration of the sport. Both stadiums have hosted all time classic games, both have made the history of college football richer just for having existed and both will have to bring their very best to defeat the other.

The Game: There are some disparate elements at work here. The large seating capacity of both stadiums suggests a high scoring game. While the solid construction indicates some tough defensive stops are in order. The more festive atmosphere of the L.A. Coliseum hints at greater offensive explosiveness. The more straightforward style of Michigan Stadium demonstrates a better grasp of fundamentals. In the ultimate analysis I rely on the overwhelming scale of the Big House to break the back and forth game and give the Wolverines that final push.

The Prediction: Michigan-35 USC-28

Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, AZ
Glendale Stadium
January 1, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (Big 12 Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Oklahoma vs. Boise State
The Stadiums: This is really a stadium pairing that forces us to contend with that old canard of quality versus quantity. We have a knee jerk reaction to say we prefer quality over quantity and yet every town has a little restaurant struggling to make ends meet and three or four McDonald’s raking in the dough. Really we all realize that our desired outcome dictates our approach.

Say you have a college football program that is meant to carry the hopes and dreams of a large state with a substantial population. Furthermore this state becomes a nationally recognized brand and its history of success leads to people all around the country becoming fans of the school’s football team if only at a distance. One of the most appealing facets of this program is the way they do everything plainly and simply, drawing fans in with their straightforward style, workmanlike attitude, and consistent success. One team of plain spoken young men who play anonymously (their names don’t even appear on their jerseys) and win as a team, is simply replaced by another team of plain spoken young men who play anonymously (their names still don’t appear on their jerseys) and win as a team. If providing a stadium for that fanbase is your goal, then you might craft something like Gaylord Family Stadium. Oklahoma provides their fans with a large stadium that is both impressive and intimidating, but with no real personality to alienate any of the people who might travel from hundreds of miles away to get a chance to cheer for the Sooners.

Alternatively, you might have a small school from a thinly populated state. They may only be able to recruit players by creating an offensive scheme that calls for lots of big plays and exciting scores just to get talented kids interested. You may also need to make this stadium stand out so it can be instantly recognizable anytime it appears on television. If these are your goals then you would probably design Boise State’s Broncos Stadium. The more intimate venue, may lack the physical structure to impose a dominant atmosphere over visiting teams, but by cleverly making the field the same color as the stands and the home team’s uniforms the same color as the field you ma just be able to create a psychological edge for the home team. Also using Astroturf would help your players run a fast and loose style gameplan. So really the ideal stadium may be whatever best suits the needs of the school that builds it.

The Game: This game is a contest between a stadium that is grand but generic and a stadium that is tiny but unique. As we all should know by this point I favor the stadium that better conveys the spirit of the program. I predict that Boise State’s spectacular style translates into offensive dynamite and manages to overcome the massive imposition that Oklahoma poses.

The Prediction: Boise State- 28 Oklahoma- 24

Orange Bowl
Miami, FL
Dolphins Stadium
January 2, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (ACC Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Wake Forest vs. Louisville
The Stadiums: When one looks at Wake Forest’s Groves Stadium, on is not filled with either fear or wonder. Grove Stadium stirs up no images of passionate fans or brutal playing conditions. Rather if one were familiar with the history of Wake Forest University one might ask if when the university moved from the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina to the city of Winston-Salem, NC they left the really impressive college football stadium back in Wake Forest. The stadium does not loom above all other nearby structures. The seats do not engulf the field like a horrible cage. The whole atmosphere just screams “Only five more weeks until ACC basketball season starts up again”. In short this is not the stadium of a conference champion. It’s the stadium of a conference bottom dweller, or maybe a conference also ran. Yet at the end of one of the most improbable seasons in the history of Demon Deacon football, here comes Wake Forest into the coveted Orange Bowl their raggedy stadium trailing behind.

Somewhere amongst all the horse racing tracks, one can find a very good football stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. Papa John’s Stadium looks great and has quickly gained a reputation as a very imposing field to visit. Unfortunately it is disqualified as it is named for a corporation. All the Cardinal fans will surely cry out at the injustice, but if you have to stoop to corporate branding rights to help fund your college football stadium, then even a school like Wake Forest has a better stadium than you.

The Game: I cannot truly justify this, but let’s remember I was right about West Virginia beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl last year. Don’t doubt the power of the Arbitrary Bowl Prediction Method.

The Prediction: Wake Forest- 20 Louisville- 14

Sugar Bowl
New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Superdome
January 3, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (SEC Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Notre Dame vs. LSU

The Stadiums: Two stadiums both alike in dignity, in fair New Orleans where we lay our scene. From ancient traditions breaks a new grudge, where a civil game will make uncivil fans nearly turn really mean. No other pairing this bowl season seems as just and as well matched as Notre Dame Stadium and Tiger Stadium. (If you have to ask which school has which stadium, go slam your head against a wall a few times before finishing this preview.) Both have great designs. Both are rife with tradition come gameday. Both are regularly packed to bursting with fans who take college football just a little too seriously. One has become emblematic of the wild atmosphere southern style football breeds. The other is pretty much the basis for everyone’s mental image of football stadiums in the Midwest. Notre Dame has a giant mural of Jesus Christ visible from the playing field. Fans from LSU have been known to register on nearby Richter scales with all their raucous cheering. This is one doozy of a match-up.

The Game: All the history and tradition indicators lean heavily in favor of Notre Dame. All the flair and style predictors point to LSU. No one gets more fed-up with Norte Dame and its fans more than I do, yet when push comes to shove (and isn’t that pretty much standard fare in a football game) you can’t deny the superiority of Notre Dame’s stadium. It may be one of the few stadiums essential to the history of college football.

The Prediction: Notre Dame- 35 LSU- 33

BCS Championship Game
Glendale, AZ
Glendale Stadium
January 8, 2007, Fox
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
Bowl Matchup: Ohio State vs. Florida

The Stadiums: Each of these stadiums is worthy of a national championship team. The Ohio State Buckeyes make their home in an inspiring structure called Ohio Stadium, also known as The Shoe. The Florida Gators ply their home games in an oddly shaped boxy structure titled Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, almost exclusively referred to as The Swamp. Both stadiums can really pack a crowd, with Ohio Stadium having the advantage in overall capacity. Both stadiums boast seriously fierce fans, with Florida having the better reputation for gameday atmosphere. The Shoe definitely has the more imposing architecture suggesting a dominating physical team. The Swamp has far more color and pizzazz indicating an exciting and explosive offense. This contest is neck and neck as I write my final prediction.

The Game: The imposing bulk of Ohio Stadium indicates Ohio State’s defense will keep Florida under wraps for most of the game. However the color and vitality of Florida’s stadium point to the Gators eventually breaking through making an exciting offensive play and securing a classic victory to win the national championship.

The Prediction: Florida- 31 Ohio State- 30

Arbitrary Bowl Predictions 2006- Part 2

Part 2
Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX
Sun Bowl
December 29, 2006, CBS
Big 12 or Big East vs. Pac 10 No. 3
Bowl Matchup: Missouri vs. Oregon State

The Stadiums: The great thing about some of the middle tier bowls is that they give us a chance to talk about good teams from power conferences who have to live in the shadows of the marquee teams. Teams like Missouri and Oregon State should honestly be proud of the seasons they’ve had, yet they haven’t had much time in the national spotlight. It only makes sense that each of these teams has an underrated and often underappreciated stadium to call home. The state of Missouri straddles that uncomfortable border between the south and the western frontier. The Missouri Tiger’s Faurot Field actually takes full advantage of this fact, by combining the grandeur of stadiums you find in the plains with the raucous style you find in the south. Oregon State combines a truly towering set of grandstands with a low-lying field that will often be filled with the kind of fog you can only get in the Pacific Northwest, making Reser Stadium and infamously difficult stadium to visit.

The Game: I predict a lot of up and down the field offensive drives. The teams will make the occasionally impressive defensive stop, but this game will be won by whichever team can keep up the pace. If there’s anything I know about the Pac-10 conference it’s that offense is never in short supply. So I’ll go with the Beavers from Corvallis.

The Prediction: Oregon State- 35 Missouri- 27

Insight Bowl
Phoenix, AZ
Sun Devil Stadium
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Big Ten No. 6 vs. Big 12 No. 6
Bowl Matchup: Minnesota vs. Texas Tech
The Stadiums: I have a tough time adjudicating this contest, because both stadiums have run afoul of my basic rules about college football stadiums. When I originally set out to analyze these games based on stadiums I set up a few simple rules. They include: 1) No contest should be decided simply because one stadium has more seats than the other; 2) Every stadium will be judged on its effect on visiting teams not on how comfortable it is for fans in the stands or reporters in the press box; 3) If a team leaches of a professional sports teams stadium they’re disqualified; 4) If a school has had to stoop to corporate sponsorship to fund its stadium they’re disqualified; 5) Stadiums with signature features and honored traditions are valued a great deal more than those with expensive upgrades and lots of modern amenities.

So how am I to deal with Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which houses both the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers and the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, and MLB’s Minnesota Twins and Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium, which I’m pretty sure isn’t named for distinguished alumni Herbert Jones and George AT&T. I can’t very well disqualify both teams. I guess I’ll just have to determine which rule violation is the less grievous.

The Game: We can anticipate a sloppy mistake filled game for both teams, because both schools must have made mistakes to get to their current regrettable situation. Heck we may even have some mistakes by the officials in this one whether it’s like last year’s Alamo Bowl when the officials stopped the game before the last play was really over, or like this year’s Oregon-Oklahoma fiasco when everyone knew the wrong call was being made, but apparently no one could overturn it, or even something where the officials misinterpret one of the rules and an overturned call has to be overturned once more –a truly awful mistake which apparently no one but USC fan actually remember happening, As I said, this game is hard to judge because I don’t know which team I should judge more harshly for their rule violation. My sources in Minnesota assure me that the real reason that all the teams have to share the Metrodome is because the locals are so stiffly opposed to allowing the local government to spend any money to build any new stadiums. That seems like at least a decent excuse, and I don’t have any explanation at all for Texas Tech’s lapse in judgment. So, I will predict that Minnesota manages to make a few more big games and will win the game in the end, not that anyone will be bragging about it.

The Prediction: Minnesota- 20 Texas Tech- 17

Liberty Bowl
Memphis, TN
Liberty Bowl
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Conference USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6
Bowl Matchup: Houston vs. South Carolina
The Stadiums: Some see bowl games like this as the most important part of the college football post-season. We love seeing the top teams from the less-glamorous conferences play the less-glamorous teams from the top conferences. Unfortunately for the viewers this does not promise to be a very exciting contest. Not every stadium inspires the imagination, and two such disappointments are on display here.

In Houston, Texas they have an abundance of football stadiums, and the Cougars’ Robertson Stadium easily blends in. It’s got a certain mi-20^th century sensibility that unfortunately indicates that the best days for the stadium and the team are long past.

The South Carolina Gamecocks keep it equally plain and play in their own Williams Brice Stadium. It’s a good stadium, not great, but it does have a little more flare in the design. Also, the Gamecocks’ fans have a tradition of dressing all in black to create a “blackout” effect for important home games.

The Game: Since the two stadiums lack that spark to make this match-up interesting, I have to lean heavily on those few minor differences (seat count, level of fan involvement) that really separate the two fields. All the little factors favor “the other USC”, so I predict South Carolina wins a hard fought game by a slender, but decisive margin.

The Prediction: South Carolina- 13 Houston- 6

Alamo Bowl
San Antonio, TX
Alamodome
December 30, 2006, ESPN
Big 12 No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4 or 5
Bowl Matchup: Texas vs. Iowa
The Stadiums: When we reach the more traditional bowls, one of the big thrills is seeing some of the historic programs pair up. Part of the fun of such classics is seeing two great fan bases and traditions match-up against each other. For my money though the two programs really have to boast great college football stadiums and top level gameday atmospheres to draw my attention. In this case the two teams, the Texas Longhorns and the Iowa Hawkeyes, deliver in spades.

Texas boasts the tremendous Darryl K. Royal -Memorial Stadium which not only holds tens of thousands of roaring Longhorn fans, but also looks terrific, especially with some recent modifications. The shape of the stadium is interesting too, with two sets of grand stands rising on either of side of the field with smaller seats resting behind both end zones. It makes me think that the whole construction is meant to resemble the famous “Hook ‘Em Horns” from the right distance and angle.

While it is a terrific stadium, Royal -Memorial may have met its match in Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. Deep in the heart of Iowa, this incredible alter to college football is one of the must see landmarks for anyone who loves the college atmosphere. The stadium is named for a former Heisman trophy winner and honest-to-gosh war hero. The stands rise out of the plains like the most impressive high school stadium in the country. The recent improvements have only made it a more intimidating stadium to visit. I think the best evidence of how special both these stadiums are is that when they both played host to the number one ranked Ohio State Buckeyes many favored the home team over OSU.

The Game: Great design and solid construction are two features that unite these stadiums, so I expect good coaching and stiff defense to define most of the game. As much as I hate to split hairs about which stadium is more aesthetically pleasing I do have to give the nod to Royal –Memorial stadium which has a little more flash and pizzazz. The fact that Texas has more of a party atmosphere suggests they will demonstrate more offensive explosiveness.

The Prediction: Texas- 21 Iowa- 17

MPC Computers Bowl
Boise, ID
Bronco Stadium
December 30, 2006, ESPN
WAC vs. ACC No. 8
Bowl Matchup: Nevada vs. Miami
The Stadiums: Rarely do we see a team as storied and nationally recognized as the University of Miami Hurricanes make the trip out to these rarely visited bowls held in unpopular parts of the country. It has been a long and disappointing season that brought “Da U” out to Boise, Idaho. Nevada is in the same conference as Boise State and therefore no stranger to playing up there in potato country. I like the straightforward and unassuming goodness of Nevada’s Mackay Stadium. It gives the vibe of a very comfortable place for the Wolfpack to play, which isn’t necessarily the same thing as an uncomfortable place for visitors to play, but it is pretty close.

One might assume that a team with Miami’s history of greatness, and even dominance at times, would play in one of the best stadiums in the country. However the Orange Bowl has gone from a storied stadium that served as an important landmark on the college football landscape to a rickety, past-its-prime, ring of bleachers which only appeals to the most loyal or tradition bound fans. As far as the scene during gametime, well I’ll just leave that to Da U’s former TV commentator and notable alum, Lamar Thomas, who said this during the brawl between Miami and Florida International earlier this year “Now that’s what I’m talking about … That’s how we do it in the O.B. …Why don’t they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more?”

The Game: Just as their stadium is a crumbling wreck that barely carrier any hint of its former greatness (as well as a notoriously unexciting place to play), so to will the Hurricanes play unfocused, uninspired, and pretty much unbecoming a true national football power. Meanwhile the Nevada Wolfpack will continue to do all the little things right, just like Mackay Stadium.

The Prediction: Nevada- 21 Miami- 16

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Charlotte, NC
Bank of America Stadium
December 30, 2006, ESPN2
ACC No. 6 vs. Big East or Navy
Bowl Matchup: Boston College vs. Navy

The Stadiums: Both stadiums under consideration here have the kind of open metal bleachers built on concrete structures that project the classic image of what a college football stadium should look like. In fact if you should the casual football fan pictures of both stadiums few could properly determine which one belonged in Boston and which one belongs in Annapolis. The trick is to know that Boston College’s Alumni Stadium seats more people and has the more colorful décor, while Navy’s Navy-Marine Corps Stadium is more open on one end and has some accessories to indicate its military origin.

The Game: B.C.’s stadium is good looking, but fairly non-descript. So I can’t get very excited about their chances in this game. Navy’s home field suggests the same discipline and competitive spirit that you find in every aspect of their football program. This makes me feel they will come at it with a better game plan and play execution.

The Prediction: Navy- 28 Boston College- 20

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Atlanta, GA
Georgia Dome
December 30, 2006, ESPN
ACC No. 2 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia
The Stadiums: Power house match-ups are easy to come by this bowl season if you ignore the quality of the football teams and only pay attention to peripheral attributes of the football programs. Case in point, Virginia Tech has, by most accounts, underachieved this season. Yet Lane Stadium still looms over Blacksburg, Virginia an imposing example of what happens when an otherwise ignored university decides to take football very seriously. The seats of Lane Stadium don’t just surround the field, they engulf it. Every aspect of this stadium is designed to say one thing “Hokie Pride!” and they all say it very loudly.

Of course the Georgia Bulldogs didn’t become the Georgia Bulldogs of national repute by playing their games in behind the YMCA. This year’s football team was a huge disappointment and they should consider themselves lucky to have even gotten into a bowl. Sanford Stadium is a classic college stadium, another must see for any true college football fan. Marked by both beautiful grandstands and unmistakable Southern elegance, Sanford remains the model of a big time college football stadium. Colloquially known as “Between the Hedges” the field is an intimidating place for any team to play.

The Game: No doubt this will be a slugfest as two teams of equal capability match-up. The sturdy architecture of both stadiums indicates that both teams will play with sound fundamentals and superior execution. The combination of two large scale stadiums leads me to believe that this will be a fairly high scoring affair. In the end I have to say that Lane Stadium’s total focus on supporting the Hokies lifts them over Sanford Stadium which seems to be more about having a nice time on a Saturday afternoon than rooting the Bulldogs onto victory. I predict that Va. Tech will play with a more complete game and maybe get some scores on special teams or defense to put the game away.

The Prediction: Virginia Tech- 38 Georgia- 30

Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, FL
Gator Bowl
January 1, 2007, CBS
ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12 or Big East
Bowl Matchup: Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia
The Stadiums: Here’s a bowl game that gives us a chance to compare one stadium that makes a lot of a little and one that makes a little of a lot. It’s not exactly a story of haves and have-nots, but it does provide some insight into which schools really care about football and which ones only make a show of it. In some ways it helps to explore one of the key issues of what keeps college football for rigidly hierarchical when every other sport is undergoing an era of parity.

In the state of West Virginia, there isn’t much going on, as anyone who has traveled through the state can readily attest. One of the few things West Virginia has gained fame for is the passionate support the state gives its college football teams. The passion of Marshall’s fans in Huntington, West Virginia has recently been immortalized in the film We Are Marshall. Unfortunately, Marshall didn’t make a bowl game this season, so I have to bring it up here. The fans of WVU in Morganton, West Virginia celebrate their football team’s success by setting fire to things in the streets surrounding Mountaineer Stadium. While that particular rite of autumn may lack respectability, Mountaineer Stadium itself is a class act all the way. Since they had to pretty much carve the field out of a mountainside, it can’t hold many seats. The facilities aren’t anything to write home about, because, well, dang it, Senator Byrd can only find them so much money, you know what I mean. Just the same Morgantown has become an infamously difficult road game. The combination of an isolated location, a passionate fanbase, brutal mountain weather, and flaming debris around campus makes Mountaineer Stadium one dangerous place for visiting teams.

Sadly Georgia Tech can’t boast of a similarly impressive stadium. Make no mistake Bobby Dodd Stadium (at Grant Field) is a nice enough place. Yet you really have to judge what a stadium achieves based on what resources it had to work with. Georgia is known for its rich football heritage. Georgia Tech has an incredibly strong history of football success. Heisman himself spent some time as a ramblin’ wreck for crying out loud. The city of Atlanta is a hotbed for activity right now, but Georgia Tech is not drawing in huge crowds. This school should have a tremendous stadium by all rights, but I never hear any coach talk about how tough it is to play on the road at Georgia Tech. I admire a lot about the program the Golden Jackets have built; they did just play for their conference’s championship after all. I just can’t bring myself to endorse a stadium that does less with more.

The Game: The Mountaineers come out with something to prove and play the kind of scrappy game you would expect from a team that just scraped themselves off a mountain. Georgia Tech will look impressive at times, but ultimately their superior talent will under-perform, and they’ll be left with a disappointing loss in a game they easily should have won.

The Prediction: West Virginia- 31 Georgia Tech- 24

Cotton Bowl
Dallas, TX
Cotton Bowl
January 1, 2007, Fox
Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Nebraska vs. Auburn
The Stadiums: College stadiums always seem the most impressive in the more out of the way places around the country. Unlike pro-sports which have to find homes in major media markets to remain satisfactorily profitable to their owners, academic institutions around the country can participate in the glory of intercollegiate football. In fact it may because the states of Alabama and Nebraska have no other major sports that their college football teams have become so prominent. When the whole state focuses on autumn Saturdays as the heart and soul of their sports calendar, the stadiums have to hold not just thousands of fans but the hopes and dreams of hundreds of thousands of fans. It’s sort of an “if they come, you will build it scenario”. The states of Alabama and Nebraska do themselves proud with their stadiums, and set up yet another exciting contest. Memorial Stadium has all the traditional features of a historically great college football stadium, plus the reputation of becoming the third largest city in Nebraska every Cornhuskers home game. It must surely rattle unprepared opponents to have to enter such a colossal structure then face a sea of fans clad in red wearing novelty hats that resemble cobs of corn, on top of all that playing one of the most storied programs in college football history may seem like the easy part of your day. Jordan -Hare Stadium has a more modern look and an equally impressive atmosphere. While it may not boast as many seats or quite the same architectural intimidation, it has its own accoutrements to terrify opponents, namely an eagle and a propensity of the Auburn Tigers’ fans to dress in garish combinations of orange and blue that can make your eyes cross if you stare at them too long.

The Game: I imagine a total slugfest. Lots of rushing yards and plenty of hard hitting defense will define this game. The breaking point will come when Auburn’s superior talent, demonstrated by Jordan -Hare’s modern design, will topple the stout Nebraska team.

The Prediction: Auburn- 24 Nebraska- 20

Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL
Raymond James Stadium
January 1, 2007, ESPN
Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Penn State vs. Tennessee
The Stadiums: Wow. Just wow. Stop for a moment and consider that we have two stadiums that can seat over 100,000 people going head to head. No other sport has one stadium that brings together entire communities on that scale. Imagine 100k fans all wearing the same colors, singing the same songs, cursing the idiocy of the same head coach, and pushing the same team onto victory. Not only does college football have such a stadium, it has several such stadiums. Having seen Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee with my own eyes I can assure you that the fortress-like walls of seats that surround the field are one of the most frightening sights any visiting team can face. Also, those checkered endzones make me dizzy whenever I look at them, so I can Similarly the monolithic Beaver Stadium looms over College Station, Pennsylvania. The concrete ellipse has slowly grown under the tenure of Penn State head coach/living legend Joe Paterno. With all the additions and upgrades what must have once been a merely impressive stadium has now become some sort of science-fiction like super-structure, possibly fit for the Borg collective. That is, if the Borg were blue and white and not black and green. No game could realistically hope to match the grandeur and tradition represented by these amazing stadiums.

The Game: Unfortunately some people out there dissatisfied with simple treatises on the architectural splendor of college football stadiums, will expect a game at some point or another. To them I say piffle. To them I later add, look for Tennessee to play with more focus and motivation since their stadium better captures the spirit of football at their respective university. Penn State just seems to disorganized to pull this one out judging from their stadium’s piecemeal construction. This is probably an easy win for Tennessee, but you can’t get any closer in a bowl game than those two stadiums.

The Prediction: Tennessee-28 Penn State- 27

Capital One Bowl
Orlando, FL
Alltel Stadium
January 1, 2007, ABC
SEC No. 2 vs. Big Ten No. 2
Bowl Matchup: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin
The Stadiums: These two stadiums represent their respective regions of the country well. Arkansas’s Razorback Stadium has the focused energy and bright colors of a southern style stadium, where fans get together to care waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much about a college football game on a sunny autumn afternoon. Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium has the large seating and open air quality that most allows most Midwestern stadiums to foster a rowdy atmosphere complete with blustery weather, beer, and bratwursts. These two stadiums have little in common except that for their respective fans they define college football.

The Game: This match-up favors Wisconsin in a lopsided game. First Camp Randall has the advantage of being named one of the best places to watch a football game by Maxim magazine along with the Stardust Sports Book in Las Vegas and Tim Rusert’s house. Second I have a sinking suspicion that any stadium named for the team’s mascot can’t be that great of a stadium, since apparently no one ever wanted to let their name be put on it. Arkansas gets some points, but Wisconsin takes this one in a walk.

The Prediction: Wisconsin- 38 Arkansas- 24

International Bowl
Toronto, Canada
Rogers Centre
January 6, 2007, ESPN
MAC vs. Big East No. 4 or 5
Bowl Matchup: Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati
The Stadiums: I’ll be honest it’s hard for me two get excited about the minor bowls between minor schools/stadiums that occur between the marquee New Year’s Day Bowls and the championship game. Accordingly I’ll do these last few non-BCS previews fast and furious. (I would like to take a moment to point out that I approve of the northward migration of the bowls, and I hope this trend continues. Partly I say this because I only think it just that some warm weather team be forced to face a cold weather climate for a post season game, when for decades only the reverse had been true. Mostly though, I anticipate global warming will eventually make Toronto an ideal vacation spot and Dallas, Texas a smoldering furnace of solar-thermal radiation. Or at least it would if it weren’t all just a myth Al Gore and a bunch of crazy environmentalists invented just to impose burdensome pollution standards on multibillion dollar corporations. Anyways …) I am not impressed with Western Michigan’s Waldo Field –and before you even try and make the obvious joke it’s in Kalamazoo, Michigan you smart alecs –it just feel like the university never really got behind the idea of doing a serious football stadium. I do like Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium for its color and design, even if it does feel a little like someone left the roof off an Arena League football stadium.

The Game: I look for Cincinnati to play solid defense and execute sharply. I look for Western Michigan to try desperately to distinguish themselves from the Broncos of Boise State with a memorable performance, but to ultimately come up short.

The Prediction: Cincinnati-24 Western Michigan- 21

GMAC Bowl
Mobile, AL
Ladd Peebles Stadium
January 7, 2007, ESPN
Conference USA No. 2 vs. MAC
Bowl Matchup: Southern Miss vs. Ohio

The Stadiums: Southern Mississippi plays in Roberts Stadium, which looks just like you expect a southern mid-major school’s football stadium to look like. Ohio’s Peden Stadium looks like it’s trying to hard to look like a big time college football stadium. Probably the folks in Athens, Ohio want are sick of their home turf being an afterthought to Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium and the University of Akron’s Rubber Bowl, and the University of Toledo’s Glass Bowl, and Miami University’s Yeager Stadium, and the above mentioned Nippert Stadium, and Massillon High School’s Tiger Stadium, and, actually no let’s just leave it there.

The Game: I predict a rock solid performance by Southern Miss and a few costly mistakes by Ohio.

The Prediction: Southern Miss- 28 Ohio-14

The Captain's Arbitrary Bowl Prediction Method for 2006- Part 1

As fans of this blog may remember, I have a fondness for college football as a sport and for gambling as a subject of intellectual fascination. To combine these two personal interests into yet another long and rambling post by the Cap’n, I wrote a column last year that predicted the outcome of all the bowl games based on an arbitrary method. The basic concept is that while having a prediction (and maybe something else) on the line when you watch a game may bring an extra thrill, but you should never believe that any gambling system is going to be any more sensible or reliable than comparing fight songs. Since I’ve already contemplated the musical offerings of many of the teams in this year’s bowl games, I decided to stretch out and find a new means of judging the value of two teams that has no real relation to how well they actually play. For this bowl season the accuracy of prognostication will depend on how well I can analyze the relative strengths and weakness of the opponents’ stadiums. I chose this method because the many unique stadiums are one of distinguishing features that make college football such a special sport. The outstanding assortment of sizes, styles, and structural details make each home field an intense gameday atmosphere. Also, I’ve found myself relishing some of the pairings this bowl season more for the stadiums they offer up for contemplation then the inevitably unentertaining game they will offer for viewing. So once again I invite you to enjoy my insights as a topic for holiday party conversation and remind you to only gamble responsibly (which is to say not with money), as I present by Arbitrary Bowl Predictions!

Part 1

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego, CA
Qualcomm Stadium
December 19, 2006, ESPN2
Mountain West vs. at-large
Bowl Matchup: TCU vs. Northern Illinois
The Stadiums: The bowl season starts with the always underrated Poinsetta Bowl, brought to us this year by the kind folks of the San Diego County Credit Union. I don’t have a real problem with sponsors inserting their names into the bowl game’s title –that’s just part of living in a capitalistic society where college football is big business. However, couldn’t we please get some sort of gentlemen’s agreement that sponsors can’t have names longer than the bowl’s themselves, or at least a four syllable cap. Please just to save us all a little time. I’m worried one of these days Brent Musberger is going to pass out us welcoming us to “The Rose Bowl brought to you by Daimler-Chrysler Five-Star Automotive Dealership and Service Centers featuring the Platinum American Auto Club exclusively at Daimler-Chrysler dealerships in you area”.

Our first two stadiums are befitting two mid-major teams for whom making a bowl is and accomplishment. On one side of the country you have Texas Christian University’s finely fashioned Amon G. Carter Stadium. This is an old dating back to the university’s early attempts at college football. Carter stadium is rich in tradition, but poor in intimidation factor. Though it houses the historically third best college football team in the great football state of Texas, it seats significantly fewer people than some of the other less tradition rich sports teams in Texas. I mean, if the Texas Rangers could potentially pull more fans into the stands than the mighty TCU Horned Frogs, the stadium probably can’t be too fierce an environment.

Hundreds of miles away the Huskie Stadium stands as the football palace for Northern Illinois University. Their team (can you guess their nickname) may not have the proud history of TCU, but how many schools can boast having the first modern style quarterback. I count the NIU stadium’s relatively recent construction and the fact that it seats 15,000 fewer fans than Carter Stadium as hefty demerits against it. Still when I see pictures of the two sets of stands at Husky stadium jutting out steeply over the playing field I can’t help but imagine the fear two walls of fans can put into the opposition.

The Game: I imagine both teams will represent themselves well in this game. The deciding factor in my analysis is that Huskie stadium makes better use of it’s limited capacity to intimidate the visiting team. This suggests a well designed offense scheme that will allow the stars of NIU to make big plays and nearly outscore the fearsome horned frogs.

The Prediction: NIU- 27 TCU- 21

Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas, NV
Sam Boyd Stadium
December 21, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 No. 4 vs. Mountain West No. 1
Bowl Matchup: Oregon vs. BYU
The Stadiums: The best part of doing these arbitrary prediction methods is that often the match-up brought on through the artifice of comparing items like fight songs, mascots, or stadiums, are often much more exciting than the actual on the field competition. In this instance the football game pairs a highly effective and stunningly underexposed Brigham Young team against a mostly uninspired team of Oregon Ducks, who have been a bit of a disappointment ever since their team started struggling mid-way through the season. So traditional football analysts would have you believe that this is likely going to be a blow out victory for the BYU Cougars. Of course none of them will consider how evenly the two teams’ stadiums compare to each other. Few people could imagine that LaVell Edwards Stadium, home of the BYU Cougars, and Autzen Stadium, home of the Oregon Ducks, have anything in common outside of hosting college football games. Let’s just look at the facts. Both teams play at the largest stadiums in their state. Both stadiums seem designed to get as many fans as possible close to field level so their cheers can have maximum impact. Both stadiums were funded in part by shadowing organizations few people understand and many distrust (for Brigham Young it’s the Mormons, for Oregon it’s Nike). Few games could match the thrill I get from judging the relative strengths and weakness of these two stadiums.

The Game: It comes down to a few key factors. Autzen Stadium has the sleeker, more modern, more aesthetically pleasing design, implying a superior offensive scheme. However LaVell Edwards stadium has more seating suggesting a stronger overall team. It also conveys a sense of tradition and grandeur which shows a definite edge in terms of the teams fighting spirit and mental toughness. The Cougars will win this one easily.

The Prediction: BYU- 31 Oregon- 20

New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans, LA
Louisiana Superdome
December 22, 2006, ESPN
Sun Belt vs. Conference USA
Bowl Matchup: Troy vs. Rice
The Stadiums: WHOOO-HOOOOOOO! The New Orleans Bowl is back in Nah’Ohlens! You can bet the coverage will make almost as much of the “It’s just great the city of New Orleans can host events like this again” storyline as much as the “These teams have both accomplished a lot to play in this bowl” storyline. The comparison of the stadiums is pretty one-sided. Rice Stadium has nearly twice as many seats as Troy Memorial Stadium. Visitors to Troy (formerly Troy State) play on a glorified high school football field, while teams that travel to Rice face imposing walls of concrete and a ring of fans surrounding them. Also Rice manages to support this grand arena in the city of Houston which has plenty of other activities vying for attention, while Troy gets to be the biggest attraction in south Alabama.

The Game: Much like the comparison of the stadiums I predict this will be a largely lopsided affair. Troy will play well for a quarter and a half as befitting a team who scraped together a winning season from out of the decidedly worst conference in college football. However the Owls of Rice will show that they have an underestimated team on the rise out in Conference USA.

The Prediction: Rice- 42 Troy- 17

New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque, NM
University Stadium
December 23, 2006, ESPN
Mountain West vs. WAC
Bowl Matchup: New Mexico vs. San Jose State

The Stadiums: While these “Location” Bowls may not have the colorful titles of their more famous brethren, but I always appreciated being told up front and center where the game is being played. Some of these lower tier bowl games are actually played at college stadiums, giving some teams a chance to actually play at home. The fact that New Mexico’s University Stadium actually gets to display its advantages during the bowl game is a big disadvantage for San Jose State’s Spartan Stadium to overcome. However University Stadium’s 42,000 seats seem stark and poorly appointed with big empty spaces interrupting the crowd. With so many wholes in the stadium and so few seats really close to the playing field one can hardly envision New Mexico having much of a homefield advantage.

Contrasting that Spartan Stadium’s 26,000 seats are arranged in a full circle around the field with the stands rising in supple curves when necessary to accommodate more of the Spartan faithful. Spartan Stadiums actually reminds me of those tight little gyms where small college basketball teams play. When those basketball teams pack the stands with impassioned fans, as San Jose State’s football team has been able to do lately, they can really pump their team up and get in the opponents heads. It can be quite an impressive feat to see the big time schools get wigged out in the little school’s stadiums, but it can be accomplished with a well designed stadium.

The Game: Watch for New Mexico to come out early and try to use their more powerful players and better athletes to wear out San Jose State before they can make a game of it. The Spartans will survive the initial push and will come back to take an impressive lead. Though New Mexico will probably score late to make the final score closer than it really was, San Jose State will come back with a late score of their own to put the game away.

The Prediction: San Jose State- 24 New Mexico- 17

Papajohns.com Bowl
Birmingham, AL
Legion Field
December 23, 2006, ESPN2
Conference USA vs. Big East or MAC
Bowl Matchup: East Carolina vs. South Florida
The Stadiums: No, I’m not surprised that the Papa John’s website managed to pony up the cash to get a bowl game named after them, see my above statement about living in a capitalistic society and college football being big business (actually, no need to revisit that passage since I managed to pretty much repeat it verbatim). I am surprised by the fact that the Papa John’s corporate bosses couldn’t swing getting the game in Louisville, Kentucky where they already have the University of Louisville stadium in there name. I realize you may be risking poor weather, but surely Louisville as a city could attract more visitors than Birmingham, Alabama.

The comparison of the stadiums actually isn’t that fun. Sure I like looking at East Carolina’s Dowdy Ficklen Stadium with it’s bold curves and imposing concrete structure. However South Florida is disqualified for not having their own stadium. Yes it is cool they get to play in the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s big, shiny Raymond James Stadium. However I sincerely doubt they ever draw as many fans as the Bucs, and hardly have any ownership in the stadium itself.

The Game: I’ll give South Florida some pity points since the football program can’t be entirely blamed for the fact that their administration chose to mooch off the local pro team. However this one is any easy win for ECU.

The Prediction: East Carolina- 27 South Florida- 7

Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, TX
Amon G. Carter Stadium
December 23, 2006, ESPN
Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Bowl Matchup: Utah vs. Tulsa
The Stadiums: This game is scheduled to start at 8pm Easter time, and I can’t figure out why. I don’t believe these teams have much pull east of the Mississippi. The game will be played in a stadium on the western side of the Central Time Zone. I imagine both schools have their fan bases living pretty heavily in the Mountain Time Zone. So I can’t figure out why they didn’t push this back to a 10pm Eastern/ 7pm Pacific kick-off and find a way to squeeze in another event in the preceding timeslot. Instead we are left with a game that can only offer two mildly interesting stadiums for us to consider. Tulsa’s Skelly Stadium has fun splashes of color and a certain welcoming folksiness, but no real intimidation. Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium has grandeur and modern design, but lacks heart and soul.

The Game: Utah’s stadium may indicate superior athletes, and the ability to dominate a game through sheer physical force, yet Skelly Stadium has the spirit of a winning team. As we have witnessed time and time again, in bowl games the team that can summon the greater passion and desire often wins. For this game I will tip ever so slightly for Tulsa.

The Prediction: Tulsa- 23 Utah- 20

Hawaii Bowl
Honolulu, HI
Aloha Stadium
December 24, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 vs. WAC
Bowl Matchup: Arizona State vs. Hawai’i
The Stadiums: Once again we have a bowl game being played at one of the teams home stadiums (largely by design, because where else are the Warriors of Hawai’i going to draw a sizable crowd, I’m not saying their bad, I’m just saying it’s hard to convince Hawai’i residents to travel to the Mainland in the winter time). This game also provides another underrated match-up between two lightly considered teams, but two powerhouses of stadiums. In favor of Arizona State is the fact that Sun Devil Stadium has a fun rousing atmosphere that gives fans a chance to honestly affect the outcome of the game. Plus, it has until recently served as the host for one of college footballs most prestigious bowls, the Fiesta! On the other hand Hawai’i has Aloha Stadium, which has a game time environment all its own. It also hosts the ProBowl every year, until the NFL decides it might as well shift the least meaningful all-star game in American pro-sports to some foreign country in a lame attempt at global promotion. This is one tough contest.

The Game: After weighing several factors, I ultimately made my decision on which stadium best captured the overall spirit of the team. While Sun Devil Stadium is festive and colorful, Aloha Stadium has a unique flavor and feel that could only ever truly work for the Warriors. I say that, plus the fact that Hawai’I basically has a home game here, tips the balance toward Hawai’i by a pretty heavy margin.

The Prediction: Hawai’i- 48 Arizona State- 24

Motor City Bowl
Detroit, MI
Ford Field
December 26, 2006, ESPN
MAC vs. Big Ten No. 7
Bowl Matchup: Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee
The Stadiums: When was the last time you ever seriously considered anything remotely connected to these schools, let alone spent a significant amount of time considering their home stadiums? That’s just one more demonstration of all them fun you can have with an arbitrary prediction method. Johny “Red” Flyod Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee serves as the gridiron of choice for Middle Tennessee State University. There the Blue Raiders take advantage of the octangular perimeter of seats that surround the field with their fans. Kelly Shorts Stadium (I swear I am not making that name up) in Mount Pleasant, Michigan (an unusual name since it is neither mountainous nor pleasant) has a certain flat simplistic charm too it. The Fighting Chippewa of CMU play in a stadium that resembles some sort of skate park attraction. This bowl presents an unusual pairing of contrasting styles.

The Game: While I normally find overly open designs like the one seen at Kelly Shorts stadium dull and unsatisfying, here I find it to be an advantage. The odd angles of Floyd Stadium concern me. I interpret them to mean the MTSU coaches will be obtuse in approaching the game, and bring their player’s in sadly unprepared for the team they face. Kelly Shorts Stadium (I assume by now you’ve all looked it up, and know I’m not making that name up) with its simple design suggests that the CMU coaches will keep it basic. Their meat and potato play calling will prove the decisive factor, in a game few will find memorable. Plus, how can you root against a stadium called Kelly Shorts!?

The Prediction: Central Michigan- 23 Middle Tennessee State- 17

Emerald Bowl
San Francisco, CA
AT&T Park
December 27, 2006, ESPN
ACC No. 7 vs. Pac 10 No. 5
Bowl Matchup: Florida State vs. UCLA
The Stadiums: Many dismiss lower tier bowl games as a callous attempt by colleges, sponsors, and host stadiums to try and score some easy money by pitting two mediocre teams that most people don’t really care to see play another game against each other in a location few would take a winter holiday to if they weren’t forced to out of loyalty to team and school. They are pretty much right about that. However these bowl critics miss out on the chance to enjoy the little details these games present.

Let’s start with the fact that it is a fairly rare occurrence for an ACC and a Pac 10 team to play each other as is. Combine that with the fact that you’ll rarely find Florida State slipping to the bottom half in the ACC in the same year that UCLA winds up smack in the middle of the Pac 10. Add onto all of that the general quality of these two teams’ stadiums. The Florida State Seminoles call a little piece of wonder call Doak Campbell Stadium home, and it has some of the most inspiring archs and precipices you could ask for. The 83,000 seat ellipse built of solid stone and decorated with FSU colors around the exterior truly exemplifies how great football can be in the state of Florida. Plus you have to love how the university shows their appreciation for the most important figure in the programs history by naming the field itself Bobby Bowden field, after the man who brought football greatness to Florida State. The University of California at Los Angeles is no slouch either. The Bruins get to play their home games in the Rose Bowl. The frikkin’ ROSE BOWL! Yes, I realize that the university may not really own the stadium, but they are not disqualified because no other team plays their regular season games there. This stadium can accommodate 93,000 fans in its ring of pure college football greatness.

The Game: I realize Doak Walker is great, and I imagine the Seminoles will put up a good fight. But this is the Rose Bowl we’re talking about. The frikkin’ ROSE BOWL!

The Prediction: UCLA- 38 Florida State- 17

Independence Bowl
Shreveport, LA
Independence Stadium
December 27, 2006, ESPN
Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8
Bowl Matchup: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama
The Stadiums: There’s an interesting storyline lurking in the subtext of this game for both universities, and, intriguingly enough, it’s pretty much the same story for both schools. The basic question being asked is how much influence a single person can have on a football program. I notice this because both these schools have a stadium named for a man who either has placed or is placing his permanent mark on football at his respective university.

Oklahoma State fans make their autumnal pilgrimage to Boone Pickens Stadium. The Cowboys enjoy a festive colorful stadium paid for in part by the insanely generous contributions of T. Boone Pickens Junior to Oklahoma State University. This has many fearing that a wealthy alumnus has far too much influence if he can gets his name on the It may not be a monolith of a stadium like a more storied programs has, but it captures the spirit and soul of the maverick OSU program.

Down south the shadow over the program isn’t being cast in the present, rather it’s extending out of the past. The Bryant in Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium is the legendary coach Paul William “Bear” Bryant, who forever stamped his fingerprints on Alabama years ago. His signature hound’s tooth cap, authoritative style, and most importantly success on the gridiron have made it hard for any other coach to come in and build anything at Alabama unique at Alabama. This is part of the reason Alabama is currently finding it very difficult to fill their head coaching vacancy. What Bear built became the basis for the incredible stadium known as Bryant-Denny. If football is king in the south then Bryant-Denny could be a fitting throne. The vast seats are arranged in a horseshoe around the field, so the ‘Bama fans can either propel the Crimson Tide onto victory, or to be a vicious wall halting the progress of opponents. It is the very model of a monolithic stadium, I mentioned above.

The Game: It comes downn to a few simple factors. Since both stadiums represent the essence of the program well, we have to compare some more nuanced details. The fact that Bryant-Denny has almost twice as many seats as Boone Pickens is a big advantage. Also let’s consider the psychological effect for the OSU Cowboys of playing in a stadium named for a man who essentially serves as their rich, eccentric uncle. They may have a fun, free-wheeling atmosphere by the comfort and sense of entitlement it breeds probably sucks some of their drive and hunger. I’ll bet the Tide come in with a little more motivation and fight, and prove that other coaches can succeed in the house Bear built.

The Prediction: Alabama- 17 Oklahoma State- 14

Holiday Bowl
San Diego, CA
Qualcomm Stadium
December 28, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3
Bowl Matchup: California vs. Texas A&M
The Stadiums: Some sports teams take on a personality based largely in relationship to other teams. For some teams like Alabama-Auburn the relationship defines both schools as the hated rival of the other. In cases like Cal and A&M the schools are best known as the second-fiddle to another major college football paper in their own state. The University of California at Berkley currently serves as the kid brother of the University of Southern California, while Texas A&M has to play in the shadow of the University of Texas at Austin. These schools have to find other ways to outshine their respective nemeses.

Texas A&M stuffed themselves full of traditions. So many traditions that they could cut out half and still have more college football related rituals than most schools. Included in this is the astounding Kyle Field. The stadium looks like an architectural wonder with its multiple decks of seats stacking up into the sky. Not only are their mountains of fans on all sides of the field, but they also are famous for shouting louder than any other fan base in the country, so much so they stand literally shake from all the activity.

Cal chose to become an all around better academic institution than USC, and opted for a more subdued stadium. Memorial Stadium has the simply elegance of an elliptical bowl that has a certain west coast style with its color scheme and decorative flourishes. They may not have college football glory, but these schools seem to do all right just the same.

The Game: Few things are as obvious in stadium analysis as the observation that stadiums that sway with the crowds are likely home to teams prone to shaky performances, a serious problem with Texas A&M. Of course that does not outweigh the overall grandeur of Kyle Field, especially when compared to the simple adequacy of Cal’s home stadium.

The Prediction: Texas A&M- 17 California- 14

Texas Bowl
Houston, TX
Reliant Stadium
December 28, 2006, NFL Network
Big 12 vs. Big East
Bowl Matchup: Kansas State vs. Rutgers
The Stadiums: These two schools may actually represent two different chapters in the same story. One school, Kansas State, has come from frequent conference doormat to a minor power to now a nationally recognized brand of football, all under the steady leadership of former head coach Bill Snyder. As a reward K-State has named their sturdy, modern, and well-appointed stadium for Bill Snyder’s family, since the humble Coach Snyder wouldn’t allow them to name it after him specifically.

Rutgers is meanwhile breaking out of years of college football destitution to finally shine on a national stage. The little team from New Jersey just may do the previously unthinkable and get New York City interested in college football. It will be many years before we know whether the State University of New Jersey will rename their modest and charming stadium for Greg Schiano, or rather his family, but may I just say that it would certainly be an improvement over the current rather unimaginative name of Rutgers Stadium.

The Game: KSU’s stadium is technically proficient, but it lacks soul. I expect the team to execute their plays well, but not to play with lots of passion. Rutgers Stadium is modest and low key, but it seems to capture perfectly the spirit of the little team that could.

The Prediction: Rutgers- 23 Kansas State- 17

Champs Sports Bowl
Orlando, FL
Florida Citrus Bowl
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Big Ten No. 4 or 5 vs. ACC No. 4
Bowl Matchup: Purdue vs. Maryland
The Stadiums: Maryland’s Terrapins play in the satisfactorily acceptable Byrd Stadium. Byrd has exactly what you would expect a college football stadium to have, some color, some nice grandstands, and a bustling gameday atmosphere. It’s a decent place to spend a Saturday afternoon, if you live in the Washington D.C. area and college football is your thing.

Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium is just on another level. The stands of a glittering gold, they have a fake train to sound its horn after every home team scorn. It is just the kind of glittering jewel that almost demands your attendance and makes college football in the Midwest something truly special.

The Game: The above analysis leaves little doubt about the outcome of this game. It may be fun to watch and it may look even, but Purdue will be in control the whole time and will eventually pull away from Maryland to put the game away.

The Prediction: Purdue- 35 Maryland- 24

Music City Bowl
Nashville, TN
The Coliseum
December 29, 2006, ESPN
SEC vs. ACC No. 5
Bowl Matchup: Kentucky vs. Clemson
The Stadiums: The pairing of stadiums here lacks much excitement. Clemson’s Memorial Stadium has the clear advantage. The way the field sits just beneath ground level surrounded by the stands only focus’s the fans passion even better. Plus when you consider all the famous accoutrements Clemson has built up around their stadium, it seems like any stadium would have a tough time matching up. The only think that I can really say about Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium is that it’s nice to see one of the commonwealths in the country share some pride in the rare distinction of being a commonwealth in a nation called the United States. Not every commonwealth is as forthcoming about this as KY. For example, why is there a college called Penn State when Pennsylvania is a commonwealth? Also, for all you students out their, you can always annoy people, such as unsuspecting civics teachers who should know this sort of thing, by asking them if they can name the four commonwealths in the U.S. Try it, it’s good fun.

The Game: It should be pretty obvious. And know I’m not going to tell you what the other two commonwealths are; you have to look them up yourself.

The Prediction: Clemson- 28 Kentucky- 17