I thought the NIU - Boise State Poinsettia Bowl was going to be one of the more competitive games of the early bowl slate, but....not so much. Boise looks like the team everyone assumed that they would be in the preseason when they were predicted to be the G5 representative in the NY6 bowls.
<PRE>December 26th 10:00am ESPN St. Petersburg Connecticut vs. Marshall St. Petersburg, FL | Tropicana Field December 26th 1:00pm CBS Sun Miami vs. Washington State El Paso, TX | Sun Bowl December 26th 1:20pm ESPN Heart of Dallas Washington vs. Southern Miss Dallas, TX | Cotton Bowl December 26th 2:30pm ABC Pinstripe Indiana vs. Duke Bronx, NY | Yankee Stadium December 26th 4:45pm ESPN Independence Virginia Tech vs. Tulsa Shreveport, LA | Independence Stadium December 26th 8:15pm ESPN Foster Farms UCLA vs. Nebraska Santa Clara, CA | Levi's Stadium</PRE>
Nice to have a full slate of games today. Miami and Wazzu should be fun. Both teams finished the season pretty well (minus the bizarre egg WSU laid against Washington in the Apple Cup) and both have good quarterbacks (UM- Brad Kaaya, WSU- Luke Falk). I'm also looking forward to seeing VT in Frank Beamer's final game. In the preseason, there was buzz about VT as a possible sleeper contender in the ACC, so they're probably better than 6-6 would lead you to believe. It wouldn't surprise me, given their talent and the emotion of the moment, if they came out and just blew Tulsa off the field.
Wazzu beats Miami in the <strike>Sun</strike> Snow Bowl. Miami has not won a bowl game since 2006, Larry Coker's last year. (0-6)
It was kind of crazy how much the snow picked up late in that game. The announcers alluded to it at one point, but you could definitely hear resignation in their voices when it became apparent that they were not going to be heading home right after the game, as had probably been scheduled. Generally speaking, I don't put a ton of stock in team bowl records over any span of time, but I actually think Miami's struggles in bowl games touch on some of what has been so frustrating about that program over the last decade-plus. We all know that bowl games are as much about motivation as they are talent, coaching, and preparation, and more often than not of late, it seems like Miami ends up backing their way into some bowl game one or two tiers below what was expecting either going into the season or at some point during the season. Then once they're there, they seem to want to be anywhere else.
Wow! Looks like the Indiana K made it (to tie in OT). Kicks above the |_| don't count?! Edit: Now I see(I think): ref said it was no good but because it went above the |_|, it's not reviewable. That's awful. Tough loss for Indiana. <blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Was Indiana's FG try good? Hard to tell, went over the upright and is not reviewable <a href="https://t.co/UDgJuayxhN">pic.twitter.com/UDgJuayxhN</a></p>— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheCauldron/status/680907321439039488">December 27, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not sure why a kick that flies above the posts is unreviewable. I get that there's no angle that shows straight up the post, so the views would be sketchy at best, but that's true of most calls. There's no guarantee when you go to replay that you're going to get a clean look, regardless of where the call is on the field.
What an embarrassment to the Pac 12. 8-4 UCLA losing to 5-7 Nebraska in California. To add insult to injury UCLA was the visiting team..
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hail the 5-7’s! All three 5-7 teams (San Jose State, Nebraska & Minnesota) won their bowl games</p>— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/681641744455327744">December 29, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<PRE>December 29th 1:00pm ESPN Armed Forces Air Force vs. Cal Ft. Worth, TX | Amon G. Carter Stadium December 29th 4:30pm ESPN Russell Athletic (10)North Carolina vs. (17)Baylor Orlando, FL | Citrus Bowl December 29th 6:30pm CI Arizona Nevada vs. Colorado State Tucson, AZ | Arizona Stadium December 29th 8:00pm ESPN Texas Texas Tech vs. (20)LSU Houston, TX | NRG Stadium</PRE>
The Russell Athletic Bowl should be a lot of fun, even if Baylor will still be a little hobbled on the offensive side of the ball. We talked earlier in this thread about motivation being huge in bowl games, and I think this is one where it will play a big role. Both of these teams had higher aspirations for their season, and I think we'll quickly find out which team would rather be home. I'm 100% in favor of bowl games, as I've mentioned many times before, but if ever there was a game that made me think twice about my support for their existence, the Arizona Bowl would be it. For those keeping score at home, this is a game between two conference foes being broadcast primarily online.
Goff in the right system and behind a decent OLine will be a very special player. He can really make every throw...
Deon Cain is one of 3 players Clemson is sending home. He will be a huge loss to their offense against OU.
I completely ignored Tech this year but will watch them next year just because of Mahomes. Tech also needs an O-line worth a dime. They are a joke.
