I thought it was necessary to post an unbiased “greatest moments” entry after seeing ESPN.com an attempt at doing the same (their list can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=games/decade/2009syracuseunconn).  Their list unfortunately does not rank the games in order of their greatness and only lists 25 games/events.  On the other hand, I have produced an my objectively-reasoned ranking of top 50 greatest sports moments of the 200os.  It is slightly different than the ESPN one in that it looks at specific moments as opposed to the games as a whole.  However, since most great sports moments come out of great games, the content will be similar.  I made a pretty legendary ranking of the greatest moments in sports from 1980-2000, so hopefully this list will be just as good.

To say it bluntly, 2009  has been a very bad sports year for me.  I’d actually go out on a limb and say that it’s my worst since I began following sports in 1991.  There were very few historic upsets/Cinderellas, and all of my favorite teams lost while most of my least favorites won.  In fact, it was so bad that I had to alter my plan of giving you my 10 best moments of the year alongside my 10 worst moments.  I could only come up with five positive sporting occurrences from the past year, so that will have to suffice.  Please note that unlike the next column I plan to write these are given from a purely subjective viewpoint.  When I say “best/worst moments” I’m not talking about great or horrible sporting events.  I’m talking about moments that affected me the most positively or negatively.

Best Moments:

1.  Alabama wins SEC Football Championship (December 5, 2009)-I don’t know which was more satisfying here: seeing the Tide win its first conference championship in over a decade or seeing Tebow cry like a baby after getting shut down for four quarters.  Either way, this was a truly gratifying experience.  If only Bama could now play the opponent that deserves to be there (TCU) in the game undeservedly called the BCS National Championship Game.

2.  Prairie View A & M wins SWAC Football Championship (December 12, 2009)- Another football conference championship game that had a deep personal significance to me.  Prairie View was arguably the root of my sports sentimentalism in the 1990s.  I followed this team from week-to-week as they tried to end their record losing streak.  Finally after 80 losses, they beat Langston 14-12 giving me a new dream that maybe one day they could come back and win a championship.  That dream was finally realized a few weeks ago.

3.  South Carolina beats Clemson (November 28, 2009)- Always great to see one of your football teams get a rare win over their archrival.  I was there the last time it happened at Williams-Brice in 2001, and I was fortunate enough to be there for it this year as well.

4.  Wake Forest basketball beats UNC/Duke (January 11/28, 2009)- While I’ll always be the first to acknowledge that the college basketball regular season is largely overrated, I had to dig deep here to fill up this list.  I therefore thought by combing these two home wins over top 3 teams the result would be significant enough to deserve inclusion in these rankings.  I also got to personally storm the court in both of these games which is always a plus.

5.  George Mason beats Towson in Colonial Bball Tourney Semifinal (February 28, 2009) - I know you probably just read that and laughed, but this was the game that finally brought me to the magical $20.00 mark on CentSports. 

Worst Moments:

1.  Tom Watson loses British Open in playoff (July 19, 2009)-It’s time to bring back the many painful memories from the past 365 days, and there was no doubt in my mind which moment would be crowned the absolute worst.  This one still hurts me.  Most golf fans are probably over this and have moved on with their lives, but I haven’t.  In fact, if I end up making bad grades this semester in law school, then I’m blaming it on the post traumatic stress from this nightmarish event.  We were within minutes of the most unbelievable sporting upset of my lifetime.  In fact, this was likely going to rival the Miracle on Ice as the most amazing Cinderella story of all-time.  A man born in the 1940’s was about to win a major championship in 2009! It defied human logic.  It was going to be God’s gift to the sporting world.  Then after a painful meltdown on the 72nd hole, Watson was smoked by Stewart Cink in a playoff.  Let’s not forget that Cink had to make a lengthy birdie putt on 18 to even have a chance to capitalize from Watson’s collapse.  It was if the Soviets scored a goal in the final seconds of their 1980 hockey game with the Americans and then blasted them in OT.  This moment along with the 1992 Duke-Kentucky game and my # 2 moment below stand out as the worst losses in my lifetime.

2.  Kenny Perry loses The Masters in a playoff (April 12, 2009)-  I also thought that this golfing miracle was going to happen.  Unlike Watson, Kenny Perry had two holes to nail down a single par for the championship.  Unfortunately, back-to-back bogeys setup a three-way playoff won by Angel Cabrera (the worst golfer ever to win two majors).  This loss actually felt a lot like the 1992 UK-Duke game just because of Perry’s Kentucky connection, which was the main reason why he was one of my favorite golfers.  The Watson-Perry losses prove that golf is by far the cruelest of all games, and while I believe that God has an active influence in creating most games/sports we play today, I’m not sure if Satan didn’t have his hand in creating the game of golf.  Who else would come up with a “sport” that fools people into thinking they are exercising while at the same time allows for a 12-time adulterer to dominate the game for over a decade.  Anyway, enough with the rambling.  The only positive takeaway here is that, unlike Watson, Perry may still have a chance to win a major championship somewhere down the line.

3.  Cleveland State upsets Wake Forest (March 20, 2009)-This actually might have been # 1 or 2 if it hadn’t of been such a blowout.  Midway through the second half this thing was over.   As a person whose existence revolves around the first round NCAA tournament upsets, it’s my worst nightmare to have my Alma Mater be the only high seed to lose in the first round, which begs the question of why does my school have to be by far the worst NCAA tournament team of all-time?  I honestly hope they never earn a # 1 seed because I’m pretty sure they’d become the first to lose to a 16. 

4.  Andy Murray loses to Andy Roddick in Wimbledon semifinal (July 3, 2009)-The Queen was set to come to Centre Court for the first-time in 30 years.  A Brit finally had a very good chance to win Wimbledon and was at the very least set to become the first British finalist since Fred Perry.  Then Andy Roddick’s big serve proved too much for Murray and another upset of one of my favorite players/teams was realized.  The worst part about it all is that Roddick almost beat Federer two days later, which leads me to believe that Murray had a real shot to win the title.  Oh well, Andy will hopefully have several more chances to help me accomplish my # 4 goal in life, which is to see a Brit win Wimbledon. 

5.  North Carolina wins NCAA basketball national championship (April 6, 2009)- This was pretty much a foregone conclusion before last year’s basketball season started, but several regular season losses gave me a glimmer of hope that this squad wouldn’t win another national title.  Unfortunately, the Heels  cruised through the Big Dance in what was probably the worst NCAA tourney of my lifetime. 

6.  Kentucky hires John Calipari as head basketball coach (March 31, 2009)-I brought up my church analogy then, and I’ll use it again now.  Kentucky basketball is considered by many as a religion.  So therefore what do you do when the church you’ve loved for 20 years hires a crook as its preacher.  This is the dilemma I’ve been faced with ever since this hiring was announced.  I’m not sure who I was most upset with about this hiring: Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart for single-handedly trying to drive the Kentucky basketball program in the ground or the hardcore Kentucky fans who set aside their moral values and embraced a “win it all costs” mentality that I had never seen in Lexington before.   Yes, the Cats are off to a great start this year, and they probably aren’t quite as thug looking/acting as I expected, but until Coach Cal wins a final four that isn’t vacated, then I’ll be a consistent skeptic.  Also, notice how my # 2, # 5, and # 6 events all took place within a 2 week span.  Talk about a horrible fortnight. 

7.  Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl (February 1, 2009)- In what has become a consistent theme in my sports world, this was yet another example of my most hated team in a particular sport winning a championship against a great underdog opponent.  Yuck!

8.  Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA Championship (June 14, 2009)- See description above.

9.  Kentucky football loses to Tennessee… again (November 28, 2009)-The reason this isn’t higher on the list is because by this time of the year, I had come to the realization that any close game that I had a deep, personal interest in was going to end up as a loss.  Therefore, this overtime defeat wasn’t nearly as devastating as others, since I had already come to grips the ultimate outcome.  Still, this was Kentucky’s best chance to beat Tennessee in several years, and they might not have another shot like it for a while.  Their 25-game losing streak isn’t going to end in Neyland next year, and Tennessee’s program seems to be on the rise while Kentucky’s has assuredly reached its ceiling.   

10.  Florida beats Oklahoma in BCS Title Game (January 8, 2009)-  The only reason this isn’t higher is that I didn’t really want Oklahoma to win the national title either.  I was hoping for a game that was so ugly that Utah could garner enough support to earn a split championship.  Unfortunately, that didn’t quite happen and we were all forced to watch Tebow and Meyer celebrate another national championship together.

I have taken this blog, as well as the College Football Researchers Association, to the next level by purchasing domains for each.  All of the CFRA information can now be found at www.cfrapoll.com and all of my regular blog entries can be found at www.sportsentiment.com.

The first round of simulated games has been completed, and you can see the full recap of each below.  Here is the schedule for the second round games:

South  Regional Final

(4) Troy vs. (2) Ohio State, Saturday December 26th at 12:00  in Atlanta, GA (ABC); Line: Ohio St. by 14.5

West Regional Final

(4) Penn State vs. (2) Florida, Saturday December 26th at 8:00  in San Diego, CA (ABC); Line: Florida by 10

Midwest Regional Final

(1) Texas vs. (3) Iowa, Saturday December 26th at 3:30  in Phoenix, AZ (ABC/ESPN); Line: Texas by 7.5

East Regional Final

(1) Cincinnati vs.  (3) LSU,  Saturday December 26th at 3:30  in Dallas, TX (ABC/ESPN); Line: LSU by 4

Final Four/Championship

South Champ vs. West Champ, Saturday January 2nd- 8:00 (ABC), Pasadena, CA

Midwest Champ vs. East Champ, Saturday January 2nd- 3:30 (ABC), New Orleans, LA

Championship Game, Saturday Jan 9th- 8:00 (ABC), Miami, FL

Also, if you would like information about the setup/ logistics of this playoff system, check out: http://sportsentiment.com/2009/12/11/2009-bowl-tournament-series-bracket-announced/

                                    VT                       FL

score                           7                         59

1st downs                     5                           16

total offense              176                        646

rushes/yds/td       24/39/0                 30/205/4

comp/att/td           10/27/1               24/42/4

pass yds                      137                       441

3rd downs                   1/14                   10/17

4th downs                   1/2                      2/3

2 pt convs                    0                            0

red/td/fg                     0                         4/4/0

turnovers                    2                             0

fumbles                     2                              0

ints                             0                            0

pr yds                          66                           64

kr yds                          229                         48

total yds                      471                        758

punts/avg                10/43.8                   4/44.5

penalties/yds          4/37                          6/60

time of poss             11:06                       17:20

Passing

F: Tebow 24/42 441 yds 4 td

V: Taylor 10/27 137 yds 1 td

Rushing

F: Demps 13/113 yds 2 td

   Tebow 11/87 yds 1 td

V: Evans 22/52 yds

Receiving

F: Nelson 7/113 yds

    Cooper 6/126 yds 1 td

    Thompson 2/90 yds 1 td

V: Coale 3/85 yds 1 td

Defense

F: Sanders 7 tkl, 2 tfl, 1 sk, 1 ff

V: Chancellor 10 tkl

Scoring Summary:

            Florida opened the game with a long drive that ended in a 1 yd td run by WR Thompson (FL 7-0).  On Florida’s next possession, they fail to convert a 4th and 1 at the VT 35.  However, VT RB Evans loses a fumble on the next play that gives Florida the ball back on the VT 37.  FL QB Tebow got another 4th and 1 opportunity and this time he converted for a 12 yd td pass to WR Cooper (FL 14-0).  Virginia Tech struck back on their next possession when QB Taylor found WR Coale for 68 yd td pass, which was the result of the safeties being sucked in on a playaction (FL 14-7). 

            Florida would put this game away in the 2nd quarter.  To start the quarter, Florida would move the ball to the VT 1, but 2 straight holding calls made it 1st and goal from the VT 21.  QB Tebow moved the ball and got it to a 4th and goal from the VT 1, where Demps would score on a pitch play (21-7).  QB Tebow next hit WR Thompson for 71 yd td pass (FL 28-7).  WR Thompson continued to hurt VT with a 72 yd option run for a td (FL 35-7).  Florida added a 51 yd fg to end the half (FL 38-7).

            The game was already out of hand to start the 2nd half.  QB Tebow found TE Hernandez for 48 yd td pass (FL 45-7).  Later in the quarter, QB Tebow hit FB Wilks on a swing pass for a rare 48 yd td pass (FL 52-7).   Florida would tack on 7 more when QB Tebow scored his first rushing td on a 11 yd option play (FL 59-7). 

Notes:

1. Florida’s aggresive playcalling got them out to an early and commanding lead.  Florida was 2 of 3 on 4th down conversions and all were in the 1st half.  One of them was for a huge td at the VT 1 to convert off a VT turnover.  These 4th down calls seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game.

2. Virginia Tech could not sustain a drive.  They only converted 1 of 14 3rd down attempts, which leads to 10 punts and losing the time of possession battle by 6 minutes.  The Florida defense was fresh throughout the game, while the VT defense was always on the field and began to wear down.

3. Florida looks like the team to beat after the 1st round.  They played very well on both sides of the ball, posting over 600 yds of offense and holding VT to less than 200 yds of offense.  After watching the 1st round, I expect a Florida/Texas title game.

4. Play of the game: The Demps td run in the 2nd quarter from 1 yd out.  This was huge because VT had just scored and it was a 4th down play.  The momentum shifted to Florida’s side and propelled them to a victory.

Well we’ve played a 64 team bball tournament for 25 years and never had a 16 seed beat a 1, but during the very first year of BTS simulations, the top 1-seed goes down to the worst 4-seed.

                         Troy              Bama

score                   30                    27

1st downs                     8                            16

total offense                 319                     446

rushes/yds/td        22/38/0             35/203/1

comp/atts/td         17/35/2             15/35/2

pass yds                        281                      243

3rd downs                     3/14                  3/15

4th downs                     0                       1/1

2 pt conv                        0                       0

turnovers                        2                      4

fumbles                          0                         1

ints                                   2                        3

pr yds                           27                        39

kr yds                           108                      74

total yds                       454                   559

punts/avg                   8/44.9               6/34.8

pen/yds                     7/65                  14/121

time of poss                 12:38                15:22

Player Stats:

Passing

A: McElroy 15/35 243 yds 2 td 3 int

T: Brown 17/35 281 yds 2 td 2 int

Rushing

A: Ingram 32/218 yds 1 td

T: Harris 11/34 yds

Receiving

A: Ingram 4/85 yds 1 td

    Huber 1/59 yds 1 td

    Peek 4/44 yds

T: Davis 5/108 yds 1 td

   Jarboe 4/69 yds

   Jernigan 2/50 yds 1 td

Defense

A: Arenas 9 tkls

    Cody 2 sacks

T: Lee 10 tkls

   Searcy 2 sacks

Scoring Summary:

            Alabama opened up the game with a 50 yd fg attempt that would not happen due to a false start penalty.  This put Bama in a 4th and 9 situation at the Troy38, which they converted on a 13 yd pass to RB Ingram.  This set up a 5 yd td run off right tackle by Ingram (Bama 7-0).  Troy would make a 49 yd fg on their next possession (Bama 7-3).

            The action picked up in the 2nd quarter.  Troy QB Brown hit WR Jernigan for a 36 yd slant pass for a td and the lead (Troy 10-7).  Troy would get the ball back, but Brown would throw an int at the Troy 39.  The turnover would set up a Bama 27 yd fg (Tied 10-10).  Bama then forces a punt.  Bama would run a draw play with Ingram, who would lose a fumble at the Troy 45.  The Bama defense came up big and shut down the Troy offense.  Bama would get the ball back, but McElroy throws an int, which Troy LB Golden returned for a td (Troy 17-10).  Troy ended the half with a 51 yd fg (Troy 20-10).

            The top seed in the tournament would not go down without a fight.  McElroy threw a swing pass to TE Huber, who lined up in the backfied.  The pass went for 59 yds and a td (Troy 20-17).  The Bama defense would hold Troy scoreless in the 3rd.

            To start the 4th, McElroy threw another int at the Bama 42.  This set up a Troy 42 yd fg (Troy 23-17).  Bama would strike back with a 51 yd fg, which was set up by a 40 yd Ingram run (Troy 23-20).  Brown would then throw his 1st int of the game at the Troy 46 with less than 1 min left.  McElroy would waste no time, hitting Ingram for a 45 yd td pass and the lead with 30 sec to go (Bama 27-23).  This game looked over at this point.  Troy had 25 sec left to go 80 yds with 0 timeouts and they only scored 3 points in the 2nd half up to this point.  However, a miracle occured when Troy WR Davis somehow found himself behind the Bama secondary.  Brown found Davis and they connected for a 80 yd td pass to win the game! (Troy 30-27).  FINAL

Notes:

1. Bama penalties.  To many of Bama’s drives were stalled due to holding calls.  As a team, they had 14 penalties for 121 yds. 

2. Troy must play better if they want to beat Ohio St.  Somehow Troy pulled out a win by never getting into the red zone, only running for 38 yds, only converting 3 3rd downs, and only making 8 1st downs all game. 

3. Troy is now wearing the glass slipper.  If it can happen in football, maybe basketball is next!

4. Play of the game: The 80 yd td pass from Brown to Davis w/26 seconds left to play.

Another 4-seed over 1-seed upset.  This one isn’t nearly as shocking though.     

                                          Penn St.                 TCU

score                              40                     27

1st downs                                 14                           19

total offense                             398                       427

rushes/yds/td                      32/140/2            30/172

comp/atts/yds                  18/35/1             18/40/3

pass yds                                  258                   255

3rd downs                                 4/16                  3/11

4th downs                                 2/2                    1/2

2 pt convs                                0                      0

red/td/fg                            3/2/1                 4/3/1

turnovers                                  0                      3

fumbles                                     0                      2

ints                                              0                      1

pr yds                                       17                     5

kr yds                                       111                   141

total yds                                   526                   573

punts/avg                            4/45.5               4/30.3

pen/yds                                  5/45                  4/30

time of poss                         15:36                12:50

Player Stats:

Passing

T: Dalton 18/40 255 yds 3 td 1 int

P: Clark 18/35 258 yds 1 td

Rushing

T: Turner 28/170 yds

P: Royster 25/136 yds 2 td

Passing

T: Johnson 4/55 yds 1 td

    Young 4/73 yds 1 td

    Turner 4/58 yds 1 td

10 drops

P: Moye 4/50 yds

    Zug 1/3 yds 1 td

    Royster 3/69 yds

Defense

T: Johnson 9 tkls

   Daniels 5 tkls, 1 sk

P: Hayes 9 tkls

    Astorino 9 tkls

Scoring Summary:

            Penn St. opened up the game with a 38 yd fg (PSU 3-0).  TCU matched the fg with a 48 yd fg on the next possession (Tied 3-3).  This would be as close as TCU got for a long time.  Late in the 1st, Penn St. had a 4th and inches at the TCU 36.  Penn St. lined up to punt and hiked the ball to the upback, who barely got the first down.  This play seemed to change the flow of the game.  Penn St. RB Royster would then pound a 1 yd td run (PSU 10-3).

            The 2nd quarter would be all Penn St.  The TCU woes started with a RB Turner fumble at the TCU 20, which was returned for a td (PSU 17-3).  TCU would turn the ball over again on their next possession.  Dalton throws a pick at the PSU 35, which lead to a Penn St. 32 yd fg (PSU 20-3).  Penn St. would get the ball back and QB Clark hit RB Royster for 68 yd screen pass.  This set up a 3 yd td pass from QB Clark to TE Zug (PSU 27-3).  Penn St. would pad their lead at the end of the half when a 48 yd fg bounced off the cross bar and in (PSU 30-3).

            The TCU offense would pick up a little in the 3rd.  QB Dalton hit WR Young for a 43 yd pass.  The Penn St. defense would hold TCU to a 18 yd fg (PSU 30-6).  On TCU’s next possession, QB Dalton completed a pass to WR Young, who lost a fumble at the TCU 34.  This lead to a Penn St. 47 yd fg (PSU 33-6).  TCU would close out the quarter with a 1 yd td pass from QB Dalton to RB Turner (PSU 33-13). 

            TCU would strike again early in the 4th.  QB Dalton hits WR Young for a 18 yd td pass (PSU 33-20).  Penn St. then had the ball with 3:30 left in the game at the TCU 34.  The TCU defense had to get a stop.  Penn St. lined up for a 4th and 1 and RB Royster broke a 34 yd run for a td, pretty much ending the game (PSU 40-20).  TCU would then score in garbage time with a 10 yd td pass from QB Dalton to WR Johnson (PSU 40-27). 

Notes

1. TCU dropped passes.  Dalton threw 22 incomplete passes and 10 of them were drops.  Most of these occured in the early part of the game and a few would have been huge 3rd down conversions. 

2. TCU turnovers.  TCU lost 2 fumbles and threw 1 int.  One of the fumbles lead to a direct td.  Penn St. would score 13 points off all 3 turnovers. 

3. TCU punting.  TCU only averaged 30.3 yds/punt.  2 of these were early in the game.  The TCU punter shanked the 2 punts for an average of 20 yds each and both were deep in TCU territory.  Penn St. had excellent field position off these miscues.

4. Play of the game: The Penn St. fake punt on 4th and 1.  They could have kicked the fg in that situation, but the fake punt set the tone for the rest of the game.  Penn St. would control the game from this point forward.

Just as a reminder, these summaries are simulated games from my hypothetical Bowl Tournament Series which is described in detail here: http://sportsentiment.com/2009/12/11/2009-bowl-tournament-series-bracket-announced/

                               GT                 OSU

score                     20                  34

1st downs                     9                          13

total offense                 340                   327

rushes/yds/tds          36/180              31/75/1

comp/atts/tds          8/23/1               18/33/2

pass yds                      160                       252

3rd downs                     2-14                  6-15

4th downs                     1-3                      0

2 point conv                  0                        0

red/td/fg                     3/0/2                 2/1/1

turnovers                      3                         2

fumbles                          3                         2

ints                                   0                        0

pr yds                           10                         28

kr yds                           171                       113

total yds                       521                      468

punts/avg                     5/40.8               5/44.4

penalties/yds             6/43                  7/65

time of poss                 13:10                15:25

 Player Stats:

O: Pryor 18-33 252 yds 2 td

G: Nesbitt 8-22 160 yds 1 td

O: Herron 26 rushes 66 yds

    Saine 1-2 yds 1 td

G: Dwyer 17-100 yds

    Nesbitt 16-67 yds

O: Herron 5 cathes 49 yds

    Sanzenbacher 4-74 yds 1 td

    Stoneburner 2-57 yds 1 td

G: Thomas 3-79 1 td

O: Russell 13 tkl

3 sacks as a team

G: Jackson 10 tkl, 1 tfl

2 sacks as a team

Scoring Summary:

            Ohio St. got the ball first, but that would not stop Georgia Tech from scoring on the first play of the game.  OSU RB Herron fumbled on his own 30 and GT CB Butler returned it for a td (GT 7-0).  OSU QB Pryor would then get sacked and lose a fumble on the GT 46.  GT would march the ball down to the OSU 5, where OSU SS Coleman would intercept an option pitch and return it 95 yds for a td (Tied 7-7). 

            The offenses would play much better in the 2nd quarter.  OSU missed a scoring opportunity when a 49 yd fg went wide right.  GT would then convert a 24 yd fg of their own (GT 10-7).  On OSU’s next possession, Pryor would throw a td pass to TE Stoneburner (OSU 14-10).  GT would immediately respond with a td pass of their own.  GT QB Nesbitt would hit on a 37 yd pass to WR Thomas (GT 17-14).  GT would then miss a 39 yd fg attempt off the right upright to end the half.

            GT lost control of this game in the 3rd quarter because they could not hold on to the football.  Nesbitt fumbled an option pitch on the GT 43, which turned into an OSU 26 yd fg (Tied 17-17).  GT would strike back with a 28 yd fg, set up by a Nesbitt 44 yd option keeper (GT 20-17).  Pryor would then hit WR Sanzenbacher for a 50 yd td pass on a flag route (OSU 24-20).  Nesbitt would then lose another fumble, this time on the GT 33.  The GT defense would hold OSU to a 45 yd fg; however, GT would never get any momentum back (OSU 27-20).

            The 4th quarter was dominated by OSU.  GT’s offense could not move the ball and they never threatened OSU.  OSU RB Saine scored a td on a 2 yd dive play to ice the game (OSU 34-20).  FINAL

Notes:

1. GT was awful on 3rd downs only coverting 2 out of 14 attempts.  The OSU defense got off the field and prevented many long sustained drives.  OSU had a higher time of possession with only 75 rushing yards and against an option attack designed to control the ball.

2. GT had to many missed opportunities.  They were in the red zone 3 times and only came away with 6 points.  The GT defense scored a td, but then the OSU defense matched it.  GT also lost 3 fumbles; 1 of those for a td and the other 2 were deep in GT territory.

3. The OSU rushing attack could only put up 75 yds on on 31 attempts again a GT rushing defense ranked 88th in the country.  Assuming Alabama beats Troy, OSU must figure out the running game because Alabama is 5th in the country.

4. Play of the game:  The Nesbitt fumble at the GT 33 late in the 3rd quarter.  This lead to an OSU fg and a 7 point lead, but the GT offense lost all its momentum and would never get it back.

                                    L SU                 Boise

score                    31                    17

1st downs                      14                      16

total offense              494                   379

rushes-yds-td             34-200-1        26-100-1

comp-atts-tds           15-24-3          20-43-1

pass yds                          294                 279

3rd downs                     6-13                6-16

4th downs                     0                      0-3

2 pt conv                        0                        0

red/td/fg                        2/1/0             2/1/0

turnovers                        1                      1

fumbles                            1                      0

ints                                  0                        1

pr yds                             34                    25

kr yds                              47                    104

total yds                         575                 508

punts/avg                5/39.2             6/42.3

penalties/yds              8/60                5/55

time of poss               13:51              14:22

Player stats:

B: Moore 18-36 251 yds 1 td/1 int

     Coughlin 2-7 28 yds

L: Jefferson 15-24 294 yds 3 td

B: Avery 23 rushes-108 yds 1 td

L: Scott 30-205 yds 1 td

B: Avery 5 catches- 40 yds

     Young 4- 58 yds 1 td

L: Mitchell 3-97 yds 2 td

     Ridley 2-67 1 td

B: Johnson 10 tkl, 1 forced fumble

L: Coleman 14 tkl

Summary:

            The game started out as a back and forth affair.  Boise RB Avery started things off with a catch in the flat, which turned into a 45 yd gain.  This set up Avery’s 1 yd td run (Boise 7-0).  On LSU’s first drive, Jefferson hit Mitchell for a 49 yd pass, which set Mitchell’s 9 yd td catch (Tied 7-7).  Boise kicked a 45 yd fg on their next drive (Boise 10-7).  LSU would then match that score with a td.  Boise’s defense forgot about LSU FB Ridley, who caught a pass in the flat and took it for 57 yd td (LSU 14-10).  The offenses would now cool off and the 1st quarter ends.

            LSU put together a good drive early in the 2nd by running the football and chewing up clock.  However, Boise LB Johnson forced Scott to fumble on the Boise 20, which Boise recovered and avoided another LSU score.  Boise’s offense would do nothing with the turnover.  Late in the 2nd, Scott would score on a 24 yd td run (LSU 21-10).

            The defenses would contine to play well in the 3rd.  Moore threw his only interception of the game and gave LSU the ball on the Boise 40.  The Boise defense would stiffen and hold LSU to a 38 yd fg (24-10).  Moore would show poise and on the next possesion throw a 23 yd td pass to WR Young (24-17). 

            Boise entered the 4th with a lot of confidence and down 7.  In the early 4th, Boise had a 4th and inches and LSU 38.  Moore could not complete the pass and Boise missed a huge opportunity.  With 3 min left in the game, LSU had a 3rd and 11 on their own 18.  Boise brought a blitz leaving 1 on 1 coverage on the outside.  Jefferson hit Mitchell, who broke a tackle and went 82 yds for the td (31-17).  When things didn’t look like they could get worse for Boise, they did.  Moore went down on the next play with an abdominal sprain and would not return.  Boise backup QB Coughlin lead the offense down the field and had a 4th and 14 at the LSU 26.  Boise would get 13.5 yds and lose the game.  FINAL

Notes:

1.  Boise missed tackles- The Boise defense could not bring down Scott on first contact.  The LSU offensive line did not open up huge holes all game; Scott did most of the work himself.  Boise gave up to many 10+ yd runs.

2. The LSU secondary was excellent.  The secondary had 12 pass deflections as a unit.  11 of the 12 were when Moore was in the game.  Moore threw 18 incompletions and 61% of them were caused by deflections.

3.  LSU could be the lowest seed to make the final 4.  LSU gets Cincy next week, who is the weakest 1 seed in the tournament.  The SEC could have a realistic possibility of getting 3 teams into the final 4.

4.  Play of the game- The Jefferson 82 yd pass to Mitchell with 3 min left in the game to make in a 14 point game.  Boise had a chance to get excellent field position and maybe force overtime, but a poor open field tackle ended their season.

Here are the picks everybody’s been waiting for.  Enjoy and feel free to make any comments/criticisms you’d like.

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State 31, Wyoming 10- The Cowboys are probably the worst team in this year’s bowl field, which these days is quite an accomplishment.

St. Petersburg Bowl: Rutgers 14, Central Florida 10- Two teams who managed to garner impressive 8-4 records by playing extremely weak schedules.

New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss 63, Middle Tenn. State 59 (9 OTs)- This is definitely wishful thinking on my part, as I will be attending this game on Sunday night.  A nine overtime bowl classic would definitely be a sight to see.

Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State 35, Brigham Young 31- Should be a great game, but Mike Riley is 5-0 in bowl games with the Beavers and the Cougars may be getting bored with the Vegas bowl as they return for a 5th straight year.

Poinsettia Bowl: Utah 27, California 24- No matter who they are playing, who their coach is, or what bowl they are in the Utes don’t lose bowl games.  The winners of 8 straight bowl games should find a way to pull out a close victory against a Bears team that has failed to show up in several games this season.

Hawaii Bowl: Nevada 49, SMU 31- The Wolfpack’s rushing offense is one of the best in the country and SMU’srushing defense is one of the worst.  Can we say, Uh Oh.  The Mustangs will be motivated and be put up some points, but when push comes to shove, they won’t be able to hang with the Pack for a full 60 minutes.

Little Caesars Bowl: Ohio 28, Marshall 17- Marshall comes in without their head coach and with a meager 6-6 record featuring a blowout loss to UTEP to end their season.

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt 31, North Carolina 21- Everybody is talking about UNC’s home-field advantage in this game, but they played in this bowl last year and got beat by a West Virginia team who was much worse than this Pitt squad.

Emerald Bowl: Southern Cal 28, Boston College 20- Everybody is wondering whether or not the Trojans will show up for this game, but even if they don’t, they have still have too much talent for the Eagles.  If you want proof of that just check out this fact from Pat Forde: “According to Phil Steele’s 2009 College Football Preview ratings, Boston College does not have a single player who was in the national top 20 prospects at his position coming out of high school. USC has 50.”  I’m still stunned that my preseason # 1 and preseason # 50 are playing each other in a bowl game.

Music City Bowl: Clemson 27, Kentucky 17- The Tigers are just too good this year to have another letdown performance like they did in this bowl 3 years ago against the Cats.

Independence Bowl: Texas A &M 38, Georgia 35- Upset special!!!  Georgia has laid so many eggs this season that it’s hard for me to think that they will be ready to play in Shreveport, especially  for a bowl they certainly aren’t proud to be in.  On the other hand, A & M will come in motivated and ready to build on their late season offensive resurgence.

EagleBank Bowl: Temple 24, UCLA 21- The favored Bruins are making a cross-country trip to play in a lower-tier bowl game that was beneath their preseason expectations.  On the other hand, this will be like the Super Bowl for the Owls who haven’t bowled since the 1979 Garden State Bowl.  In fact, it has been 75 years since Temple played in a bowl game that is still in existence (1934 Sugar Bowl).  That streak may actually live in on, as I don’t know how many more years a Washington D.C. bowl game played in the archaic RFK Stadium can stick around.

Champs Sports Bowl: Miami-FL 24, Wisconsin 17- The U struggled down the stretch, but I still don’t see a Wisconsin team, who got shellacked by a similarly athletic Florida State team in this bowl last year, to pull off the upset.  Not to mention the fact that the Big 10 has a 1-6 record in this bowl game.

Humanitarian Bowl: Idaho 41, Bowling Green 38- You got to like the Vandals (my preseason # 118thranked team in the country) to pull this one out at home.  It’s been a magical season so far for them, and I think it may culminate with a bowl victory.  I’d also like to dispel the myth that BG is coming into this game red-hot while Idaho is slumping.  Yes, Bowling Green has one four straight but all of the wins were against bowless teams with losing records.  On the other hand, Idaho was 1-4 in its last five but 3 of the 4 losses came against top 40 teams who are all bowling.  “Streaking stats” like that tend to bother me just because they ignore the fact that a team can go on a long winning or losing streak just because they play a lot of difficult or easy games in a row.

Holiday Bowl: Arizona 20, Nebraska 10- Yes, Nebraska’s intimidating defense will shut down Arizona’s usually potent offense for a majority of this game, but I still can’t get out of my head the painful memories of watching that abysmal Cornhuskeroffense try to move the ball up the field with all the skill of a Pop Warner squad.  The Husker D is going to have to setup all of their points, and I don’t know how many times they can do that.

Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force 35, Houston 28-   The Cougars may very well lay an egg in this one after a disappointing loss to ECU.  After their hot early season start, this Houston squad has been extremely inconsistent.  I also don’t envision a defense who gave up 45 points to Tulsa, 43 to Southern Miss, and 37 to UCF to be able to stop the Falcon’s potent triple-option offense.  Meanwhile, Air Force has a strong pass defense to slow down the Cougars.

Sun Bowl: Stanford 24, Oklahoma 20- Another upset special!  Stanford has become the trendy upset pick here, and while I usually shy away from those, I truly believe Gerhartwill be the difference in this one.  Stanford also comes in to this game with much more motivation (if it’s possible to be motivated by playing in El Paso), as this will be their first bowl game since the Ty Willingham days.

Texas Bowl: Navy 20, Missouri 17- The Midshipmen are due a bowl win after three straight close bowl losses.  Mizzou also hasn’t seen anything like Navy’s triple-option offense in the Big 12.

Copper Bowl: Minnesota 23, Iowa State 17- Still sticking to my guns and protesting overcommercializationof bowl games by calling this game by its true name.  As far as this match up goes, even though the Cyclones will be playing this game with a lot more motivation, I just can’t pick Iowa State here as they are without a doubt the worst the BCS team in a bowl game this season.  If you don’t believe me, please consider that their 6-6 record includes zero wins over bowl eligible teams that didn’t cough up the ball six times against them.

Peach Bowl: Virginia Tech 20, Tennessee 14- Like other upper echelon ACC teams, the Hokies could have had a great season if they didn’t throw in a clunker or two along the way (see home loss to UNC).  Regardless, Tech just has too much talent to lose to a Tennessee squad that could be distracted by the impending NCAA investigations.

Outback Bowl: Auburn 31, Northwestern 20- Chizik’s squad struggled down the strech until their impressive performance against Bama.  It’s just hard to pick the Wildcats here given the fact they haven’t won a bowl game since 1948 and have a horrible loss to Syracuse on their 2009 resume.     

Gator Bowl: West Virginia 28, Florida State 24- The Mountaineers are the more talented team, and the Bowden retirement factor can only go so far.  Miami’s egg  in their “Orange Bowl” finale should be a reminder of what can happen when a team has to play under the immense pressure of trying to win an emotional “send-off game”.

Capital One Bowl: LSU 17, Penn State 13- Expect a snoozefest in this matchup of disappointment teams, who have exactly zero wins over current top 25 teams.  Going with the Tigers though just because the Tigers have managed to look respectable against an array of tough SEC opponents. 

Rose Bowl: Oregon 24, Ohio State 13- Several reasons why I see Oregon winning this game pulling away: 1) Ohio State is your typical overrated Big 10 Champ, 2) Ohio State’s defense won’t be able to stop Oregon’s spread attack, and 3) Ohio State’s offense is really bad.

Sugar Bowl: Florida 38, Cincinnati 21- Both teams come in feeling blue as they each fell short of their national title dreams and lost key members of their coaching staffs.  Despite my love for the off-the-radar unbeatens this year (Boise, Cincy, and TCU), I’ve always felt that the Bearcats were by far the worst of the bunch.  Their defense is horrendous and it will get manhandled, just like we saw in the Pitt and UConn games.  The difference will be that the Bearcats offense won’t be able to move the ball like they did against the Florida D.  All in all, this is just a bad match up for the Cats.

International Bowl: South Florida 31, Northern Illinois 17- As I said in my bowl ranking entry last week, there are some bowl games that don’t need to exist and this is one of them.  The only way the Bulls lose this game as if they feel the same way I do about this game and give a non-existent effort.  The MAC has never beaten their Big East opponent in this game and have only made it close one time.

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina 17, Connecticut 14- Expect a low-scoring yet entertaining slugfest between these two squads.  UConnwould love to  cap off its emotionally-charged season with its first win ever over an SEC school.  The Huskies will play hard, and SC has not played well in bowl games under Spurrier.  If the Cocks don’t show up in this one, then they will get beat by this overachieving UConn squad.

Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss 42, Oklahoma State 38- Talk about the disappointment bowl.  Many experts considered these squads to be preseason national title contenders.  At any rate, I give Ole Miss the edge here just because the Rebels at least have one respectable win on their resume (LSU).

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas 28, East Carolina 27- This is a game where I’m so close to calling an upset special, but just can’t quite pull the trigger on it.  ECU has once again made their annual late-season surge under Holtz, and if they can shut down Houston’s potent offensive attack then there is nothing stopping them from doing the same against the Hogs.  However, I still have to give Arkansas the edge because the Pirates have lost six straight game to BCS conference opponents and the  C-USA representative has not beaten their SEC opponent since this bowl game began matching those two conferences against each other.

Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech 49, Michigan State 35- The Red Raiders are perfectly capable of laying an egg in a bowl game under Leach (see last year’s Cotton Bowl), but they are going to have try awful hard to do it against a Michigan State team who was pretty bad even before having 8 of its players suspended. 

National Title Game: TCU 28, Boise State 21- The Horned Frogs will prove they are the best team in the country by winning an instant classic over Boise.  Expect the Frogs’ D to be the difference, as they will make stops when they need to.  I really don’t know what exactly will happen here, but we do know one thing, one of these teams will trail in a football game for the first time since mid-October.  Let’s compare that to one of the CitiBank Bowl participants, Texas, who last trailed in a game literally one second ago.

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech 28, Iowa 23- The outcome of this game may depend on the effectiveness of the banged up Ricky Stanzi who it appears will be returning after an ankle injury he suffered in the Northwestern game.  If he can move the ball  against GT’s somewhat porous defense then they have a chance of winning.  However, if the Hawkeyes’ offense looks like it did after Stanziwent down, then I don’t think they’ll be able to hang with the Jackets.  I know Iowa’s defense has been solid all year, but it’s a whole different ballgame when you’re up against a dual threat triple-option attack like GT’s.

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan 49, Troy 42- Expect a ton of points in this one.  Troy and Central Michigan are the best teams either of  their conferences has seen in several years, but you’ve got to go with the best of the MAC to beat the best of the Sun Belt.  I was, however, a lot more confident about this pick before CMU’s head coach left for Cincy. 

CitiBank Bowl: Alabama 23, Texas 21- It’s funny how the public perception of teams shifts so rapidly.  If this game had been played a month ago Texas would have definitely been favorite.  The Longhorns had demolished nearly every opponent they played all year, and the Tide has struggled to beat South Carolina, Tennessee, and LSU.  Then all of a sudden Bama annihilates Florida in the SEC Championship Game and Texas struggles to beat A & M and Nebraska, and everybody thinks the Tide wins the BCS Championship in a runaway.  These teams are more evenly-matched then people think I’m tempted to pick an upset here based on the psychological advantage the Horn’s have via their underdog status.  However, I just can’t go against the SEC’s perfect record in BCS Title Games.  Until someone topples the Southeastern Conference dynasty, then I’m not picking against them.

Stats            C. Michigan                     Cincinnati

Score                26                                   27

1sts                             17                                           13

total o                       444                                         447

rushes                 25-105-0 td                           21-123-1 td

pass                     23-34-2  td                            21-38-1 td

pass yds                   339                                         324

3rds                          3-12                                        4-14

4ths                          1-2                                          2-3

2 pts                          0-1                                          0

rd/td/fg                4-0-2                                      3-0-2

to                                 1                                              1

fumbles                   0                                              0

int                               1                                              1

pr yds                     26                                           16

kr yds                     122                                         132

total yds               592                                         595

punts/avg          4-41.8                                    6-45.3

pen/yds               5-40                                        5-50

top                        14:42                                     13:31

Player stats:

C             Pike 21-38 324 yds 1 td/1 int

CM         LeFevour 20-31 307 yds 2 td/1 int

C             Ramsey 19 rushes 116 yds 1 td

CM         Schroeder 18-141 yds

C             Ramsey 5 catches 91 yds

                Barnett 3-94 yds 1 td

CM         Brown 10-104 yds

                Anderson 5-146 yds 1 td

                Poblah 1-26 yds 1 td

C             Webster 11 tkl, 2 tfl

                Johnson 1 int for td

CM         Edwards 9 tkl, 1 tfl

                Knight 1 int for td

C             Rogers 2-2 fg

CM         Aguila 2-3 fg

Scoring Summary

The offenses did not live up to the hype in the first quarter.  Cincinnati turned the ball over on downs after failing a 4^th and 5 at the CMU 40 on the 1^st possession of the game.  LeFevour connected with Anderson on a slant that went for a 73 yd td (CMU 7-0).

The pace picked up in the second quarter, where the defenses put up points.  To start the second quarter, Pike hit Ramsey for a 60 yd screen pass to the CMU 6.  The next play Pike gets hit as he throws, the balls lands in the hands of DE Knight who rumbles 94 yds for a td (CMU 14-0).  The next play Pike hits Barnett for a 64 yd td pass up the right sideline (CMU 14-7).  CMU drives down the field, but turns the ball over on downs after failing on a 4^th and 3 at the Cincy 33.  CMU gets the ball back, but LeFevour’s pass gets tipped and picked off by CB Johnson and returned for a td (Tied 14-14).  The ensuing kick return is taken to midfield, where the Cincy K makes a td saving tackle.  CMU then drives the ball to the Cincy 7 and kicks the fg on 4^th and 1 (CMU 17-14).  CMU gets the ball back with 5 seconds left in the half and tries to run the clock out, except RB Schroeder breaks free for a 80 yd run; however, he is caught from behind at the Cincy 5.  HALF TIME 

CMU starts the second half with a fg (20-14).  On Cincy’s next possession, Ramsey breaks a 51 yd td run to give Cincy the lead for the 1^st time in the game (Cin 21-20).  LeFevour would bounce back and march down the field for a 26 yd td pass to Poblah, 2 pt no good (CMU 26-21).

Cincy comes into the 4^th quarter down 5 to a CMU offense that has moved the ball at will throughout the game.  Would the pressure of being the first 1 seed to lose get to them?  Cincy drives the ball down the CMU 7 and cannot punch it in.  They have to settle for 26 yd fg (26-24).  CMU tries to match the Cincy drive and ice the game away.  CMU converts a 4^th and 3 at the Cincy 35; however, the Cincy D holds CMU to a fg attempt.  The fg is wide right from 44 yds with 2 minutes left.  Cincy gets the ball back and converts a 4^th and 1 at the Cincy 35.  They then convert on a huge 4^th and 10 at the CMU 47 to keep the game alive.  Cincy sets up for a 23 yd fg with 5 seconds left in the game and ITS GOOD! (Cincy 27-26). FINAL

Notes

1. The Cincy defense stepped up when it was necessary.  They held CMU scoreless in the 4^th quarter and allowed the Cincy offense to win the game.  The Cincy defense will have to be more consistent if they want to keep advancing.

2. CMU missed opportunities.  CMU got into the red zone 4 times and only came away with 6 points.  Plus, they missed a late fg that would have made it a 5 point game and forced Cincy to score a td to win.  A 4 seed cannot waste that many td opportunities and expect to beat the 1 seed.

3. Where was Ginyard?  He made a few big 1^st down catches at the beginning of the game, but then faded away.  However, RB Ramsey filled in and totaled over 200 yds of offense.

4. The play of the game has to be the Cincy fg with 5 seconds left to advance.  A special mention for CMU DE Knight’s 94 yd int return for a td.  You don’t see a DE make many ints, much less run them back 94 yds for a td.

                                            ECU           Texas

score                                      7                38

1st downs                                        10                     18

total offense                                    198                   449

rushes/yds/td                            20/36                36/187/4

comp/atts/td                              15/31/1             23/34/1

pass yds                                           162                   262

3rd downs                                       1/13                  9/17

4th downs                                       1/2                    1/1

2 pt convs                                        0                        0

red/td/fg                                           1/1/0              5/4/1

turnovers                                              2                      0

fumbles                                                   1                      0

int                                                             1                      0

pr yds                                                  13                     55

kr yds                                                  122                   25

total yds                                            333                   529

punts/avg                                          7/44.1            4/45.3

pen/yds                                             5/45              5/50

time of poss                                 10:47                17:59

 Player Stats:

Passing

T: McCoy 23/34 262 yds 1 td

E: Pinkney 13/29 121 yds 1 td 1 int

Rushing

T: Johnson 33/195 yds 4 td

E: Lindsay 10/47 yds

Receiving

T: Collins 4/60 yds

    Cobb 1/10 yds 1 td

E: Harris 4/46 yds 1 td

Defense

T: Thomas 8 tkls

E: Eskridge 9 tkls

    Ross 6 tkls, 4 tfl, 1 sk

Scoring Summary

            Texas would start the landslide with a 33 yd td run by RB Johnson (Texas 7-0).  Later in the quarter, Texas had a 4th and 2 at the ECU 13, which they would convert.  RB Johnson would then punch it in from 2 yds out (Texas 14-0).

            RB Johnson got his 3rd td of the game with a 3 yd td run off left tackle (Texas 21-0).  ECU drove the ball down the field and had a 4th and inches at the Texas 25.  QB Pinkney picked up the first down on a qb keeper.  This set up a 10 yd td pass from QB Pinkney to WR Harris (Texas 21-7).  On the ensuing kickoff, WR Shipley returned it 98 yds for a td; however, a holding call would nullify the td.  ECU got the ball back and missed a 51 yd fg wide left.  Texas followed suit by missing a 50 yd fg wide right to close out the half. 

            For as bad as ECU played, they were still in the game.  Texas would open the 3rd with a 19 yd fg (Texas 24-7).  RB Johnson then scored his 4th rushing td of the game on a 8 yd run (31-7).  QB Pinkney lost a fumbled as he was sacked at the Texas 49 to end the 3rd.

            Texas converted the fumble into a 10 yd td pass from QB McCoy to RB Cobb (38-7).  Texas would then run the clock out and advance.

Notes:

1.  The Texas defense played extremely well.  ECU only posted 198 yds of total offense, ran for 36 yds on 20 carries, created 2 turnovers, and allowed 1 3rd down conversion in 13 attempts.

2. Texas defeats ECU by 31 with McCoy only throwing 1 td pass.  Texas won this game with a tough running game and a suffocating defense.  If the Longhorns keep playing like this, they will be a very tough out.

3. Texas RB Johnson probably posted the best performance of the 1st round.  He accounted for 4 tds and 195 rushing yds.

4. Play of the game: RB Johnson’s 8 yd run in the 3rd quarter for his 4th td of the game.  ECU was down 17 at the time and was still hanging around.  This put Texas up 24 and took ECU out of the game for good.

As promised, I will now provide you with summaries of all of the simulated games in my mock playoff system.  See entry below for the full Bowl Tournament schdule and formatting information.

Final Stats                       Iowa                             Oregon

Score                        33                                  22

1st Downs                        19                                                    9

total offense                483                                                  236

rushes                        39-235-2 tds                         20-98-0

pass                           20-34-1  td                            14-27-2 tds

pass yds                             248                                         138

3rds                                   6-14                                        3-12

4ths                                          0                                              0

2 pts                                         0                                              1-1

rd/td/fg                             3-1-2                                      2-2-0

TOs                                             1                                              2

fumbles                                   1                                              0

int                                              0                                              2

pr yds                                     44                                           7

kr yds                                    98                                           173

total yds                              625                                         416

punts/avg                         4-35.8                                    6-41.7

pen/yds                              6-45                                        6-35

top                                       17:26                                     10:45

Player stats:

I- Stanzi 20-34, 248 yds, 1 td

O- Masoli 14-27, 138 yds, 2 tds

I- Hampton 28 rushes, 177 yds, 1 td

I- Brinson  9, 68 yds, 1 td

O- Blount 8, 99 yds

O- James 2, 25 yds

O- Masoli 7, -24 yds

I- Hampton 4 catches, 72 yds, 1 td

I- Sandeman 4, 42 yds

O- Dickson 3, 28 yds, 1 td

O- Davis 3, 43 yds, 1 td

I- Angerer 7 tkls, 2 tfl

O- Ward 12 tkls

O- Thurmond III 1 int td

I- Mossbrucker 4-4 fg, 3-3 xpts

Notes

1. Iowa’s defense dominated the game.  Masoli was unable to find any running room and the option was ineffective.  Masoli threw an int on the 1^st possession which lead to an Iowa td.  The Oregon offense only scored 15 points.

2. Iowa’s running game was dominant.  Hampton kept the Oregon defense on the field and made a lot of 1^st downs late in the game.  The running game also made things much easier on Stanzi, who threw for a high percentage.

3. Iowa special teams were excellent.  Mossbrucker hit fgs from 24, 29, 42, and 48 yds.  Iowa held Oregon to 7 punt return yds on 4 punts. 

4. The play of the game was a screen pass from Stanzi to Hampton for a 69 yd td on 3^rd and 10 half way through the 3^rd.

Score Summary

Iowa went up 7-0 on 5 yd td run by Hampton after Masoli threw an int setting up a short field.  Oregon came back when Masoli threw a 10 yd td pass to TE Dickson to make it 7-7.  Hampton then fumbled the ball, which Oregon CB Thurmond picked up for a 70 yd td return making it 14-7.  Iowa RB Brinson then had a 36 yd td run to tie the game at 14 and ending the 1^st quarter.

Masoli then threw an int on a tipped ball.  Iowa converted the turnover into a field goal (Iowa 17-14).  Iowa then makes a field goal to end the half (Iowa 20-14).

Stanzi throws a screen pass to Hampton on 3^rd and 10 to open up the 2^nd half for a 69 yd td (Iowa 27-14).  Iowa then puts together a drive that stalls at the Oregon 4 and Mossbrucker kicks a fg (Iowa 30-14).  Masoli finally completes a 40 yd pass, but a holding call and a false start call end the drive.  3^rd quarter ends.

Oregon forces Iowa to punt with 3:50 left in the game and down 16.  Masoli runs an option and pitches to Blount for a 69 yd run to the Iowa 19.  Masoli then converts on a 10 yd td to WR Davis, 2 pt conversion good (30-22).  Oregon kicks the ball away with 3:00 left in the game and 3 time outs but cannot stop Hampton.  Iowa kicks a fg with 5 seconds left to win 33-22.

With this week’s approval of the playoff bill, I thought it would be a perfect time to post my mock playoff bracket for this year onto the blog.  I have also spend some time tonight listening to the ignorant/humorous remarks of BCS Executive Director, who claims he goes around asking people how they would handle a college football playoff and no one can give him a good answer.  Well Bill, try this one on for size.  I laid out the guidelines for my system in a blog entry a couple of months ago, but for those who didn’t see them then, I have re-posted those guidelines below this year’s schedule.  Anyone that would like to see this playoff in an excel bracket format then just let me know and I’ll send you a copy.  Also, I plan on simulating each of these games on NCAA College Football 2010 using X-Box, and I will provide a recap of each playoff game on this blog as it would happen based on the schedule below.

The Field: Georgia Tech (ACC  Champ), Cincinnati (Big East Champ), Ohio State (Big 10 Champ), Texas (Big 12 Champ), Oregon (Pac-10 Champ), Alabama (SEC Champ), TCU (MWC Champ), Boise State (WAC Champ), East Carolina (C-USA Champ), Central Michigan (MAC Champ), Troy (Sun Belt Champ), Florida (at-large, # 5 in BTS standings), Iowa (at-large, # 10 in BTS standings), Virginia Tech (at-large, # 11 in BTS standings), LSU, (at-large, # 12 in BTS standings), Penn State (at-large, # 13 in BTS standings).

South  Regional

(1) Alabama vs. (4) Troy, Saturday December 19th- 3:30 (ABC/ESPN), Tampa, FL  

(2) Ohio State vs. (3) Georgia Tech, Saturday December 19th- 12:00 (ABC/ESPN), Memphis, TN

Winners play Saturday December 26th at 8:00 in Atlanta, GA (ABC)

West Regional

(1) TCU vs. (4) Penn State, Saturday December 19th- 3:30 (ABC/ESPN), Albuquerque, NM

(2) Florida vs. (3) Virginia Tech, Saturday December 19th- 3:30 (ABC), Las Vegas, NV

Winners play Saturday December 26th at 3:30 in San Diego, CA (ABC/ESPN)

Midwest Regional

(1) Texas vs. (4) East Carolina, Saturday December 19th- 8:00 (ESPN), San Antonio, TX

(2) Oregon vs. (3) Iowa, Thursday December 17th- 8:00 (ESPN), Houston, TX

Winners play Saturday December 26th at 3:30 in Phoenix, AZ (ABC/ESPN)

East Regional

(1) Cincinnati vs. (4) Central Michigan, Friday December 18th- 8:00 (ESPN), Washington D.C. 

(2) Boise State vs. (3) LSU, Saturday December 19th- 12:00 (ESPN), Charlotte, NC

Winners play Saturday December 26th at 12:00 in Dallas, TX (ABC)

Final Four/Championship

South Champ vs. West Champ, Saturday January 2nd- 8:00 (ABC), Pasadena, CA

Midwest Champ vs. East Champ, Saturday January 2nd- 3:30 (ABC), New Orleans, LA

Championship Game, Saturday Jan 9th- 8:00 (ABC), Miami, FL

Basic Format:

• 16 teams (11 conference championships and 5 at-larges chosen by the top 5 in the BTS Standings, which is the functional equivalent to the BCS.  My rationale is for this is that it’s something computer/poll-related to keep the pro-BCS folks happy)
• 4 regions (teams seeded 1-4 based on committee)
• Bowl sites will become tourney sites.  See further explanation below. 
• Selection Sunday will be held the day after conference championship day and the first game will be played two weeks after that.  This gives teams time to rest/heal up after the regular season and for the players to complete their exams, which is always a gripe from the anti-playoff crowd.
• A couple of special stipulations are that two teams from the same conference can’t play in the same region, and each conference is limited to three total playoff teams. 

Scheduling:

• I’ve even drafted a mock game schedule that takes into consideration both the interests of the viewers and  television providers.  I’m going to assume that ABC/ESPN buy the rights to playoff coverage, since they have already purchased future BCS coverage rights.  The ABC/ESPN splits will be conducted just like they are now with ABC providing everybody’s regional games, and ESPN showing the games outside the area.
• Week 1 (First Round):  Game 1: Thursday 8:00- second best game of the week (ESPN);  Game 2: Friday 8:00- worst game of the week (ESPN); Games 3 and 4: Saturday 12:00- two non-west region games (ABC/ESPN split); Games 5 and 6: Saturday 3:30- two games of any type (ABC/ESPN split); Games 7 and 8: Saturday 8:00- game of the week is on ABC; ESPN has other game.
• Week 2 (Elite 8): Game 1: Saturday 12:00- Third biggest game of the week but can’t be midwest/west regional final (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 3:30- Worst game of the week (ESPN); Game 3: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 4: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 3 (Final Four): Game 1: Saturday 3:30- Second biggest game of the week (ABC); Game 2: Saturday 8:00- Featured game of the week (ABC).
• Week 4 (Championship Game): Saturday 8:00 (ABC)

Bowl Sites:

• Lower-level bowl sites will become first round sites on a rotational basis.  2009: East Regional- Washington D.C. Charlotte; South Regional- Memphis, Tampa; Midwest Regional- San Antonio, Houston; West Regional: Albuquerque, Las Vegas.  2010: East- Birmingham, New York (site of new Yankee bowl); South- Mobile, Orlando; Midwest- El Paso, Shreveport; West- San Francisco, Boise.  2011: East- Toronto, Nashville; South- Jacksonville, Nashville; Midwest- Fort Worth, Detroit; West: San Jose, Honolulu. 
•  The current semi-major bowl sites of Dallas (Cotton), San Diego(Holiday), Phoenix (Fiesta), and Atlanta (Chick-Fil-A) will be annual elite 8 sites.  Midwest Regional- Phoenix, East Regional- Dallas, West Regional- San Diego, South Regional- Atlanta.
• The Final Four/Championship games will be held at Pasadena, New Orleans, and Miami.  The championship game will rotate between the 3 sites, and the two final four games will be played in the non-championship cities. 
• Other notes: (1) New bowl sites coming into existence must replace old ones.  (2) The first-round sites that are off of the playoff rotation will still hold bowl games.  More explanation on that to follow.  (3) I do realize that the Fiesta Bowl and the city of Phoenix are going to feel they got screwed here, as they are being demoted from a current BCS site to an elite 8 playoff site.  They’ll just have to get over it because the Fiesta has without a doubt less tradition and prestige associated with it than the rest of the BCS bowls.

Remaining Bowl Games:

• This is time where things get tricky, as I try to accommodate the rest of the bowl eligible teams who do not make the 16-team playoff.
• There will be 16 bowl games held at all the first-round sites who are off of the playoff rotation.
• The names of the bowls can either change depending on which bowl is being played each year, or a bowl game can be played every year at different sites.  It doesn’t really make a difference to me.
• The tie-ins for the bowls will try to replicate those for the current bowl games with the obvious omission of all tie-ins of conference champoins.  Also, the number of bowl teams from each conference may fluctuate depending on how many teams it sends to the playoff in a particular season.
• Overall, in this system there will be 48 1-A postseason teams (16 in playoff, 32 in bowls), which is much more reasonable than the current number fo 64.  Honestly, by taking out some of the garbage teams who currently squeak into bowl games, I think this system will actually make the bowl games more meaningful and watchable.

From top to bottom, it’s probably a slightly below average bowl season, as far as matchups go.  Four of the five BCS games are either as good or better than usual, but the fifth game is absolutely horrible.  It also seems like we are missing those two or three extremely captivating non-BCS bowl games that we usually have each year.  However, just because a lot of the games don’t look great on paper, doesn’t mean that they won’t end up as classics on the field.  In fact, it is promising that there are glaring few double-digit spreads in this year’s games (3) meaning we could have several nail-biters.  Of course, it’s extremely disappointing not to have my Alma Mater in a bowl, but hey what can you do.  Here are my rankings of this year’s bowl games based on the quality/viewability of each matchup.  I will try to hinder my personal interests in particular teams from affecting these rankings.  Next week, I will be making my bowl picks, so if you are looking for some projections to go by, then check back for that.

Must-See Bowl Games

1.  Tostito’s National Championship Game: Boise State vs. TCU-  For the first time since the 2005 season (the USC vs. Texas year), my # 1 and # 2 ranked teams will playing each other in a bowl game to prove who the best team in the country is.  I’m somewhat disappointed this game isn’t the finale of the bowl season, like most national championship games are, but it’s also cool to see it on a Monday night which is the same night the NCAA uses for its basketball national championship.   Let’s all hope this game is as good as it looks on paper.

2.  Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinnati- I will be interested to see how the Gators play after falling short of their national title dreams.  I don’t think they’ll lay an egg, since it’s Tebow’s last game, but if they’re not careful then they could be the victim of a second consecutive Sugar Bowl shocker.  Whether or not Brian Kelly will be coaching this game is an important factor to consider, but if Cincy can somehow woodshed the Gators then they might be able to steal my national championship vote away from the winner of Game # 1.

3.  CitiBank Bowl: Alabama vs. Texas- This will be a quality BCS matchup between two undefeated, national powerhouses.  It’s a shame that neither one will get to play one of the national championship game participants to have a chance to prove they are the best team in the country, but that’s why we need a playoff.  The top two Heisman trophy finishers could be squaring off in this one, and seeing an SEC playing in Pasadena will be really cool.  Hopefully, it won’t  much of a letdown for viewers, since it is being played three days after the national title game for some reason.

4.  Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Ohio State- I always loved following the Cinderella Rose Bowl participants of the mid-1990s (Wisconsin- 1994, Oregon- 1995, Northwestern- 1996, Arizona State- 1997, Washington State- 1998), and I was hoping after the USC debacle that we’d get another similar storyline here from the Pac-10.  Unfortunately, Oregon just isn’t that great of a feel-good story compared to Oregon State, Stanford or Arizona who could have played in this game instead.  I especially don’t like the fact that the Ducks decided to reinstate LeGarrette ”Blount Force Punch” just when they needed him to clinch the conference title for them.  Nonetheless, this should be a good BCS game featuring two contrasting styles. 

5.  Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green vs. Idaho- Since this blog is entitled “Ramblings of the Sports Sentimentalist”, I’m naturally going to hype up games with the most sentimental storylines.  That is why games ranked 5-9 have that quality as their distinguishing features, and is also why the Humanitarian Bowl (traditionally one of the worst bowl games) has managed to make it to # 5.  The Idaho Vandals are of course the feel-good story here, as me and several other experts ranked them 118thin the preseason.  In fact, if you refer back to my preseason projections, I said that their opener versus New Mexico State would likely serve as both teams only chance to win a game against a 1-A opponent all season.  Well, I was way off on that one.  The Vandals are probably the worst regarded preseason team ever to make a bowl, which is why this game has to be in the top

6.  Gator Bowl: West Virginia vs. Florida State- Sentimental storyline: Bobby Bowden’s final game.  Enough said. 

7.  Hawaii Bowl: Nevada vs. SMU- I don’t really care about June Jones coming back to Hawaii.  That’s not the big sentimental storyline here.  The focus of this game should be all on SMU’slong-last resurrection from the death penalty.    

8.  EagleBank Bowl: UCLA vs. Temple- Another typically abysmal bowl game with a great feel-good storyline.  Regardless of who Temple is playing, the fact that the Owls are in their first bowl since the 1979 Garden State Bowl is reason enough to watch this game.  Unfortunately for Temple fans, they still haven’t played at a warm weather bowl site since the 1934 Sugar Bowl. 

9.  Copper Bowl: Minnesota vs. Iowa State- As a protest against the over-commercialization of college sports, I refuse to call established bowl games by their new sponsor names.  That is why this game will be referred to as the Copper Bowl, and the reason is at # 9 is because of Iowa State’s miraculous run to a bowl game after three straight horrible seasons.  My comment in my preseason college football guide was: “Don’t see them beating any of the 10 BCS schools on their schedule”.  Paul Rhoads emotional post game speech after their win over Nebraska also enhances the sentimentality of this story.

10.  Sun Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Stanford- The combined unbelievability factor of all five of the miraculous storylines I just mentioned pretty much equals the outlandishness of Oklahoma being a 9.5 point favorite in this game.  There is absolutely no basis for such a point spread.  Stanford has had a better season, more talent, and will come in more motivated.  Stanford is without Luck at QB, but unless Bradford plans on coming back for the Sooners than expect a close game between an established powerhouse and one of the up and coming programs in the country.  This is also an incredible coaching matchup with two of the brightest college football minds in the country, Harbaugh and Stoops, matching wits.

11.  GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Troy- The GMAC has once again produced a blockbuster battle of mid-major powerhouses (last year Tulsa played Ball State).  Unfortunately, this bowl game has not featured many close games, and I’m not quite sure if Troy has the offensive power to keep up with CMU here either.  Nevertheless, enjoy the chance to watch two very good football teams that you don’t get to see on TV very often.

12.  Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. East Carolina- The Pirates have once again made a late season surge to capture their conference championship and go to the Liberty Bowl.  They lost a close game to Kentucky last year in Memphis, and I expect another tight contest here.  If ECU could slow down Houston’s potent offense, I don’t see why they can’t do the same against the Hogs.  This bowl always interests me because it seems to constantly produce close games (last 5 matchups decided by 7 points or less) despite annually inviting a non-BCS team to play an SEC squad.

Watchable Bowl Games (Real college football fans should tune in, others maybe not)

13.  Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina vs. UConn- The Huskies have battled through more adversity than anyone this year after the death of their cornerback Jasper Howard.  They will undoubtedly come into Legion Field with plenty to play for, and if the Gamecocks don’t watch out, they will get upset in this one.  Expect a close, tight game throughout, as the Huskies have won or lost in dramatic fashion in almost every game they’ve played this year.

14.  Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss- Let’s call this disappointment bowl 1, as this is one of several bowl games this season matching teams who immensely underachieved based on their preseason expectations.  Unlike  several other disappointment bowls however this game should be close and entertaining.  It will also feature two offensive superstars playing in their last collegiate games, as Zac Robinson and Dexter McCluster  take the field for the final time.

15.  Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. Clemson- I generally hate meaningless rematch bowl games, especially when the first matchup wasn’t very exciting.  That’s definitely the case here as Kentucky blew out the Tigers in this same bowl in 2006.  Still, this game is an exception to that rule because it features two of the most versatile players in the country in Randall Cobb and C.J. Spiller

16.  Holiday: Arizona vs. Nebraska- The Holiday Bowl has produced many memorable games, and this matchup should be no exception.  If you like watching defensive struggles, then this game is for you.  The only reason it isn’t ranked higher on this list is that nothing involving Nebraska’s anemic offense should be described as “must see”.

17.  Las Vegas: Oregon State vs. Brigham Young- No bowl in the country has come farther than the Las Vegas Bowl.  Throughout the 80s and 90s, it was considered far and away the worst bowl game due to its MAC and Big West tie-ins.  This year, it matches two top 25 teams who both had legitimate BCS aspirations.

18.  Poinsettia: Utah vs. California- Very similar to the Las Vegas Bowl in that it matches an upper echelon Pac-10 team against an elite Mountain West squad.  One added plot twist in this one is that both programs are riding impressive bowl winning streaks into this game.  Cal has won its last 4 bowl games, while Utah has won its last 5 including two BCS games.

19.  Armed Forces: Houston vs. Air Force- I was really excited about this game between two teams with impressive yet vastly different offensive schemes until I realized that it was a rematch between two squads who played each other twice last year (once in this very same bowl).  Then I remember that last year’s game was a classic shootout, so this bowl could be very good again.

20.  Capital One Bowl: Penn State vs LSU- This would be Disappointment Bowl II without a doubt. Neither team won a big game they played this year, as the Lions best win came against Michigan State and LSU’s against Arkansas. Neither team has any bad losses, but expect a low-scoring snoozefest in this one. 

21.  Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Auburn- Probably the worst two teams ever to play in this 24-year old old bowl game.  It will still be fun trying to see Northwestern win its first bowl since 1948 though. 

22.  Independence Bowl: Georgia vs. Texas A & M- This actually may be the best Independence Bowl we’ve seen in years.  Should be a high-scoring shootout between two squads that looked good at times this year and looked horrible at others. 

23.  Texas Bowl: Navy vs. Missouri- Watching Navy’s triple-option attack against a BCS conference opponent isn’t quite what it used to be.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fun to see defenses try to pick apart this offense, but now that Paul Johnson has taken this offense to the BCS level it’s not really that much of a novel act anymore.  Still, this should be a good game between two teams with contrasting styles.

24.  New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee State- Two of the most underrated offensive players in the country will face-off in this C-USA/Sun Belt battle.  Darrion Fletcher has been an exceptional running back throughout his career at Southern Miss, and Dwight Dasher put up some sold numbers this year for MTSU.  I will be in attendance for this game, so hopefully this will turn out to be the gem of the early bowl season that some are predicting.

Barely Watchable Bowl Games (aka Clunkers)

25.  Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. Southern Cal- The ultimate overachievers (BC) will take on the ultimate underachievers (Southern Cal).  I never dreamed I would find my preseason # 1 take on my preseason # 50 in the same bowl game.  Nevertheless, it will be entertaining/humorous to see the mighty Trojans play on such a lowly stage.  BC could pull the upset if the Trojans don’t show up.

26.  Peach Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee- By far the worst Peach/Chick-fil-A bowl ever created.  Shame on the organizers of this for not picking a better SEC team and simply capitalizing on the Kiffin appeal.  Last year’s LSU and Georgia Tech matchup left much to be desired, and this game figures to be even worse.  It will ugly, low-scoring, lopsided, and downright hard to watch.

27.  Alamo Bowl: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech- Definitely one of the worst Alamo Bowl matchups in recent history.  The Red Raiders actually ended up having a surprisingly decent season, while Michigan State pulled the usual Big 10 joke scheduling gimmick and qualified for a bowl by only beating one other bowl eligible team.

28.  Orange Bowl: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech- You don’t think I would put a BCS bowl game this low in my rankings?  Well, when its this bad there is no other place for it.

29.  Champs Sports Bowl: Miami-FL vs. Wisconsin- Some people are getting excited about this game and I’m not really sure why.  Seems like a very mundane bowl game featuring a typically boring Wisconsin squad and a Hurricane team that limped home after a promising early season start. 

30.  Meineke Car Care Bowl: Pitt vs. North Carolina- Another game that has been extremely overrated since the bowl schedule came out.  I know the coaching matchup is cool with Wannstedt and Davis reuniting, but keep in mind that both of these teams lost to NC State.  Enough said.

31.  St. Petersburg Bowl: UCF vs. Rutgers- This battle of the knights would not amuse King Arthur in the least.  Can’t give you a good reason to watch this game.

32.  International Bowl: South Florida vs. Northern Illinois- Some bowl games never should exist.  The Garden State Bowl is a good example.  The International Bowl is another.  Is it really necessary for a mediocre Big East team to go up to Canada to clobber a mediocre MAC team every year?

33.  Little Caesar’s Bowl: Marshall vs. Ohio- Yes, I know I should stick to my rule and not give into over commercialization by referring to this game by its sponsorship name, but I really like Little Caesar’s Pizza.  On the other hand, I don’t really like this matchup.  In fact, neither does Marshall’s former head coach Mark Snyder who resigned immediately after the regular season to avoid having to coach in this dud of a bowl game.

34.  New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State vs. Wyoming- Might as well start the bowl season off with a bang right?  The New Mexico Bowl seems to have established itself as the new worst bowl game in America (which I guess wouldn’t include the International Bowl since its in Canada).   Ryan Matthews is the Fresno State running back.  He’s a good player and has my last name.  That’s all I got for this one.