Monday, January 02, 2006

Mirek's Bowl Mania 2005 / 2006 Wrap



All I can say is wow and thank you. Thanks for playing BOWL MANIA again this year. We had the largest field of all time this year. Thanks for playing and see you in 9 months for Ronler Pick-Em 2006.

Hamilton has been large and in-charge from the beginning, but does he have enough to hang-on for the win? How about those bowl games? The first 9 or so went pretty much as predicted until the first shot heard 'round the world when Nebraska upset a much better Michigan team in the Alamo Bowl - with a lot of help from the officials.

The upsets continued in the following days. Here are my thoughts on the bowl games this year:

1) Nebraska over Michigan? Only with a lot of help from the men in stripes. Don't get me wrong, Nebraska played well but not well enough to win by themselves. Michigan should have won that game, but didn't really do enough to earn it on the field.

2) What was the best game of the season? I submit the Insight Bowl where Rutgers put up a great fight against a game ASU squad, probably a bit disappointed in their bowl game this year. What a game. It had it all as ASU held on for a 45-40 victory in the desert.

3) Close honorable-mention games: Nevada over UCF in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. George O'Leary's squad almost pulled off the upset. How about the MPC BOWL where BC held on to barely beat Boise State? Hawkins heads East to take charge of a scandal-ridden Colorado bunch. Good luck. And the 72nd Nokia Sugar Bowl was a good one right down until the very end when the punter for WV found daylight and a first down.

4) In the big - disappointment bowls, there were plenty. Here they are:

a) UTAH beating GA TECH. Ugh, that was an ugly Emerald Bowl. No way is UTAH that good. GA TECH just didn't show up this year, and lost 38-10.

b) Wisconsin over Auburn in the Cap 1 Bowl. Ouch, congrats to Barry as he goes out on top. Auburn just didn't look like themselves today. In bowl games, it's all about showing up and preparation. The regular season really doesn't matter that much. Badgers go out as champions in Orlando: 24-10.

c) Virginia over Minnesota in Charlotte. Yikes, and the Gophers had the huge halftime lead to boot. Hey Mason, tell you squad a regulation game is 60 minutes. Congrats to the men from Monticello. 31-24, Virginia. Ugh!

d) South Carolina going down against Missouri in the Liberty Bowl, 38-31. The Gamecocks dominated most of this game but were unable to finish what they started. Brad Smith ran ruck-shot over the Gophers in the 2nd half.

e) Miami, 40-3 losers to LSU in the Peach Bowl. Again, another game where 1 team showed-up and the other didn't. Coker had to clear house after this one. This was very very bad.

Here is my first look at the 2006 pre-season poll heading into the spring camps. Of course, this assumes a lot, but as of right now here's how I see them for next season:

1) Texas
2) LSU
3) Florida
4) Va Tech
5) WV
6) Auburn
7) Notre Dame
8) FSU
9) Michigan
10) Oklahoma

And in case you missed them, here are the top 100 moments from this year's bowl season: http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5222782

Comments:
To me Penn St. belongs in the top 10 and Florida at #3 is a bit of a stretch.
 
Yeah, and as mush as I hate to say it, Ohio St needs to be in the top 10 too. Frey
 
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