Bowl Observations & Fun Facts

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE 2012-2013 BOWLS - We get the bowl analysis rolling with 35 interesting tidbits.

By Matt Zemek
E-mail Matt Zemek


35 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE 2012-2013 BOWLS

35) Eight teams are returning to the same bowl they played in last season. Louisiana-Lafayette (New Orleans), Arkansas State (GoDaddy.com), Georgia Tech (Sun), Utah State (Potato), Nebraska (Capital One), Wisconsin (Rose), Boise State (Las Vegas), and Pittsburgh (BBVA Compass) are the eight repeat visitors to bowl cities.

34) From that list above, Wisconsin, Boise State, and Pittsburgh are appearing in the same bowl for three years running.

33) Number of 6-6 teams in these bowls: 12. Number of non-winning teams in these bowls: 13, given the addition of 6-7 Georgia Tech. You could stage six full bowls without a single winning team. Let that sink in.

32) Number of bowls matching Pac-12 and SEC teams: none.

31) Composite record of the Mountain West's three co-champions, Boise State, Fresno State, and San Diego State: 28-8. Composite record of the three teams BSU, Fresno, and SDSU are facing in their respective bowl games: 20-16. Those three co-champions really got rewarded for their respective seasons, didn't they?

30) Utah State, champion of a non-AQ conference, is playing a team that did not win its own non-AQ conference (Toledo in the Mid-American Conference). Some reward for the Aggies.

29) Last year, 7-5 Western Kentucky did not get picked for a bowl game. This year, 8-4 Middle Tennessee did not get picked while 7-5 Western Kentucky did.

28) In 2010, 8-4 Temple did not get picked for a bowl game. This year, 9-3 Louisiana Tech – though unwilling to commit to the Independence Bowl when it had the chance to do so – still got turned down or ignored by the collection of 29 (other) non-BCS bowls.

27) Kent State is snapping a bowl drought that lasted more than twice as long as Duke's just-ended bowl drought.

26) Vanderbilt is making its third bowl appearance in the past five seasons, an unprecedented occurrence.

25) Number of bowls matching ACC and Pac-12 teams: 1. Number of bowls matching ACC teams with a losing record and a Pac-12 team: 1. Number of bowls matching ACC teams with winning records and a Pac-12 team: none.

24) Number of 7-5 bowl teams: 14. That's seven bowls' worth of teams that barely eclipsed the .500 mark. In other words, 27 bowl teams have failed to produce a record better than two games over .500.

23) Number of bowl teams with 10 or more wins, by conference: SEC, 6; ACC, Big 12, MAC, Pac-12 and WAC, 2; Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, and Mountain West, 1; Sun Belt, 0.

22) BCS bowl invitations handed out to the six division winners who lost their respective conference championship games: 0.

21) Arkansas State, champion of its non-AQ conference, will play a non-AQ team that did not win its own conference (Kent State from the MAC).

20) Number of 10- or 11-win SEC teams that won't play in a BCS bowl: 4.

19) Minnesota, a bowl team, went 2-6 in the Big Ten this season.

18) Texas Tech, Minnesota's bowl opponent this season, lost four of its last five regular season games. In 2011, the Red Raiders lost each of their last five games.

17) Bowl matchups in which the win-differential between the two teams is three or more: 6.

16) Number of bowls not televised by ESPN/ABC or an affiliated cable channel part of the ESPN umbrella: 2.

15) Number of bowls matching teams from the Big 12 and the ACC: 0. This underscores the bowl system's utter lack of variety (and freedom).

14) Number of bowls matching teams from the Pac-12 and Big East: 0.

13) Total number of non-AQ conference teams in this season's bowl lineup (including BYU and Navy but excluding Notre Dame): 25, which means there are 45 teams from AQ conferences in this season's list of bowl games.

12) Non-AQ conference teams playing AQ opponents in bowl games: 5.

11) Bowl games pitting one non-AQ team against another: 10.

The 10 best bowls, counting down to the best one: Poinsettia. It will feel like old times when San Diego State and BYU renew their spirited rivalry.

9) Alamo. Texas and Oregon State are noticeably different in a number of ways, chiefly their reputations, levels of national visibility, and postseason histories. Their encounter in San Antonio feels new… because it is.

8) Outback. Steve Spurrier coaching against Michigan – that feels so right, even if the Wolverines have felt so wrong for much of the season.

7) Orange. No, this isn't quite an enthralling matchup… but that's because Florida State is painful to watch. It's great for college football that Northern Illinois and the MAC will get a chance to prove their worth on the field.

6) Cotton. This could be a 100-point game. It probably won't be, but it could.

5) BCS National Championship Game. Defense should dominate to the point of boredom, but the theater and atmosphere surrounding this game will still make it a compelling, arresting spectacle, a can't-miss collision laden with supreme box-office star power.

4) Fight Hunger. Perhaps this matchup feels great simply because of the fact that Illinois and UCLA made the Fight Hunger Bowl unwatchable a year ago. Nevertheless, Navy versus Arizona State is one of those mystery matchups that infuses the bowls with a certain degree of freshness and charm.

3) Holiday. Pass the popcorn, folks, while UCLA and Baylor pass the football up and down the field.

2) Chick-Fil-A. Tajh Boyd going up against LSU's front four? Man, that's as good as it gets for a December bowl.

1) Fiesta. Chip Kelly versus Bill Snyder. Marcus Mariota versus Collin Klein. Two underrated defenses. This could have been the national championship game had neither team lost on Nov. 17. Can this game start right now?