Pete
Fiutak
Q:
What are you looking forward to this bowl season?
A:
To be honest, I'm looking forward to more college football. The regular
season was so fantastic that I'm ready for more good matchups. It might
take a few games to get everyone's bowl feet wet, but after the first
seven, the Arizona State - Texas Holiday Bowl on the 27th should be fun.
I'm looking forward to seeing LSU, Michigan and Wisconsin as healthy as
they've been since early in the season, and I'm looking forward to
seeing Hawaii's offense get is shot against Georgia on the big stage.
More than anything else this bowl season, I'm looking forward to the Big
Ten - SEC matchup, along with seeing if Illinois can do anything against
USC. The Big Ten has taken such a huge public relations hit since Ohio
State got crushed by Florida and Michigan got blasted by USC in the last
BCS, I want to see what will happen when Michigan and Florida square off
in the Capital One, Wisconsin and Tennessee battle in the Outback, and
of course, Ohio State vs. LSU in the national title. These three games,
more than any other, will stoke the message boards and the fires
throughout the offseason.
Richard
Cirminiello
Q:
What are you looking forward to this bowl season?
A:
I realize this is an unconventional viewpoint, but for me, the 2007
season basically ended when the bowl pairings were announced. The
conference champions have been decided. Individual awards have been
handed out. Save for determining who’ll be crowned national champion,
it’s already 2008. And with that in mind, I’m most interested in
getting a real good look at those freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that
we’ll be talking about plenty as soon as the last piece of confetti hits
the Superdome carpet on Jan. 7. You know, the kind of look that isn’t
always possible on a Saturday that’s jam-packed with 50-60 competing
games.
I want a better look at that young Georgia offensive line because it
might be blocking next fall for the second sophomore to ever win the
Heisman Trophy. I want to see for myself what makes Indiana DE Greg
Middleton so doggone tough to block. I want an opportunity to really
lock into Ball State QB Nate Davis for four quarters. I want to decide
for myself if LSU S Chad Jones really is the second-coming of LaRon
Landry in Baton Rouge. I want to see UCLA WR Dominique Johnson teaming
up with a quarterback that actually received a scholarship to play the
position at this level. In other words, I’m using the next 32 games,
the final 32 games of 2007, to do some advanced scouting of the teams
and players that’ll dominate discussions and debates throughout 2008.
The National Championship game aside, the outcome of the next few week’s
bowl games have little or no bearing on the 2007 season. We might as
well milk what we can from them in order to get a head start on the next
season, which is already upon us.
John
Harris
Q:
What are you looking forward to this bowl season?
A: Ten Things that I’m
looking forward to, in no particular order
1. Michigan futilely trying to stop, not
only, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, but quicksilver Percy Harvin and
the rest of the Florida offense
2. The SEC – Big Ten
Challenge – Bowl style
3. The Cotton Bowl,
which should be one of the best games of bowl season
4. UVA’s Chris Long’s
pass rush all day long against pass happy Texas Tech
5. Hawaii’s Colt
Brennan facing an SEC defense in the Sugar Bowl
6. Teams with interim
coaches and those about to lose a coach
7. Florida Atlantic in
its first bowl in New Orleans
8. Nick Saban in
Shreveport, because he won’t be spending many more Holidays in such
exotic locales
9. USC and Georgia in
the Rose Bowl, oh, wait, that didn’t happen in the name of tradition.
Rock on, Rose Bowl, enjoy the parade.
10. LSU fan and Ohio
State fan making acquaintances in the French Quarter
Matthew
Zemek
Q:
What are you looking forward to this bowl season?
A: I'm looking for bowl
outcomes that will embarrass the sport of college football and its
power brokers, so that we get a plus-one, pronto (and so that the
BCS bowls will, in the short run, be allowed to mix and match teams
without being constrained by artificial tie-ins that no longer
possess much of any meaning).
I'm looking for USC to beat Illinois by 50 in the Rose Bowl so
that the Tournament of Roses will be properly shamed for not picking
Georgia and giving college football fans a good matchup.
All in all, these bowl matchups stink with the exceptions of the
Fiesta, Capital One, Holiday, and Cotton. There's just not much to
look for... it would be a lie to say this year's bowl lineup is even
remotely exciting. The only thing to look for is embarrassment that
will shame various power brokers into action (action that isn't
likely, but which can always be hoped for).