2009-2010 Bowl Rankings
How entertaining will the bowls be?
- Why each bowl
might be good
The 2009 Pre-Bowl Rankings
- No. 1 to No. 7 |
No. 8
to No. 17 |
No. 29
to No. 34
By
Pete Fiutak
The Jamie Jungerses ... Something To Do
Because You're Bored
They're bowl games. What are you going
to do, play with the kids?
28. AutoZone Liberty Bowl
January 2, Memphis TN 5:30 pm ESPN
East Carolina vs. Arkansas
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Ryan Mallett. Is this the Hog quarterback's
final college appearance? That's the big question
around the program as he has a big decision to make
about his NFL future. 2) The Conference USA
champion. This is a huge game for the league as it
needs a win over the midrange SEC team for more
respect. 3) ECU has won six of its last seven games
with the one loss coming to Virginia Tech.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: East Carolina doesn't have enough
offense to keep up if Arkansas gets up early, and
while the Hog defense isn't great, it's not as bad
as Houston's.
Three Names To Drop Who'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1)
Dominique Lindsay, RB East Carolina, 2) Wendel
Davis, LB Arkansas, 3) Matt Dodge, P East Carolina
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Arkansas 35 ... East
Carolina 17
-
Get Tickets For The
Liberty Bowl
27. R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
December 20th, New Orleans LA, 8 pm ESPN
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Dwight Dasher. He might not have been the
best quarterback in the Sun Belt this year, but he
might have been the best all-around player. 2)
Damion Fletcher. He might not have been the best
running back in Conference USA this year, but he's63
yards away from his fourth straight 1,000-yard
season. 3) Pass rush. MTSU's was the best in the Sun
Belt and USM's was second in C-USA.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: If this was on a Thursday night
during the season, would you watch? Middle
Tennessee's best win was over ULM (no, not
Maryland).
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1)
Marcus Udell, CB MTSU, 2)
Martevious Young, QB Southern Miss, 3) Tracy Lampley,
KR/PR Southern Miss
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Southern Miss 26 ... Middle
Tennessee 21
-
Get Tickets For The
New Orleans Bowl
26. Outback Bowl
January 1, Tampa FL, 11 am, ESPN
Northwestern vs. Auburn
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) The Gus Malzahn offense. When it's humming,
Auburn is a blast to watch. 2) Mike Kafka. He was
the best quarterback in the Big Ten this year. Yes,
even better than Daryll Clark. 3) Pat Fitzgerald. If
you don't believe Northwestern will bring an A
effort, Fitz will come to your house and sit on you.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: It's Northwestern in a bowl. The
Wildcats have rarely been pretty in the post-season.
Auburn lost five of its last seven games.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Corey
Wootton, DE Northwestern, 2)
Ben Tate, RB Auburn, 3) Brad Phillips, S
Northwestern
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Auburn 24 ... Northwestern
14
-
Get Tickets For The
Outback Bowl
25. St. Petersburg Bowl
December 19th, St. Petersburg FL, 8 pm,
ESPN
Rutgers vs. UCF
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) UCF is good. It might not have been C-USA
title good, but it has the league's best defense and
has a tremendous pass rush. The Knights won five of
their last six games. 2) Rutgers always shows up for
the bowls even again inferior competition. The
Scarlet Knights have won their last three bowl
games. 3) Rutgers is second in the nation tackles
for loss. The defense on both sides will be
aggressive.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: Rutgers finished the season 99th in
total offense, UCF finished 84th. Neither one lights
up the scoreboard except against miserable Ds.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Tom
Savage, QB Rutgers, 2)
Brynn Harvey, RB UCF, 3) Bruce Miller, DE UCF
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Rutgers 27 ... UCF 13
-
Get Tickets For The
St. Petersburg Bowl
24. Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
December 30th, San Diego CA, 8 pm ESPN
Nebraska vs. Arizona
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Ndamukong Suh, Ndamukong Suh, Ndamukong Suh.
2) Arizona can play a little bit of D. The Wildcats
finished second in the Pac 10 in total defense and
was great against the mediocre offenses (like
Nebraska's). 3) It's not going to be a blowout in
any way. The two defenses are good enough to keep
this tight until the end.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: This might go ten overtimes without
an offensive point. This could belike the Big 12
Championship without the high stakes, the drama, or
the intensity.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Devin
Ross, CB Arizona, 2)
Jared Crick, DT Nebraska, 3) Nick Foles, QB Arizona
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Arizona 16 ... Nebraska 13
-
Get Tickets For The
Holiday Bowl
23. San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia
Bowl
December 23rd, San Diego CA, 8 pm, ESPN
Utah vs. California
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Mountain West vs. Pac 10 is always
interesting. If the Utes win, that will only add
fuel to the fire that the top three teams in the
M-West are as good as anyone in the Pac 10. 2) Utah is on
an eight-game winning streak in the bowls. Its three
losses were to TCU, Oregon, and BYU (in double
overtime). 3) When
Cal decides to play, it has the playmakers and the
athleticism to come up with the win.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: When Cal doesn't decide to play,
yeeeeeeesh. Cal hasn't quite played up to its talent
level on a consistent basis and Jahvid Best is
questionable at very best.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Zane
Beadles, OT Utah, 2)
Shane Vereen, RB Cal (if Best can't go), 3) Mike
Mohamed, LB Cal
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Utah 31 ... California 24
-
Get Tickets For
The Poinsettia Bowl
22. Meineke Car Care Bowl
December 26th, Charlotte NC, 4 pm, ESPN
North Carolina vs. Pitt
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) The North Carolina defense. It's swarming,
aggressive, and it could turn out to be the talk of
the bowl games if it shuts down the dangerous Pitt
offense. 2) Pitt's RB Dion Lewis, WR Jonathan
Baldwin, and TE Dorin Dickerson. There might not be
a better trio of skill players in college football.
3) The coaches. North Carolina's Butch Davis and
Pitt's Dave Wannstedt might be failed pro coaches,
but the Jimmy Johnson disciples are doing a solid
job
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: When North Carolina's offense is
bad, it's really bad. It finished 107th in
the nation in total offense and 102nd in passing.
Pitt has lost its last three bowl games including
last year's 3-0 thriller to Oregon State in the Sun
Bowl.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Greg
Romeus, DE Pitt, 2) Deunta Williams, S North
Carolina, 3) Marvin Austin, DT North Carolina
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: North Carolina 20 ... Pitt
17
-
Get Tickets For The
Meineke Car Care Bowl
21. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
December 24th, Honolulu HI, 8 pm, ESPN
SMU
vs. Nevada
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Nevada averages 362 rushing yards per game
and has three 1,000-yard rushers. It really is the
most fun offense in America to watch. 2) If return
of June Jones to Hawaii gets you fired up in any
way, then Merry Christmas. 3) SMU's passing game
might not be among the elite but it could go
ballistic against the second-worst pass defense in
America.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: SMU can't stop the run and the
offense isn't anything special. This could be
nothing more than a fun exercise in seeing how many
yards the Wolf Pack O can roll up.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1) Colin
Kaepernick, QB Nevada, 2) Emmanuel Sanders, WR SMU,
3) Vai Taua, RB Nevada
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Nevada 55 ... SMU 27
-
Get Tickets For The
Hawaii Bowl
20. Emerald Bowl
December 26th, San Francisco CA, 8:30 pm,
ESPN
Boston College vs. USC
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) How does USC respond? Does it have the heart
and the toughness to decide to play in the Emerald
Bowl? 2) Luke Keuchly. The Boston College freshman
might not just be the best linebacker in the game,
he might be the best player on the field. 3) Matt
Barkley. The performance in this game will go a long
way to determining what kind of offseason this will
be and what the expectations will be for 2010.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: Boston College doesn't have an
offense. If USC shows up and wants to put on a show,
this could be a disaster.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1)
Malcolm Smith, LB USC, 2) Montel Harris, RB Boston
College, 3) Damian Williams, WR USC
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: USC 34 ... Boston College
10
-
Get Tickets For The
Emerald Bowl
19. Valero Alamo Bowl
January 2, San Antonio TX 8 pm ESPN
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Passing, passing, passing. It's Texas Tech
so it's going to bomb away, while Michigan State led
the Big Ten in passing offense. 2) Greg Jones. He
was the best linebacker in college football but
never got his just due from the Butkus types. 3)
It's the Alamo Bowl and it defies matchup logic. The
last four games have been thrillers and six of the
last eight were decided by seven points or fewer.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: Nine Spartans were suspended after a
fight in the dorms including two of the top three
receivers, B.J. Cunningham and Mark Dell. It's not
like MSU was playing at a high level before with all
these key players in the mix.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1)
Taylor Potts, QB Texas Tech. 2) Blair White, WR
Michigan State, 3) Baron Batch, RB Texas Tech
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Texas Tech 38 ... Michigan
State 34
- Get Tickets For The
Alamo Bowl
18. Papajohns.com Bowl
January 2, Birmingham AL 2 pm ESPN
Connecticut vs. South Carolina
Three Reasons To Watch This Bowl:
1) Every Connecticut game is a thriller. Eight
of the Huskies' 12 games were decided by seven
points or fewer and seven of those were decided by
four points or fewer. 2) South Carolina really,
really needs this bowl game. Beating Clemson was
big, but after the problems at the end of last year,
and throughout November of this season, this should
be a well motivated team. 3) Pass rush. The Huskies
are tremendous at getting to the quarterback, while
Eric Norwood and the Gamecocks are excellent at
making plays in the backfield.
And Why You Should Spend Your Time Roasting Your
Chestnuts: If South Carolina plays like it did
before the Clemson game, or worse yet, in the
disaster of a Outback Bowl against Iowa last year,
this could quickly be one of the duds of the bowl
season.
Three Names To Drop That'll Make The Perky Girl
In Accounting Want To Take You Into The Storeroom
During The Holiday Party For Smooches: 1)
Jordan Todman, RB Connecticut, 2) Alshon Jeffery, WR
South Carolina, 3) Lindsey Witten, DE Connecticut
First-Thought Pick That Might Change In The Next
Few Days On A Whim: Connecticut 23 ... South
Carolina 20
-
Get Tickets For The
Papajohns.com Bowl
The 2009 Pre-Bowl Rankings
- No. 1 to No. 7 |
No. 8
to No. 17 |
No. 29
to No. 34