Bowl'ing Season

First, a little by the numbers for this 2010-2011 Bowl Season:

35 - # of Bowls
7 - # of schools represented by only letters (LSU, USF, UCF, BYU, UTEP, SMU, TCU)
13 - # of schools with a 6-6 record 
19 - # of teams with 10+ wins
2 - # of teams that were bowl eligible that were left out, forced to watch (Temple, Western Michigan)

There are too many games, and the need for a playoff system is necessary.  I  have never been an advocate one way or another towards this playoffs thing, but after looking at this field of bowl teams, a playoff would be in the best interest of college football.

Granted, there is a lot of money to be made by the sponsors and venues and cities.  A 16-team playoff bracket would look as follows:

(rivals.com from Yahoo! Sports)

Here's a rundown of some of these bowl names, some of which I am not even sure what the hell the sponsor is.

Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl - Southern Miss vs. Louisville - who the hell is Beef O'Brady?
Military Bowl - East Carolina vs. Maryland - last time I checked, neither school was a branch of the military
GoDaddy.com Bowl - Middle Tennessee St vs. Miami (OH) - I guess GoDaddy.com sells domain names and has some pretty solid commercials
BBVA Compass Bowl - Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky - I've never even heard of this bank; maybe because it's a TX and AL thang,
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - Nevada vs. Boston College - apparently, cheese is the solution to solving the hunger crisis.  Who knew?
Sun Bowl - Miami (FL) vs. Notre Dame - so the sun is sponsoring a bowl?  That guys got some deep pockets.  It's actually a good game with two perennial powerhouses that are mediocre at best nowadays.


Going home.  Finally.

Too Much Information

I was watching the UConn vs. South Florida football game last night and a graphic came up that I had to address here.  It wasn't a booming hit or a trick play or a one-handed catch - it was about a South Florida Bulls football player, and I did you all a favor by rewinding my television and taking a picture for your viewing pleasure.  I am not sure why they chose to discuss this on the air and try glorify how hard this kid works or whatever else they might have said.

This picture says it all - in fact, the first bullet point says it all:

(Courtesy of ESPN2)

There is no need to mention his 3 children under the age of 4.  My question is how the hell does this guy have time to practice, watch film, workout, and bring his grades from failing to a 3.0.

Here's a little about this kid, who actually is pretty good:
He leads the team in tackles with 68.
He has 9.5 tackles for a loss.
He has 2.5 sacks for 27 yards.
He has 1 interception for 12 yards.
He has 2 passes broken up.
(www.gousfbulls.com)

I am not trying to pick on this kid, I know a lot of college athletes have children, but why in the hell would ESPN2 choose to discuss this on the broadcast.  Good for you Jacquian, I am sure your kids are great and you're a hell of a football player, but there's just some things that the entire viewing public do not need to know.

UCONN won the football game, 19-16, with a last-minute FG and is going to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS bowl for the seventh year Division I program.  It will face #9 Oklahoma.  The Big East had a rough year for football and many are questioning why the conference gets an automatic BCS berth.  I don't.  It's a major conference and deserves to get a bid. 

No one was bitching when Cincinnati went to the Orange Bowl after the 2008 season and got stepped on by Virginia Tech, 20-7.  No one was saying the Big East sucked when they went down to the Bayou for the Sugar Bowl following the 2009 season, and got smoked by Florida, 51-24. 

Just because UCONN has 4 losses doesn't mean they don't deserve the bid.  Just because the Big East had a down year doesn't mean they don't deserve to send a team to a BCS bowl.  Virginia Tech is probably going to the Orange Bowl and lost to James Madison, who's in the Championship Subdivision and wound up with a 6-5 record.

Good for you UCONN.  Just don't go embarrass yourself out there.

Strasburg back on the shelf; Ohio St. pays top dollar

  Golden Boy Stephen Strasburg is once again on the DL.  Another MRI is being done for his strained tendon in the forearm.  Poor kid.  Hey, you know what, at least he has his money.  His health is in question but damn, that money ain't going anywhere. 

  In NCAA Football news, according to the AP, Ohio State will pay the Colorado Buffaloes $1.4 million to play the Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium in 2011.  Absolutely unheard of.  Since when does a major school pay another major school (albeit mediocre) $1.4 million to play a regular season game?  It's a joke.  Compared to the $300,000 to $700,000 Ohio State normally pays for an out-of-conference home game, I guess they think finally playing a legit (read: mediocre) school and winning will be better for them than playing the likes of Akron or Toledo.

  In 2009, Ohio State OOC included Navy (W 31-27), #3 USC (L 18-15), @Toledo (W 38-0), and New Mexico State (W 45-0).  Total score:  Ohio State 129, Opponent 45.  Record:  3-1.  Three cupcakes and a powerhouse.  In 2008, Ohio State entertained Youngstown St. (W 43-0), Ohio (W 26-14), @#1 USC (L 35-3) and Troy (W 28-10).  Total score:  Ohio State 100, Opponents 59.  Record 3-1.  Three cupcakes and a powerhouse.

  Here's an idea, schedule some better teams (a la Colorado in 2011, #13 Miami in 2010).  They play Eastern Michigan this year, who didn't win a game in 2009.  I guess they'll get at least one win.

  Weather sucks.  Gotta drop off my DirecTV shit.  Maybe whip up some dinner.  Get a picture of Nathan printed out so I can get this process moved along getting into our new place.  Damn will I be exponentially happier in a nice apartment instead of the dregs we live now.

  Adios!!