2014 Bowl Games

[HudsonHawk]

A&M squeaks out a win.

Oklahoma is a joke.

[austro]

UT had better do something good or the Big 12 is going to be off to an awful start.

[NeilT]

UT had better do something good or the Big 12 is going to be off to an awful start.

Maybe they can put an assistant on the sidelines to whack the opposing players.

[HudsonHawk]

Maybe they can put an assistant on the sidelines to whack the opposing players.

Too SEC-ish.

[austro]

Maybe they can put an assistant on the sidelines to whack the opposing players.

We call that "going Woody on your ass".

[HudsonHawk]

We call that "going Woody on your ass".

Announcers were saying that's not the first time for that fuckwit.  How the hell is he still on the sideline?

[austro]

It's going to be a very discouraging sign if Swoopes is still in the QB conversation next fall.

[HudsonHawk]

Holy shit...the Horns are now stepping on Bob Stoops's dick. 

[chuck]

I can't imagine I have seen an hour total of Longhorns football this season so I don't know if this is an outlying example or what, but the Longhorns are fascinatingly terrible. Of course as I type this they score.

[HudsonHawk]

I can't imagine I have seen an hour total of Longhorns football this season so I don't know if this is an outlying example or what, but the Longhorns are fascinatingly terrible. Of course as I type this they score.

Couple of really nice holds on that play.  There's hope yet. 

[austro]

Couple of really nice holds on that play.  There's hope yet. 

I was really surprised that Swaim wasn't called for holding there.

[HudsonHawk]

I was really surprised that Swaim wasn't called for holding there.

The really obvious one wasn't out there on perimeter, it was on the backside by the right tackle...No. 71.

[chuck]

I mean, seriously, this is just crazy. I realize that a lot of this is the other guy's fault, the guy that a lot of Longhorns around here defended vociferously, great CEO and all that, and others wanted to argue with me a couple of years ago when I said the team had no NFL talent. Apparently the NFL agrees with me, not you.

But this is crazy. This team is a disaster. So the players don't smoke pot. Great. Inscribe that on a trophy.

[austro]

... others wanted to argue with me a couple of years ago when I said the team had no NFL talent.

I don't know, chuck: it looks like several of the DBs are ready to jump straight to the Texans defensive backfield.

[chuck]

I don't know, chuck: it looks like several of the DBs are ready to jump straight to the Texans defensive backfield.

Good point. That #21 would slide right into the nickel corner spot and I doubt we'd notice a change.

[chuck]

But hey, let's look on the bright side - at least the field looks great.

[drew corleone]

I was really surprised that Swaim wasn't called for holding there.

At some point college football decided holding was not a real penalty anymore.

That was a shameful Texas performance.

[austro]

The Mad Hatter strikes again. Maybe he can hire Mike Smith to help him with end-of-half decision-making.

[Uncle Charlie]

Was quite happy to see the Irish beat LSU yesterday.  Zaire looked promising for the future.

Really enjoying the Peach Bowl though.

[austro]

Was quite happy to see the Irish beat LSU yesterday.  Zaire looked promising for the future.

After having Notre Dame jammed down my throat for years as I was growing up, I love watching them lose, and the more horribly the better. Even when paired up against LSU. So I was disappointed by that outcome.

Really enjoying the Peach Bowl though.

TCU is taking no prisoners here. How did they lose to Baylor?

[jbm]

Baylor is also a good team.

I am also really enjoying TCU making a statement on the field.

[Uncle Charlie]

SEC voices are relatively quiet today.

[austro]

SEC voices are relatively quiet today.

Yeah, it's a pity that UT helped make their case yesterday, but Arkansas was definitely a team whose record did not reflect their actual potency. Meanwhile, Mississippi and Mississippi St are demonstrating how misleading small sample sizes can be. Their earlier showing in the top 5 (both of them simultaneously!) is a testament to the strength of the current SEC bias.

[chuck]

Notre Dame and their fucking fake fandom can suck my golden nuts.

[Mr. Happy]

SEC voices are relatively quiet today.

I don't know if it is quiet, or that I'm simply not that surprised. You never know what you're going to get in a bowl game. It's a long lay off. Kids are tired. Many check out mentally. These minor bowl games are really meaningless.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I don't know if it is quiet, or that I'm simply not that surprised. You never know what you're going to get in a bowl game. It's a long lay off. Kids are tired. Many check out mentally. These minor bowl games are really meaningless.

Okay. But when the SEC wins bowl games, SEC apologists boast that it's due to the teams from the stronger conference reigning their dominance upon the unfortunate foes from lesser conferences.

[jbm]

Yes, it can't be that the SEC is vastly overrated, it just that they are so good, they must just be disinterested.

[cougar]

Okay. But when the SEC wins bowl games, SEC apologists boast that it's due to the teams from the stronger conference reigning their dominance upon the unfortunate foes from lesser conferences.

And when SEC loses bowl games, SEC detractors state that it's obvious that that team, and therefore the entire SEC, is overrated.  I don't see why it can't be somewhere in the middle. 

[austro]

Pretty sad finish for Baylor. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[HudsonHawk]

Pretty sad finish for Baylor. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

They merely tripped over their dicks compared to Florida State's penis demolition.

[HudsonHawk]

Pedro Cerrano is flipping the coin at the Sugar Bowl.

[HudsonHawk]

Alabama's defensive front seven is awful.

[Mr. Happy]

Okay. But when the SEC wins bowl games, SEC apologists boast that it's due to the teams from the stronger conference reigning their dominance upon the unfortunate foes from lesser conferences.

I think that the domination is over. It was a passing fad, but the other conferences caught up.

[Mr. Happy]

Yes, it can't be that the SEC is vastly overrated, it just that they are so good, they must just be disinterested.

The league was a bit overrated this season. However, the SEC had quite a run. The dirty little secret of college football is that colleges have trouble getting their best players up for bowl games that don't matter much. The players who are going to leave early to enter the draft don't want to get hurt, and many of the players are tired and hate missing the holidays.

[HudsonHawk]

The league was a bit overrated this season. However, the SEC had quite a run. The dirty little secret of college football is that colleges have trouble getting their best players up for bowl games that don't matter much. The players who are going to leave early to enter the draft don't want to get hurt, and many of the players are tired and hate missing the holidays.

What about the players from Alabama who are getting run over by Ohio State?  Could they not be bothered to get up?

[MusicMan]

Pedro Cerrano is flipping the coin at the Sugar Bowl.

Straight coin, he toss very good.

[HudsonHawk]

Well, one team got exposed as a fraud tonight, and it wasn't Ohio State. 

[austro]

That was real lesson in clock management by both teams at the end.

[Mr. Happy]

What about the players from Alabama who are getting run over by Ohio State?  Could they not be bothered to get up?

Alabama got its ass beat-pure and simple. I'm glad about that because I think that a strong Big Ten (and strong PAC 12, etc.) is good for college football, just like I believe that a strong Texas is good for college football. My comments really were aimed at all non-playoff bowl games that actually have little meaning. I was trying to share my experience as a graduate assistant, where our football coaches would have rather been on the road recruiting for the next season. Hell, our head coach asked the then AD (Bob Brodhead) to decline the bowl invite and not go to the bowl game in Memphis. We actually had a very talented player, Garry James, who played for four years in a way to not get hurt. Unfortunately for him, when he got to the NFL, he wasn't very successful.

[HudsonHawk]

Alabama got its ass beat-pure and simple. I'm glad about that because I think that a strong Big Ten (and strong PAC 12, etc.) is good for college football, just like I believe that a strong Texas is good for college football. My comments really were aimed at all non-playoff bowl games that actually have little meaning. I was trying to share my experience as a graduate assistant, where our football coaches would have rather been on the road recruiting for the next season. Hell, our head coach asked the then AD (Bob Brodhead) to decline the bowl invite and not go to the bowl game in Memphis. We actually had a very talented player, Garry James, who played for four years in a way to not get hurt. Unfortunately for him, when he got to the NFL, he wasn't very successful.

Alabama lost that game because they mailed it in.  They expected to cruise and simply got blown off the line, both offensively and defensively. 

And no way Ohio State beats Oregon, from what I've seen.

[Mr. Happy]

Alabama lost that game because they mailed it in.  They expected to cruise and simply got blown off the line, both offensively and defensively. 

And no way Ohio State beats Oregon, from what I've seen.

I agree with you. Oregon looked for real, like they're playing to make a statement.

[cougar]

Alabama lost that game because they mailed it in.  They expected to cruise and simply got blown off the line, both offensively and defensively. 

And no way Ohio State beats Oregon, from what I've seen.

I would have said "not a chance" at Ohio State's odds at beating Oregon, but I would have said the same thing about their chances of beating Alabama with their third string QB, so who knows.  I will say that based on their playoff games, I would have Oregon as a substantial favorite.  They aren't simply the "speed and finesse" offense that a lot of people considered them to be before the Florida St. game.  They lined up and blew them off the ball pretty much all game long.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Ducks open as a double digit favorite, maybe 12 or so points?

[Mr. Happy]

I would have said "not a chance" at Ohio State's odds at beating Oregon, but I would have said the same thing about their chances of beating Alabama with their third string QB, so who knows.  I will say that based on their playoff games, I would have Oregon as a substantial favorite.  They aren't simply the "speed and finesse" offense that a lot of people considered them to be before the Florida St. game.  They lined up and blew them off the ball pretty much all game long.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the Ducks open as a double digit favorite, maybe 12 or so points?

You are probably right. However, I'm not totally counting the Buckeyes out just yet.

[mrpink]

Oregon opens up as 7 point favorites.  That seems about right to me.

[HudsonHawk]

I would have said "not a chance" at Ohio State's odds at beating Oregon, but I would have said the same thing about their chances of beating Alabama with their third string QB, so who knows. 

Ohio State's third string QB is far better than their first or second string. I don't know why he wasn't playing all year.

[Mr. Happy]

Ohio State's third string QB is far better than their first or second string. I don't know why he wasn't playing all year.

That's exactly what I've been hearing all year from the Buckeye faithful around here (and there are a lot of them here).

[mrpink]

The Coogs just came back from a 31-6 defecit to take a 35-34 lead with 59 seconds left in the game.  Two consecutive onside kicks recovered.  Unbelievable.

[Ty in Tampa]

The Coogs just came back from a 31-6 defecit to take a 35-34 lead with 59 seconds left in the game.  Two consecutive onside kicks recovered.  Unbelievable.

And they just won. Wow.

[Bench]

And they just won. Wow.

That was fun.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

That was fun.

The Coogs have their share of being on the other side of a comeback and losing... cough Joe Montana, cough cough NC State... Nice the have the shoe on the other foot for a change.

[HudsonHawk]

cough cough NC State...

If you ever bring that up again, I'm gonna have a picture of Walt Weiss tattooed on your forehead.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

I'm gonna have a picture of Walt Weiss tattooed on your forehead.

Okay fine. But if you bring up Walt Weiss again, you'll be wearing your scrotum for a hat.

[Jose Cruz III]

Alabama lost that game because they mailed it in.  They expected to cruise and simply got blown off the line, both offensively and defensively. 

And no way Ohio State beats Oregon, from what I've seen.

They mailed it in, but they were not as good as advertised. They are way too slow in the defensive front 7 to defend the kind of offense that teams are running these days. As a Bama fan, I'm just glad that it was Ohio St and not TCU or Oregon. Those 2 teams would have embarrassed Bama.

[Navin R Johnson]

Just got back from Fort Worth.  That was fun.

[MusicMan]

Enjoy, Coogs.

Joseph Duarte ‏@Joseph_Duarte  10m10 minutes ago
Major Applewhite has been hired as OC-QB coach at the University of Houston

[austro]

Oregon WR Darren Carrington fails drug test and will miss the championship game. That's a special kind of stupid.

[Navin R Johnson]

Predictions for the NC game?

I think it should be a close game, but I will take Urban over Helfrich.

My guess, new UofH head coach 31 - Ducks 27.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Not watching it but I figure TCU would have beaten either one.

[HudsonHawk]

Not watching it but I figure TCU would have beaten either one.

Not watching it either, but I think TCU was the only team that could hang with Oregon.  Then again, I didn't give Ohio State much of a chance against Alabama, and I think this third string QB they've had the last two games is better than the two they started ahead of him all season, so who the hell knows.  That's why they play the game I guess. 

[jbm]

The Ducks interior defense sure is soft.

[Nate in IA]

Ducks are getting manhandled by Ohio State

[Uncle Charlie]

This just in... Urban Meyer is a really good coach

[Mr. Happy]

This just in... Urban Meyer is a really good coach

Yes, he is. Nick Saban finally met his match.

[Andyzipp]

Yes, he is. Nick Saban finally met his match.

I guess. Saban and Meyer are now 2-2 against each other.

2008 Florida 31 Alabama 20
2009 Alabama 32 Florida 13
2010 Alabama 31 Florida 6
2014 Ohio State 42 Alabama 35

[Dark Star]

Oregon WR Darren Carrington fails drug test and will miss the championship game. That's a special Stanley Wilson kind of stupid.

Fixed.