Who Lost Their Way Into Their Bowl Game

[BigdaddyQH]

It is one of my favorite fade angles for Bowl Games. It covers all the teams who really do not want to be in their Bowl Game, but excludes teams that lost out on a vote (Baylor and TCU) and teams that lost their CC games. In no particular order:

1. Duke. Sitting at 9-1 and finishing the season with three homme games, all Duke had to do was win two. They did not and are now stuck in El Paso. That has to be a major disappointment.

2. Colorado State. Had they been able to defeat the Air Force, they would have had just one loss, and probably the Fiesta Bowl Bid. Now it is off to Vegas without their Head Coach.

3. Georgia. Defeat Ga. Tech and UGA is playing in one of the 6 Major Bowls. Now they are in the Belk Bowl.

4. Iowa. At 7-3, Iowa could have landed a nice bowl, but managed to drop their laqst two games at home against Nebraska and Wisky. Now they get the Taxslayer Bowl.

5. Marshall. What could have been. A one point loss sends them to Boco Raton instead of the Peach Bowl.

6. Miami. Once at 6-3, 3 straight losses send them to Shreveport.

7. Nebraska. Losses at Wisconsin and at home to Minnesota send them to San Diego, minus their head coach. They were looking at the Big 10 title game.

8. Notre Dame. After 4 straight losses, including a 49-14 drubbing by USC, the Irish are lucky to go to Nashville.

To be continued...

 

[RDTrains]

9. East Carolina. $hit the bed because of a brain dead coach and blew Conf Championship now get to play a hungry Florida team in Birmingham the day AFTER New Years.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

I doubt that Florida is hungry. East Carolina was just a very over-rated theam this season, as their 4-7 ATS testify's to.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Continuing...
9. Penn State. Pinstripe Bowl. This team started out 4-0 and then proceeded to lose 6 out of their next 8. Now they get to play in a cold New York City. Fun.

10. South Carolina. The pre-season co-favorite in the SEC East loses 5 out of their last 8 games, including the season ender to Clemson. Now they get to go to Shreveport and join loser Miami is the "Disappointment" Bowl.

11. Texas A&M. After stating 5-0, A&M loese 5 out of their last 7, including their last two home games, to end up in Liberty Bowl. At least the music is good on Beale Street.

 

[MileenaWins]

In years past, what I do is basically the same thing: After eliminating the obvious mismatches, the only thing I ask is who is going to show up for their bowl game and who isn't, because I think it's a huge factor. As for Baylor and TCU, it can be said that one or both may be "out to prove themselves," but it's been my experience that the team that gets hosed usually ends up phoning it in because disinterest has set in. Am I making any sense?

 

[down5k]

Almost all of these are dogs - I'd be careful blindly following

 

[sendacash]

1. Duke. Sitting at 9-1 and finishing the season with three homme games, all Duke had to do was win two. They did not and are now stuck in El Paso. That has to be a major disappointment.

Here's a crazy stat, Duke has not won a bowl game since the 1961 Cotton Bowl and they have lost bowl games two years in a row now as well. I would think that Arizona State would probably rather just stay in Tempe than have to go to El Paso, so not sure how thrilled they are to be there. Not that I'm advocating a play on Duke here as this is a step up in class for them and their SOS was below average #81 this year. I suppose it could be looked upon as a recruiting trip for both schools to try and lure some Texas recruits?

 

[sdf]

ugh...sendacash's reply just reminded me of Duke vs Cincy in the Belk Bowl......................probably the most painful bad beat I've ever had....

 

[GoSooners]

1. Duke. Sitting at 9-1 and finishing the season with three homme games, all Duke had to do was win two. They did not and are now stuck in El Paso. That has to be a major disappointment.

Here's a crazy stat, Duke has not won a bowl game since the 1961 Cotton Bowl and they have lost bowl games two years in a row now as well. I would think that Arizona State would probably rather just stay in Tempe than have to go to El Paso, so not sure how thrilled they are to be there. Not that I'm advocating a play on Duke here as this is a step up in class for them and their SOS was below average #81 this year. I suppose it could be looked upon as a recruiting trip for both schools to try and lure some Texas recruits?

I wonder how Arizona St. will approach this game after suffering what was probably the biggest bowl upset last year against Texas Tech?

 

[BigdaddyQH]

I wonder how Arizona St. will approach this game after suffering what was probably the biggest bowl upset last year against Texas Tech?

Excellent question. ASU not only lost to Texas Tech, they lost by 14 points as a 17 point favorite. I think that they may have a bit more of a fire lit under their tails this time around, though you really never know.

 

[sendacash]

I wonder how Arizona St. will approach this game after suffering what was probably the biggest bowl upset last year against Texas Tech?

Same goes for Baylor who were upset by UCF last year. I'm wondering about Baylor's mindset after being snubbed by the CFP and Briles reacting like an armadillo that just got clipped by a weed whacker. Throw in the fact that the Cotton bowl is right in their own back yard and it really gets confusing to figure out motivation, although I do lean Sparty right now from a match-up standpoint.

 

[bobbyjones2]

ugh...sendacash's reply just reminded me of Duke vs Cincy in the Belk Bowl......................probably the most painful bad beat I've ever had....

let us never mention it again....

 

[GoSooners]

Same goes for Baylor who were upset by UCF last year. I'm wondering about Baylor's mindset after being snubbed by the CFP and Briles reacting like an armadillo that just got clipped by a weed whacker. Throw in the fact that the Cotton bowl is right in their own back yard and it really gets confusing to figure out motivation, although I do lean Sparty right now from a match-up standpoint.

Tough call. Baylor will definitely have the home field advantage. The only thing I don't like about them is they gave up 101 points and 1,500 yards in their last 3 games. Not exactly the kind of stats that get me excited to play them. Right now the over looks pretty good...

 

[GoSooners]

Speaking of Baylor, I just heard that Tulsa hired their offensive coordinator Phil Montgomery as their new head coach.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Speaking of Baylor, I just heard that Tulsa hired their offensive coordinator Phil Montgomery as their new head coach.

ESPN is reporting the same thing. A good hire for Tulsa.

 

[BigdaddyQH]

Same goes for Baylor who were upset by UCF last year. I'm wondering about Baylor's mindset after being snubbed by the CFP and Briles reacting like an armadillo that just got clipped by a weed whacker. Throw in the fact that the Cotton bowl is right in their own back yard and it really gets confusing to figure out motivation, although I do lean Sparty right now from a match-up standpoint.

I think that their mindset should be good. This is their opportunity of showing the world how wrong the Commmittee was to leave them out, especially if Ohio State get's crushed by Alabama. They will also know how TCU did in the Peach Bowl the previous evening against Ole Miss. There is a lot at stake here.

 

[GoSooners]

ESPN is reporting the same thing. A good hire for Tulsa.

That could be a pretty significant loss for Baylor. Montgomery goes all the way back with Briles to his HS coaching days.