Because what says “finish off this year on a high note” like a nice pit beef sandwich and eleven consecutive hours in front of the TV?

Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl (12 ET, ESPN)

Was Ike to Blame?

Air Force and Houston actually played each other in a rare MWC-CUSA showdown earlier this season, with Troy Calhoun’s Falcons coming out on top 31-28 in a game that was overshadowed by the arrival of Hurricane Ike in Texas. The arrival of the Ike aside from providing a likely distraction to the Cougar coaching staff and players, also forced the game to be played off campus and in less-than-ideal conditions. Houston ended up finishing the year strong after the game, going 6-3 down the stretch under the leadership of quarterback Case Keenum, who has thrown 43 TDs to only 10 INTs this season. With a dynamic offense that was arguably sabotaged earlier in the year by the hurricane, I’m interested to see if the outcome of this rematch is totally different.

Brut Sun Bowl (2 PM ET, CBS)

How will the Beavers perform without Jacquizz Rogers?

Both Pittsburgh and Oregon State have relied heavily on the run game this year, but where the Panthers have a fully healthy LeSean McCoy leading their stable of backs, the Beavers will likely be without their leading rusher in Jacquizz Rogers. The Beavers are 7-0 this season when the freshmen sensation has rushed for more than 100 yards, but lost their season finale against Oregon without the speedy tailback. Equally pressing for Oregon State may be the presumed absence of Jacquizz’s older brother James, who is also expected to sit out the game because of injury. With their biggest offensive playmakers grounded it will be up to Oregon State’s defense to carry the team to victory, a point not totally inconceivable considering how much of an idiot Matt Cavanaugh is as an offensive coordinator.

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (3:30 PM ET, ESPN)

Will either offense score?

It’s no secret that both of these teams got to this game on the heals of fantastic defensive play. I’ve been singing the praise of BC’s defense all year, but surprisingly the Eagles were not able to defeat what had been a struggling Virginia Tech offense in the ACC Title Game. Vanderbilt’s offense has been anemic all year, but like BC they are well schemed on defense and take advantage of other teams’ mistakes. Typically in a game like this I’ll say whatever team can score defensively will carry the day, but with two of the best takeaway defenses in the country it should come down to which offense can generate more points.  

Insight Bowl (6 PM ET, NFL Network)

How big of an impact will Eric Decker have?

The two-sport Minnesota standout wide receiver was a huge part of the Gopher offense early in the year, catching at least five balls per game in each of the Gophers’ first eight contests. Minnesota was 7-1 in that stretch, but finished the year with four straight losses in which an injury hobbled Decker had a combined 10 catches for just 84 yards. The 6′2, 215-lb Decker has had a month to heal the sprained ankle which has kept him down since the Northwestern loss, and could be the difference maker for Tim Brewster’s offense if fully recovered.

Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (7:30 PM ET, ESPN)

Will this be the death of the myth of SEC speed?

In 2002 they said Paul Johnson’s triple option offense could not work at the FBS level. Then he took Navy - a team that at the time was equivalent to an Idaho or Utah State - to five consecutive bowls. Before this year they said his offense could not work at the BCS level - too much speed, supposedly, to contend with on defense. Then he took Georgia Tech to a 9-3 record with wins over Florida State, Miami, and Georgia. Whether people want to admit it or not there has been a long held conception that SEC and in general “southern” defenses are too fast for option based offenses to exploit, a conception which may soon take on the role of myth if Johnson’s offense can run wild on LSU.

I’m leaving on a jet plane for California to see the 95th edition of the Rose Bowl. I wanted to thank each and every reader and listener for their loyalty to ITB in the 2008 Season. Adam will continue to give you great coverage with his 34 questions for 34 bowls segment.

I leave you with this one last thought for the Rose Bowl (which I have changed a few times but am sticking with this one)…USC 14…Penn State 17.

Happy New Year Everyone, enjoy the Bowl Games.

Seeing as though I’m typing this while Rutgers and North Carolina State are playing, I guess you could say our bowl preview coverage here at ITB has been reduced to 33 questions for 34 bowl game. I apologize to the entire state of New Jersey, but it being the Holidays and all maybe they’ll find it within their limits to forgive me. Nevertheless the bowl questions role on, with Northwestern battling Missouri in the Valero Alamo Bowl (8 PM ET, ESPN) tonight. Here are my thoughts…

Who has more to play for?

We all know Missouri has not exactly lived up to expectations this season. They may have made it into the Big 12 Title game, but the Tigers failed to challenge for a National Title as expected, being drilled on national TV by heavyweights Texas and Oklahoma while losing in disappointing in Border War showing to Kansas. I want to see how Missouri- in particular quarterback Chase Daniel(s)- responds after losing their last two, and how the team plays in the last game for OC Dave Christensen, who takes the Wyoming head coaching job after tonight. They are going to need to come into this game focused if they’re going to beat even a less talented Northwestern team, which has a shot at a 10-win season for the first time since 1995, when current head coach Pat Fitzgerald led a ferocious Wildcat defense to the Rose Bowl.

Three bowl games and three losses for the WAC conference. The WAC conference was trying to assert itself as the best Non-BCS Conference, ahead of the Mountain West, but with two games remaining, they are endangered of not winning a bowl game at all this year.

Last night Hawaii fell victim to Notre Dame, an Irish team that hadn’t won a bowl game since 1994. The Warriors were completely and utterly over matched. They allowed Jimmy Clausen to eclipse the 400 yard mark passing. This is the same Irish team that did not score a point against Boston College, did not get a first down against USC till late in the 3rd quarter, and the same Irish team that lost to Syracuse.

Fresno State started the year with a bang, beating Rutgers, and losing a close one to Wisconsin. Two teams which peaked at different parts of the year. Rutgers at the end of the year and Wisconsin in the beginning of the year. The Bulldogs’ lack of defense hurt them tremendously against Colorado State. The Rams torched the Bulldogs for 257 yards through the air and 362 yards on the ground. The worst part about it all for Fresno State fans; Colorado State was only 6-6 coming into the game, just like Notre Dame.

The best bowl game so far this year was the Poinsettia Bowl between Boise State and TCU. The Horned Frogs put an end to all of the Broncos grumblings about not making a BCS bowl game by winning the game 17-16. This was a great game overall, but honestly the BCS made the correct decision not picking Boise State. With the way the WAC is looking, Boise State’s undefeated season is not looking so good right now.

The last two hopes for a win for the WAC are Nevada against Maryland and Louisiana Tech against Northern Illinois. If the WAC fails to win either of those games, it will be a big setback for the conference in the race to be the best Non-BCS Conference.

You can read up on our first set of bowl game questions - including those pertaining to the Poinsettia and Hawaii Bowls - here. Today we roll on with the games immediately following Christmas.

Motor City Bowl (Dec 26th, 7:30 PM ET, ESPN)

Which quarterback will get the last laugh?

If you’re an avid college football fan you’ve undoubtedly heard of Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevourand Florida Atlantic quarterback Rusty Smith by now. But for being two of the more highly regarded non-BCS conference quarterbacks during the preseason both have fallen off the national stage quite a bit. Both had been expected to lead their respective teams to conference titles, but because of nagging injuries and upstart rivals neither accomplished just what they set out to do. Now matched up in a game which might as well feature five man defenses (CMU has given up 30.7 ppg this year while FAU has given up 29.3 ppg) both LeFevour and Smith will have chances to once again make their claim to being the non-BCS version of Tim Tebow.

Meineke Car Care Bowl (Dec 27th, 1 PM ET, ESPN)

Does North Carolina have enough left in the tank?

I’ll be the first to admit that this Tar Heal team exceeded my expectations, but injuries - including a career-ending spine injury to linebacker Mark Paschal against NC State- took their tole on Butch Davis’ sqauddown the stretch. With their biggest offensive playmaker in Brandon Tate long since lost to injury and their best defender in Paschal out the question now becomes whether or not Davis’ team can find enough left in the tank to beat a talented WVU team in Pat White’s final collegiate game.

Champs Sports Bowl (Dec 27th, 4:30 PM, ESPN)

Can Wisconsin save the Big 10’s reputation?

Florida State may not be what they once were, but try telling that to the National media. Point is, even an ageing and I would argue increasingly senile Bobby Bowden got this team to one endzonefumble away from a berth in the ACC title, an accomplishment which has left the Seminoles on the cusp of the Top 25 and on many peoples’ short list for a favorite in the ACC next year. Wisconsin on the other hand is coming off of a prolonged break after a 36-35 overtime win against FCS Cal Poly, a point which only cements the increasingly popular opinion that the Big 10 has sunk to the bottom of the BCS conferences. While some may argue a Penn State upset of USC or a Michigan State upset of Georgia will go the farthest towards saving the Big 10’s reputation as a power conference, don’t overlook Wisconsin’s ability to help the conference deflect further criticism with a win over Florida State.

Emerald Bowl (Dec 27th, 8 PM, ESPN)

Can Miami’s defense bounce back?

Back in he day the “U” was known for its fast, aggressive defenses which pundits used to like to claim transformed the very nature of college football as we knew it and more or less killed the option offense. After several less-than-impressive seasons it looked like coach Randy Shannon may have rebuilt that image going into this November, until Georgia Tech and NorthCarolina State thrashed the Miami defense for an average of 478 yards in the final two games. While Miami’s run defense doesn’t look that bad on paper, they’ve still allowed over 280 yards on the ground three times this season, and could have trouble defending the nation’s fifth best rusher in Cal’s Jahvid Best in the cross country matchup.

Independence Bowl (Dec 28th, 8 PM, ESPN)

Which Louisiana Tech team will show up?

I get the feeling a lot of casual fans are going with LA Tech in this game because they beat Mississippi State  in the first game of the season. A quality win for a WAC team, no doubt, but you can’t argue that the Bulldogs really benefited from a slumping conference slate that allowed them to get to seven wins. Case in point, he Bulldogs lost to Army 14-7 halfway through the year. It’ll be interesting to see which team shows up against a 6-6 Northern Illinois team which lost close games to Minnesota and Tennessee.

Courtesy of The Higher Ed Watch Blog, they bring you the Second Annual Academic Bowl Championship Series Standings.

Their Academic BCS formula starts with each football team’s four-class average federal graduation rate, which includes all football players who entered college between 1998 and 2001 and graduated within six years of initial enrollment. Football teams then earn or lose points based on the following:

(A) the gap between the team’s graduation rate and the overall school’s graduation rate.

(B) the gap between the team’s black-white player graduation rate disparity and the overall school’s disparity (it’s important to expose and penalize teams with significant achievement gaps)

(C) the team’s NCAA APR score in comparison to the median APR for all Division I-A teams. For a full explanation of their formula, click here.

The standings for the BCS Top 25 for this season. For the second year in a row Boston College is #1, with Northwestern and Penn State close behind.. The first SEC team is Mississippi which is ranked 13; no surprise there. In 2007, the Oregon Ducks had a total of 8.35 points, and followed it up this year with an “impressive” 10.5 points. At least they are moving in the right directions. Which is less that can be said for teams like USC and Florida who actually scored less points than last season. I guess when you win football games like they do, no one really cares about academic standards.

From the Higher Ed Watch Blog: “In general, the Academic BCS scores were slightly higher than last year — hopefully a sign that teams are paying more attention to the student part of student-athlete. The two most-improved schools are Brigham Young and Ohio State, which jumped by nearly 12 and 10 points respectively. The Buckeyes, however, still have a long way to go to join the elite academic football teams: Ohio State graduates only 49 percent of its football players and has a black-white graduation rate of 32 percentage points.”

The bowl games start tomorrow and with all of the competition already signed up, you cannot miss any games. To sign up, go to the Fun Office Pools’ website. If you haven’t already registered there, take a second and make a username with a password that is unique to only you.

This year’s contest will be a bit different than the last two years. This year you have to pick a winner for each game and assign a confidence factor to each game and those are the points you will accumulate if you win that pick.

Prizes
Prizes will be handed out for the people who finish in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th as laid out below. Remember to do the tiebreaker because that will break all ties for bowl games.

1st Place: $60 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
2nd Place: $35 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
3rd Place: $25 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
4th Place: A copy of one of the following books, The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, Sports Illustrated: The College Football Book, or The Maisel Report: College Football’s Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions.

Good luck!

There are hundreds if not thousands of aspiring head football coaches around the country every day. Our peewee leagues are filled with volunteer coaches pretending they are Pete Carrol coaching it up against Notre Dame. Coordinators around the country are all working on their craft and establishing networking roots in order to one day be one of the lucky few to lead a college football program.

But are there any jobs out there which, in all likelihood, just might be incapable of winning at? One school jumped out at me above the rest and coincidentally (or maybe not?) enough, their head coach slot is currently vacant. The school? The Eastern Michigan Eagles.

With its proximity to Ann Arbor, I find it very hard to believe that Eastern Michigan can ever truly be turned around as a program. Not only that, EMU is competing with two other Michigan directional schools in its’ own conference. Western Michigan and Central Michigan have both reported recent success in the conference and look to be building themselves to the upper tier programs in the MAC.

In the MAC West division, there really is no perceived weak program outside Eastern Michigan. Ball State may have the least amount of resources but they have a standout NFL-ready quarterback in Nate Davis and oh yeah, they only lost a single game all year this past season. Northern Illinois won two games in 2007, but new Head Coach Jerry Kill led a rejuvenated young Huskies team to a solid 6 wins and they seem to be on their way back to the top of the MAC. Toledo is always tough in the Glass Bowl, and upset Michigan this year. Even with Tom Amstutz retiring, their history suggests they never stay down for too long. Both Central and Western Michigan have competed for MAC championships in the last few seasons and have proved to be a good breeding ground for upcoming coaches (Cincy’s Brian Kelly came from Central Michigan.)

Might EMU be better off dropping a level to FCS. I am no one to suggest what an athletic program should or shouldn’t do but if I were the administration and fan base, I would look within myself and see just what was important. EMU has had attendance issues recently, and a simple stroll through campus will find more “University of Michigan” jackets than EMU wear. Eastern Michigan might be better to cut their losses and instead try to compete in the lower division and build a winning program from the ground up.

Can EMU ever turn into a winner? Sure. EMU found a way to win the MAC in 1987 and defeated San Jose State 30-27 in the California Bowl that year. But all the external factors point towards this job being quite possibly the toughest in the country

BYU Wide Receiver Austin Collie

The 2008 bowl season kicks off this Saturday with the inaugural Eagle Bank Bowl between Wake Forest and Navy in Washington DC. And while the eyes of the nation may not be transfixed upon the rusted scaffoldings of RFK stadium, early-season bowl games like the Eagle Bank Bowl aren’t without their fair share of intriguing questions and story lines. With that in mind we begin our expanded bowl preview coverage here at ITB, taking a look at 34 of the top questions going into each and every bowl game. From how young Chandler Harnish will attack the Louisiana Tech secondary to whether or not Tebow will outshine Bradford in the National Title, no question or bowl is too insignificant to escape our coverage. Today we look at the pre-Christmas bowl games, starting with Saturday’s kickoff in DC.

Eagle Bank Bowl (Dec 20^th, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN)

How big of a factor is a healthy Kaipo?

A good deal of the media attention on this game has focused around Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner and how he can’t possibly play any worse this time around against the Midshipmen (four interceptions in a 24-17 loss to Navy earlier this year). But I think the bigger question is whether or not Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaeheaku-Enhada is fully healthy from a hamstring injury which has plagued him all year. Navy moved the ball effectively against Wake earlier in the year with Enhada in the game, but was slowed down in the second half with Jarod Bryant taking over after Kaipo’s hamstring gave out. We finally saw some explosiveness out of Navy’s offense two weeks ago against Army with a healthy Kaipo under center, and if the Hawaii native really is 100% than it could be a long day for even the disciplined Wake Forest defense.

New Mexico Bowl (Dec 20^th, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

What is Fresno State’s mindset after the 61-10 loss to Boise?

It seems like just yesterday that we were talking about Boise State and Fresno State deciding the WAC championship and a possible BCS bowl berth in their regular season finale on November 28th. Yet where Boise made good on the preseason expectations the Bulldogs fell short, struggling through a conference slate which saw Pat Hill’s veteran team go just 4-4. With the memory of a 61-10 drubbing by their conference rival the last time they took the field, the question becomes how does Hill - usually a master at getting his teams ready to play “name” opponents - sell his club on focusing against a Colorado State team which is just happy to be bowling?

Magicjack.com St. Petersburg Bowl (Dec 20^th, 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN 2)

Can the South Florida offense get back on track?

Even well oiled offensive machines can sometimes show rust coming off the long break between the end of the season and their bowl game, a point which must be particularly painful for South Florida fans who have seen the Bulls fail to score more than 20 points in their final five games of the season. Quarterback Matt Grothe has been woefully inconsistent through the stretch, throwing 11 of his 14 interceptions over the last five games. Even with the nation’s 13^th ranked defense the Bulls will have to get production out of Grothe and the offense to avoid an upset by what should be a motive Memphis team.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Dec 20^th, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Can Stoops Keep His Players Focused?

I know everyone wants to talk about BYU’s disappointing season and how dangerous this Arizona team can be, but has anyone else noticed this is Arizona’s first bowl game since 1998? Furthermore, has anyone else noticed that it’s in VEGAS? Look, BYU is going to be focused for this game. It’s their fourth consecutive Las Vegas bowl and they’ve escaped Vegas without too much incident in the lead-up to their past three games here. I’m not saying Arizona is going to have a bunch of players “living it up” instead of gameplanning, but I think it’s valid to ask how Stoops will keep his team focused while in Sin City.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Dec 21st, 8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Is this game referendum on the Sun Belt?

The Sun Belt conference has had its fair share of apologists in recent years, and while I’m often inclined to concur on the point of playing murderous nonconference schedules against SEC schools, there is still no escaping the league’s less-than-impressive image and resume. It’s probably too much to hope for 6-6 Florida Atlantic to defeat Central Michigan, but a poor showing by an 8-4 Troy team against a mediocre Southern Miss team which started the year at 2-6 could really be a setback kneel for those who argue the conference has been making strides.  

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (Dec 23^rd, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

What about the “other” matchup?

Boise State’s talented and well-schemed offense? Check . Texas Christian’s vaulted and top ranked rushing defense? Check. Boise State’s defense and TCU’s offense? Hey, it’s not like the two won’t combine for half of the dynamic in this highly anticipated matchup of non-BCS heavyweights, with TCU quarterback Andy Dalton and the nation’s  13^th ranked rushing attack poised to go against Boise’s 16^th ranked total defense. Averaging nearly three sacks per contest, it’ll be interesting to see how Boise’s front seven attacks this TCU offensive line, which is allowing a sack and a half a game this year.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Dec 24^th, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Is this a “must win” for the Irish?

Charlie Weis and Notre Dame are under a microscope, that’s nothing new. But should the Irish lose this game will anything really change going into the offseason? My answer: Yes. Weis and company need this game to keep their recruiting class intact, and while the game may go unnoticed to much of the country you can bet the list of four star Irish commits will be tuned in. As I said on the show the other night the Irish can make headway with Hawaiian recruit and linebacker stud Manti Te’o with a good showing, while preserving some of their west coast commitments if they can come out on top. If not, then we could see this Irish recruiting class - ranked 12^th by Scout.com - start to fall apart.

In this episode of the In The Bleachers Podcast, Brian and Adam preview and pick winners for all of the Bowl games that take place between now and Christmas. Also they preview the upcoming FCS Championship between Montana and Richmond.

To listen to the episode you can download it here, or subscribe as laid out below.

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Enjoy this week’s episode of In The Bleachers and if you have any questions or comments to the show please email them to inthebleachers AT gmail DOT com.