Bowl Season Viewing Guide: Volume I

Anti-playoff hacks whine about preserving the sanctity of the bowls. Precious time-honored bowls like the “MajicJack St. Petersburg Bowl” or the “Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl” for which as late as Wednesday, reports indicated a grand total of 24 tickets had been sold between the two schools participating.

As has been tradition here, we bring you very little useful information for most of the games that don’t matter, and loads of analysis on the later games that do matter. Our aim here is to provide the who, what, and where and perhaps a glimmer of promise as to why you might want to watch.

Without further ado…

The T.A.R.P. Bowl, Pt. 1 (aka the “Eaglebank Bowl”)
Navy vs. Wake Forest / Washington, D.C. / December 20th, 11 am / ESPN

There’s not much compelling here other than it’s the first bowl game, it’s a re-match (Navy won the first meeting), the wishbone is both old and new, and I’m hoping that the ACC goes down in flames to create a diversion away from the Big Ten. Wake Forest is favored by 3.

The New Mexico Bowl (aka the “New Mexico Bowl”)
Fresno State vs. Colorado State / Albuquerque, NM / December 20th, 2:30 pm / ESPN

I can’t think of one good reason to watch this game, other than to get another good look at Pat Hill’s mustache, which is spectacular. This is the first of six games featuring 6-6 teams. Whoopeeeeee! Fresno State is favored by 3.

The Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, only played in St. Petersburg, and sponsored by Magicjack.com Bowl (aka the “Magicjack St. Petersburg Bowl”)
South Florida vs. Memphis / St. Petersburg, FL / December 20th, 4:30 pm / The Deuce

I love a good home game that doubles as a bowl game. The rule for the inaugural St. Petersburg Bowl states “When either (USF or Central Florida) finishes out of the top three or four in its league, St. Petersburg would be a potential bowl destination.” Well, whaddya know, South Florida meets such requirements this year. South Florida matches up against the second of the 6-6 teams, this one being Conference USA rep Memphis. South Florida is favored by 13.

The Tuitama Redemption Bowl (aka the “Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl”)
BYU vs. Arizona / Las Vegas, NV / December 20th, 8:00 pm / ESPN

The first bowl that merits watching provides another Mountain West vs. Pac-10 matchup. BYU is a very solid team and has beaten both Washington and UCLA this year. They’ll try for a third Pac-10 win, this time over disappointing Arizona. It’s one last chance for Arizona QB Willie Tuitama to redeem what could have been a banner season for the Wildcats. Tuitama has 15 touchdowns vs. 3 interceptions in the Wildcats’ seven wins. In their five losses, he’s got a ratio of 6 touchdowns against 5 interceptions. He’ll need the former and not the latter in order to beat BYU. Arizona is favored by 3.

The Third Time’s the Charm Bowl (aka the “R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl”)
Troy vs. Southern Miss / New Orleans, LA / December 21st, 8:15 pm / ESPN

The Troy Trojans are 0-2 in Louisiana this year with losses to LSU and Louisiana-Monroe. They’ll take a third shot at Louisiana’s surrogate team, Southern Miss. Southern Miss is the third of the 6-6 teams. That’s about all that’s worth mentioning. Troy is favored by 4 points.

More installments to follow…