Bowl Game Bonanza: Saturday, December 27th

Posted by Double M




This post is part of a series of posts entitled Bowl Game Bonanza Did you know that there are a bazillion bowl games? Well there are. And here at IR I am going to give you a quick breakdown of each game so that you know who is playing in the bowl, what channel and time the game is on (all times CST), and why you would or wouldn't want to watch the game.

After a 5 day lull, the bowl scheduling crew is brining the heat today with 3 games featuring some legit names. Its Saturday, so you probably don't have a lot to do. Family time is getting long, you don't want to go shopping anymore, and you probably don't want to see Tom Cruise's crappy movie or Marley and Me (Which actually looks good. The book was good, but I'll warn you, Shorty cried both tears of joy and sadness in from the book - I haven't seen the movie, but I bet it has both), so what better way to spend your day than watching bowl games.

On to the bonanza:

Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia
(-1.5) vs. North Carolina (ESPN, 12pm)
Location: Charlotte, NC, Bank of America Stadium
Announcers: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Rob Stone
Last year at this time former West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez had left for Michigan and his assistant Bill Stewart (right) had been named interim head coach. After winning their bowl game, West Virginia named Stewart head coach. Then he proceeded to lead his team to a disappointing season that included an ugly loss to the likes of Colorado and way-to-close win (17-6) over Syracuse at home. Stewart actually made this face during the Colorado game in which he bonered basic clock management skills and his team's chances at a win. Not many people in West Virginia are happy with him a year later (they're probably at a 5 on the regretometer). Meanwhile, North Carolina played in the overwhelmining middle weighted ACC in which there were no great teams but a lot of OK-decent teams.

Verdict: North Carolina beats the spread and wins this game.
Regretometer: Neither of these teams are great but it would be pretty nice way to fill your Saturday afternoon. 2.5 on the regretometer.

Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin (+5) vs. Florida State (ESPN, 3:30PM)
Location: Orlando, FL, Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium
Announcers: Brad Nessler, Bob Griese, Paul Maguire, Holly Rowe
This is a big name bowl, a legit announcing crew, and has a couple of big name teams. Unfortunately, I think we are in line to not see a big time game. Wisconsin has severely disappointed all season. It had gotten so bad that Ross, a Wisconsin fan, spent the day leading up to the Cal Poly game telling me that a loss to Cal Poly wouldn't be all that bad (Wisconsin ended up winning by 1 in OT at home). Any time your fans are convincing themselves that a loss to a 2nd-teir opponent (and I mean this literally, they are not in the Football Bowl Subdivision aka Division I) it is time to bet against that team. Heavily.

Verdict: Florida State is a decent not great ACC team. Take them to win and cover.
Regretometer: This will be a well done broadcast but a mediocre game. Watch it, but do so laying on the couch so you can doze in and out. 3 on the regretometer.

Emerald Bowl: Miami (+8) vs California (ESPN, 7pm)
Location: San Francisco, CA, AT&T Park
Announcers: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich
The last bowl of the day is out in Cali where Cal takes on one of the teams I hate most in college football, Miami. I don't know why, but I've never liked Miami much. Part of it is probably due to the idocy of their players ("I'm a soldier", the 7th floor crew stuff, and players yelling "Tha U," many of which not knowing what that means). Plus, Miami gave us one of the best college football fights ever a couple of years ago.

That video actually makes me like them more in a sadistic way. All things considered, you have to separate your personal feelings when money/pride is on the line, no matter how much you dislike them. And as I've talked about already, the ACC stands for Average College Conference, so you'd think I'd be taking Miami to cover. Here's what you don't know, Cal is unbeaten at home this, and their only loss in Cali came at USC (which is respectable).

Verdict: I think the Pac-10 is weak, but Cal in Cali seems legit. Take them to cover against Miami.
Regretometer: This could actually be a pretty good game. Have some friends over or go to a bar, but keep an eye on this because it could be fun in the 4th quarter. 2 on the regretometer.

Look for Bowl Game Bonanzas everyday there's a bowl game.

All announcer information brought to you courtesy of Awful Announcing.