Say hello to the NBO!

Since the bowl contracts are coming up for renewal, here are my thoughts on a potential new bowl order. I haven't associated any of these with bowls, just idle thoughts. Mostly based on my college football rankings and bowl-eligible teams last two years.

• SEC #2 v. Big 10 #2
• Pac-10 #2 v. Big 12 #2
• ACC #2 v. Big East #2/Notre Dame
• SEC #3/4 v. Big 12 #3
• SEC #3/4 v. Big 10 #3
• Big 12 #4 or Big 10 #4 v. Big East #3/Notre Dame
• SEC #5 v. ACC #3
• Pac-10 #3 v. MWC #1
• Big 10 #4 or Big 12 #4 v. ACC #4
• Big 10 #5 v. Big 12 #5
• MWC #2 v. WAC #1
• C-USA #1 v. ACC #4
• Big 10 #6 v. MAC #1
• ACC #5 v. Big East #4
• Big 12 #6 v. ACC #6
• SEC #6 v. Pac-10 #4
• SEC #7 v. ACC #7
• ACC #8 v. C-USA #2
• Pac-10 #5 v. WAC #2
• C-USA #3 v. Navy
• MWC #3 v. WAC #3
• WAC #4 v. MAC #2
• MWC #4 v. C-USA #4
• C-USA #5 v. Sun Belt #1
• MWC #5 v. MAC #3
• MAC #4 v. Sun Belt #2
• C-USA #6 v. Sun Belt #3 or Army

Let's play "What is Tom Hansen talking about?"

From his interview with the LA Times:

It [a college football playoff] would be so negative for college football in my opinion that it just doesn't make good sense. Including the fact it would be 16 teams, not the four that many people advocate, because politically you couldn't stop at four, you couldn't stop at eight, you couldn't stop at 12. And even at 16 you'd have problems.

What political pressures and "problems" is he talking about?

If he thinks a playoff would have to pick the best 16 teams, yes, that would be a problem and devalue the regular season. But the political pressures I'm imagining would create an 11/5 playoff, which would mostly maintain the sanctity of the regular season and create an exciting postseason. And wouldn't be terribly different, when you think about it, from an 8-team playoff with the best 8 teams.

Or is it just the logistical issues involved with scheduling 15 playoff games?

Expand the Pac-10? Uh... no.

Really? You think Utah is too good for the Mountain West? That's your real problem, isn't it?

Sorry, the reason the Pac-10 is NOT expanding anytime soon, no matter what you may want to happen, isn't just to maintain the truthfulness of the "10" part, unlike the Big Eleven. Right now, the Pac is divided into five nice and neat geographic rivalries. Adding Utah and Boise State (the next logical football addition) wouldn't maintain that pattern.

And frankly, as much as I respect the mid-majors, I really think Utah, Boise State, or any other addition from the Mountain West or WAC would be Cal-Oregon-Oregon State-Arizona-State-on-a-good-day level in the Pac-10, not USC level. USC and the good SEC/Big 12 teams are perennially just that good. (Keep in mind, USC beat Utah 16-0 on the road in the Golden Bowl Octofinals.)
Quit worrying about the Pac-10's lack of respect and start worrying about your real problem - the Mountain West's lack of respect and its need to expand with Boise State and maybe Hawaii, Fresno State, or Nevada. Who knows, maybe someday the Pac-10 will be wowed with the prospect of conference championship money and bring on Utah and BYU (both fairly good teams in both football and basketball). But as some of the commenters on this opinion piece suggest, getting more appropriate bowl tie-ins and less reliance on FSN is probably going to have to come first.

(This would not be a full-fledged blog post if I wasn't on Twitter. I might not have even heard of it if it weren't for Twitter, but that's not the point.)

More football than you'd ever expect two days before the Super Bowl

This post is now hosted only on the new site.

After the Golden Bowl...

...Mark Sanchez, seeing how close he came to a national championship, elects to come back to USC for another season.

Think of how acrimonious his real-life decision to jump to the NFL was, how it caused a split with his coach and maybe even his father.

Now suppose that, rather than being the top of the heap, about as high as his career could go with the risk of injury being the main thing looming, the Rose Bowl put him in a real national championship game. And put Sanchez within one game of becoming the true champion of college football... and he lost (and had a mediocre performance that would hurt his standing with NFL scouts).

Don't you think he would be a little more tempted to come back and get over that last hump? Even once Tim Tebow announces he's coming back as well, it's unlikely to change his decision; he wants to get a rematch in next year's Golden Bowl where he thinks the Trojans can come out on top this time. After all, this year's Golden Bowl was in Florida's home state; next year's will be a virtual home game at the Rose Bowl.

I'm going to simulate next year's Golden Bowl Tournament based on the actual results of that season's games, not based on some alternate universe where Sanchez still plays at USC. But this sort of thing is the sort of impact instituting a playoff would have on college football - real, substantive effects that change the course of college football history. And Whatifsports.com doesn't even simulate injuries (because it's intended to simulate one-game exhibitions).

Keep that in mind while you're debating the merits of a playoff.

Yes, the college football rankings and lineal title are coming! Hold your horses!

2008 Golden Bowl Tournament: Fiesta Bowl and Thoughts on the BCS

If you are going to put value on the idea of a national championship (and honestly, I've actually been wondering if we were better off under the old system when we ideally didn't care about the national championship), wouldn't you rather have the Golden Bowl over the BCS?

We have four teams with legit claims for the National Championship. So much for the BCS ending national championship uncertainty.

In the Golden Bowl Tournament? In the very first round Utah and USC faced off - in Salt Lake, in snowy, blizzardy conditions - and the Trojans still prevailed. USC then proceeded to shockingly dominate Oklahoma in another road game in the second round.

As for Florida and Texas? They settled their differences ON THE FIELD, in the Sugar Bowl. Now, next week, the two remaining teams - Florida and USC - will settle this once and for all in the Golden Bowl. And this week, I'll post the final college football rankings. Florida's #1, and holds one of what's now two lineal titles, so next week we'll see if they can claim the Grand Slam. (BCS title, #1 in my rankings, holding any lineal title but preferably Princeton-Yale, and Golden Bowl title.)

But first, we have a Fiesta Bowl to take care of... (I'm wondering if it's worth it to have this game. The Golden Bowl Tournament already lengthens the regular season, and while I had told myself that as long as I was adding four games for the Golden Bowl participants, there was little reason not to add two more teams in that group, the fact is that it IS one more game and it's a little masturbatory. On the other hand, if the point of keeping the bowls is because we have 34 winners, not 1, I should give the semifinal losers one more chance to win. I may make a Da Blog Poll on this in the future.)

Fiesta Bowl: #5 Penn State v. #3 Texas
Personally, I don't think, if you looked at it logically as opposed to looking at the body of work or playing it out on the field, you can even make a case that USC should deserve the national championship ahead of Utah. USC played in too crappy a conference, and even though both games were close home games for the winners, they did lose to a team that lost to Utah the next week.

But USC beat a good team in the Rose Bowl, one good enough to earn a VERY good seed in my tournament, and though it was too little too late, Penn State's defense - which couldn't stop Glen Coffee for the first half of the Alabama game, and had even less luck against Joe McKnight - finally found their defense again in the last game. What didn't work against Mark Sanchez and McKnight, did work against Colt McCoy - and made people reconsider their snap picks for Florida in the Golden Bowl.

For three quarters it was at least plausible that the Longhorns could compete in this game, if practically unlikely. The Nittany Lions bent but didn't break on defense, and on their first drive, Mickey Shuler caught a screen pass from Daryll Clark and took it 58 yards to the house. Texas managed to get downfield enough for a chipshot field goal on their next drive, but Stephfon Green gets a 73-yard touchdown off a draw on the Lions' first play from scrimmage.

After that, the Longhorns start buckling down on defense, forcing a punt, but the offense can't even make it into Lion territory, unlike on all their first-quarter drives. In fact, Texas' defense outplays Penn State's in the second quarter, forcing three-and-outs while Texas tacks on another field goal and has another blocked. The Longhorns enter the locker room with confidence.

But Penn State starts getting first downs again, and Texas doesn't return to Lion territory until a drive that ends the third quarter. The Lions don't score, but they put the game away in the fourth quarter, starting with a field goal, and preventing Texas from even getting a first down until their last drive of the game. With five minutes left Mack Brown and McCoy are already going for it on fourth down (down only two scores and on their own 23!), giving the Lions good field position to tack on a touchdown. Another fourth-down try leads to a quick touchdown pass to Green, the player of the game for his combined 133 yards running and catching with a touchdown for each, and by the time Texas finally gets a couple of first downs it's pointless.
Final score: Penn State 31, Texas 6

2008 Golden Bowl Tournament Quarterfinals

#9 USC v. #1 Oklahoma
The game turned out to be surprisingly boring... aside from the team that was winning.

It didn't look to be that way at first. Mark Sanchez's second pass attempt was picked off - but the Trojan defense forced its second straight three-and-out. The next time the Trojans got the ball, Joe McKnight broke off a 40-yard touchdown run. Then Oklahoma coughed up the ball on a fumble and USC went on another 53-yard drive for another touchdown, and the Sooner crowd was silent the rest of the way. Sanchez kept the scoring going with a long pass to Patrick Turner that he managed to take in for a score early in the second. Oklahoma went into the half without having tallied a single first down and down 28-0.

The Sooners finally picked up a first down midway through the third... only to see their next punt be taken to the house. The Sooners also got on the board with a 57-yard rushing touchdown on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, but by that point they were already down 35-7 and no one thought any sort of miracle comeback was anything near possible - a near 5-minute touchdown scoring drive taking up the rest of the third quarter, with the touchdown itself coming in the fourth, made sure of that. The stands were sparse for much of the second half and virtually empty for most of the fourth, as college football pundits and Sooner fans alike found themselves scratching their heads. Yes, Pete Carroll had undoubtedly motivated his squad with the indignity of having to play in the freezing snow of Salt Lake City in the first round when they all knew they had deserved a first-round home game. Most of the questions involved the Sooners: What had happened that left them vulnerable to freaking Troy, and then left them as little more than the butt for another set of Trojans to whoop, in a replay of the 2004 Orange Bowl? And how had Joe McKnight gone completely ignored in the Heisman conversation this season?
Final score: USC 55, Oklahoma 14

#7 Texas Tech v. #2 Florida
From the opening bell, it was clear this was not going to be Texas Tech's day. That became apparent when Jeffery Demps broke open a 51-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Florida went on to score later in the drive, then picked up a field goal on the next one. The Red Raiders proceeded to pick up their first first down, but then Graham Harrell threw one of his two picks and that resulted in a touchdown-scoring drive. Texas Tech finally picked up a touchdown on a drive that spanned into the second quarter, but the extra point was blocked, and a good kickoff return allowed Florida to drive to another field goal.

The Red Raiders defense finally stopped Florida from scoring with a three-and-out, only for Harrell to throw INT #2, this time returned all 48 yards for the touchdown by Joe Haden. Florida went into the half up 30-6 and the Red Raiders never scored again. Tim Tebow didn't look like a running quarterback - he ran 17 times for only 11 yards - but Demps and Chris Rainey picked up the slack, and while Tebow went only 5-8 passing, it was for 53 yards.
Final score: Texas Tech 6, Florida 40 (I'm assuming Florida keeps running with less than 2 minutes to play, picks up the first down, doesn't need to kick a field goal, and doesn't try to punch it in with goal to go)

#6 Cincinnati v. #3 Texas
In by far the greatest game of the Golden Bowl tournament so far, Cincinnati proved they deserved their seed that so many called unusually high. So impressive were they that Dominick Goodman, who caught 7 passes for 153 yards, was considered the player of the game.

Why was that impressive, besides that it was a wide receiver? Read on.

An early Texas drive that looked like the landslide many pundits had predicted was cut short when Colt McCoy, after driving his team to the Bearcat 30, threw the ball into the hands of Brandon Underwood. Tony Pike then went 4-for-4, every throw for a first down, culminating with Goodman making a running catch and winning a footrace for the endzone, a 30-yard play that served as a notice to the Longhorns. Cincinnati 7: Texas 0.

Although Texas went three-and-out, anyone who dismissed that drive as a fluke probably seemed vindicated when Pike threw an interception of his own, and after Texas went three-and-out again, promptly threw another interception on his very next play, this one taken back to the end zone by Earl Thomas for the game-tying score. After that, the Bearcats kept the ball on the ground, throwing the ball only three times on the ensuing drive on the way to a field goal to retake the lead. The Longhorns promptly struck back, as McCoy drove them 46 yards before Chris Ogbonnaya picked up a 24-yard touchdown run on a draw. Cincinnati doesn't pick up a first down for the rest of the half, and the Longhorns add a field goal of their own before the half. The pundits' halftime analysis: the Longhorns started slow, but they will now play much more like they played in the second quarter and will put the game away.

Not so fast.

Anyone thinking the Bearcats would go down that easy were shut up when John Goebel ticked off a 48-yard run all the way to the 2, setting up a subsequent touchdown run to re-tie the game. Cincinnati's next possession ended in a three-and-out and the ensuing punt gave the Longhorns good enough field position to re-take the lead, but Pike managed to lead the Bearcats to the endzone himself on the very next drive. The Bearcats were not going away, and they would stay in it all the way to the end.

After forcing Texas to punt, the Bearcats got the ball back on their own 17 for their first drive of the fourth quarter, and after two plays, picked up a first down when the Longhorns were flagged for encroachment - only to be set further back by a holding flag the next play. Thanks mostly to a second-down pass to Goodman, the Bearcats still picked up the first down, then crossed midfield on a 13-yard pass to Ben Guidugli. Another second-down pass picked up another first down before the Bearcats stalled, only gaining two yards on each of the first two downs before Isaiah Pead, on one of only two rushes of the day (both for losses), got nailed for a five-yard loss and forced a punt. On the clock, the quarter was already half over, and the score remained 24-24.

McCoy proceeded to break the hearts of the Bearcat faithful by running for 17 yards on second down to the Longhorn 35, then handed it off to Cody Johnson who broke open for a 64-yard run, just barely being stopped short of the end zone. After two incomplete passes and a run got stopped, Mack Brown decided to roll the dice by going for it on fourth down. Had it failed, it could have ended up endlessly questioned - but it worked, and the Longhorns retook the lead. But before the Bearcat faithful could beat themselves up for very long, Pike threw a screen to Goodman, who proceeded to make a Heisman-like dash for 65 yards down to the 12, and Jacob Ramsey punched it in the rest of the distance. Cincinnati 31, Texas 31, 4:28 to play. Texas returns the kickoff to their own 30. Play sequence: Incomplete, 1-yard pass, incomplete, punt. Cincinnati gets the ball back on their own 38, 3:33 to play, chance to win the game and shock the nation by shutting the Big 12 out of the semifinals.

First play: Interception.

After an illegal motion flag against Texas, Ogbonnaya promptly breaks open a 46-yard run down to the 10. Two Foswhitt Whitaker runs later, McCoy hits Quan Cosby in the endzone. Cincinnati 31, Texas 38, 1:47 to play, Tony Pike - after a fantastic game - needing to redeem himself and not become the scapegoat.

Cincinnati gets the ball back on the 23. First play very familiar: Pike to Goodman, out of bounds, gain of 8, second down Ramsey gets a four-yard run for the first down. Bearcats call timeout, 1:32 remaining. Goebel runs east-and-west and manages to pick up a yard before going out of bounds. Pike throws... batted down. Pike completes it this time to Marcus Barnett, but he gets nailed immediately... can't go out of bounds. Clock stops for the measurement and first down, but they have to get back to the line. Clock ticks down to 55 seconds. They run a draw to Ramsey... ends up out of bounds for another 1-yard gain. 51 seconds. Pike throws to the sideline to Charley Howard. Out of bounds, six-yard gain, 45 seconds left, they're in Longhorn territory now. Third and 3. Pike throws it downfield to Barnett... just out of his reach. Fourth down, three to go. 38 seconds. This time the first down is most important. Pike pitches it right into the hands of Goebel.

Two yards.

Texas avoids an unmitigated disaster for the Big 12 and becomes the only Big 12 team still playing for a national championship. Cincinnati will have to settle for a trip to the Orange Bowl at least a week too early. Tony Pike and Brian Kelly will have that interception and final drive replaying in their nightmares for years. Bearcats fans are merely left to shake their heads and wonder what might have been. Dominick Goodman, though, gains a new level of respect around the country from people who might not have been paying attention to the Big East.
Final score: Cincinnati 31, Texas 38

#5 Penn State v. #4 Alabama
No sooner did the Cincinnati Bearcats get done scaring the Texas Longhorns than two of college football's most storied teams managed to top it, in a game that proved to be surprisingly high-scoring.

Daryll Clark threw for three first downs on Penn State's second drive of the game, and with the ball on the 25, Evan Royster - on his way to an amazing two-hundred-yard day - picked up a fourth on a 16-yard run, then proceeded to pound ahead another eight for the touchdown, the first sign that Alabama's defense wasn't in proper working order. Though Alabama had picked up the first first down of the game, the first sign that Penn State's defense wasn't working either might have been dismissed as a fluke: Glen Coffee pounding through it for 51 yards on Alabama's second play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive, only getting stopped at the three, setting up Roy Upchurch for the equalizer.

After three more runs by Royster put the Nittany Lions in Alabama territory, the Tide defense seemed to bear down and get the stop, helped in no small part by a delay of game penalty, and a long punt return to the Lion 29 set up an 18-yard run by Mark Ingram and an 11-yard touchdown by Coffee, and Alabama took the lead heading into the second quarter.

Both defenses traded stops, though both teams penetrated their opponent's territory, but then the Nittany Lions suggested that the Tide defense still wasn't quite working the way it should have. Clark was the star of this drive, with three decent-sized completions early before, on 2nd and 11 from the 21, handing the ball off to Royster on a draw and setting up the Lions on the 2. Derrick Williams pounded it in from there to re-tie the game. Alabama struck back, with the help of another big run by Coffee and a slightly shorter one from Upchurch. The drive stalled after a false-start flag, but Kevin Kelly still made a 47-yard field goal - his only attempt of the game - to retake the lead. Penn State went three-and-out, a Tide first down was rendered moot by holding on the next play, and Penn State got the ball back with 17 seconds left and couldn't do anything before the half. The pundits' consensus: If the Tide's defense could get more consistent they can put away the Nittany Lions during the second half and turn what's been a close game so far into a laugher, because the Lions can't stop Glen Coffee.

But the Tide's defense doesn't get more consistent. Instead the Nittany Lions, namely Royster, have a fantastic third quarter. After a three-and-out, they get help from the special teams with a punt return into Tide territory, and Royster tags on a 30-yard touchdown run. Penn State's next drive is a three-and-out but the punt pins the Tide inside the 20, but Upchurch renders that irrelevant by leaving the defense in his wake for an 87-yard touchdown run - the only Alabama drive of the quarter that isn't a three-and-out. Royster immediately takes the challenge and takes it 79 yards for a touchdown of his own on Penn State's first play from scrimmage. The next time Penn State gets the ball, Clark takes over and leads the team on a five-minute drive that only gets stopped on fourth and goal from the 4. Penn State 31, Alabama 24.

The Tide's defense buckles down in the fourth quarter, as both teams trade three-and-outs, and although Penn State does eventually pick up a first down, the defense sets up the Tide with what would seem to be a perfect opportunity to tie the game when Tyrone King picks off Clark and takes it to the 11. But the Nittany Lion defense is ready: after Coffee picks up six yards on a draw, they hold Upchurch to only one. On third and 3 from the 4, John Parker Wilson attempts to pass but finds no one open and ends up scrambling for a yard. Now it's fourth and 2 from the 3, and Alabama needs the touchdown. Nick Saban calls a draw play to Coffee.

Stuffed after a yard.

One of the most memorable stops in the history of Penn State's storied defense - if it holds. Penn State gets the ball back with 2:52 to play but on their own 2 - seemingly, with a lot of field to cover, a good chance to burn the remaining clock. A pitch to Stephfon Green gets two, then Clark - in a call that threatens to be questioned forever - throws an incompletion. Stopping the clock and gaining nothing. Finally Joe Paterno and Clark realize this situation calls for giving it to Royster (already at 200 yards) early and often, but on third and eight, a draw play only picks up one yard.

Alabama gets another chance, 1:38 to play with, and a full complement of timeouts - and the ball on the Penn State 30. The first call may seem somewhat questionable - running the ball, not with Coffee or Upchurch, but with Mark Ingram, and straight ahead instead of towards the sideline - getting only a yard and burning a timeout. Coffee gets the ball on second down and gets out of bounds after five yards. Another questionable run call, this time to Demetrius Goode, gets stuffed at the line, but this time Alabama converts on fourth down when Wilson finds Julio Jones, who strides out of bounds at the 13 with 1:02 to play. It's the first first down Alabama has gotten since their first play of the quarter. Nittany Lions fans fear the worst - what if Saban elects to go for two?

The Lion defense quickly buckles down, and a forward flip to Marquis Maze gets nailed instantly for a two-yard loss, burning another timeout. 57 seconds left. Wilson tosses it again, this time to Travis McCall, who gets stopped at the line of scrimmage and doesn't get out of bounds. Clock continues to run... 50... 49... 48... 47... Finally, at 35 seconds, the Tide takes the third-down snap. Wilson once again aims for McCall, but this time overthrows him. Clock stops with 31 seconds left. No more dilly-dallying: the Tide have to make fourth and 12.

Wilson takes the snap and steps back. Looks for an open receiver, in the end zone or even just short of it as long as it's past the three-yard line or near enough. Looking... looking... he breaks out of the pocket and attempts to elude the rush. Looking... looking...

And steps out of bounds right at the line of scrimmage.

Penn State escapes with the victory despite a couple of close scares. Evan Royster is the breakout star, but despite allowing 24 points, mostly by not being able to stop Glen Coffee for the first half, the defense is the star of the game in a contest Nittany Lions fans will tell their children and grandchildren about, especially if Penn State can go on to win the championship. Nick Saban is questioned for most of the post-game press conference about some questionable calls, especially on the final drive, but truth be told, he was out of tricks after nothing else he had tried had gotten past Joe Paterno's defense for the second half.
Final score: Penn State 31, Alabama 24

Semifinal Matchups:

Rose Bowl: #9 USC v. #5 Penn State
Okay, so Alabama-Penn State wasn't the defensive battle I advertised, but USC-Penn State could be. But with Joe McKnight playing at a Heisman-caliber level, Penn State might have trouble with him for more than a half. Because this is the real Rose Bowl, I won't be simulating it.

Sugar Bowl: #3 Texas v. #2 Florida
Some may call this the real national championship game. There are some similarities with the real real national championship game. This one might be a battle of the last two Heisman winners, and it pits two able offenses against each other, but while the Big 12 team's is most impressive, Florida boasts a fantastic defense, and we'll see if Tim Tebow can make the difference in this one. This simulation will be announced after the new year.

Non-semifinal BCS bowls:
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma v. Alabama
Orange Bowl: Texas Tech v. Cincinnati

College Football Schedule: Bowls

Rankings reflect my College Football Rankings. This week's rankings only (not past weeks) reflect a correction: Stanford's game against San Jose State was being counted as being against San Diego State. It shouldn't affect anything at the top and certainly not anything in the Golden Bowl, but it does affect three conferences' ratings, and as a direct result the Mountain West has retaken the lead over the MAC, implying they may have been almost always ahead all along. SDSU has been a constant in the Bottom 10, though its ranking in it isn't affected. Lineal titles also updated. All times Eastern.

BOWL	Teams	LOCATION	DATE/ TIME/ CHANNEL
TOP 25 TEAMS
FedEx BCS National Championship Game	#1 Florida	Miami	Jan. 8, 2009, 8 p.m.
Princeton-Yale/2004 Auburn-Utah Unif.	#2 Oklahoma	Dolphin Stadium	FOX
Tostitos Fiesta	#9 Ohio State	Glendale, Ariz.	Jan. 5, 2009, 8 p.m.
	#3 Texas	University of Phoenix Stadium	FOX
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi	#5 Penn State	Pasadena, Calif.	Jan. 1, 2009, 4:30 p.m.
	#4 USC	Rose Bowl	ABC
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia	#10 TCU	San Diego	Dec. 23, 8 p.m.
For Creation of 2008 Boise State Title	#6 Boise State	Qualcomm Stadium	ESPN
Allstate Sugar	#8 Utah	New Orleans	Jan. 2, 2009, 8 p.m.
2006-7 Boise State Title	#7 Alabama	Superdome	FOX
AT&T Cotton	#11 Texas Tech	Dallas	Jan. 2, 2009, 2 p.m.
	#16 Mississippi	Cotton Bowl	FOX
GMAC	#25 Tulsa	Mobile, Ala.	Jan. 6, 2009, 8 p.m.
	#12 Ball State	Ladd-Peebles Stadium	ESPN
Valero Alamo	Northwestern	San Antonio	Dec. 29, 8 p.m.
	#13 Missouri	Alamodome	ESPN
Outback	South Carolina	Tampa, Fla.	Jan. 1, 2009, 11 a.m.
	#14 Iowa	Raymond James Stadium	ESPN
Capital One	Michigan State	Orlando, Fla.	Jan. 1, 2009, 1 p.m.
	#15 Georgia	Florida Citrus Bowl	ABC
Pacific Life Holiday	#17 Oklahoma State	San Diego	Dec. 30, 8 p.m.
	#20 Oregon	Qualcomm Stadium	ESPN
Meineke Car Care	#18 North Carolina	Charlotte, N.C.	Dec. 27, 1 p.m.
	#22 West Virginia	Bank of America Stadium	ESPN
Pioneer Las Vegas	#19 BYU	Las Vegas	Dec. 20, 8 p.m.
	Arizona	Sam Boyd Stadium	ESPN
Brut Sun	Oregon State	El Paso, Texas	Dec. 31, 2 p.m.
	#21 Pittsburgh	Sun Bowl	CBS
FedEx Orange	#23 Virginia Tech	Miami	Jan. 1, 2009, 8:30 p.m.
	Cincinnati	Dolphin Stadium	FOX
Champs Sports	#24 Florida State	Orlando, Fla.	Dec. 27, 4:30 p.m.
	Wisconsin	Florida Citrus Bowl	ESPN
OTHER POSITIVE B POINT TEAMS
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Houston	Fort Worth, Texas	Dec. 31, Noon
	Air Force	Amon G. Carter Stadium	ESPN
BOWL SUBDIVISION
EagleBank Bowl	Wake Forest	Washington, D.C.	Dec. 20, 11 a.m.
	Navy	RFK Stadium	ESPN
New Mexico	Colorado State	Albuquerque	Dec. 20, 2:30 p.m.
	Fresno State	University Stadium	ESPN
St. Petersburg	South Florida	St. Petersburg. Fla.	Dec. 20, 4:30 p.m.
	Memphis	Tropicana Field	ESPN2
R+L Carriers New Orleans	Southern Miss	New Orleans	Dec. 21, 8:15 p.m.
	Troy	Superdome	ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii	Hawaii	Honolulu	Dec. 24, 8 p.m.
	Notre Dame	Aloha Stadium	ESPN
Motor City	Central Michigan	Detroit	Dec. 26, 8 p.m.
	Florida Atlantic	Ford Field	ESPN
Emerald	California	San Francisco	Dec. 27, 8 p.m.
	Miami (FL)	AT&T Park	ESPN
Independence	Louisiana Tech	Shreveport, La.	Dec. 28, 8:15 p.m.
	Northern Illinois	Independence Stadium	ESPN
Papajohns.com	Rutgers	Birmingham, Ala.	Dec. 29, 3 p.m.
	NC State	Legion Field	ESPN
Roady's Humanitarian	Nevada	Boise, Idaho	Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m.
	Maryland	Bronco Stadium	ESPN
Texas	Central Michigan	Houston	Dec. 30, 8 p.m.
	Rice	Reliant Stadium	NFL Network
Gaylord Hotels Music City	Vanderbilt	Nashville, Tenn.	Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m.
	Boston College	LP Field	ESPN
Insight	Kansas	Tempe, Ariz.	Dec. 31, 5:30 p.m.
	Minnesota	Sun Devil Stadium	NFL Network
Chick-fil-A	LSU	Atlanta	Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.
	Georgia Tech	Georgia Dome	ESPN
Konica Minolta Gator	Nebraska	Jacksonville, Fla.	Jan. 1, 2009, 1 p.m.
	Clemson	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium	CBS
AutoZone Liberty	Kentucky	Memphis, Tenn.	Jan. 2, 2009, 5 p.m.
	East Carolina	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium	ESPN
International	Connecticut	Toronto	Jan. 3, 2009, Noon
	Buffalo	Rogers Centre	ESPN2

Predictions for SportsCenter's "Top 10 Games" of 2008

In case you haven't heard, this was a particularly exciting year in sports. When ESPN's "SportsCenter" does its annual "Top 10 Games" countdown, they could easily extend it to a Top 20. With so many great games, I've taken it upon myself to take my own stab at mimicking the ESPN list and what it might look like.

Between some college football playoff-related features and Da Blog's regular features, I think it's reasonable to schedule the College Football Rankings' release, as well as the bowl schedule, for Thursday.

#10: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, men's basketball gold medal match, USA v. Spain. The "Redeem Team" lives up to their name in a game Bill Simmons called "one of the 10 most dramatic basketball games of my lifetime. And nobody gave a crap or even knew. The game started at 2:30 in the morning ET and vanished into thin air. Only West Coasters and super-diehards stayed up to see it."

#9: NHL Hockey, Winter Classic, Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres. Could the NHL have asked for anything less than a shootout from the first (true) Winter Classic?

#8: College football, SEC Championship Game, Florida v. Alabama. If the regular season is a playoff, this was its semifinal - and it certainly played like one.

#7: MLB Baseball, ALCS Game 5, Tampa Bay Rays @ Boston Red Sox. For the moment, just forget about the fact the Sox couldn't come all the way back to win the series.

#6: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, swimming, 4x100m freestyle relay OR 100m butterfly OR 4x100m medley relay. The first two were dramatic finishes on Michael Phelps' road to Mark Spitz's record. The last was the one that broke it and had an exciting finish of its own. And I only have it at #6.

#5: College football, Texas @ Texas Tech. The Red Raiders came out to an early lead, only to see Texas come storming back to take a lead of its own. In the end, Texas Tech had the play of the year, and as it turned out, the one that kept Texas out of the National Championship Game.

#4: Wimbledon, men's final, Roger Federer v. Rafael Nadal. This and the next two I could have put in any order. A five-set, record-length classic that ended with Nadal finally getting the best of Federer away from clay.

#3: Men's college basketball, NCAA Tournament Final, Kansas v. Memphis. Finally, a National Championship game that lives up to being the culmination of March Madness instead of being a complete anticlimax!

#2: US Open Golf, playoff, Tiger Woods v. Rocco Mediate. 19 holes of pure tension, as basically an unknown gives Tiger every inch of challenge he has, and brings out Tiger's best to put him on top. And Tiger was injured to the extent it's still the last event he's played!

#1: NFL Football, Super Bowl XLII, New England Patriots v. New York Giants. Perhaps the greatest iteration ever of the biggest sporting event of every year? How can it not be #1?

Honorable Mentions: IRL racing, Indy Japan 300 (Danica wins!); Euro 2008 quarterfinal, Croatia v. Turkey (or was it the semis, where Germany beat Turkey? Basically a sop to my soccer-crazed dad anyway); MLB Home Run Derby; ArenaBowl XXII, Soul v. SaberCats (about the only thing that could make it better is if it were the last one); some NBA game I'm forgetting; some obscure game I never heard of or just didn't watch (possibly from MMA, boxing, the LLWS, Fresno State's run, the WNBA, MLS, or the like)