Insight Bowl, 2200 Friday December 30 2011 , Sun Devil Stadium

Iowa may not have Mr America QB Ricky Stanzi anymore, but do have the nation’s first presidential caucuses in a few weeks and they were the subject of some pretty awesome “Rick PArry” ads run by the Colbert Super-PAC. They also have a legitimately impressive RB (Marcus Coker, 115 ypg) and receiver (Marvin McNutt, 106 ypg) so there is some balanced firepower on this squad. Sure, they may have gotten slightly out-gained in the season aggregates, and sure, they
finished in the bottom half of the Big 10′s Where’s Wisconsin division. But, other than Minnesota and Iowa State, this team didn’t have any bad
losses, and they made up for those with some impressive wins like, umm…

On to Oklahoma!

It’s weird for a Texas fan to say this, but OU caught some really bad breaks this season and if life was fair they’d be in a better bowl. Not based on their 9-3 record, but I mean if they hadn’t lost one of the best two WR in the country (Ryan Broyles) and their starting HB Dominique Whaley, they might have finished with another win or two and a top 10 ranking. Nevertheless, this is a very good team. Landry Jones throws for 358 ypg, even with Broyles out for 3 games, and Kenny Stills and Jaz Reynolds have both been very effective receivers. In three losses, the defense has given up 40+ points, but that’s only indicative of a really
poor effort against Texas Tech. Against Baylor and Oklahoma State, you kinda expect that unless the defense is really elite.

The bottom line is that Iowa is too outmatched at QB, WR depth, and probably on the lines to make this a competitive game.

Prediction: Oklahoma 41, Iowa 17

Twenty-one years ago, a boy was born in the Okinawa Prefecture in the distant land of Japan. His parents, both sergeants in the United States Army, raised him to be strong, tough, wily — a survivor. At age 7, he killed his first bear, the skin of which he would use to stay warm during the coldest of winter nights. By the time he was 12, he had taught himself to break the code used by the Japanese military and used it to launch guerrilla raids on their supply lines, stealing vital medical supplies that he would use to treat his family as they waited for the 61st division to return to find them. Help never came.

In 2008, on the 4th of July, that boy began his pilgrimage to his homeland. The Pacific Ocean was a long swim, but he had been preparing for this for his whole life. Two months later, he arrived in Waco, Texas.

Robert Griffin III is the perfect hipster. When he listens to a band, everyone else forgets they ever existed. He has the ability to turn water into wine, but he prefers to drink PBR. His favorite number is the number J. Superman wears an entire outfit modeled after the socks RG3 wore to receive his Heisman Trophy. Read the rest of this entry →

The Holiday Bowl has been a graveyard for disappointed teams from both the Big 12 and the Pac 10 for years, and now Cal and Texas get to settle their differences in San Diego.

Texas. Cal. Holiday Bowl. It’s tough to read those four words without thinking of the 2004 season, when Texas and Cal both finished with 1 loss apiece (to unbeaten Oklahoma/USC) and it was Texas chosen by the narrowest of margins to play in the BCS. (Keep in mind that these kids were in middle school back in 2004…)

Vince Young and the Horns went on to win one of the best Rose Bowls ever played (until, you know, their win the following year) while Aaron Rodgers and Cal were embarassed by Mike Leach’s Red Raiders in… the Holiday Bowl!

This year, both teams limp into this game at 7-5 with 4-5 records in their respective conferences. Texas has struggled mightily down the stretch, winning just one of their last 4 games, while Cal finished with a boom (3-1) with only a narrow loss to highly-ranked Stanford. But that may be a matter of schedule ordering – neither team won a game in conference against a team with more than 6 wins. Read the rest of this entry →

Independence Bowl – Dec 26, 2011

Missouri vs North Carolina

A pair of 7-5 teams square off in one of those games that leaves us asking, why do we send almost half of the FBS teams to a bowl game again?

Missouri lost every conference game against a team with a winning record except for Texas. Don’t worry, though, they beat the 7-5 Longhorns and every Big 12 team with 6 wins or less. North Carolina didn’t quite have the same predictability, but were pretty close especially considering they’re from the ACC – a conference that in the past has tended to consist of Virginia Tech, 10 teams with 5-7 wins, and Duke. (or so it has seemed) Read the rest of this entry →