COLLEGE BOWL ROUND-UP:
Who plays who and some early predictions.
HOW THEY FINISHED Ohio State and LSU were 1-2, respectively, in the Associated Press and the Coaches' polls on Sunday. The Buckeyes were third in the BCS last week, while LSU was seventh. The latest poll had Ohio State with a BCS average of .9588, just ahead of the Tigers (.9394), while Virginia Tech was a distant third (.8703). Oklahoma and Georgia were next in the standings, followed by Missouri, which was left out of a BCS game. Southern California was seventh, followed by Kansas, West Virginia and Hawaii to round out the top 10. |
WHO PLAYS WHO While the BCS title game will be played on January 7, the other top bowl games -- Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta -- will still play their traditional games on New Year's Day or soon after. The BCS title game rotates among the four traditional sites -- Pasadena, Miami, New Orleans and Arizona. The other BCS games were also set up Sunday. Hawaii (12-0) the only unbeaten team in the nation was chosen to play Georgia (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl, at the Superdome on New Year's night. The Rose Bowl will pit Pac-10 champion Southern California (10-2) against Illinois (9-3) on January 1. The other contests pit ACC winner Virginia Tech (11-2) against Kansas (11-1) in the Orange Bowl on January 3, and Oklahoma (11-2) versus Big East champion West Virginia (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2. Georgia didn't win the SEC East, being edged in a tiebreaker after losing at Tennessee, 35-14, on October 6. For the first time since the 1983 season, Georgia will face an undefeated team in its bowl game. That season, seventh- ranked Georgia upset second-ranked Texas 10-9 in the 1984 Cotton Bowl. The Warriors were last in a postseason game on the mainland in 1992, beating Illinois at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Hawaii has won its last three bowl games, all in Honolulu. The Trojans won their final four games of the season after a 24-17 loss at Oregon on October 27. However, the sore spot for Pete Carroll's team was a shocking a 24-23 home loss to lowly Stanford, which came into that October 6 game as a 41-point underdog. This will be the first time USC will meet Illinois at the Rose Bowl. USC, which won its sixth consecutive Pac-10 title by beating crosstown foe UCLA on Saturday, will be making its 32nd trip to the Rose Bowl. The Fighting Illini will play in their first bowl game since New Year's day 2002 when they lost to LSU at the Sugar Bowl. Illinois will be making its first Rose Bowl appearance since the 1983 season when it was blown out by UCLA. Illinois' last Rose Bowl win came in the 1963 season against Washington. Oklahoma's two losses came 27-24 on September 29 at Colorado on a last-second field goal. The Sooners blew a 24-7 second-half lead in that game. Their only other loss was 34-27 at Texas Tech on November 17 when starting quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a concussion. This will mark OU's ninth consecutive bowl game -- a Sooner record. Last year, Oklahoma suffered a 43-42 overtime loss to Boise State at the Fiesta Bowl. West Virginia is making its first trip to the Fiesta Bowl since playing Notre Dame for the national championship in 1989. The Mountaineers are making their second BCS bowl trip in three years, having defeated Georgia, 38-35, in the 2005 Sugar Bowl. The Orange Bowl matchup will pit the nation's second-ranked scoring defense in Virginia Tech against the nation's No. 2 passing offense in Kansas. The Hokies gained the Orange Bowl berth with their victory over Boston College in the ACC title game on Saturday, avenging a loss to the Eagles on October 25. However, Virginia Tech's other loss proved to be their downfall for not being selected to play in the title game. The Hokies were rocked, 48-7, at LSU on September 8. The Jayhawks were riding high going into a November 24 meeting against Missouri, but were knocked from their unbeaten perch with a 36-28 loss, Instead of playing in a BCS game, Missouri will take on Arkansas at the Cotton Bowl on New Year's day in Dallas. |
COMPLETE BOWL SCHEDULE Date/time-Bowl-Site-Conferences-Matchup Thu., Dec. 20 Poinsettia San Diego Mountain West vs. At-large team Utah vs. Navy Fri., Dec. 21 New Orleans New Orleans Sun Belt vs. Conference USA Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis Sat., Dec. 22 Papajohns.com Birmingham, Ala. Big East vs. Conference USA Cincinnati vs. Southern Mississippi Sat., Dec. 22 New Mexico Albuquerque, N.M. Mountain West vs. WAC New Mexico vs. Nevada Sat., Dec. 22 Las Vegas Las Vegas Mountain West vs. Pac-10 Brigham Young vs. UCLA Sun., Dec. 23 Hawaii Honolulu Conference USA vs. WAC East Carolina vs. Boise State Wed., Dec. 26 Motor City Detroit MAC vs. Big Ten Central Michigan vs. Purdue Thu., Dec. 27 Holiday San Diego Pac-10 vs. Big 12 Arizona State vs. Texas Fri., Dec. 28 Champs Sports Orlando ACC vs. Big Ten Boston College vs. Michigan State Fri., Dec. 28 Texas Houston Big 12 vs. Conference USA *TCU vs. Houston Fri., Dec. 28 Emerald San Francisco Pac-10 vs. ACC Oregon State vs. Maryland Sat., Dec. 29 Meineke Car Care Charlotte ACC vs. Big East Wake Forest vs. Connecticut Sat., Dec. 29 Liberty Memphis Conference USA vs. SEC Central Florida vs. Mississippi State Sat., Dec. 29 Alamo San Antonio Big 12 vs. Big Ten Texas A&M vs. Penn State Sun., Dec. 30 Independence Shreveport, La. SEC vs. Big 12 Alabama vs. Colorado Mon., Dec. 31 Armed Forces Fort Worth Pac-10 vs. Mountain West California vs. Air Force Mon., Dec. 31 Sun El Paso Pac-10 vs. Big 12 or Big East Oregon vs. South Florida Mon., Dec. 31 Humanitarian Boise WAC vs. ACC Fresno State vs. Georgia Tech Mon., Dec. 31 Music City Nashville SEC vs. ACC Kentucky vs. Florida State Mon., Dec. 31 Chick-Fil-A Atlanta SEC vs. ACC Auburn vs. Clemson Mon., Dec. 31 Insight Tempe, Ariz. Big 12 vs. Big Ten Oklahoma State vs. Indiana Tue., Jan. 1 11 a.m. Outback Tampa Big Ten vs. SEC Wisconsin vs. Tennessee Tue., Jan. 1 11:30 a.m. Cotton Dallas SEC vs. Big 12 Arkansas vs. Missouri Tue., Jan. 1 1 p.m. Gator Jacksonville ACC vs. Big 12/Big East Virginia vs. Texas Tech Tue., Jan. 1 1 p.m. Capital One Orlando Big Ten vs. SEC Michigan vs. Florida Tue., Jan. 1 4:30 p.m. Rose Pasadena, Calif. BCS vs. BCS Southern California vs. Illinois Tue., Jan. 1 8:30 p.m. Sugar New Orleans BCS vs. BCS Georgia vs. Hawaii Wed., Jan. 2 8 p.m. Fiesta Glendale, Ariz. BCS vs. BCS Oklahoma vs. West Virginia Thu., Jan. 3 8 p.m. Orange Miami BCS vs. BCS Virginia Tech vs. Kansas Sun., Jan. 6 noon International Toronto, Canada Big East vs. MAC Rutgers vs. Ball State Sun., Jan. 6 8 p.m. GMAC Mobile, Ala. Conference USA vs. MAC Tulsa vs. Bowling Green Mon., Jan. 7 8 p.m. BCS title game New Orleans BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2 LSU vs. Ohio State |
 ZIPPY's EARLY BIRD BOWL PREDICTIONS [Bowl-winner] Poinsetta - Utah New Orleans - Memphis Las Vegas - BYU Hawaii - Boise State Motor City - Purdue Holiday - Arizona State Champ Sports - Boston College Texas - TCU Emerald - Oregon State Meineke Car Care - Connetticutt Liberty - Mississippi State Alamo - Texas A & M Independence - Alabama Armed Forces - California Sun - South Florida Humanitarian - Fresno State Music City - Florida State Chick-Fil-A - Clemson Insight - Oklahoma State Outback - Tennessee Cotton - Missouri Gator - Texas Tech Capital One - Florida International - Rutgers GMAC - Tulsa Rose - Southern California Sugar - Georgia Fiesta - West Virginia Orange - Virginia Tech BCS Championship - LSU |
Sources:
--The Sports Network - Ohio State to Play LSU for BCS Title
--USA Today - Bowl Schedule
--Zippy
compiled by Mondoreb
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