Even with all the controversy (I don’t like BCS system either) I still love the experience of hanging out with family and watching teams duke it out for bragging rights. It’s also a great look into how potential high draft picks perform in high pressure/high stakes games.

Are there bowl games that are going to be more entertaining than others? Of course, but I really recommend you to try to watch as many of them as possible.

Enjoy the games and enjoy the holidays.

2011 College Football Bowl Game Schedule

TV Schedule – Kickoff Times – Point Spreads

The entire Big Ten has been under attack since January 2007 because of Ohio State’s failures against the SEC. Anybody who’s a Big Ten fan is beyond sick of hearing about how great the SEC is and how bad or slow the Big Ten is, especially since the Big Ten had started to regain a positive reputation after winning two BCS bowls and turning in a 2010 regular season in which Ohio State didn’t just steamroll every team in the conference on the way to a Big Ten title.

Many of us Big Ten fans hoped for a good showing in these bowl games, particularly the January ones, not just to keep the positivity flowing, but so that we wouldn’t have to spend another four years hearing how bad the Big Ten is while getting the SEC shoved down our throats.

Instead, on January 1, 2011, Big Ten fans got the absolute worst conference showing during the entire time our conference has been dogged. Despite the fact that every non-Big Ten fan seemed to think that the entire conference couldn’t compete with the SEC in bowl games, it had never actually been true these past few years…but it’s true now.

But is it true because of SEC superiority, because the Big Ten is really this bad, or what?

The Rose Bowl: TCU vs Wisconsin

The Real Reason Wisconsin Couldn’t Compete:

People always have to make the “speed vs. size” argument whenever a Big Ten team faces Oregon or a team from the South nowadays. But the truth is that Wisconsin could compete, and technically, they did.

Ultimately, TCU’s speed wasn’t the problem; Wisconsin couldn’t defend the pass early in the game, but they eventually stopped TCU’s drives. This just was not the Wisconsin we saw the second half of the season. Sure, they ran the ball, but Bret Bielema had developed an aggressive, attacking attitude after Wisconsin’s loss to Michigan State that he didn’t have in his other seasons as Wisconsin’s head coach…and he and his staff–and, consequently, the team–seemed to leave that attitude in Madison before going out to Pasadena.

Wisconsin struck me as a team that was too worried about turning the ball over–to the point of not doing whatever it took to find the end zone–and panicked too soon. They got down 21-13 and started getting away from what had been working (the run), relying a little too much on quarterback Scott Tolzien to pass the ball as if they were in the kind of hole that necessitated it.

The 4th quarter was questionable and, to me, wasted (as the 3rd quarter was also wasted). Wisconsin waited until their last offensive possession of the game to return to the run, which TCU basically had not been able to stop all game. The run was working once again…and Wisconsin decided to try and run down the clock.

Apparently, they found it more desirable to bank on making a game-tying 2-point conversion while indirectly saying that they didn’t have faith in their defense to stop TCU’s offense and get the ball back for a go-ahead scoring attempt if they failed at a 2-point conversion–despite the fact that they’d been stopping TCU’s offense most of the second half. Did…not…like…this. And then when the 2-point attempt came…they called a pass! Wisconsin had run all the way down the field on TCU, and they called a pass for the 2-point conversion attempt!

I suppose I could have saved some space and just spelled it out like this: the reason Wisconsin lost this game, in my opinion, was play calling. With all due respect to TCU, we have seen Wisconsin play a lot better, and Big Ten fans know they were more than capable of winning this game. That’s what makes this the hardest and most painful Big Ten loss for me, along with the fact that this is the Rose Bowl. I’ll just say it: Wisconsin should have won. This is a completely unnecessary blow to the Big Ten.

Photo credit: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images via GossOne.com

The Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs Alabama

The Real Reason Michigan State Couldn’t Compete:

They couldn’t compete because they were never that good. I’m sorry, Spartans fans, but it’s the truth. This is not something I came up with upon watching that complete humiliation, either (not just for MSU, either–I felt humiliated throughout that entire game, and I’m a Wolverine). Nobody expected MSU to win this bowl game except MSU fans…and not even all of them.

Many people expected a blowout, though not of this proportion. Most people didn’t even believe MSU could beat Iowa earlier in the season. The reason I gave is why. Frankly, no one bought that 11-1 record, especially considering the close victories over teams like Northwestern and Purdue. I could see 11-1 coming after MSU beat Wisconsin for two reasons:

1) a weak non-conference schedule and 2) no Ohio State on the schedule.

If MSU had faced OSU, they would not have been 11-1 and they would have been in their correct bowl game. Instead, the Big Ten gets crap like what happened in this bowl game that our conference has owned pretty much every other time recently, as long as MSU hasn’t been in it.

Sparty, please do not insert yourself into another topnotch bowl again until you actually belong there, and definitely don’t whine about not making a BCS bowl again. You have not won a bowl game since the cows left home.

I will throw this out there, though, I suppose somewhat in MSU’s defense: there are not too many teams in any conference that would have beaten Alabama with the way they played. Alabama played as they did in the 1st half of the Iron Bowl, when Cam Newton couldn’t get a thing done, and then some. The defense was smothering. Greg McElroy had a good day passing. They were able to run the ball again. They were just back in national championship form.

The Outback Bowl: Penn State vs Florida

The Real Reason Penn State Couldn’t Compete:

Because it was Urban Meyer’s last game, and because the quarterback situation was a problem most of the season. I’m actually surprised by the amount of scoring in this game, too, given the problems both teams have had.

Florida looked about as ridiculous as they’ve looked all season at times, but Penn State managed to look even more ridiculous…or should I say Matt McGloin looked even more ridiculous? He was only 17 of 41 passing with one touchdown pass, one rushing touchdown, and five interceptions. I expected PSU to lose because I couldn’t see Florida letting Meyer go out any other way but as a winner.

But of all the Big Ten-SEC matchups, I thought this was the most–or really, only–realistic win for the Big Ten, primarily because Florida has struggled to move the ball most of the season. The final score is deceptive–PSU led at the half, was down 30-24 late in the game and they probably still would have won with three turnovers.

The Gator Bowl: Michigan vs Mississippi State

The Real Reason Michigan Couldn’t Compete:

Because the coaching staff is a complete joke, and this was necessary. I have seen the back-and-forths, i.e. the way Michigan fans are going at each other over the Rich Rodriguez issue because I am a Michigan alum. I wanted Michigan to win, but I knew Michigan wouldn’t. Nothing that happened in that game surprised me; in fact, it was nearly exactly as I thought it would be, except I didn’t think that State would beat us worse than OSU did.

But after those two games, anyone who can still fix his or her mouth to say that Michigan’s offense is working, or “we have figured out one phase and just need to get the other two or the defense working,” or “RR needs one more year” needs his/her head checked. Michigan couldn’t compete because:

1) RR’s offense generally doesn’t work against real teams, which basically means approximately 80% of the automatic qualifying conference teams outside the Big East;

2) RR’s defense doesn’t work against…hmm, let’s see…anybody;

3) a big part of the reason for garbage D being that, for some inexplicable reason, RR and his staff haven’t been successful at convincing enough elite talent to come to Michigan, of all places…and you RR supporters, that’s not going to change, which means another season with RR is a complete waste of Michigan’s time (haven’t you been embarrassed enough, or do you just have a high tolerance level for nonsense?);

4) the coaches seem to coach Michigan players to bang their heads against the wall with crap that doesn’t work instead of studying teams and adjusting accordingly;

5) a big part of the reason for seemingly little adjustment to State most likely being all the coaches spending their time looking for new jobs instead of coaching. I mean, Michigan plays every single game exactly the same. It’s just that the “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work against any team we’d need to beat in order to truly be successful.

Let me reiterate that I wanted Michigan to win. But I say losing like this was necessary because Michigan needs to part ways with this coaching staff.

Many people will go on believing that Michigan is on the right track because they believe the offense is on the right track. But the lack of scoring Michigan displays against good teams, especially when in realistic positions to win during games such as in the 1st half–unlike the 2nd half “comebacks” against Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin–needs not be ignored. 52-14 makes it pretty hard to ignore that Michigan is broken in every phase and is getting beaten worse than we did even in 2008, RR’s first season at Michigan.

The TicketCity Bowl: Northwestern vs Texas Tech

The Real Reason Northwestern Couldn’t Compete:

No quarterback. And nobody really expected NU to win this bowl game because of that. If any Big Ten team is going to be let off with a pass by non-Big Ten fans, it’s Northwestern.

Many people are willing to acknowledge that, especially playing a disappointing Texas Tech team, if Dan Persa had been available to play in this game then NU would have won. This is especially true given the unexpected fast and furious comeback NU somehow put together even without Persa. And Northwestern honestly deserves all the credit in the world for fighting back like that and coming so close. You could argue that Northwestern gave the best effort of any Big Ten team on Saturday.

What To Take Away From All This…

Notice with, particularly, the SEC games, the problem is not really the SEC or anything the SEC does that we can’t handle in the Big Ten as a conference–the problems are the current states of Michigan State, Penn State and Michigan.

Specifically, the issues are that Penn State and Michigan are not themselves right now, and Michigan State is being asked to fill a role that is unfamiliar to and unrealistic of them, i.e. to act as a Big Ten powerhouse and beat other powerhouses without powerhouse talent.

Georgia and Tennessee are going through something similar to PSU and Michigan, and they both lost their bowl games, as well (one to a C-USA team).

In all honesty, PSU and Michigan are teams that should have been home for the holidays (as Georgia and Tennessee also should have been) but fell into January bowls…(start arguing about whether or not there are too many bowl games now).

What Lies Ahead

Big Ten fans now must place all of our hope for a victory over the SEC in Ohio State. Yeah, I know, that team that is 0-9 against SEC teams in bowl games.

At this point, does an OSU victory really do anything for us? I’d say no, on two fronts:

1. Nobody is going to forget or let us forget that we lost badly to three other SEC teams and have a losing record overall this bowl season to the SEC, as well as in bowl games this season in general, and;
2. S lot of people across the nation don’t agree with Terrelle Pryor and company playing in the Sugar Bowl–you know to what I’m referring. So, if OSU wins, they will just be called cheaters.

The Bright Side

Far more than with the SEC, the Big Ten has struggled with the Big 12 recently in bowl games. Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa and Ohio State have all lost to Big 12 teams in bowl games in recent years whereas Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State and Iowa have beaten SEC teams in bowl games recently.

This season, we’re coming away 2-1 against the Big 12 because Iowa and Illinois came through big time for the conference as underdogs against Missouri and Baylor. Otherwise, the Big Ten would be completely winless right now.

St. Petersburg Bowl

• St. Petersburg Bowl Date: Saturday, December 19th
• St. Petersburg Bowl Time: 8:00 ET
• St. Petersburgh Bowl TV: ESPN
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Central Florida Knights
• College Football Lines Rutgers-Central Florida Spread: Rutgers -2.5
• Rutgers-Central Florida Over-Under: 44.5

Rutgers: The Week That Was

The Scarlet Knights mounted a late and furious rally against West Virginia, but came up short in a 24-21 home loss to the Mountaineers. Rutgers fell behind 21-3 early in the third quarter before storming back to slice West Virginia’s lead to just three points with 8:31 left in regulation time.

For a while, it looked as though coach Greg Schiano’s squad was going to pull off the comeback, but quarterback Tom Savage and the rest of a struggling offense couldn’t produce the scoring drive the team needed in the final minutes of play. West Virginia’s J.T. Thomas picked off Savage with 1:59 remaining to deal Rutgers its fourth loss of the season. Ultimately, sportsbook odds makers know that the offensive side of the ball killed the Scarlet Knights.

Central Florida: The Week That Was

Sports handicapping experts saw the Knights completed their regular season with a 34-27 win at Alabama-Birmingham on Nov. 28. UCF might have been outgained by 92 total yards (527-435), but that was largely a by-product of the fact that the Knights forged a 31-14 lead in the third quarter. UAB and quarterback Joe Webb (459 all-purpose yards) might have moved the ball up and down the field, but losing teams will rack up big yardage totals when trailing by a sizeable margin late in a game.

Central Florida established firm control of this contest behind a balanced attack that featured 130 rushing yards from tailback Brynn Harvey and 230 passing yards from quarterback Brett Hodges. UCF maintained a two-possession lead until the final few minutes of regulation.

The Week That Is:

With this game being played in the Sunshine State, Central Florida has snapped up its allotment of tickets for the St. Petersburg Bowl. At least 14,000 UCF fans are expected to file inside Tropicana Field – a domed stadium – for a Saturday evening slugfest. If the Knights (formerly called the Golden Knights, which would have made these teams’ nicknames more distinctive) can keep pace with the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers deep into the fourth quarter, the crowd could carry them to the finish line first.

However, the verdict here is that Rutgers has better playmakers. Savage – who threw a pick-six in the season-ending loss to West Virginia – is still better than Hodges. Rutgers receiver Tim Brown is the best athlete on either offensive squad. The Big East might not be great, but it’s better than Conference USA. Expect Rutgers to fly down to St. Petersburg and paint the town red… or more specifically, Scarlet. Rutgers wins this “Knight Fight” by a 30-16 score.

Bookmaker Review Rutgers-Central Florida Betting Pick: Rutgers -2.5

There were spells during the game that it felt like Mizzou might actually get something going but then OU would make an adjustment and immediately shut things down. On the flip side I saw nothing that led me to believe Mizzou was trying different schemes or options to try and slow OU down. The most puzzling to me was how far off the line the corners were playing. They were giving OU receivers 5 to 8 yards of cushion the entire game. I mean come on, you’re down 38-7 at the half, what is there to lose by jamming some receivers and getting a little more physical?

Now, I will say that Oklahoma is very impressive; this squad is clicking on all cylinders right now. I keep hearing that Oklahoma will be an underdog to Florida in the Championship game. I don’t see it. Florida is a very good team as well but I honestly don’t see any college team beating the Sooners right now. You can’t tell me that OU’s defense is not good enough to hang with Florida. There’s no doubt Mizzou didn’t do themselves any favors by turning the ball over 3 times, but still, the OU D held the 6th ranked offense in the nation to only 21 points.

I do think this will be a great matchup between the Sooners and Gators but I have to give the edge to Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, Mizzou has accepted an invite to play in the Alamo bowl against Northwestern on Dec. 29th. Two teams with completely different expectations coming into the season, Missouri was a preseason National Championship favorite while Northwestern was just hoping to get into and win a bowl game.

These two teams have not faced each other since 1987 when the Tigers beat the Wildcats in Columbia 28-3. These teams have previously faced off 8 times and are split at 4 wins apiece.

Again, the strength of Mizzou is its explosive offense and its weakness is the 100th ranked defense. Mizzou has losses to three top 25 teams, getting beat by an average of 23 points. Northwestern has losses to two top 25 teams by an average of 26 points. Both teams faced Illinois this year with Mizzou winning by 10 and Northwestern winning by 17.

This should be a good ballgame. Mizzou has several seniors in which this will be their last hoorah, so I am sure they will want to go out on top and give Mizzou their first back to back 10-win seasons in school history.

Northwestern will be playing to reach that 10-win mark as well. Like Mizzou, Northwestern has 23 seniors that will be looking to go out on top. It has been 59 years since Northwestern has won a bowl game.

I have to give the edge to Mizzou on Offense and Northwestern on Defense. Should make for an interesting game. Go Tigers !!

coop92 is a contributing author to Midwest Sports Fans, as well as the editor at Midwest Sports Junkies. Check out his site for additional analysis of the St. Louis Cardinals, the BCS, and Missouri Tigers football.

In the SEC Championship game, Florida was able to outlast Alabama and took the game over in the 4th quarter en route to a 31-20 victory. Making the win even more impressive was that superstar, do-everything Percy Harvin did not play. Despite the absence of Harvin, the Gators were able to survive because they have one of the greatest players in the history of college football. Yes, I said it: Tim Tebow is one of the greatest players in the history of college football. As a Tennessee fan, I have always “hated” Tebow; but I have to admit that he makes it pretty hard to do so.

What more could you want in a superstar player? He’s an oustanding player, he sounds like a good, genuine kid (even if he comes across as slightly haughty and holier-than-thou every now and then), and my goodness does he compete. I loved the speech he gave after Florida was upset by Mississippi, mainly because he complete backed it up. I don’t know if he is more deserving that Sam Bradford for the Heisman Trophy this year, but it would be pretty hard to argue with Tebow if he is the choice.

So Florida won, and they should be in the BCS National Championship Game.

In the Big 12 Championship game, Sam Bradford and Oklahoma continued their explosive ways. The Sooners because the first team in college football history to score 60 or more points in five straight games. That is ridiculous. And while Texas has a logical argument against Oklahoma to be in the title game, I’m not sure how you can watch Oklahoma play and reasonably say they should not be playing for it all. I am sure that Texas fans are holding out hope that something quirky will happen and that they will somehow eclipse Florida or Oklahoma, but it’s not happening — nor should it.

So as we look at the updated projections for the BCS bowl games, we can pretty much fill in the championship game with pen:

BCS National Championship Game: Florida v Oklahoma

And we know another one for sure as well:

Rose Bowl: USC v Penn State

The other three games are all subject to the choices of the individual bowl games as to who they match up with the automatic tie-in. The Orange Bowl will get the ACC Champ Virginia Tech, while the Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl will get the #2 teams from the SEC and Big 12, respectively: Alabama and Texas. And Cincinnati won the Big East, so they will get a bid as well.

Utah also gets an automatic bid by virtue of winning the Mountain West Conference and being ranked in the top 12 of the BCS. By rule, only one automatic bid will go to a non-BCS conference team. Other teams, like a Boise State, then go into the normal at-large pool — meaning they have no chance.

So what will the other matchups be?

By rule, choice of at-large teams goes in the order of the proximity to the BCS Championship game. That means that the order for the 2009 BCS is Fiesta, Sugar, then Orange.

Here are the most reasonable projections:

Fiesta Bowl: Texas v Ohio State

Sugar Bowl: Alabama v Utah

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech v Cincinnati

You have to assume that the Fiesta Bowl will take Ohio State to leverage their gargantuan fan base and create a high profile, made-for-TV matchup against Texas. If only those two fan bases watch the game, ratings will be great. And I would think that the Sugar Bowl would want undefeated Utah over Cincinnati, leaving the Bearcats to head down to Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Obviously, we will have to watch and see how the final BCS rankings shake out. My dream is to wake up tomorrow to a Texas-USC BCS National Championship game, because surely the BCS would then be blown up in favor of a playoff. The chances of that happening, however, are about as good as the chances of Tim Tebow being picked up for a DUI tonight — absolutely impossible.

And the truth is, there is no matchup I can think of that will get me more excited for the BCS National Championship game than Florida-Oklahoma. Sure, both Alabama and Texas only have one loss, and Texas actually beat Oklahoma back in October. But no two teams have been more dominant over the past 6 weeks in college football — and they are more than deserving of a berth in the title game under the current system.

But wouldn’t it be great to see a 4-team or 8-team playoff? We might end up with Oklahoma-Florida anyway, but who knows? That’s the beauty of the NCAA tournament, and it could add even more excitement to college football — if we are ever to be so lucky.

(Follow the link to see the complete 2008-09 College Football Bowl Schedule. We’ll update it once all the matchups are announced.)

The college football bowl game TV schedule and point spreads have been posted!

Follow the link to view the college football bowl game TV schedule and point spreads for the 2009-10 bowl season, including all BCS games.

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The 2008-09 College Football Bowl Schedule has been announced, with no real surprises.

As we predicted, the BCS games are as follows:

BCS National Championship: Florida-Oklahoma

Rose Bowl: Penn State-USC

Fiesta Bowl: Texas-Sacrificial Big Ten Lamb

Sugar Bowl: Alabama v Utah

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati v Virginia Tech

Quietly, Notre Dame did accept a bowl bid, as they will play Hawaii in the…wait for it…Hawaii Bowl. That’s pretty lame if you are a Notre Dame fan, but I scoff at the notion that they should turn it down. More than the actual benefit of playing in the game, going to a bowl game is HUGE from a coaching standpoint because you get an extra month of practice time with your team. Charlie Weis is down to his last chance next year, and the extra practice could help get some young players ready to step up in 2009.

Anyway, I’ll quit rambling. Here is the 2008-09 College Football Bowl TV Schedule and Matchups: