MAC, CUSA CHAMPS SET TO FACE OFF
The college football bowl season picks up again Tuesday with the first of five consecutive days of games.
Here are three reasons why you should watch the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl game between Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and Northern Illinois.
It’s an amazing story: UAB is com- ing off a strong Conference USA championship win over Middle Tennessee, culminating an amazing two-season comeback run after the program was shut down for a few years. Now, it not only gets to go bowling for the second year back, but it gets to play one of the three bowl matchups between conference champions; the Ohio State-Washington Rose Bowl, and the AlabamaOklahoma Orange Bowl are the other two.
Northern Illinois ended the regular season with a thrilling comeback win to beat Buffalo for the Mid-American Conference championship game, but can the offense be consistently good for a full four quarters? The Huskies have an amazing defense that brings the heat from both sides, and now they have to close out with a bang for the sake of the program that’s had so many bowl game issues, and for a conference that always needs as much public relations help that it can get.
If you like defense and low-scoring, tight games, this might just be for you. The pass rushing is great from both teams, and neither one has anything special on offense to blow up. It might not always be scintillating, but it should be close.
Who wins? First one to score two touchdowns wins? The two defensive fronts should dominate the game, but Northern Illinois’ offensive line struggles in pass protection and UAB’s doesn’t. The Blazers have more of a consistent offense.