The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
35 games matched up
Title game isn’t only contest to watch over next few weeks.
The BCS title game between Alabama and Notre Dame is still 23 days away, but there’s plenty of good — and bad — bowl matchups between now and then.
Here’s a bit of what to look for in this year’s 35 bowl games:
Top games
Fiesta Bowl, Oregon vs. Kansas State, Jan. 3: For the second straight year, the Fiesta has a matchup that could be 1A to the national title game. The Ducks and Wildcats were national title contenders just a few weeks ago.
Rose Bowl, Stanford vs. Wisconsin, Jan. 1: There might be a collision or two between these two power programs.
Cotton Bowl, Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma, Jan. 4: Johnny Manziel and Landry Jones could combine for 1,000 yards and 10 TDs on their own.
Orange Bowl, Northern Illinois vs. Florida State, Jan. 1: Just to see if the BCS-busting Huskies do actually belong.
New Mexico Bowl, Nevada vs. Arizona, today: Two of the nation’s best scoring offenses against two of the nation’s worst scoring defenses. The bowl season will kick off with fireworks.
Under-the-radar players
Ka’Deem Carey, Arizona: Led the FBS in rushing and might get a few more yards against Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl.
Tavon Austin, West Virginia: All-American lines up all over the field and is a threat to score from anywhere. Gets Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Montee Ball, Wisconsin: He’s scored more touchdowns than anyone in FBS history.
Bowl sponsors
Food is again king when it comes to sponsoring bowls. The dot-coms? About done.
Food-related companies were tops in sponsors bowls last season with seven and there’s one more this season with the Insight Bowl becoming the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. It joins Tostitos, Chick-fil-a, Outback, Kraft, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, Little Caesars and the Idaho Potato Commission in bowl sponsorship.
What’s missing are the dot-coms. Once the dominant force of bowl sponsorships, online companies are down to two: the GoDaddy.com Bowl and TaxSlayer.com sponsoring the Gator Bowl.
Odds
A year ago, oddsmakers were predicting a tight BCS championship game, opening with a spread of one point between LSU and Alabama.
They’re looking for a little more lopsided game this year, with the Crimson Tide opening as a 7 ½-point favorite over Notre Dame on the Glantz-Culver Line.
The closest game was one point between UCLA and Baylor in the Holiday Bowl and the highest opening spread was the Heart of Dallas Bowl, where Oklahoma State was giving up 18 points to Purdue.
Despite predictions of a close game, the Holiday Bowl has the highest over/ under of 79 ½ points.
Distances
The farthest distance to travel to a bowl this season will be SMU’s journey to the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, a trip of about 3,800 miles.
For anyone wanting to take a long road trip in a car, the longest nonwater distance is about 2,800 miles. That’s roughly how far San Jose State will go to play Bowling Green in the Military Bowl in Washington and Navy’s trip to San Francisco for the Fight Hunger Bowl against Arizona State.
Vanderbilt and San Diego State have the shortest trip: nowhere.
The Commodores face N.C. State in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, and the Aztecs will play BYU in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.
Numbers
0.0404: Points by which Northern Illinois got into the coveted top 16 of the BCS standings.
1: Bowl game for Louisiana-Monroe in its history after being selected to face Ohio in the Independence Bowl.
9: Wins by Louisiana Tech, which was left out of the bowl season after failing to meet a deadline with the Independence Bowl and wasn’t picked for another bowl.
10.33: Points per game allowed by Notre Dame, best in the country. Alabama is No. 2 at 10.69.
18: Years since Duke’s last bowl appearance. The Blue Devils face Cincinnati in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte.
Games not to watch
Armed Forces Bowl, Rice vs. Air Force, Dec. 29: We hate saying anything negative about the men and women at the service academies, but a matchup of 6-6 teams isn’t particularly exciting no matter who it is.
BBVA Compass Bowl, Pittsburgh vs. Ole Miss, Jan. 5: See 6-6 line above.
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Michigan State vs. TCU, Dec. 29: Not only is it a matchup of a 66 team (MSU) against one that’s 7-5, the calling card for these two teams are their defenses. First one to six points doesn’t exactly get us jazzed.