Posts Tagged ‘boise st.’

>Thursday Lunch: The Calm Before the Storm: Bowl Week 2

Posted: December 23, 2010 in college football, ncaafb
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>By Dylan Davis

The week of bowls leading up to New Years day may not be as important as the games after January 1, but they often include some of the most entertaining and balanced match ups. The first week of bowl told us a few things: It told us that Boise State is one of the best teams in the country and should have gotten a shot at playing the big boys; it told us that Jake Heaps (QB for BYU) is going to be a star for the next three years; it also told us that there’s a reason some of these teams barely qualified for bowls (I’m looking at you, UTEP). But enough about last week, let’s take a look at the upcoming schedule for games from the 23–29.
 
Predictions:
Last Week’s Record: 3-2
Overall Record: 3-2


Poinsettia: Navy vs. San Diego State

Who will win: San Diego State, because it’s basically a home game. When East Coast teams travel west to play night games, or when west teams travel east to play in the morning, the results usually aren’t pretty. The players’ internal clocks are a little off and the awkward starting times don’t help. Navy is a better football team than the Aztecs but their yearlong inconsistency in the red zone will be a little too much for them to overcome in San Diego

Swag: Best Buy Gift Card, Fossil watch, hooded sweatshirt, and cap. Neither team are cut from the USC/Auburn cloth when it comes to recruiting, so that Best Buy gift card will actually mean something to these players.
 


Hawaii: Hawaii vs. Tulsa

Who will win: Hawaii, duh. Hawaii is almost unstoppable at home, and this is a home game, for a myriad of reasons. Even for a Midwestern team like Tulsa, going to Hawaii is a change of five hours on their internal clock, not mention the length of the flight there. Being in Hawaii all the time wears off the novelty of it, thus allowing the players to focus on football instead of vacationing and beautiful women. While the Warriors will be focused, Toledo will be sipping Pina Coladas and taking long walks in the rain. Or something. Also, Hawaii is used to the ugliness of floral shirts, while Tulsa will be exposed to them for the first time this season. If all of these factors weren’t enough, Hawaii is ranked in the top 25 and has played excellent football all year.

Swag: Earbuds, Oakley sunglasses, custom shorts, commemorative t-shirt, golf shirt, visor, Oakley backpack, beach towels, and calendar. This once again proves that quantity is not always better than quality.
 


Little Caesars: Florida International vs. Toledo

Who will win: Toledo, because an eight-win MAC team always beats a six-win Sun Belt team. This is one of those games that I don’t care about whatsoever, but Toledo has a better record, is from a better conference, and is nicknamed the Rockets, so there you go.

Swag: Gift Suite, watch, leather duffle bag, and commemorative football. If the players from these terrible teams weren’t so excited to just be in a bowl, they’d probably be complaining about how bad these gifts are.
 


Independence: Air Force vs. Georgia Tech

Who will win: Georgia Tech. Depending on how you look at the world, this match up could be either disappointing or hugely entertaining. Although pairing two option offenses together is like putting Boise vs. Utah (wait…that happened? Oops), it should be interesting to see which of these teams is able to rack up yardage and points against a defense that knows what they’re trying to do. Part of the reason why the option offense works is because of its novelty, but both of these teams see it every day in practice. Expect quality defense from both sides and one big play to tip the scales.

Swag: Gift Suite, watch, New Era hat, and souvenir hat. I don’t know if the people who put the bowl gifts together stopped and thought about today’s styles, because as far as I know, most people only wear one hat at a time.
 


Champs Sports: West Virginia vs. North Carolina State

Who will win: West Virginia because of its superior defense. The Mountaineers have long been known for having an explosive offense and a 2010 Michigan-like defense, but this year they have an experienced, tough defense to lean on. Russell Wilson has been an absolute beast for the Wolf pack, but their one-dimensional offense will be no match for West Virginia. If Noel Devine can return to his 2009 form, the Mountaineers could roll in this one.

Swag: $420 shopping spree to Best Buy and watch. Insert 420 joke here.
 


Insight: Missouri vs. Iowa

Who will win: Iowa, for pride. The Hawkeyes came into this season as a top-ten team and potential national title contender, but five close losses dropped them way out of the title race and into this mediocre bowl. Kirk Ferentz is a great coach who will have his troops ready for a lesser bowl just as Chris Peterson did with Boise Wednesday night. Although Missouri has had a great year, passing the ball, Adrian Clayborn and Iowa’s suffocating defense will slow the Tigers. I expect Adam Robinson (no relation to Will) to romp for 150 yards on the ground.

Swag: Sony gift suite, Tourneau watch, cap, Ogio Cooper backpack. I’m starting to think that these bowls have no creativity. The players from all the bowls will get together at the end of the year and start to boast about getting gift suites before realizing that… wait, everyone else got that too?
 


Military: East Carolina vs. Maryland

Who will win: East Carolina, because of the coaching turmoil at Maryland. Ralph Freidgen has been told that he is not welcome in College Park next season and that has thrown the Terrapin program into disarray. I expect the spread offense of the Pirates to shellac the unprepared Terps defense.

Swag: Sony dash, portable speakers, beanie, cap, duffel bag, tailgate blanket. They were going to give out commemorative t-shirts until they realized Ralph Friedgen would be involved with the game and they didn’t make 7XL shirts.
 


Texas: Illinois vs. Baylor

Who will win: Baylor, because of Robert Griffin III. Both of these teams have explosive offensive talents (Griffin for Baylor and Mikel Leshoure for Illinois) that can single-handedly win the game for their team. The only difference is that if Baylor falls behind, Griffin can rally his troops with his arm, or his legs, while Leshoure (who is a running back) can’t help as much in the passing game.

Swag: Fossil watch, iPod touch, t-shirt, backpack, and belt buckle. I have a feeling that the Texas-based Baylor team is going to have a lot more use for the belt buckle than the Illinois players. Whatever, they all get an iPod.
 


Alamo: Oklahoma State vs. Arizonalsoy297_justin_blackmon_iconsmi

Who will win: Oklahoma State, in the second best non-BCS game. This game features two future first round picks in Justin Blackmon and Nick Foles. Both of these players are expected to be future NFL stars because of their college production and a bevy of weapons backs both on each side of the ball. Oklahoma State will be disappointed to have missed an opportunity to play in the Big 12 championship game, and that will drive them to a slight victory over the Wildcats.

Swag: Xbox 360, $20 GameStop card, headphones, iPod shuffle. Easily one of the best hauls of the bowl season until you realize that $20 at GameStop is about a useful as the new Big 10 division names.
 
That’s all for this week, check back in next week for the week 3 bowl predictions and a TSL group (and special guest) prediction of the BCS games. Have a great Christmas and enjoy the bowls.

>Thursday Earlier Lunch: ‘Tis the Season: First Bowl Week of 2010/11

Posted: December 16, 2010 in college football, ncaafb
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By Dylan Davis

 

Another college football regular season has come and gone, and it’s time for the strangest, biggest, craziest postseason out of any sport in America. The college bowl system is debated year after year, but amidst all of that, there are great games and crazy plays throughout. This year promises to be no different as there are many intriguing games and possibly the best batch of BCS matchups ever. Without further ado, here are my predictions for the first week of bowl action along with the swag that each player receives from each bowl game.

New Mexico: BYU vs. UTEP

Who will win: BYU. And it won’t be close. BYU was able to squeak out a close win over fellow bowl team Washington in the first week of the season and also beat 8-4 San Diego State in October. UTEP, on the other hand, only managed six victories over teams with a combined 15 wins. When it comes to bowl games, it starts to matter the quality of schedule and who you were able to beat. I don’t care that you can beat Cupcake State by 57 points. Great, if you want to make a bowl you should be slaughtering teams like New Mexico and New Mexico State. BYU was actually able to get W’s against bowl teams, which pushes them over the top.

Swag: Gift Suite, Oakley Sunglasses, Oakley beanie, New Era Cap, Oakley backpack, pen with box, and Christmas ornament. Players will make good use of the sunglasses, beanie, and hat so friends and family don’t recognize them and realize they’re playing in a bowl game in New Mexico.

 

Humanitarian: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State

57767772Who will win: Northern Illinois in a squeaker. Fresno State has gone 2-2 in its previous four games, but those two wins were by a combined 5 points against Idaho and Illinois at home. Before that, they were shellacked by a shocking score of 51-0 at Boise. The Bulldogs peaked at the wrong time, and even though they may have more talent than Northern Illinois, they won’t be able to pull out the win. The Huskies are going in the complete opposite direction as they won nine games in a row before finally dropping their final game to MAC champ Miami (OH) by five points. I expect these trends to continue in Boise.

Swag: Sony Gift Suite, New Era skullcap, waterproof parka, winter gloves, hand warmers, Ogio Fugitive backpack, Big Game souvenir football. I have no idea why a bowl game in Boise between a WAC team and a MAC team would want a ball commemorating the Cal-Stanford game.

 

New Orleans: Ohio vs. Troy

Who will win: Ohio, and I won’t watch a second of this game. Ohio beat MAC champ Miami (OH) by three touchdowns and 8-4 Temple on the road, but neither of these teams are very impressive in any way. I can just never pick a Sun Belt team to win any game.

Swag: iPod touch and Balfour ring. Balfour is a company that specializes in class rings for high schools and has made some Super Bowl rings. This leads me to believe that the ring will commemorate the bowl game itself, which means that those iPod touches will be a lot more popular this year for the players.

 

St. Petersburg: Southern Mississippi vs. Louisville

Who will win: Southern Mississippi in a shootout. USM lost two games by a single point and another by six. The Golden Eagles were blown out by South Carolina, but Louisville is nowhere near the talent of the Gamecocks. The Cardinals have only scored 40 points twice the entire season, while Brett Favre’s alma mater has hit that mark seven times in their last 8 games. Normally you would have to give Louisville credit because they play in a BCS conference, but the Big East this year wasn’t much better than Conference USA.

Swag: Xbox 360, Oakley sunglasses, Oakley backpack, and mini-helmet. That mini-helmet is possibly one of the worst gifts of the bowl season and will probably be turned into a bong by at least 15 players.

 

D067601025.JPGLas Vegas: Utah vs. Boise State

Who will win: Boise State, in one of the best non-BCS bowls. This game is an interesting test case to see how well Chris Peterson can keep his troops focused after a devastating loss to Nevada that kept them out of a BCS bowl. Boise obviously has more talent than the Utes, but will the players care about the Las Vegas bowl after gearing up for the Rose Bowl all season? I think that if the Utes had a stronger defense, they could pull the upset, but Boise’s defense is way too strong and Kellen Moore can light up any defense in the country. One problem I have with this game is the fact that two of the best non-BCS are playing each other. I realize that all the bowls have conference tie-ins, but this is the third year in a row that a Boise with one loss or less hasn’t been able to showcase their talents against a big team. This is no knock on Utah who has been very impressive the entire season, but if Boise beats up on Utah it doesn’t carry the same weight as if they had beaten up on Michigan State or LSU. Maybe next year, Boise.

Swag: Gift Suite. What? They’re in Las Vegas; you think they need more gadgets and clothes than the teams relegated to St. Petersburg, Boise, or New Mexico? Please.

 

As with Will, I had finals and work this week, so sorry for the short article. Join back next week for a recap of the first five bowls and previews of next week’s games along with the definitive Sack Lunch All-American team. Have a great weekend.

>Wednesday Lunch: Late Losses and the Plight of the Non-AQ

Posted: December 1, 2010 in college football, ncaafb
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By Dylan Jamaal Davis

On September 27th, 2008 the 4th ranked team in the country lost at home to an unranked conference opponent by one point on a kicking mistake in the closing minutes. On November 27th, 2010 the 4th ranked team in the country lost on the road to a ranked conference opponent in overtime on two kicking mistakes in the closing minutes.


Both of these teams ended the year with one loss, yet one team was never considered for a BCS game while the other won the national title later that year. If you look at the two games they lost it seems that the second team has the edge because they played a ranked team, the game was on the road, and the finish was closer.



The first team is the Florida Gators who missed an extra point in a 31-30 loss to Ole Miss in Gainesville. They won all the games before and after that and by beating Alabama in the SEC title game and Oklahoma in the national title game, they finished the year number one and with the crystal football.




The second team is the Boise State Broncos. This past weekend they traveled to 19th ranked Nevada and took a commanding 24-3 halftime lead. The Wolf Pack pounded away and tied the game with under a minute to go. With about 10 seconds left, Kellen Moore rocketed a pass 53 yards downfield to Titus Young who made a spectacular diving catch with one tick left on the clock. At this point I was having flashbacks to the Big 12 title game last year when favored Texas had one second on the clock to kick a game winning field goal and preserve their undefeated season. Kicker Kyle Brotzman missed the 26-yard chip shot that followed, then another in overtime, and Nevada escaped with a narrow upset. Even though their loss was not nearly as damaging as Florida’s, they are nowhere near a BCS game, much less the title. Why is that? Let’s examine the two main issues.




1. Early losses vs. late losses: The Gators were lucky enough to suffer their loss early on in the season. Teams that lose early on in the year usually drop down in the polls, but over the course of the year they will climb past teams with similar records if they keep winning. There seems to be a thought that if you lose late, you should be dropped behind teams that are your equals just based on when in the year you happened to get tripped up. Honestly, this is completely idiotic. Virginia Tech lost the first two games of the season to Boise State and FCS James Madison. Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma State all have the same number of losses and play in the much tougher Big 12 and have only lost games to other teams in conference play. Just looking at those resumes, one would believe that they all should be ranked higher, but since their losses were incurred at a later point than the Hokies, they are all now ranked lower in the polls.
A team should be judged by its total body of work and not by when they lost. In extreme cases (such as a team losing its last two games while another team loses the first two) it can be taken into consideration, but if two teams have a similar body of work, the team with more recent loses will be ranked lower 99 out of 100 times.


2. BCS vs. Mid Majors: Many people would look at the opening to this column and scoff, how can I possibly think that Boise State should be ranked ahead of Florida? The Gators play in the rough and tumble SEC, while the Broncos blow out sub par WAC competition week after week. This is a perception that is absolutely ludicrous and is perpetuated by the mainstream media. If Boise had played a home game against a middle of the pack ACC foe, the press would have blasted them if they hadn’t won by 20 points. Auburn did exactly that earlier this year when they squeaked out an overtime win against a 6-6 Clemson team on a missed field goal in overtime. If they had only beaten a 6-6 SEC team by 3 points, they would have been deemed unworthy of playing in a major bowl, but Auburn did exactly that against middling Kentucky. On the other hand, if the Bronco’s blow out a ranked Pac 10 team by two touchdowns (Oregon State who was ranked at the time of the game) or shut out a bowl bound squad by a score of 51-0 (Fresno State) those games are dismissed because “that’s what Boise should be doing”. When they are given the national stage to showcase their talents, they rarely fail to deliver. In their last eight games against top-ten teams, the Broncos have only lost once, and that was against another non-BCS school in TCU.


I understand that the lower teams in the SEC are better than the lower teams in the WAC or Mountain West, but is anyone really scared of Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, or Kentucky? I’m sure Boise would play those teams in a heartbeat and would probably crush them by the same margins that an SEC power would. With TCU and Utah both moving to BCS conferences next year and BYU going as an independent, there are a dwindling number of non-BCS teams that are good enough to make a BCS bowl. But until this problem is completely eradicated, we will still see teams like Boise and TCU shut out of the title game year after year, and that hurts the game. Of course, if there was a playoff system…but that’s an argument for a different day.




Week 14 Preview:
There was some spectacular college football action this past weekend, but everything this year has led up to week 14. This is conference championship week, and in the conferences that don’t have title games, there are a number of important tilts that need to be discussed. Let’s dive right in.




SEC Championship Game: Auburn vs. South Carolina: These two teams met in Auburn earlier in the season and the Tigers were able to pull out a 35-27 victory. This game will be different for a number of reasons. Firstly, Marcus Lattimore has transformed into a complete and utter beast and should be primed to go against a stout Auburn run defense. The Auburn pass defense showed against Alabama that they have issues, especially with big physical receivers. Alshon Jeffrey should have a field day with Stephen Garcia hopefully being left in the entire game. If the improved Gamecocks defense can keep the clamps on Cam Newton, they might be able to pull off the biggest win in school history. Pick: South Carolina-38 Auburn-34



Big 12 Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. Nebraska: While neither of these teams have a shot at the national title, a BCS bid would be huge for both. If Taylor Martinez is able to play the entire game for Nebraska, the Huskers will run away with the victory. Landry Jones has made tremendous progress this year but the Huskers pass defense has been dominant and the run game of Nebraska will wear down the Sooners mediocre defense. Pick: Nebraska-28 Oklahoma-24




De Facto Big East Championship Games: Connecticut vs. South Florida, West Virginia vs. Rutgers, Pitt vs. Cincinnati: The games above are listed in order of importance. If Connecticut wins its game, it will secure the Big East crown. If they lose and West Virginia is able to defeat bottom-feeding Rutgers, they would take the Big East and the automatic BCS berth. If both the Huskies and the Mountaineers falter, but Pitt is able to exact revenge on Cincinnati, the Panthers would get the BCS bid. If they all lose, it goes back to UConn for the crown. Basically, these games are for the right to be blown out in a BCS game, but it’s still important for recruiting and school pride to be able to call yourself conference champs. Pick: South Florida-24 Connecticut-21, West Virginia-30 Rutgers-14, Pitt-28 Cincinnati-24 (this game wouldn’t matter if the other predictions hold true.)


ACC Championship Game: Florida State vs. Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech has steadily improved on both sides of the ball since two heartbreaking losses to start the season, and now boast an explosive offense to complement their suffocating defense. These two teams haven’t met, but the fact that Florida State slipped into this game based on North Carolina State losing to Maryland last week tells me all I need to know. Pick: Virginia Tech-34 Florida State-24


Oregon vs. Oregon State: Everyone is already placing Oregon in the title game, and that’s a dangerous thing. Playing a conference rival on the road is always a tough task (just ask Boise State) and this one may be tougher than most. In 2007 West Virginia had a high-powered rushing attack and would’ve made the title game if they had been able to beat a struggling Pitt team in the season finale. They ended up losing that game, at home no less, and fell to the Fiesta Bowl. Don’t be surprised if Oregon stumbles coming out of the gate and the game is close in the 4th quarter. With that being said, losing James Rodgers has severely limited the Oregon State offense and the Ducks tend to wear teams down in the second half. I expect LaMichael James to have a huge second half to lead Oregon to its first BCS title game. Pick: Oregon-48 
Oregon State-37



If all of those picks hold true, the title game will most likely be Oregon vs. TCU which could potentially lead to a 50,000 word column next week by me, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Have a great weekend watching these tremendous games and check in next week for a regular season wrap up and look forward to bowl season. Also look for a critique of the BCS system by members of the TSL staff and guest writers in the near future.