Non-BCS Bowls Present Intriguing Matchups
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The bowl season picks up steam tonight with the Texas–Arizona State Holiday Bowl (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET), but the real treats await during the long New Year’s holiday weekend.
The January 1st Bowl Championship Series games will be previewed in this space tomorrow, but the focus here is on the best of the non-BCS games, of which there are several appealing matchups.
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL (AT ATLANTA)
No. 15 Clemson (9-3) vs. No. 23 Auburn (8-4)
Monday, Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
A pair of mercurial teams meets in the former Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome. Auburn, known for its solid defense (no. 8 in total defense) and a limited offense (no. 101), was good enough to beat Florida and take LSU to the wire, but also lost at home to both South Florida and Mississippi State. Clemson, meanwhile, teased its fans with a 4–0 start before dropping back-to-back games to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. A loss to Boston College in November ended hopes of an ACC title. Like Auburn, those three opponents shared a common characteristic: excellent defense.
Clemson has the reputation of a great rushing attack thanks to its backfield tandem of James Davis and C.J. Spiller, but the Tigers rank just 50th in rushing offense at 158.8 yards per game. Instead, this contest could fall on the shoulders of quarterback Cullen Harper, who enjoyed an outstanding regular season with 2,887 yards and 27 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. Pass defense was Auburn’s hallmark this year, as the Tigers allowed just 179 yards per contest through the air and picked off 14 passes.
Auburn will hope that a change at offensive coordinator, where Tony Franklin has replaced Al Borges since the conclusion of the regular season, can spark an offense that struggled to find consistency all year. Steady play has been an issue for quarterback Brandon Cox his entire career, and Auburn will be in trouble if it can’t run the ball some with Brad Lester and Ben Tate to make things easier for Cox.
OUTBACK BOWL (AT TAMPA)
No. 16 Tennessee (9–4) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin (9–3)
Tuesday, Jan. 1, 11 a.m. ET, ESPN
Lost in the aftermath of underdog Florida’s demolition of Ohio State in last season’s national-title game was the fact that the Big Ten swept its other two bowl matchups against the SEC. Tennessee was one of the victims, losing to Penn State in the Outback. Wisconsin, which was expected to contend for the Big Ten championship before the injury bug hit, hopes to strike another blow for Big Ten pride. With six weeks to heal since the end of the regular season, the Badgers should enter this contest as healthy as they have been all year.
Tennessee got off to an awful start, losing three of its first seven games, all on the road and by wide margins. Yet the Volunteers rallied, particularly in a statement win over Georgia, to reach the SEC title game against LSU. There, they were in contention late in the contest before Erik Ainge threw a costly interception that was returned for the gamewinning score.
The key for Tennessee is to slow the Wisconsin ground game. Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Donovan is plenty capable, especially against a suspect Tennessee secondary, but he’ll struggle if the Wisconsin backs can’t keep him out of third-and-long.
COTTON BOWL (AT DALLAS)
No. 6 Missouri (11–2) vs. Arkansas (8–4) Tuesday, Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m. ET, FOX
Missouri enters the Cotton Bowl wearing the label of “team that received the worst bowl snub.” The Tigers were ranked no. 1 in late November, and suffered their only two losses at the hands of BCSbound Oklahoma. Yet it was Kansas, a team that Missouri beat, that got the at-large BCS bid over the Tigers.
Teams in Missouri’s situation tend to either play the bowl game with a huge chip on their shoulder, or sleepwalk through the games and fall victims to an upset.
Arkansas is more than capable of making Missouri pay if the Tigers don’t come in prepared. These teams are similar in many ways — outstanding offenses, hohum defenses — but there is one glaring difference. Missouri excels at the pass while Arkansas lives and dies on the ground.
This is almost certainly twotime Heisman runner-up Darren McFadden’s final collegiate game, and interim Arkansas coach Reggie Herring will deploy him all over the field before turning over the reins to incoming coach Bobby Petrino.
CAPITAL ONE BOWL (AT ORLANDO)
Michigan (8–4) vs. No. 12 Florida (9–3) Tuesday, Jan. 1, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
The participants in the Capital One Bowl probably have the highest combined Q rating outside the BCS games, but that doesn’t necessarily make this a great matchup.
The game will mark the end of an era for Michigan, which is hoping to send coach Lloyd Carr into retirement with his first bowl victory in four years. It will be a tall order, even if Michigan’s senior tandem of quarterback Chad Henne and tailback Mike Hart is back to near-full health. The Wolverines should be able to score some points on an average Florida defense, but the game will hinge on their ability to slow Heisman-winner Tim Tebow and the Florida spread-option.
It’s a similar attack to the one incoming Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez runs, so perhaps the Wolverines will be better prepared than they appeared against spread teams Appalachian State and Oregon at the beginning of the season.
Florida lost three times in a rebuilding year following the 2006 national title, but don’t expect the Gators to be back in a non-BCS game next January. With Tebow returning, an impressive win here could vault Florida to a preseason no. 1 ranking.
Mr. Levine is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.