NYD+1 bowls minus BCS...

Cotton: Alabama 13, Texas Tech 10

That was the ugliest game-winning kick I have ever seen. It was so bad that I muttered to myself “overtime” when it actually went through. Funny moment was the first time the Fox coverage threw it down to Chris Rix (!) on the sidelines. After his third or fourth report I realized he has a future.

Back to the game, Alabama of the killer defense and Texas Tech of the raging offense produced exactly 23 points. The Tide could have had more, but said kicker was too busy booting the ball all around the yard other than between the posts. Christensen (said kicker) calls himself “Money” after making the game winner earlier in the year against Tennessee. Dude needs to call himself “Change” as in what the Tide need to do with the kicking position next year (unless he’s a senior).

Outback: Florida 31, Iowa 24
Iowa has this knack of allowing teams to walk all over them for three quarters and then they decide to play ball. Florida has this thing where they walk all over someone for a given period of time only to lose late. Urban had his Gators up 31-7 and life was looking wonderful, then he committed the “all-too-seen” error in college football: He let his foot up off the pedal. Iowa came back only to get screwed by the refs (wait, Michigan excuse), rather, realize that they allowed too many freaking points early to overcome. Yeah, they should have gotten the onside kick, but then again, they should have stopped the Gator onslaught in the first three quarters.

Gator: Virginia Tech 35, Louisville 24
I live in Lexington, so I have to hear about Planet Red and the Cardinals. Yeah, good start, but guess what, you still got punked. This game was a fight waiting to happen and then eventually saw a Virginia Tech player get booted. (CB Jimmy Williams) Louisville’s backup quarterback got his nose busted and Marcus Vick cleated a Louisville defender just as the teams were headed to halftime.

When the Hokies finally got around to the type of hitting that won’t get you 3-5 outside the field they flexed their muscles. Louisville was game, more than I thought they would be, but they still get to shut up for a while. Thank God. God bless you, Frank Beamer.

Capital One: Wisconsin 24, Auburn 10
So who really was the SEC’s best team? The Plains Tigers looked lost. They were the epitome of the bowl team who fell victim to rustiness. Brian Calhoun gained 200+ yards on the Tigers, who I felt would use this game as a springboard to a national championship run. The Tigers will be fine next year but they will have to leapfrog some others to get to the “promised land” next year. (By the way, the SEC’s best proved to be the Bayou Bengals.)


After tomorrow’s highly anticipated Orange Bowl tilt (read: snoozer) I will have the BCS game wraps before the Game That Matters...