Bowls galore! Part 3, featuring "Decent Bowls"

Today, we feature the second half of our decent bowl games, as well as a bonus "Boring" bowl, whose fate was decided with the outcome of the Army-Navy game yesterday. So, without futher ado, onto the next of the Decent bowls!

Texas Bowl, Thursday, December 31, 3:30 P.M. on ESPN
Navy vs Missouri
Navy has unsurprisingly been the best academy team this year. They have nine wins, and can get to double digits, and maybe a ranked finish, by beating Missouri. Things were looking good for the Tigers early, despite losing Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin to the draft, but the wheels fell off in Big 12 play, where they had to rebound big time to finish at .500 in the division. Missouri's spread against Navy's triple option should be fun to watch. I honestly can't say I believe either team will run away. Missouri may have a slight edge, but you can never count a team like Navy out.

Outback Bowl, Friday, January 1, 11:00 P.M. on ESPN
Auburn vs Northwestern
Northwestern had some decent wins this year, including knocking off Iowa. Auburn had a rebuilding year under Gene Chizik and got off to a hot start before stumbling a bit down the stretch. Overall, the team from the Big 10 has a better record. But Auburn plays in the SEC. I think most people know what I think about matchups between Big 10 teams and SEC teams. The Big 10 doesn't stand a chance. I think that Northwestern DOES have a chance, seeing as they were 5-3 in conference play as opposed to Auburn's 3-5, but I ultimately think Auburn will prevail.

Rose Bowl, Friday, January 1, 4:30 P.M. on ABC
Oregon vs Ohio State
I surprised myself by putting an Ohio State BCS game in anything other than the "Boring" category. Maybe it's due to this exciting Oregon team, or the classic "Offense vs Defense" thing that's goin on here, but I think this one will be watchable. Ohio State somehow won the Big 10 again this year (the humanilty!!), and Oregon dethroned perpetually-overrated USC atop the Pac 10 to set up this bowl. As I said before, the most intriguing aspect will be seeing if the Buckeyes can stop the weapons that Oregon brings to the table. Defense wins championships, but can Oregon overcome this to hand Ohio State yet another BCS loss? Here's hoping.

Papajohns.com Bowl, Saturday, January 2, 2:00 P.M. on ESPN
South Carolina vs UConn
UConn is probably the best 7-5 team in the country. They are literally a few plays away from being 10-2. After Jasper Howard was killed, they had a stretch of three games where they lost by the slimmest of margins. South Carolina is similar in that they could have been 9-3 pretty easily. Still, they both finished the season strong to end up 7-5. South Carolina even beat hated Clemson along the way. The Big East isn't as bad as everyone thought, and the SEC was parity personified this year. This should be an interesting one, if not a bit sloppy.


Liberty Bowl, Saturday, January 2, 5:30 P.M. on ESPN
Arkansas vs East Carolina
This one matches up the C-USA champion with a decent SEC team. This one is kind of intriguing because of the fact that Arkansas doesn't play defense, and conference champs from I-A football are nothing to sneeze at. Nevermind that ECU probably loses to Houston if they play in Houston. Still, if ECU can't find a way to stop Ryan Mallet, this one will be over real quick. I think they'll make it interesting though, because as I said, Arky is defensively challenged.

Orange Bowl, Tuesday, January 5, 8:00 P.M. on Fox
Iowa vs Georgia Tech
In matchups like this, most people would probably look at it and say "boring." I was tempted to. But I wanted to see what Georgia Tech's run game could muster against Iowa's defense. Both teams like to run, though they do it very different ways. Iowa will smash your moth, Georgia Tech will finesse you. I don't think either defense will be able to defend the run too well, and I think Tech is more equipped to win a shootout. Still, Iowa is an underrated team, and it should be a pretty decent game.

GMAC Bowl, Wednesday, January 6, 7:00 P.M. on ESPN
Troy vs Central Michigan
The MAC champs (who I have ranked) face the Sun Belt champs in Troy. While their conference is weaker, Troy is a decent team. They started the year with a hiccup against MAC team Bowling Green, but still finished with nine wins. They could have had ten if they got that. Central Michigan, however, is probably the best non-AQ team outside of Boise State and the MWC trio of Utah, BYU and TCU. That said, I don't expect LeFevor and co. to exactly romp. The Trojans should give them a game for awhile, but I think in the end, Central Michigan will seal up a 12 win season, and if there is justice in this world, an invite to the Big Ten- I hear they're looking to expand, and I don't think Notre Dame will be up for joining them.

BCS National Championship Game, Thursday, January 7, 8:00 P.M. on ABC
Alabama vs Texas
What? This game isn't in the exciting bowls section? You're being a bitter Gator fan! Well, not exactly. Truth be told, if it weren't for the implications of this game, it would've landed in the boring bowls for one reason- Alabama will dominate the Longhorns. There's no question in my mind that the Tide are a far superior team to the Longhorns, whom aren't even the best team in Texas. Like I said, sure things make for boring bowls. The only thing that worries me is the Heisman curse. Ingram has it, McCoy doesn't. McCoy may be pissed. He may try and will his team to victory. That's the only thing that will make this game interesting. Still, it's a foregone conclusion for me- Bama rolls.

BONUS BORING BOWL!
Eagle Bank Bowl, Tuesday, December 29, 4:30 P.M. on ESPN
UCLA vs Temple
Temple kinda came from nowhere. UCLA was .500. Talk about meh. Temple was so bad, that when the Big East restructured, they got kicked out. Sorry if I'm not frothing at the mouth over this one, but you just can't get me interested in the "Eagle Bank Bowl." Seriously, what's Eagle Bank? Stop being greedy I-A presidents, get a real playoff systems, and then keep your little bowls so you can keep making your money.