Wednesday, December 15. 2010Red, Blue And Pigskin
In a week where the only on-field action was the game between Army and Navy, most of the news this week came from off the field. For Utah, not a whole lot going on. Jordan Wynn successfully completed his shoulder surgery that will keep him out till next May. Meanwhile the rest of the team prepares for the Broncos and the Las Vegas Bowl.
BYU has a bit more news than that. Of course, they start off the bowl season on Saturday with the New Mexico bowl. But that isn't the only bit of news to come out of Provo. We now know who they'll play during their regular season next year, as well as postseason destinations for a future two years. But first let's preview that bowl. So Many Bowls
There are 35 bowl games, and 70 bowl teams. Two numbers that combined with the BCS has strived to make the bowls pretty well irrelevant. It's not much of an accomplishment anymore when you don't even need a winning season to make a bowl game. What makes a bunch of bowling 6-6 teams even more sad, is to see a team like Temple, who had a great year, and ended with an 8-4 season, sitting at home without a bowl game. Land of Enchantment As usual there needs to be a start to the bowl season. This year it's the New Mexico Bowl versus 6-6 BYU and 6-6 UTEP. Last year this bowl ended up being my favorite bowl of the entire season. It featured 6-6 Wyoming upsetting 8-4 Fresno State in double overtime. This year the matchup is between two teams going in opposite directions. We all know BYU, thanks to the brain dead decision to have a two QB system, started the season 1-4, getting embarrassed by Air Force, Nevada, Florida State, and Utah State. Bronco decided to take over the defensive coordinator duties shortly after, and led his team to a 5-2 record down the stretch. The Cougars were actually lining up to kick the winning field goal in rivalry game, before Brandon Burton blocked it, and blocked the Cougars chance at a winning regular season. However the strides made by the defense in the second half of the season, have greatly improved the Cougars. The Miners of UTEP however started the season on a bit of a roll, starting with a 5-1 record. However, as the season progressed the Miners suffered a few injuries and come to New Mexico losing 5 of the last 6 games. The Miners rank in the middle of the pack in most major statistical categories, not really doing anything great, but not being bad at anything either. Depending on how healthy they are, they should be able to hang in the game for a while, but if BYU plays the way they did down the stretch, they should be able to separate themselves in the final quarter, to secure a winning record overall on the year. Let's Go Bowling The New Mexico Bowl isn't the only bowl on the Cougars minds this season, as it was announced yesterday that BYU has accepted bowl bids for 2012, and 2013 season, In 2012 they will face the MWC 2nd team in the Poinsettia Bowl. In 2013 they are scheduled to face the 6th ranked Pac-12 Team in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Both of these bowls have a payout of 750,000 dollars, but unlike any bowl they've had the last few years, BYU doesn't have to share it's purse. A couple of thoughts. First. Both of these bowls are lesser bowls than the Las Vegas Bowl. The Vegas Bowl Committee, has not been shy in their love of the Cougars, as the fans sell out that stadium every time they are there. So why was a deal not reached with them? BYU, and especially Coach Mendenhall has not been shy in voicing their displeasure over the Las Vegas Bowl. Did the Cougars not want to work a deal with them? Figuring that 100% of 750,000 beats going back to Vegas, or did the MWC step in and refuse to give up their spot to the Cougars. Secondly, this continues a tradition the Poinsettia Bowl has, and the Fight Hunger Bowl has started to have of scheduling Independents. The Poinsettia Bowl has long had an every other year agreement with Navy to be the MWC opponent. Navy is facing off against San Diego State this year. The Fight Hunger bowl has Army, Navy, and BYU for it's next three years. This seems to show, that right now, BYU is just another Army/Navy in the eyes of the Bowl committees. I'm not sure that is exactly the perception BYU is hoping for. Of course all of the above bowl agreements are not in play if BYU clinches a BCS bowl, or fails to be bowl eligible. 2011 Regular Season We'll go over this in more detail next week with the BYU Review/Preview, but they Cougars announced their 2011 Regular Season Schedule. Cougar fans better get in all the jokes about Utah's soft schedule while they can, because the schedule for the Cougars is not much better. They do face Ole Miss, Texas, Utah, and Oregon State. But then the final 8 games are worse than any MWC Conference schedule could ever create. The Cougars only hope is that Texas rebounds from what was a disappointing 5-7 season. Texas must replace 4 coaches on it's staff, including defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, but Texas is still Texas, and should be a strong opponent. While it's understandable that BYU had to scrounge together a schedule for the next couple years, their scheduling is going to have to improve drastically, if BYU wants to stay relevant as an independent. Bowl Season Begins While they may be irrelevant, the bowl games are still fun to watch. BYU may start it off this Saturday, but they aren't alone. Also on Saturday is the uDrove Humanitarian Bowl which features the Boise State smurf turf. Oh and Northern Illinois will be playing Fresno State, as well as the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl pitting Ohio vs. Troy. Monday is Beef-O-Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl which has Southern Mississippi playing against the first AQ Bowl team of the year, Louisville. Wednesday is the Vegas Bowl, which we'll preview next week. Trackbacks
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