December 2008 - Posts
Poised to improve to a perfect 5-0 in bowl games -- if USC runs past Penn State, as expected -- the leadership of the Pac-10 Conference has the champagne on ice and the spin ready to go.
After a frustrating 2008 regular season that included a steady stream of Pac-10 bashing, the league can’t wait to stick out its chest and say that it’s as tough as it ever was.
Arizona kicked the good times off by winning its first bowl game in 10 years, beating BYU, 31-21, in the Las Vegas Bowl. California followed up with a 24-17 victory over Miami (Fla.) in the Emerald Bowl. Then, it was Oregon outscoring Oklahoma State, 42-31, in the Holiday Bowl and Oregon State pitching a 3-0 shutout at Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl.
Impressive, huh? Well ... not really.
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HONOLULU -- With South Bend temperatures in the teens, Charlie Weis and his Fighting Irish warmly welcomed the tropical climates here, but the holiday visit to Hawaii could have sent the Notre Dame football program into a deep freeze if they didn’t do what they needed to do.
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While wondering if there’s ever been a case of second-place votes being so important in an “election,” we’re back to wrap up the events surrounding Saturday's coronation of Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford as the 74th Heisman Trophy winner.
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The BCS was created to bring the top two teams in the country together and fairly re-organize the rest of the big bowls. Often times -- including this season -- that process doesn’t result in the most intriguing set of games. If we were given the 10 teams listed above and the power to play matchmaker, we’d opt for the pairings below. This set of games probably would result in a split national title, and although that’s not satisfying to most, it’s probably more appropriate than what we’ll eventually end up with.
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