| 2008 College Football Bowl Review Bob Loblaw |
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Guess we all have to start watching College Hoops now, or reruns. Anything but the NBA…..
ACC:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Wake Forest coming from 10 down at the half to beat UConn.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Take your pick; the league went 2-6 in bowls, probably Virginia losing a big lead to Texas Tech in the 4th
quarter or Georgia Tech getting beaten soundly by Fresno State, though they were in a coaching transition.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Matt Ryan capped off his BC career with another solid game against Michigan State as BC got to 11 wins for the first time
since WWII (helps when you play 14 games nowadays).
Logical Atlantic Division Pick for 2008: Clemson, Tommy Bowden got his extension, he’s got the talent, and now he needs to win something.
Atlantic Division Sleeper: Wake Forest will be solid again.
Logical Coastal Division Pick for 2008: Virginia Tech, the best defense usually prevails.
Coastal Division Sleeper: Miami has to win some time with their talent, right?
League Champion: Hard to do with past experience, but we’ll pick Clemson.
Watch Out For: Florida State to have QB issues, Duke to win a game in the league with David Cutcliffe, and Jeff Jagodzinski get to prove his mettle if he can win
without Matt Ryan.
BIG EAST:
Best Team Bowl Performance: West Virginia, after losing their coach pulling off a huge Fiesta Bowl win over the Sooners.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: South Florida, not so much the loss, but the way they were dominated by Oregon.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Ray Rice running for 280 yards for Rutgers in the International Bowl against the Cardinals of Ball State.
Logical Pick for 2008: West Virginia with Pat White and others back, is the best team, but will they stay strong with a new coaching staff?
2008 Sleeper: Rutgers, if Ray Rice returns to school, otherwise Cincinnati.
Watch Out For: Louisville to begin rebuilding with Brian Brohm gone, Pitt to make a bowl for the first time in the Wannstadt era and West Virginia will lose a
game they shouldn’t under the new regime.
BIG TEN:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Michigan upsetting Florida to send Lloyd Carr out a winner, first career bowl win for the Senior Class.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Ohio State, while making the National Title game 2 years in a row is a huge achievement, the Buckeyes lost
soundly again, and did not help alleviate any of the critics of the Big Ten.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Chad Henne had a huge game in Michigan’s win over Florida as he and his fellow seniors sent their coach out in style.
Logical Pick for 2008: Ohio State will have their key players back and gets Michigan at home to end the season. Early game at USC will be a national title
playoff game, if they are not undefeated look for them to get snubbed in a national title game argument after losing 2 years in a row.
2008 Sleeper: Michigan will be picked lower with all of their seniors gone, but the new spread offense we saw in the bowl game, will totally change the
atmosphere in Ann Arbor.
Watch Out For: Michigan to score a lot of points under Rich Rodriquez, Illinois will not sneak up on anyone, Wisconsin will miss Tyler Donavon a lot, and Indiana
will have a hard time topping 2007. Iowa should return to a bowl game, and Purdue will have about the same record they always do.
BIG 12:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Missouri, shaking off the disappointment of the BCS snub to whip Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, by running the ball, usually the
Hogs specialty. Also give kudos to Kansas for playing well beating Virginia Tech.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Oklahoma, when are they going to win a big bowl game? West Virginia had lost their coach and Oklahoma
should have been motivated playing in the same stadium they got beat by Boise State in last year, but they were flat.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Tony Temple, RB Missouri, breaking the Cotton Bowl rushing record.
Logical Pick for 2008 (North): Missouri, because Kansas can’t do that again can they? Daniel will be back with a force of an offense.
Logical Pick for 2008 (South): Oklahoma on paper is the best team in the league, they just always seem to lose one to someone they should beat.
League Champion: Oklahoma will find a way to win it again, but lose out on a national title shot.
2008 Sleeper (North): Colorado finally made it back to a bowl game, now can they keep building upwards?
2008 Sleeper (South): Texas Tech with Graham Harrell back will light up the scoreboard.
Watch Out For: Oklahoma to lose to someone inferior but beat Texas. Kansas State to pull a big upset. Texas A&M to sneak into a bowl. If Bo Pelini can instill
some defense at Nebraska they could be dangerous with their explosive offense.
PAC-10:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Oregon, with an unproven QB, blowing out South Florida in the Sun Bowl. We can’t put USC here because that one was
expected.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: UCLA, I know they were between coaches, but you gotta beat BYU if you are ever going to reclaim LA.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Oregon QB Justin Roper threw for 4 td’s in his first start in the Sun Bowl, also TB Jonathan Stewart ran for 253 yards in the
rout.
Logical Pick for 2008: USC, Mitch Mustain and Mark Sanchez will battle for the vacant QB job; Joe McKnight will star at running back, and remind people of
Reggie Bush.
2008 Sleeper: CAL, can they rebound after such a disappointing second half of 2007 with all the expectations or will this year’s finish return them to the ocean
of mediocrity?
Watch Out For: Rick Neuheisel to pull an upset with UCLA, Arizona to finally make a bowl under Mike Stoops, USC to be a preseason top 5 team, and people
scalping expensive tickets to the Ohio State-USC game in September. I’ll go ahead and predict that ABC has that one slated for prime time that night. “You are
looking live ……”
SEC:
Most Impressive Team Bowl Performance: LSU soundly beating Ohio State to win the National Title in a virtual home game.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Arkansas lost Houston Nutt, but to only score 7 points and lose by 31 in Dallas, probably sent Darren McFadden
packing on a bad note.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Andre Woodson capped his UK career with another strong game throwing and leading his team to a win over Florida
State. He will be sorely missed next year, almost as much as Tony Delk, Rex Chapman, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Jeff Shepherd, and Jamal Mashburn are
at Rupp Arena these days.
Logical East Division Pick for 2008: Florida is loaded with returning players including the Heisman Winner, Tebow, who will try to become the first 2 time
winner since Archie Griffin. Ty Detmer, Jason White, and Matt Leinert were all unable to accomplish the feat after having another year back after winning it.
East Division Sleeper: Georgia will challenge Florida for the title.
Logical West Division Pick for 2008: LSU should reload with Ryan Perilloux at QB, but the West will be wide open.
West Division Sleeper: Alabama will need to have a good season or the locals will start asking Nick Saban why they can’t get their Tide to Roll.
League Champion: Florida
Watch Out For: Auburn’s new spread offense, Les Miles’s stare, Nick Saban bashing if he loses to Auburn again, Kentucky to return to the bottom with
Woodson graduating.
NON BCS TEAMS:
Things to watch for:
Notre Dame will win more than 3 games, but will still struggle against their big time opponents. Look for them to go to a mid level bowl game with Jimmy
Clausen getting and keeping the starting job.
Hawaii will not return to the BCS.
No Non BCS team will make the BCS as the major conferences are loaded.
Appalachian State’s scores will always show up on the ticker on Saturday’s after their 2007 season.
ACC:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Wake Forest coming from 10 down at the half to beat UConn.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Take your pick; the league went 2-6 in bowls, probably Virginia losing a big lead to Texas Tech in the 4th
quarter or Georgia Tech getting beaten soundly by Fresno State, though they were in a coaching transition.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Matt Ryan capped off his BC career with another solid game against Michigan State as BC got to 11 wins for the first time
since WWII (helps when you play 14 games nowadays).
Logical Atlantic Division Pick for 2008: Clemson, Tommy Bowden got his extension, he’s got the talent, and now he needs to win something.
Atlantic Division Sleeper: Wake Forest will be solid again.
Logical Coastal Division Pick for 2008: Virginia Tech, the best defense usually prevails.
Coastal Division Sleeper: Miami has to win some time with their talent, right?
League Champion: Hard to do with past experience, but we’ll pick Clemson.
Watch Out For: Florida State to have QB issues, Duke to win a game in the league with David Cutcliffe, and Jeff Jagodzinski get to prove his mettle if he can win
without Matt Ryan.
BIG EAST:
Best Team Bowl Performance: West Virginia, after losing their coach pulling off a huge Fiesta Bowl win over the Sooners.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: South Florida, not so much the loss, but the way they were dominated by Oregon.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Ray Rice running for 280 yards for Rutgers in the International Bowl against the Cardinals of Ball State.
Logical Pick for 2008: West Virginia with Pat White and others back, is the best team, but will they stay strong with a new coaching staff?
2008 Sleeper: Rutgers, if Ray Rice returns to school, otherwise Cincinnati.
Watch Out For: Louisville to begin rebuilding with Brian Brohm gone, Pitt to make a bowl for the first time in the Wannstadt era and West Virginia will lose a
game they shouldn’t under the new regime.
BIG TEN:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Michigan upsetting Florida to send Lloyd Carr out a winner, first career bowl win for the Senior Class.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Ohio State, while making the National Title game 2 years in a row is a huge achievement, the Buckeyes lost
soundly again, and did not help alleviate any of the critics of the Big Ten.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Chad Henne had a huge game in Michigan’s win over Florida as he and his fellow seniors sent their coach out in style.
Logical Pick for 2008: Ohio State will have their key players back and gets Michigan at home to end the season. Early game at USC will be a national title
playoff game, if they are not undefeated look for them to get snubbed in a national title game argument after losing 2 years in a row.
2008 Sleeper: Michigan will be picked lower with all of their seniors gone, but the new spread offense we saw in the bowl game, will totally change the
atmosphere in Ann Arbor.
Watch Out For: Michigan to score a lot of points under Rich Rodriquez, Illinois will not sneak up on anyone, Wisconsin will miss Tyler Donavon a lot, and Indiana
will have a hard time topping 2007. Iowa should return to a bowl game, and Purdue will have about the same record they always do.
BIG 12:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Missouri, shaking off the disappointment of the BCS snub to whip Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl, by running the ball, usually the
Hogs specialty. Also give kudos to Kansas for playing well beating Virginia Tech.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Oklahoma, when are they going to win a big bowl game? West Virginia had lost their coach and Oklahoma
should have been motivated playing in the same stadium they got beat by Boise State in last year, but they were flat.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Tony Temple, RB Missouri, breaking the Cotton Bowl rushing record.
Logical Pick for 2008 (North): Missouri, because Kansas can’t do that again can they? Daniel will be back with a force of an offense.
Logical Pick for 2008 (South): Oklahoma on paper is the best team in the league, they just always seem to lose one to someone they should beat.
League Champion: Oklahoma will find a way to win it again, but lose out on a national title shot.
2008 Sleeper (North): Colorado finally made it back to a bowl game, now can they keep building upwards?
2008 Sleeper (South): Texas Tech with Graham Harrell back will light up the scoreboard.
Watch Out For: Oklahoma to lose to someone inferior but beat Texas. Kansas State to pull a big upset. Texas A&M to sneak into a bowl. If Bo Pelini can instill
some defense at Nebraska they could be dangerous with their explosive offense.
PAC-10:
Best Team Bowl Performance: Oregon, with an unproven QB, blowing out South Florida in the Sun Bowl. We can’t put USC here because that one was
expected.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: UCLA, I know they were between coaches, but you gotta beat BYU if you are ever going to reclaim LA.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Oregon QB Justin Roper threw for 4 td’s in his first start in the Sun Bowl, also TB Jonathan Stewart ran for 253 yards in the
rout.
Logical Pick for 2008: USC, Mitch Mustain and Mark Sanchez will battle for the vacant QB job; Joe McKnight will star at running back, and remind people of
Reggie Bush.
2008 Sleeper: CAL, can they rebound after such a disappointing second half of 2007 with all the expectations or will this year’s finish return them to the ocean
of mediocrity?
Watch Out For: Rick Neuheisel to pull an upset with UCLA, Arizona to finally make a bowl under Mike Stoops, USC to be a preseason top 5 team, and people
scalping expensive tickets to the Ohio State-USC game in September. I’ll go ahead and predict that ABC has that one slated for prime time that night. “You are
looking live ……”
SEC:
Most Impressive Team Bowl Performance: LSU soundly beating Ohio State to win the National Title in a virtual home game.
Most Disappointing Team Bowl Performance: Arkansas lost Houston Nutt, but to only score 7 points and lose by 31 in Dallas, probably sent Darren McFadden
packing on a bad note.
Best Individual Bowl Performance: Andre Woodson capped his UK career with another strong game throwing and leading his team to a win over Florida
State. He will be sorely missed next year, almost as much as Tony Delk, Rex Chapman, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Jeff Shepherd, and Jamal Mashburn are
at Rupp Arena these days.
Logical East Division Pick for 2008: Florida is loaded with returning players including the Heisman Winner, Tebow, who will try to become the first 2 time
winner since Archie Griffin. Ty Detmer, Jason White, and Matt Leinert were all unable to accomplish the feat after having another year back after winning it.
East Division Sleeper: Georgia will challenge Florida for the title.
Logical West Division Pick for 2008: LSU should reload with Ryan Perilloux at QB, but the West will be wide open.
West Division Sleeper: Alabama will need to have a good season or the locals will start asking Nick Saban why they can’t get their Tide to Roll.
League Champion: Florida
Watch Out For: Auburn’s new spread offense, Les Miles’s stare, Nick Saban bashing if he loses to Auburn again, Kentucky to return to the bottom with
Woodson graduating.
NON BCS TEAMS:
Things to watch for:
Notre Dame will win more than 3 games, but will still struggle against their big time opponents. Look for them to go to a mid level bowl game with Jimmy
Clausen getting and keeping the starting job.
Hawaii will not return to the BCS.
No Non BCS team will make the BCS as the major conferences are loaded.
Appalachian State’s scores will always show up on the ticker on Saturday’s after their 2007 season.
Preseason Top 10* (this means this is the team’s ranking in August, not a prediction of
where they will finish in January):
USC-I’ll put them here since the OSU game is in LA in September, loser will drop out of
the top 5.
Ohio State-almost everybody back and if some leave they showed this year that they
can replace them, they may start lower due to the title game loss.
Florida-Tebow and the offense return.
West Virginia-Pat White is back to lead the offense. Will the coaching change hurt?
Georgia-Stafford and Moreno have Mark Richt in position to win the SEC, and he got over
the Florida hump this year.
Missouri-Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin will score all day.
Oklahoma-Lots of talent, but can they avoid the upset, Bradford is back at QB.
LSU-They won’t fall far with all their talent, though a lot of Seniors are gone.
Texas-Can Colt McCoy beat Oklahoma and Kansas State? If so they can make some
noise.
Clemson-Most talent in the ACC, but they have to avoid the letdowns.
where they will finish in January):
USC-I’ll put them here since the OSU game is in LA in September, loser will drop out of
the top 5.
Ohio State-almost everybody back and if some leave they showed this year that they
can replace them, they may start lower due to the title game loss.
Florida-Tebow and the offense return.
West Virginia-Pat White is back to lead the offense. Will the coaching change hurt?
Georgia-Stafford and Moreno have Mark Richt in position to win the SEC, and he got over
the Florida hump this year.
Missouri-Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin will score all day.
Oklahoma-Lots of talent, but can they avoid the upset, Bradford is back at QB.
LSU-They won’t fall far with all their talent, though a lot of Seniors are gone.
Texas-Can Colt McCoy beat Oklahoma and Kansas State? If so they can make some
noise.
Clemson-Most talent in the ACC, but they have to avoid the letdowns.
Top 5 Preseason Heisman Candidates: Tim Tebow, Chase Daniel, Joe McKnight, Pat White, Chris Wells.
All rankings and predictions are based on the author’s current knowledge and foresight as to which players will be returning or leaving for the NFL as of the
writing of this article. Unpredictability as to player’s intentions can skew the items above and Mr. Loblaw reserves the right to revise this after the NFL draft
declaration period is complete.
As he said: “I would wait until after then to write this but Clark Sheffield, like old man Leland with Cosmo Kramer, has been busting my hump over this report, if
I don’t get it in by 9, I’m toast!”
Can't get enough 2008 College Bowl hindsight? Then take a look at Steve Whitewater's Wrapup.
All rankings and predictions are based on the author’s current knowledge and foresight as to which players will be returning or leaving for the NFL as of the
writing of this article. Unpredictability as to player’s intentions can skew the items above and Mr. Loblaw reserves the right to revise this after the NFL draft
declaration period is complete.
As he said: “I would wait until after then to write this but Clark Sheffield, like old man Leland with Cosmo Kramer, has been busting my hump over this report, if
I don’t get it in by 9, I’m toast!”
Can't get enough 2008 College Bowl hindsight? Then take a look at Steve Whitewater's Wrapup.