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Thursday, December 24, 2009

BCS Tournament - Round 2

Back for round 2. At this point, we've exhausted all the available bowls from cutting out the 6-6 teams. I suggest we continue the "rotation" of BCS stadiums for the final 7 games, including a new BCS bowl in San Antonio.

Currently, San Antonio hosts the Alamo Bowl which typically features mid-level Big XII and Big Ten opponents, and takes place on or after January 1. I think they can turn that place around and get an even bigger crowd in the 65,000 seats by featuring a 2nd round matchup the week before the Alamo Bowl.

Rose Bowl, Part 1 (Pasadena, CA) - 12/26
(1) Alabama vs. (8) Ohio State
Avg. Temp - 55 degrees
Avg. Precip. - less than .1 inches (none)
Avg. Wind - 7 mph (light)
Average Result - Alabama def. OSU 95% by score 26 to 6
Random Result - Bama 33 - OSU 10
Story: By the averages and numbers, you can see this one was never in doubt. Bama ran well in the first half, including 3 TDs of 20 yards or more. Ohio State managed to slow the bleeding, but the Tide kept kicking FGs in the 2nd half to put it away. Terrelle Pryor never got things going (8-22, 87 yds, 1INT) and neither did the Buckeyes offense.
POG: Mark Ingram (198 total yards, 1 TD)

Sugar Bowl, Part 1 (New Orleans, LA) - 12/26
(2) Texas vs. (10) Iowa
Avg. Temp. - indoors (70 degrees?)
Avg. Precip. - indoors
Avg. Wind - indoors
Average Result - Texas def. Iowa 100% by score 35 to 7
Random Result - Texas 35 - Iowa 3
Story: You might see this score and think, "Mack Brown and the Longhorns finally won a 'big' game decisively!"...not the case. Adam Robinson rushed for over 100 yards at about 7 per carry, and Iowa scored first on a FG. However, Colt McCoy managed 2 TDs and only 1 INT to ensure Texas made it to the semifinal. So where did the other 21 points come from? 7 field goals!
POG: Hunter Lawrence (7-7 FGs: 21,36,37,41,41,48, & 49 yds - 23 points)

*NEW* Lone Star Bowl (San Antonio, TX) - 12/26
(3) TCU vs. (11) Virginia Tech
Avg. Temp. - indoors (70 degrees?)
Avg. Precip. - indoors
Avg. Wind - indoors
Average Result - TCU def. VT 90% by score 33 to 13
Random Result - TCU 37 - VaTech 3
Story: TCU dominated every facet other than the passing game while the Horned Frogs D made Tyrod Taylor look awful. Hokies are usually a rushing team, and they managed just 91 yards on 2.3 per carry. TCU had 4 times as many rushing yards, with Tucker and Turner combining for 4 TDs on the ground.
POG: Joseph Turner (22 car, 152 yds, 3TDs)

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, AZ) - 12/27
(4) Cincinnati vs. (5) Florida
Avg. Temp. - 53 degrees
Avg. Precip. - nearly 0
Avg. Wind - 5 mpg (light)
Average Result - Florida def. Cinci 95% by score 35 to 17
Random Result - Cincinnati 9 - Florida 30
Story: Florida's defense regains its form by shutting down Tony Pike and Mardy Gilyard. Apparently the Bearcats had a few too many coaching changes going into this one. Gilyard did provide a spark returning kicks with a 32-yard average, but offensively, Cincinnati didn't get on the board until the 4th quarter. Meanwhile, Florida rushed for 360 yards, with Tim Tebow out-rushing AND out-passing Tony Pike.
POG: Tim Tebow (204 pass yds, 2 TDs, 0 INT; 54 yards rushing)

Based on the blowouts in the Quarterfinal round, it seems to make more sense to run a 6-team playoff, I suppose. Iowa and Virginia Tech did manage 1st round upsets, but both lost by an average of more than 20 in this round (to be fair, so did Ohio State). I imagine Boise State and Oregon wouldn't lose quite as badly in the same matchups since both are known for high-scoring offenses, but that's not the way the cards fell.

Next week I'll finish this tournament up with the semifinals and finals. So far, not a whole lot of room to argue about the final 4...unless you're a die hard Blue Bronco!

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