Question of the day: Besides the BCS Championship game, which bowl game are you most looking forward to?
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Writers from around Tribune Co. weigh in on the topic. Check back throughout the day for more responses, and feel free to leave a comment of your own.
Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune:
Michigan State fans have been ticked – and with good reason. They feel as if most debates regarding the Big Ten’s best team go like this: Was it a) Wisconsin; b) Ohio State; or c) none of the above?
Michigan State beat Wisconsin and did not play Ohio State. And, yet, only the Spartans got left out of the BCS bowl party.
The Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl represents a perfect chance for Michigan State to silence the haters. The 11-1 Spartans will take on a three-loss Alabama team that already lost its bowl game –- the Iron Bowl -– by blowing that 24-point lead to Auburn.
Do the Spartans need more fuel? How about this: They are 10-point underdogs.
[Updated at 9:57 a.m.
Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times
Sorry, but two games other than BCS title have caught my attention.
The first is Hawaii vs. Tulsa on Dec. 24 in the Hawaii Bowl, which should be an incredible offensive display. Hawaii is averaging 39.92 points to Tulsa’s 39.67. How much closer can you get? Hawaii is the only team to beat Nevada, and also put 588 yards on USC’s defense in the opener.
I like another matchup, Georgia Tech vs. Air Force in the Dec. 27 Independence Bowl, for a quirky reason. This game features the No. 1 and No. 2 rushing offenses in the country. Meaning, if neither team uses a timeout, it could be the fastest game of the season. With a 2 p.m. start in the West, people in L.A. can catch the entire game on a late lunch break.
Georgia Tech averages 5.64 yards per carry to Air Force’s 5.46. That means we’re looking at a rushing first down every two plays. The schools average a combined 205 passing yards per game. Hawaii and Tulsa, our Hawaii Bowl contestants, average a combined 672 passing yards per game.]
[Updated at 11:51 a.m.
Desmond Conner, Hartford Courant
The Outback Bowl is one to look forward to, but who really cares about the game?
The game pits Florida’s 46-year-old coach, Urban Meyer, who should not be retiring, against 83-year-old Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who should be retiring.
Paterno has already announced he’ll be returning for his 46th season as the Nittany Lions’ head coach next year.
Forty-sixth! Huh?
Give it up. Let it go, Joe.
The hope here is that the Gators destroy the Nittany Lions so badly on Jan. 1 that Paterno reconsiders his decision to come back and gives someone else a chance to coach the program he certainly has led to great success.
The question is, how much coaching is JoePa really doing now? What is he doing there? Paterno may have been a great football mind once, but no one can possibly think that’s the case today ... can they?
Meyer’s chief reason for leaving was to spend time more time with his family, though there reportedly were health concerns too.
Joe Paterno is a legend, but he really should be spending more time with his personal family rather than his football family these days too.]