SB Nation

Las Vegas Bowl, Summed Up In One Sentence

If you haven't been watching Tuesday night's MAACO Bowl Las Vegas, you have missed some cold and windy conditions, Lou Holtz and Mark May talking for now over three hours and No. 15 BYU absolutely dominating No. 16 Oregon State. In other words, you haven't missed much.

Fortunately, play-by-play man Rece Davis has summed up the Cougars' mauling quite nicely (via our own edsbs).

"If this thing were a fight, they would have stopped it on cuts a while ago."

1 comment

by Ryan Hudson • Dec 22, 2009 11:21 PM EST

Ndamukong Suh Becomes First Defensive Player To Win AP Player Of Year. Also Claims Nobel.

Ndamukong Suh was just named the AP College Football Player of the Year, making the Nebraska defensive tackle the first defender to ever win the award. The tally for Suh’s postseason awards ceremony now includes:

—The AP Player of the Year
—The Lombardi Award
—The Outland Trophy
—The Bronco Nagurski Trophy
—The Chuck Bednarik Award
—The Bill Willis Trophy
—First-team All-American Team
—The Pritzker Price for Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Architecture.
—A Tony for Playwriting
—Employee Of The Month for McDonald’s #4583 in San Antonio, Texas (and he’s never even been there or worked there.)

The only one missing from this illustrious list is…yup, the Heisman. Thank goodness Heisman voters didn’t fall prey to such pressures as “how a player performs on the field,” and instead gave the award to the best offensive player on one of the teams in the national title game, because that is what the award is for by design. Wait—

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by Spencer Hall • Dec 22, 2009 1:27 PM EST

WVU's Noel Devine May Return, May Not, Has Beard

Noel Devine may be, even with his ballyhooed talents and abundant worship in the West Virginia area, the most underrated running back in the nation. He controls time, has ESP, and can warp the fabric of space itself. That should be apparent if you’ve watched him play an ounce of football.

He may also be coming back for his senior season, as he has not filled out any NFL paperwork yet, and is talking openly about coming back for championships, records, and more at West Virginia. He also has a beard now, presumably following Wild and Wonderful state trendsetter Randy Moss’s lead.

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by Spencer Hall • Dec 22, 2009 12:02 PM EST

Central Florida Is Rolling In Beef Money

The Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl (or "Beef Bowl" as I prefer to call it) was a huge success.  I guess.  Rutgers rolled to a 45-24 victory over Central Florida in front of 30,000 beef-crazed fans.  The UCF Knights never really stood a chance on the field.  Off the field, however, the Knights were already winners.  Given the low cost of sending the team from Orlando to Tampa and being able to attract the local fanbase, UCF is going to make out like kings with a $82,000 profit from the experience. 

Making any kind of profit in a bowl game is unusual, let alone one so sizable.  Given that this is an impressive fear, explain to me again why the NCAA calls the bowl system lucrative? 

(By the way, love this post that mentions how the 2009 game "drew a St. Petersburg Bowl record attendance."  The game has existed for two years.)

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by Sean Keeley • Dec 22, 2009 12:43 AM EST

Simultaneous College Football Playoff And Bowl Seasons? Here's How

Finally, bowl enthusiasts and playoff fanatics can have it all. Over at Kotaku, Owen Good details an elaborate video-game experiment of his own devising, simulating a 16-team college football playoff run concurrently with a 27-game bowl schedule. 

It's a scenario I'd never considered, and you likely haven't either. Good is careful to point out that this is far from scientific, but the results are enticing, to say the least. Among the highlights from this alternate reality:

• Central Michigan gets a playoff nod despite being ridiculously excluded from the final BCS standings in the world we currently occupy (though they're mown down by Cincinnati in Round 1 in the simulation).
• Round 2 brings a Florida-Alabama rematch (the Tide prevails again).
• The Outback Bowl gets to keep its precious boneheaded Auburn selection.
• Both pizza-based bowls are eliminated. Dry your eyes. 
• Your major matchups on the bowl side: West Virginia and Ole Miss in the Sugar, Penn State and Arizona in the Rose, Clemson and Nebraska in the Orange, and Stanford and Oklahoma State in the Fiesta.
• And your final four in the playoff bracket: TCU, Alabama, Oregon, and Texas.

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to read this entire thing through. It's amazingly plausible for such a sweeping set of reforms, and about all it will cost you, the viewing public, is the Little Caesars Bowl.

Meanwhile, SB Nation's Mountain West Connection is running their own 16-team playoff simulation, with winners decided by fan voting. So far, five games have been "played," with No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Texas, No. 4 TCU, No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 12 Penn State all recording wins (the latter an upset over No. 5 Florida, no less). Currently, No. 7 Oregon has 75% of the votes against No. 10 Iowa, which, unless the Hawkeyes have a sudden surge of fan support, would set-up a second-round matchup between the Ducks and the Longhorns (which, of course, if this were real life, would be so very awesome). 

See, coming up with a playoff system isn't all that difficult. Are you paying attention, BCS? 

3 comments

by Holly Anderson • Dec 21, 2009 9:44 PM EST

Myron Rolle Is Better Than You In Every Possible Way

Myron Rolle, the Florida State DB who put off the draft to accept a Rhodes scholarship (terrible dilemma, that), has his first endorsement locked down without even playing a down of professional football. It's a nice little swipe at the haters who cannot possibly understand why anyone would want to set foot .... over there:

Some scouts already view Mr. Rolle's delay as a sign that he's not serious about becoming an elite player and doubt if he is training well enough in England.

Yeah, who can possibly maintain an elite level of physical fitness in a country ruled by the metric system?  It's not bothering Rolle, though:

Cool to me is getting straight A's. Cool to me is scoring three touchdowns. Cool to me is shaking the hand of our mayor," he said. "Cool to me is helping out at the nursing home. Cool to me is playing in the jazz band, and playing the lead role in 'Fiddler on the Roof.'

All right, he had me until 'Fiddler on the Roof'.  But even in nerddom, Rolle's savvy is unassailable -- the endorsement deal is with Xenith, a helmet company.  Fitting soapbox for a guy whose gray matter is his most valuable asset.

2 comments

by Holly Anderson • Dec 21, 2009 8:11 PM EST

Florida Returner Brandon James Out For Sugar Bowl. No Big Deal! (Just nod, okay?)

On first glance it sounds like a big deal: Florida’s star punt and kick returner Brandon James has a broken bone in his foot, and will be unable to play in the Sugar Bowl versus Cincy. James, mighty midget though he has been for Florida, has not been the dominating force he was in 2007 and 2008 for the Gators, returning zero punts for TDs this year and only one on kick returns.

His replacements, Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, are both excellent returners, and are faster and better anyway, and am I as a Florida fan trying to talk myself into not panicking about this? Why, no! Why would I panic about losing the best punt returner in school history?

/jumpsheadfirstoffbalcony

1 comment

by Spencer Hall • Dec 21, 2009 12:05 PM EST

Daryl Clark Takes To Twitter To Defend His Legacy

Penn State QB Daryl Clark should be angry, since he has been one of the better MAC quarterbacks of the past decade. Unfortunately, Clark plays in the Big Ten, where he has had one quality game against a top 15 ranked team, and that was against a suspect Michigan State team in 2008. That's the miserable thing about legacies: you have to make them yourself, and then other people get to tell you what they are based on facts, numbers, and results.  (HT: Black Shoe Diaries.)

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by Spencer Hall • Dec 21, 2009 10:48 AM EST

Pay Attention! Beef O'Brady's Broke The Bank To Name This Bowl Game

It’s halftime of the Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg bowl, and Rutgers is leading Central Florida 28-17. Time for some backstory:

When I first heard the name “Beef O’Brady’s bowl,” it sounded like a satire of all the other ridiculous bowl names. That’s not really a company, is it? Err… Apparently so. With a real marketing budget and everything.

From Nation’s Restaurant News:

“Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, the casual-dining chain of more than 260 "family sports pubs," has spent about $5 million to be the title sponsor of the St. Petersburg Bowl, with naming rights for the college football game secured for next year.”

"That wasn’t an easy decision," Vojnovic said. "We’ve never done anything like this. But our franchise advisory board recommended we pursue this further when we were approached about it."

“We have a total budget of about $5 million, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the big guys in casual dining. You can get washed out by Applebee’s and those guys. But a seminal event like this would break through and grab everybody’s attention."

To review: Beef O’Brady’s spent their entire marketing budget on the St. Petersburg bowl.

And this may sound crazy, but it works. Two weeks ago if you’d told me about a place called “Beef O’Brady’s,” I’d have imagined some fat Irish guy in a kilt, dim lighting, and full buffet of corned beef. But now… “Oh yeah, those are the guys who sponsored that Rutgers game.”

Instead of getting washed out by Applebees and the other blue bloods, now Beef O’Brady’s has the Rutgers name working for them. And the city of St. Petersburg, too. And Central Florida.

Branding, baby! It’s all about branding.

3 comments

by Andrew Sharp • Dec 19, 2009 9:47 PM EST

If You're Looking For A Reason To Watch The New Mexico Bowl...

...you've got one in Ryan Mathews. The Fresno State running back, despite receiving relatively little media attention, has spent his 2009 season laying waste to opposing defenses. Against Boise State -- the same Boise State that is headed to the Fiesta Bowl -- he went gangbusters, running for 234 yards and three touchdowns. He's racked up 1,664 rushing yards, second in the nation behind Toby Gerhart. Gerhart received serious Heisman consideration; Mathews didn't.

If you missed Fresno State's nationally televised game against Boise State, this is your chance to watch Mathews in action and recoup the sports equivalent of hipster cred. Our MWC blog, Mountain West Connection, has an open game thread ready. Check it.

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by Jon Bois • Dec 19, 2009 4:37 PM EST

A List Of Undignified Bowl Names

The college football landscape is littered with unflattering bowl names. For example, consider Saturday evening's St. Petersburg Bowl Presented By Beef O'Brady's, or the Meineke Car Care Bowl, or the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The sadistic folks in charge of licensing and naming these bowls must be in a race to come up with the most undignified names possible. Allow me to help.

Blockbuster Video Presents The Shrek 3 Bowl

Franzia Boxed Wine Presents The Football Teams

The Tulsa, Oklahoma Municipal Water Department Bowl

The Circuit City Bowl, Brought To You By Nobody

Mad Dog 20/20 Presents The Fortified Bowl

This Area Bowl Game Lost 45 Pounds By Following This 1 Simple Rule

The Manute Bowl

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by Jon Bois • Dec 19, 2009 3:35 PM EST

Montana-Villanova: A Recipe For Despairing Fans

On Friday night, Montana and Villanova square off in Chattanooga, Tennessee with the FCS national football championship at stake. Sure, this isn't generating the same level of buzz as, say, Saturday's St. Petersburg Bowl Presented By Beef O'Brady's, but to its credit, it's...well, it is a football game. And to a few hundred people, at least, it's worth traveling across the country for.

Nearly 300 Griz fans throughout the state hopped on a AAA charter plane out of Billings, headed to Chattanooga to watch the Montana Grizzlies play in the FCS championship game against the Villanova Wildcats Friday night at 6.

Not that Villanova, which is outside of Philadelphia, is close to Chattanooga either, but can you imagine the scene if Montana loses? Every year, thousands upon thousands of fans travel extraordinarily long distances to watch their teams lose BCS bowls, but I'd think that a Montana loss would take things from disappointment to defeatism and despair.

Say you're a Montana fan. Days ago you were exuberant. Hours ago you were cheering your throat out. Now you stand, palms pressed against the laminated, faux-marble sink fixture of Room 212 of the Motel 6, staring at your weathered visage in the mirror. You are in Chattanooga. You must travel back a distance roughly on par with that of the Lewis and Clark expedition in time to report to your job in Montana on Monday. You are well over a thousand dollars poorer than you once were. How did you get here? How do these things happen? You fall asleep to the azure glow of the motel television's pay-per-view screen. Somewhere this weekend, a fan will drive ten minutes and watch his or her team win a football game. That place is not here.

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by Jon Bois • Dec 18, 2009 8:06 PM EST