Bowl Mania Day 12

January 1, 2010, at 4:38 am

Record: 11-9

Rose Bowl: Ohio State v. Oregon

I’ve mentioned it on the air many times in the last few weeks, but I don’t think I’ve written it here. I was dead wrong about Oregon. Alabama too, but we’ll save that crow for next week. In terms of the amount of good teams, you could make an argument that this was the hardest Pac-10 to win in years. Sure, USC has been one of the premier teams in the country for virtually the entire decade, but when has the Pac-10 had as much depth as it currently does? Maybe it was a direct product of having a bulldozing power house like USC take a year off, but this was the best Pac-10 I’ve seen in a long long time.

Oregon lost the heart of their defense in Tommy Chang and suspended their star running back after the first week of the season. Things looked grim for the Ducks. Then we found out how good LeMichael James and Jeremiah Massoli were. James stepped in for Blount at the running back position and actually made people forget about the pre-season Heisman candidate. James ran for 1476 yards and 14 touchdowns. When Blount was reinstated mid season (I guess all is forgiven when you have a real shot at a title), James remained the feature back. I think that says more about the kid than anything else. You know you’re good when a preseason Heisman trophy candidate can’t steel some of your carries.

I love the way the Ducks use Legarette Blount now. For example, in the defacto Pac-10 championship game against Oregon State, James had 25 carries and Blount had nine. He comes in fresh when the defense is on it’s heals. You cannot ask for anything more, if you’re the Ducks. No one talked about it because Blount only played half the season, but this is the best running back tandem in the country.

…and Ohio State might just be the team to stop them. The Buckeye’s have the number five rush defense in the country. They allowed under 14 points a game in a weak Big 10. But I’m always worried about Ohio State on a big stage in January. If history has taught you anything, it’s don’t pick Ohio State in a BCS game. I’ve done it before and gotten burned and won’t do it this year.

Oregon has too many ways to beat you offensively. Part of me, despite the defense, really thinks that Ohio State was the product of a poor conference and is at the low end of the totem pole when it comes to ranking BCS teams 1 through 10. I mean, after all, they are #8. I don’t think Jim Tressel has figured out how to use his quarterback and that will hurt him on a big stage.

The Pick: Oregon

Sugar Bowl- Florida v Cincinnati

Pat Forde of ESPN.com wrote a fantastic piece on how this could be the final game of the Florida dynasty. Ranked from most to least impact on the program, tonight is-

1. The final game for Tim Tebow

2. The final game for many of these defensive players because of the amount of juniors that are going to head for the pros this year.

3. Many of the coordinators final games before they head for head coaching positions

4. Urban Meyer’s “final game”.

I put the Urban Meyer story last because I sincerely believe that he’ll be back on the sideline game one 2010. If not game one 2010, then absolutely game one 2011. The more the story unravels, the more I think it was a rash decision based on a very unfortunate health situation by Meyer last week. I don’t believe for a second that he ever wanted to quit coaching. I think he was scared by his health issues over the last month and phrased the announcement incorrectly last Saturday.

But regardless, next year is going to be a down year for the Gators. This will be their last stand. I love Cinncinatti’s offense, but I get the feeling that they were shocked and hurt by Brian Kelly leaving for South Bend last month. Sometimes when a coach leaves before the bowl game a team is inspired, whether it be for revenge or some other reason.

I don’t buy that Florida won’t play hard because they lost out on a shot to play for the BCS national title game. I actually think it will work the other way. The Gators are angry. They wasted a shot to put a cap on a great era with a national title. Tim Tebow doesn’t want to go out a looser. This defense doesn’t want to go out losers. Don’t think that it’s lost on these players that it’s the last night of the Florida Gators as we know them.

The defense that allowed 12 points a game this season will hold the Bearcat offense in check and the final night of the Florida dynasty will be more comparable to last year’s national title then this year’s failure in the SEC championship game.

The Pick: Florida

Non-BCS picks: for the record….

Capitol One Bowl- Penn State over LSU
Gator Bowl- Florida State over West Virginia
Outback Bowl- Auburn over Northwestern

Tune in to College Football Tonight at 10pm on wcwpsports.com for all the Rose Bowl wrap up talk and much more…..