[NU Sports] Well, I hope you're right Alan! :)

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Looks like NU will get its chance for a bowl win in El
Paso against a top-20 ranked team in UCLA. Should be a
fun matchup of offensive powers and I sure hope our
city-of-Angels source was correct about our chances
against the Bruins.

They certainly looked beatable ... but I'm not sure if
that was UCLA's doing, or the result of Pete Carroll
and USC having some time off to prepare the defense
(as OU found out last year and, IMO, Texas will this
year, the Trojans' D comes to play in bowls when
Carroll has four weeks to devise a gameplan).

The Music City might have been a better matchup for us
with UVa a similar record (and losing it's OC and DC
can't help either) ... but Alan is right that we
should welcome the challenge! And a win over UCLA
would open more eyes than beating Virginia.

In any case, it should be an explosive game of two
teams with strong offenses and vulnerable defenses.
Dunno if I can make it to El Paso, but it should be
fun. Hope we can get that elusive win -- over a "name"
team with top 20 ranking, no less -- in the Sun Bowl!

As for the rest of the Big Ten bowl picture ...

* Penn State has the "easiest" game of the BCS bowls,
but any time you play Bobby in the Sunshine State,
it's a tough game. A win would inch JoePa closer to
Bowden and help PSU finish #2. As their track record
shows, few coaches prepare their teams for bowls
better than Paterno and Bowden. Should be a great
game.

* OSU clearly deserved the BCS bid and the rules
eliminated any question. So in the "Rose Bowl"
afternoon slot, it will still be a Big Ten team
against a Big Ten wannabe team and a fantastic matchup
(tickets will be hard to come by here in Phoenix!) in
the hype department. On the field, I think the Bucks
roll here.

* Wisconsin finally gets to the Citrus Bowl, and it
will be nice for Barry to end his run in Disney World
... but that's about where the niceness ends. Auburn
is the best team in the SEC and while the game may
feature two top-notch running backs, the speed of
Auburn's D will kill Wisconsin. This one could get
ugly.

* Surprised that Iowa jumped over Michigan for the
Outback Bowl. No Corn Bowl in San Antonio I guess.:(
But still, Ferentz seems to prepare well for SEC teams
and the Hawks could give the Gators a run. Still, in
Tampa with their maturation lately, Florida's the
favorite here. Could be a close game though.

* Michigan vs. Nebraska has gotta be one of the
bigger-name Alamo Bowls in history, even if they're
not top 10 teams this year. Michigan could come in
crying over missing out on a Jan. 2 bowl, or they
could come out mad about that. I think they get the
win over the Huskers in what could be one of the
closer bowl matchups.

* Minnesota benefits by not having to face an SEC team
in Nashville. Even more, with Virginia's coaching
staff leaving for head coaching jobs, the Gophers
should win here.

So we get another BCS bid for the league again,
leading the BCS conferences in at-large bids. And most
of the matchups look pretty good initially (save the
Citrus) for a good bowl season for the Big Ten. Of
course, I'll be happy with 1-6 as long as we're the 1.

GO CATS!!!
Go Lions! Go Buckeyes! Go Badgers! Go Hawks! Go
Badgers! Go Gophers! Go Big Ten!
- SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


		
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