What Do You Want Out of a Bowl Opponent?

8 comments so far November 20, 2008 by Brandon Vogel

While there's still a lot of football left to be played before we find out where Nebraska will finish up their first season under Bo Pelini with a bowl game, we have a pretty good idea of what sort of team the Cornhuskers are going to face. Based on the most likely bowl possibilities--the Sun, Gator and Alamo Bowls--Nebraska is looking at one of the following foes respectively: the 3rd choice out of the Pac-10, the 3rd choice out of the ACC or the 4th choice out of the Big 10.

While any of those prospective opponents would represent a pretty even match-up on paper--all the likely candidates sit near the end or on the brink of the Top 25--none of them offer the opportunity I'd like most for Nebraska this season: A chance to put a head on the wall.

At this point in the season spirits are high surrounding Nebraska and they should be. The Huskers are playing their best football at the end of the season which, unless you started the season in the Top 5 or 10 and had legitimate title aspirations, is probably about as good as you can hope for in your average year. That said, while Pelini has Nebraska pretty well established in the national media as a team on the come, the closest the Huskers have come to bagging a real trophy buck is the overtime loss at Texas Tech.

Because I'm greedy like that, I was hoping that Nebraska's bowl game might be another chance to not just take a step forward but maybe kick the door down heading in to 2009. That's not going to be the case with the lack of strength in the three conferences Nebraska seems tied-in to but we will be playing somebody, so let's try to suss out what would be best by conference:

Pac-10
This won't be popular in Corvallis, but I think the team with the most national respect in general is Oregon. The Ducks are only a year removed from a #2 national ranking in November and were maybe one Dennis Dixon knee injury away from a national title shot. They've spent the majority of the past three seasons entrenched in the polls and, through a slate of injuries, their three losses are respectable ones against Cal, Boise State and USC. Currently Oregon is the third team in the Pac-10 but the problem is they played in the Sun Bowl last year and wore motorcycle helmets for the occasion, therefore they're not likely to be invited back.

Oregon State has the flashy win over USC, the flashier Jacquizz Rodgers and still controls their fate in conference. They'd need to lose their next two games to end up in the Sun Bowl. I'm still not sure the Beavers have a seat at the national table as is, much less if they lost their last two games and finished the regular season 7-5. The week after beating the Trojans they lost to Utah and when OSU finally cracked the Top 25 two weeks ago it marked their first time in the polls since 2003.

So that leaves Arizona--the Wildcats win the head to head over Cal--which I suppose is intriguing from the Youngstown Boys Done Good Angle (again) but that's a game that Nebraska is favored in.

ACC
You really can't slot any ACC team anywhere in the conference right now. Consider this, Duke could still become bowl eligible with two wins and they're currently last in the Coastal Division. So, assuming that things stay more or less the way they are, the most popular names we've seen floated out there are familiar ones: Miami and Florida State.

While either team would be nice for the "clash of old titans fighting to get back to the top" storyline I've always found those bowl match-ups less than satisfying. Georgia Tech and Wake Forest would both be at least juicy due to the fact their current head men--Paul Johnson and Jim Grobe--were rumored candidates for the Nebraska opening last year. North Carolina would represent a '77 Liberty Bowl rematch and a rapidly improving team derby and Boston College would be fun just to see two defensive minded head coaches battle it out with loads of time to prepare.

But more than anything I'd love to take a crack at Virginia Tech again. With a trip to Blacksburg on the slate next year it won't happen, but it's an off-week, we can dream right?

Big 10
I'll be frank here, I don't want to play any team out of this conference outside of Ohio State or Penn State and that ain't happening. The fourth best team in the Big 10 is probably the equivalent of the 7th or 8th best team in the Big 12 this year so I'll sum this up quickly.

Iowa is a neighbor and a game that Husker fans always seem to clamor for, Minnesota is a neighbor of a neighbor and sinking like a rock, and Northwestern, while it has no bearing on a game this year, is a team we've beaten, badly, in San Antonio before. Any of that appeal to you?

The real value of a bowl game this year is simple and twofold: 1) It represents progress from the abomination of 2007, and 2) It's additional practice time for Pelini. In that light, it doesn't really matter who Nebraska plays but that won't stop me from picking favorites, unlikely as they may be, so here's my wish list:

1) Oregon
2) Virginia Tech
3) Boston College (the only somewhat probable opponent Nebraska has never faced)

Who's your choice?

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