Bowl Season Best And Worst

Filed in archive College Football on December 18, 2007

On Friday, the bowl season officially kicks off with the ridiculously named San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, pitting Utah against Navy. That will start a flurry of activity that won't end until LSU and Ohio State play the national championship game on January 7. Let's take a look at some of the best and worst of the bowl season.

- Least Worthwhile Entrants - Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Memphis played the nation's easiest schedule in terms of opponent's winning percentage. Their foes had a cumulative win-loss record of 41-75, which is a .353 winning percentage. Meanwhile, Florida Atlantic came in with the 107th most difficult schedule, as their opponents rang up just a .421 winning percentage.

- Best Individual Offensive Match-up - QB Chase Daniel, Missouri vs. RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas: The Cotton Bowl will feature the Heisman Trophy runner-up in McFadden against the fourth place finisher in Daniel. There should be plenty of offense in Dallas on New Year's Day.

- Best Speedy Defense vs. Speedy Offense Match-up - Oklahoma vs. West Virginia, Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma's defense is one of the quickest in the nation, led by linebacker Curtis Lofton. Meanwhile, even without former coach Rich Rodriguez, the West Virginia offense, featuring QB Pat White and RB's Steve Slaton and Noel Devine is as explosive as any in the country.

- Most Inspirational Bowl - Insight Bowl, Indiana vs. Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State safety Martel Van Zant plays an important role despite being deaf, and Indiana lost their coach, Terry Hoeppner, to a brain tumor in June, yet the team still rallied to an unexpected 6-6 record and bowl berth.

- Biggest Potential Blowout - Virginia Tech vs. Kansas, Orange Bowl: We'll see if Kansas has the stuff to hang with Tech, considering the Hokies won the ACC, while the Jayhawks didn't even win their own division in the Big 12.

- Best QB vs. Defensive Player Match-up - QB Graham Harrell, Texas Tech vs. DE Chris Long, Virginia: This encounter will take place in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day, and it should be a good one to watch. Long is likely to be a top-10 NFL draft pick, and it will be a challenge for the Red Raiders to consistently stop him during their 60 or so pass attempts. Harrell will have to get the ball out quickly.

- The Best Chance For Lloyd Carr To Be Humiliated Again Bowl - Michigan vs. Florida, Capital One Bowl: You have to give the Wolverines credit for bouncing back the way they did after the start they had. Still, this one could be serious trouble for the Wolverines. Florida runs the same type of spread offense that Oregon and Appalachian State does. Only with a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.

(Photo: Flickr)