<p>Who is this West Virginia team, and what have they done with the real Oklahoma Sooners?</p>
<p>Rose Bowl shoulda been USC vs. West Virginia. (Or at least Georgia. Hawaii against Illinois would have been a better game than either Georgia vs. Hawaii or USC vs. Illinois.)</p>
<p>Anyway. The Volunteers are ahead of the Sooners 48 to 28 right now, with nine minutes to go. Who’d a thunk it?</p>
<p>Oh, THAT kind of bowl!.. I thought it was another dishes thread!</p>
<p>Washdad, I agree that the bowl match-ups this year are a bit lame. And, as a Georgia fan (two of my kids graduated from there), I got a bit tired of the anouncers making the Georgia players and fans out to be such bad guys for beating up on the poor, poor noble Hawaii team. It was pretty much a no-win situation for UGA because if they did NOT beat them decisively, it would have put them way down in the pols for next year. And we knew going in that if they DID beat them by a large margin it could be either be spun as “so what, it was Hawaii” or (as the anouncers seemed to be doing) that they (UGA) were mean for beating them (Hawaii) so badly.</p>
<p>Oh, I will miss college football!</p>
<p>Volunteers? Oh dear, WashDad – I’m not sure you’ll ever be invited into WV if you counfuse the Mountaineers with the accursed Tennessee team! </p>
<p>Wonderful game. I grew up in Oklahoma as an Oklahoma State fan – few people can match my undying loathing of OU.</p>
<p>Except for the Mountaineers! 
My husband is a WVU alum. That game was sweet! Generally, I like closer games and agree with you washdad about the GA-Hawaii and USC-ILL but it was so much fun seeing WVU pound Oklahoma. The Florida- Michigan game was fun.</p>
<p>Add the Mizzou game to the “ech” category. My S goes to Wash U and apparently the entire state has adopted the team…or at least that’s his excuse. And even he turned it off in the 3rd quarter complaining the whole game that they belonged in a bigger bowl than the Cotton Bowl. And there was heartache in this house as the Badgers lost all hope of coming back with that goal line interception by Tennessee. Saw Peyton Manning and the Vols beat my Northwestern Wildcats many years ago and hoped the Badgers (H’s alma mater) would be more successful. Oh well…Happy New Year to all.</p>
<p>Mea culpa re “Mountaineers” vs. “Volunteers.” I enjoy seeing an underdog romp over a heavy favorite as much as the next guy, but it was a little disquieting. Sort of like watching Stanford beating USC.</p>
<p>Hey, nothing has beaten the Michigan/Florida bowl this year. We finally saw what the Wolverines can do, when all healthy (and possibly motivated by a lot of emotion with the coach leaving.) Go Blue!!!</p>
<p>Yeah, I liked watching Michigan beat up on Florida. I “should” have been cheering for an SEC team, but I just cannot bring myself to cheer for the gators.</p>
<p>Just. Can’t. Do. It.</p>
<p>Love Coach Stewart at WV - rare to see a coach smiling and having such fun. The players love him too . And it’s official - he got the job. Nice story. Great game.</p>
<p>Coach Carr (mich) also looked SOOO happy. Good for him. Not sure why they didn’t appreciate him more.</p>
<p>“Good for him. Not sure why they didn’t appreciate him more.”</p>
<p>As a man and mentor for the players it’s hard to find a coach better than Carr. Unfortunately, the Carr that coached on New Year’s day was not the coach that coached the last 6 years against Ohio State and at the Rose Bowl. Now we shall see what the coach that produced the Mountaineer offense can do at Michigan. I hope he installed a “Ohio State” clock on the locker room wall.</p>
<p>Re Carr: 120- 40 at Mich sounds pretty good to me. I know - couldn’t beat Ohio State. The new guy should be interesting.
Maybe PSU will get somebody new in the next decade…</p>
<p>TR–gotta agree with FF here. Four years of losing to OSU is simply not acceptable, not with the kind of talent that we saw out on that field. I love and appreciate Carr, but the kind of football they played on New Years Day was not what they’d been doing for years now. Too many of those 40 loses were the last few years.</p>
<p>I’m excited to see what Rodriguez does, though he’ll be starting with a whole new team. I’m gonna miss Hart and Henne.</p>
<p>Our favorite ‘bowl’ game was one we attended, the Ice Bowl in Buffalo, NY where the first outdoor NHL game in the U.S. was played on New Year’s Day. 73,000 in attendance and televised nationally in both the U.S. and Canada, what a day. We attended with friends whose son was playing and it was a fantastic game for them, for him, and for his team. Pittsburgh beat Buffalo in a shoot-out 2-1. Terrific fun.</p>
<p>College playoffs, anyone?</p>
<p>The college presidents always argue against this. One of their arguements is that they may lose money if the bowls are no longer aligned to confereces. How can they not see that a playoff would generate HUUUUGE bucks for the NCAA and the colleges they represent. Georgia vs. Hawiia? USC vs. Illini? NIce first round games, but I can’t see how the OS / LSU game is detemining the National Champion this crazy year.</p>
<p>Time for a 8 team playoff!</p>
<p>alwaysamom, there are bodies in my house who would’ve given their left arm to be at the Ice Bowl! One tv was on the game the whole afternoon. I grew up in Buffalo and my kids are die-hard Sabres fans, though my 18 yo D has apparently developed quite the crush on Sidney Crosby. What a rush it was to see them come out of the tunnel, take off their skate guards and head onto the ice amidst all the snowflakes. Hockey the way hockey should be played!</p>
<p>Alwaysamom–keeping in mind that both my H and I are Mich alums, and it was an unbearably exciting game, with the Wolverines holding on by a thread against a much higher ranked team–yet, we kept having to switch back to the Ice Bowl, and my S and H both insisted on watching the shootout, no matter what was going on with UMich! </p>
<p>They are massive hockey fans, and thought the whole thing was fantastic!</p>
<p>runnersmom and garland, I’m glad you enjoyed the game! It was truly fun to be there, especially with the wonderful ending. 
And yes, Sidney is a charming and wonderful kid, who just happens to be one of the best hockey players on the planet.</p>
<p>Georgia ought to be in the national championship.
I don’t understand the gator-hate though. It’s been that way since I was in college in the eighties. I’m not a UF alumnus BTW, although kids go there. It’s obvious now, in the way that it would be obvious if I suddenly became a minority, how people are biased against the gators (never noticed it before). Can’t figure out if it’s because of Urban, because of Ohio State, because of what?
I rooted for the entire SEC. I’ll root for LSU, but I think UGa should be in the championship.</p>
<p>OU losing to West Virginia should be no surprise. These are the same Sooners that lost to Boise St. last year. They are the Notre Dame of this era when it comes to bowls…they can’t win one, which is ususally a reflection of being poorly prepared.</p>
<p>Georgia looked great, but Hawaii had no business being up against them. West Virginia looked good as did Michigan (although tough to really tell as Florida has no real defense).</p>
<p>We’ll see what LSU and Ohio State do, but the #1 team in the country is the University of Southern California!!! Fight ON.</p>