This will cause no joy over at Yellow Dog, but I watched the Outback Bowl from start to finish, and had the most bowl fun I've had in a while. Syracuse is where I'm at, but Iowa is where I'm from, and I still remember suffering through last year's shellacking at the hands of USC in Iowa's first and only BCS bid, not to mention witnessing in person a couple other of their infamous Jan. 1 losses (82 & 91 Rose Bowls). So this year, with a Jan. 1 game and a chance to measure up against an SEC power, it did my little Hawkeye heart good to see the action yesterday.
I'm all for a playoff at the top of the college football heap--once you talk top 8 or so, you're comparing apples & oranges (and sugars and roses and fiestas), and unless two of the teams are from the same conference (and play each other late in the season), there's really no basis for comparison, much less ranking. But that shouldn't detract from what's fun about the bowls themselves--it's a chance to play teams from other conferences without the 5-years-in-advance scheduling nonsense, and to measure your school and conference against a lot of others. I was one of those who thought that the Hawks would make it close but ultimately lose--and I'm glad I was wrong. But I'm also glad I had the chance to see it on the field. What works in basketball is impractical in football, but that doesn't mean that the BCS can't learn a thing or two from March Madness.
Hey, all I gotta say is "go Hawks!" I caught the last half of the game myself Collin, and it was a beautiful thing to hear the commentators killing time midway through the third quarter because the game was such a foregone conclusion.
Your fellow Iowan, Steve