2008 Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl 2008

As the Bowl season starts, I wanted to take a look at some of the bowls and what kinda matchups we may be looking at.

First off, thumbs DOWN to Fox for how they shamelessly tried to use suspense in the BCS selection show. Anybody that has been following the college football season even HALF of the season should have already known who was going where, and it was shameless how Fox tried to “keep it a secret” from the viewers as if they were doing the NCAA Basketball Selection show.

It was an insult to any real college fan to have to listen to those dudes sit there and try to play tongue and cheek until they revealed the bowl games…and really, were any of a surprise to any of you?

Now, to anybody who follows my blogs, or read other blogs on the bowls, we all knew that the Orange Bowl was going to feature the ACC Champion, whomever that turned out to be. But we also knew that by default, they would likely have to take the Big East Champion as well. The way things shook out in the BCS meant that the Orange Bowl would likely be the least of the bowls and were kinda stuck with the Big East Champion.

As it turns out, Virginia Tech wins the ACC Championship over Boston College, and Cincinnati wins the Big East Championship (although without a true conference championship…something they need to fix).

So we have Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati, how do they stack up?

Virginia Tech’s resume:

9-4 and in the ACC, perhaps the most competitive conference top to bottom in the nation. A humiliating loss to ECU in their first game of the year, but won 5 straight, including a home win vs. Georgia Tech, and away games vs. UNC and Nebraska.

Back to back away losses to Boston College and Florida State, before rebounding against Maryland. One more loss in an away game vs. Miami before three straight wins, including the ACC Championship against Boston College.

About 8 games were against teams that were ranked sometime during the season, and as many will see a bowl this year. Never blew anybody out, but never got BLOWN out. But here is a problem…Virginia Tech has some issues traveling away from home. Their four losses were all away….hmmmm.

Cincinnati’s resume:

11-2 and from the Big East, going 6-1 in the conference. Started out the season with a spanking of a lesser foe, before GETTING spanked by Oklahoma. Won 4 games in a row, including MAC foes, and conference foe Rutgers. Lost away bad at UCONN before winning six straight, including wins over South Florida, West Virginia and Pittsburgh.

About 5 games were against teams that have been ranked sometime this year, but they beat 3 of those 5. About six of those teams they played this year will see a bowl. This team started out red hot with the points, but cooled down as they eased into conference play. Their two losses came on away games, but also to tough opponents, one by the way will be playing for the National Championship (Oklahoma).

So who is favored?

We could go another 5 pages on more specific details like players, injuries and things like that, but let’s spin this differently. If I was to side for Virginia Tech, I would look at the fact that the ACC has been more competitive than any other conference. I did not say they were BETTER, I said they were more competitive. Virginia Tech learned a lesson in humility when they thought they could just whip up on upstart ECU, and learned a valuable lesson.

This team stumbled early and stated to gain ground when they had two road games against quality teams. Experience plays big in these games, and they have a very experienced coach. But youth often fails when tested on the road, something this team has certainly proven.

If you pull for Cincinnati, you look at the fact that 11 wins is 11 wins. How many other teams can say that? Only Connecticut beat them outside of a potential National Champion, and none of the other Big East teams could say that. Not Rutgers, not West Virginia, not South Florida, and certainly not Louisville. This team has had a magical year, bringing fame to a school that had not seen it in a long time. I remember years ago Penn State hung like 70 or 80 points on this team…but that was many years ago.

But if I had to pick, I think Virginia Tech has the edge. One may question some wins with Cincinnati. Eastern Kentucky? Not a Division 1A school. The three MAC teams they played back-to-back-to-back were a combined 7-17, neither of them having winning records. Marshall finished 4-8. So in the first 5 games, the only team of credit that Cincinnati played was Oklahoma…and lost big.

This screams strength of schedule, which to me immediately moves me over to Virginia Tech. But when it mattered, Cincinnati stepped it up, losing only one more game the rest of the year. And yet, I wonder about VA Tech on the road. Can they win on the road, seeing they lost 4 games in similar fashion? I know they beat Boston College in Florida, which is an away game, and in fact will be going back to that very state, so the advantage seems to be with them.

If you ask me who the better team is, I would say Virginia Tech, and might predict them to win by a touchdown or less. But other things play in here, does VA Tech look at Cincinnati like they did ECU, or are they now disciplined to treat every opponent like a top 25 caliber team? What is the mindset of a Cincinnati team that may just be “happy to be there”?

Lots of things will play out in this Orange Bowl. If I had to predict a score, I would say that if Virginia Tech wins, it might be 24-20. But this could easily be flipped in the Bearcats favor.

Time will tell all….