With college bowl season starting tomorrow (December 18), as typically happens at this time of year, any number of writers and outlets are offering their rankings of the bowl games based on appeal and interest level. For instance, check out Dennis Dodd’s list on CBSSports.com, Mark Schlabach’s list on ESPN.com, and Stewart Mandell's list on SportsIllustrated.com. As also typically happens at this time of year, these lists, generated from individuals and institutions heavily inculcated in the United States’ systems of power, are dominated by BCS bowl games and games featuring teams from the automatic-qualifying BCS conferences. Before reading these lists, though, I decided I would create my own list of bowl games based on appeal and interest. While surely serving as (and at least partially intended as) a kind of counterdiscourse in hopes of showing that legitimate alternative perspectives to the dominant and short-sighted national media context exist, this list is also true. I’ve truly ranked these based on how appealing and interesting I believe each game would be to watch. I don’t know how many or which ones I’ll get to watch, as I have quite a few other things to do over the next few weeks, but these are in the order that I find myself interested in watching them, from most interesting to least interesting.
1. Northern Illinois v. Fresno St. – After compiling the list, I read that Dennis Dodd says he's looking for motivation on this one. I feel sorry for him because time and again, as I ranked and re-ranked the games on this list, this sounds like the most exciting matchup to me. I watched part of the MAC championship game and the Fresno State-Illinois game a couple of weeks ago, and that experience makes me think this will be an exciting game. It’s too bad it's the first day. I guess it's all downhill from there.
2. San Diego State v. Navy – SDSU has, based on reports, been very good all year, and I have not had a chance to see them. Here’s a good opportunity to do so, though I am worried that if they are as good as the sense of them I’m getting, this could become a rout. Still, the appeal of seeing the Aztecs puts this game at number two.
3. Louisville v. Southern Miss – I’m not entirely sure why, but this sounds like a really interesting game to watch, I suppose largely to see Charlie Strong's team in action, though also because this seems like it could be an exciting game. I hope it was Strong not wanting the job at Florida that led to that institution hiring Will Muschamp, because otherwise it seems inappropriate. This is also a first-day game, which means that two of my top three are among the three first-day games. I guess it's really downhill after that. [Correction on this one: It wasn't a first day game. Somehow I got it in my head that it was while I was writing up the list, and then I forgot to double-check it later.]
4. Michigan State v. Alabama – Frankly, the only reason this is so high is because I received my Masters degree from Michigan State and, thus, I follow their sports teams. Having Alabama as an opponent makes the game remain interesting (as opposed to if this was Arkansas or Florida or something), since Nick Saban was the head coach at MSU when I was a student there. As an MSU fan, I’m worried that Alabama could blow out the Spartans. That’s largely based on historically being used to MSU being just good enough to get my hopes up and not good enough to fulfill them. This year’s team, though, has been different (or else they’d be 7-5 or 8-4 right now), so maybe that will come through in the bowl game, too.
5. Nevada v. Boston College – I watched the Nevada-Boise State game, and Nevada looked outstanding. They are what make this game very worth seeing. This game almost ends up lower because BC does little for me, though. With a different opponent, this would challenge for the top spot.
6. Utah v. Boise State – I’m interested in watching Boise State again, as I’ve found them exciting all year. I keep getting the feeling, though, that Boise State will blow Utah out, which drops this game a bit in the rankings.
7. Miami (OH) v. Middle Tennessee State – Of all the teams that made bowl games this year, Miami of Ohio is the only one I’ve seen live (when they played at BGSU in November). That pushes this game up from what would otherwise be a few slots further down. Still, both teams sound interesting to watch.
8. Illinois v. Baylor – Again, the Fresno State-Illinois game helps make this interesting. So does Baylor’s Robert Griffin.
9. Troy v. Ohio – This sounds like it could be a really close, and thus exciting, game. I’m sure very few lists have Frank Solich’s current team’s game higher than his old team’s game, but mine does.
10. Syracuse v. Kansas State – Syracuse has been a complete surprise in returning to the land of being decent. Kansas State has been up and down. Altogether, this sounds like two teams I’d like to watch play each other.
11. Wisconsin v. TCU – Watching TCU sounds like a lot of fun, but with Wisconsin as their opponent, this loses a lot of its luster. What keeps this appealing is that I’d love to watch the Horned Frogs blow out the Badgers. If that starts happening in the game, it’ll only get better as the game goes on.
12. Washington v. Nebraska – Only Washington makes this interesting, as I kind of like watching them—and not just because of Jake Locker. A game featuring Nebraska against a lot of other bowl teams would fall down the list considerably, even if Bo Pelini yelling at refs is kind of entertaining.
13. Penn State v. Florida – This just feels like a middle of the road kind of game. I guess it’s kind of interesting that it’s Urban Meyer’s last game before retirement, not Joe Paterno’s, and that’s what gets it up this high.
14. Hawaii v. Tulsa – This sounds kind of interesting, but watching Hawaii play in Hawaii always drops the appeal of a bowl game for me. This matchup elsewhere might inch up higher on this list.
15. Auburn v. Oregon – All three of the rankings to which I link above rank this game number one, but I see it a bit differently. I'm interested in seeing Oregon because what I have seen of them is exciting. However, Auburn does absolutely nothing at all for me. Oregon-TCU would be much higher on the list—probably in the top five. With Auburn, this game is just three spots above the middle of the pack, and that’s all Ducks.
16. Northwestern v. Texas Tech – This, like Penn State-Florida, seems like a middle-of-the-road kind of game. Fifteen years ago, my interest in watching Northwestern as it finally became good would have gotten this a higher ranking. Today, I’m kind of bored of them, and Texas Tech doesn’t do much for me.
17. Maryland v. East Carolina – This is a real middle-of-the-road kind of game, and it’s also where my interest level for games on this list starts taking a real turn toward getting really less interested.
18. NC State v. West Virginia – This game might be kind of interesting, but I’m not sure. It’s the game about which I’m the most unsure of my interest level, which is why it seems like a perfect fit for the exact middle of this list.
19. Toledo v. Florida International – Watching Toledo piques my interest somewhat, but FIU piques almost none, so this ends up just below being smack dab in the middle of the pack.
20. Missouri v. Iowa – I don’t mind the idea of watching Missouri, but Iowa makes this really gravitate toward the unwatchable side. And that’s not just my Spartan grudge against Iowa talking. I mean, I could actually handle the Hawkeyes beating the Spartans because I expected it, but then when they couldn’t hold on to beat Ohio State, and thus they cost the Spartans a trip to the Rose Bowl, they showed that they’re a bunch of ding dongs. But besides that, the Hawkeyes kind of bore me.
21. Michigan v. Mississippi State – I’m not particularly interested in watching the Wolverines (I wonder if you can guess why …), but Mississippi State makes this slightly more interesting.
22. Air Force v. Georgia Tech – Things are really starting to get significantly more boring here. These teams don’t do much for me.
23. Arizona V. Oklahoma State – Ho hum. This is only this high because the stuff below it is even less appealing. At least the idea of watching either of these teams doesn't make my skin crawl.
24. Miami (FL) v. Notre Dame - Can I wake up now? With Randy Shannon still as the Hurricane coach, I'd have a little more interest, but now, good night …
25. Oklahoma v. Connecticut – If you make this OU/Stanford, OU/Wisconsin, or OU/Virginia Tech, it would compete for the bottom of the list. Only the idea of watching Connecticut makes it palatable.
26. Virginia Tech v. Stanford – ZZZZZZ
27. North Carolina v. Tennessee – Major ZZZZZZ
28. SMU v. Army – I’m going to talk about this game and game number 29 together, because they’re very similar. I have nothing against Army or UTEP, but SMU and BYU actually bring big-time negative points to the table in terms of watchability.
29. BYU v. UTEP – See game 28.
30. Clemson v. South Florida – Oh my god is this getting painful …
31. Florida State v. South Carolina – Maybe I might be interested … No, I’m not …
32. Pittsburgh v. Kentucky – You wouldn’t believe what I just saw the paint on my wall do …
33. Central Florida v. Georgia -- I'm seeing a pattern with three of the last four games. Apparently, college football in Florida does little for me.
34. Texas A&M v. LSU – If game number 30 sounds painful, this sounds like more prolonged and intense contact with that pain. Additionally, I have no interest in fueling this whole “Mad Hatter” Les Miles narrative.
35. Arkansas v. Ohio State – This is unequivocally, absolutely the least interesting matchup of the lot. I couldn't care less about either team or a game between them. Ugh …
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Ray, this is a most excellent list, primarily because you had the good sense to make a Northern Illinois game your first choice. And I'm delighted that my Huskies responded by making the game mostly UN-interesting (from a competitive standpoint, at least), with a 40-17 beatdown. But your list brought me many smiles.
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