Read the arguments from Sports Geek and Bleacher Fan.
Bowl season is quickly approaching. Can you believe it actually begins this Saturday with the New Mexico Bowl featuring Fresno State and Wyoming?
I know many are critical of the bowls. I have the same reservations, but I’m actually a big fan of the bowls. It’s fun to watch all the different matchups. After looking at the bowl schedule, I realize there are some non-BCS bowl matchups that are unappealing to the common football fan. I really don’t remember the games being like that. But, if I had to pick one non-BCS game as one that I thought would be the best game, I would have to pick the Chick-Fil-A Bowl featuring the Tennessee Volunteers and the Virginia Tech Hokies.
The SEC had six teams finish the season with a 7-5 overall record. The bowl representatives decided to take Tennessee out of that group, and I think it was a wise decision. The Volunteers made progress in Lane Kiffin’s first season as head coach. It may be hard to like the guy personally since he definitely knows how to ruffle feathers and often seems to be receiving the wrath of the SEC commissioner’s office or the NCAA for its recruiting practices. But it’s hard to question what he has done on the field as a coach. I would say most of the passionate Tennessee fan base is fairly pleased with the turnaround this season.
The big reason for the turnaround is the strong play from Monte Kiffin’s defense. Lane’s dad made his name as a defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and his “Tampa 2” defense. He brought that approach with him to Knoxville and has done quite well. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton was awful at the beginning of the season, but even he showed progress throughout the season. The running back tandem of Montario Harvesty and Bryce Brown really stabilized the offense.
Virginia Tech makes its third trip to Atlanta this New Year’s Eve after suffering two of its three losses in the Peach State earlier this season, with those losses coming against Alabama and Georgia Tech. The Hokies suffered a third loss at midseason to North Carolina, but then closed the season strong with four consecutive wins. This team is built seemingly like all other Hokies’ teams are – on defense. A high standard has been set for Bud Foster’s defense and every season he seems to put a strong defense out on the field. This season, the Hokies gave up less than 16 points per game, while the offense quietly scored over 31 points a game.
SEC fans like to scream that their conference is the best. I have been one of those who have screamed that the SEC reigns high atop the college football world. Last season, a 7-5 LSU team put an absolute whipping on a 9-3 Georgia Tech team in the Chick Fil-A Bowl. It’s going to be interesting to see if another 7-5 SEC team could duplicate the success of LSU in this year’s game.
