Old School Bowl Bids

As a flight of fancy, I decided to look at what I thought the old free for all bowl system would yield this year. For my purposes, the SEC has the current alignment, but we are operating in pre-bowl alliance rules. Also, you had to have a winning season to make a bowl game. For simplicity sake, I chose 1990 as my baseline year for trying to figure out the match-ups (ie, conference v. conference; final regular season records; rankings).

Here are my best guesses.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Notre Dame - Hey, look the Bowl system would have gotten it 'right'.
Orange Bowl: Florida vs. Oklahoma - I'd say it is possible the ACC champion FSU still might get courted in by the Orange Bowl, but I'd think they'd nab Florida.
Citrus Bowl: Georgia vs. FSU - I guess. Hard to say, but I'd think the Citrus Bowl would have had a deal to take the SEC loser, based on their longstanding relationship with the SEC to play the Seminoles.
Cotton: Texas A&M vs. Kansas State. Two Heisman finalist? Forget about it. This one would be hyped to death.
Hall of Fame Bowl: LSU v. Clemson - Yawn.
Gator: South Carolina v. Michigan - Another yawn.
Peach: Vandy vs. Rutgers - I struggled with this one. One one hand, the Independence and Liberty Bowls could have just as easily been in the running for Vandy. On the other, the higher payout of the Peach Bowl probably wins out. I took a WAG of all the major conference teams left with strong records.
Independence or Liberty: Mississippi State v. Tulsa - This match-up was the one I was most comfortable with. There is no doubt Mississippi State gets into a  bowl game, but I couldn't decide between the Independence or the Liberty. I decided it didn't matter much and that their opponent would be Tulsa.

Other bowls of note (I didn't do Rose, because it would be exactly the same):
Fiesta: Oregon vs. Louisville. The folks in Tempe are pinching themselves over getting Oregon.
Sun Bowl: UCLA vs. Northwestern
Holiday: Boise State v. Northern Illinois. Compelling story that makes Boise State seem old and stodgy.

Lest anyone forget, the new fangled playoff that will fix all the messes of the BCS would put Florida as a third seed, while SEC runner up Georgia wouldn't have a chance to play for the title, presumably because they had their chance in the SEC championship. Tell me again how that is better?

TD

Tweet