College Football Bowls: 8 Observations

By Michael Schneid

Here are 8 random observations on this year's college football bowl games.

1. Repeat bowls suck. Cincinnati goes to Belk Bowl for second straight year. Nebraska plays Georgia for second straight year, this time in Gator Bowl after last year's Capital One Bowl 
2. Rutgers finished 6-6 (3-5 AAC), lost to the top 4 teams in the conference by an average of 27 points, that includes a 52-14 loss to Houston. Their reward is an appearance in the Pinstripe Bowl, right around the corner from campus in NYC, against Notre Dame
1. That Houston team that walloped Rutgers was passed over for this game
3. At least Oregon doesn't have to be bored playing in the Rose Bowl again
4. It's a shame we can't get the best of the non-power conferences to play each other. For example, a Northern Illinois vs Fresno State game would be great. But the Mountain West champion goes to the Vegas Bowl to face a middle-tier PAC-12 team. 
5. Bowls worry about fans traveling yet we get schools like Arizona playing in a game in Louisiana, Buffalo playing in Idaho. 
1. Bowling Green plays in Detroit in the Little Caesars Bowl. They just played in Detroit in the MAC Championship
6. Their used to be something special about playing in a January 1st, New Year's Day bowl. The Heart of Texas Bowl this year on 1/1/14, will feature UNLV vs. North Texas. What?
7. After a 10-2 regular season, Duke ends the year facing the (likely) 2013 Heisman trophy winner Jameis Winston and Florida State. Followed by a bowl game against the 2012 Heisman trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, and Texas A&M. 
8. For the second consecutive year, the Cotton Bowl will revisit old Big 12 rivals. Last year, Texas A&M beat Oklahoma. This year, Missouri faces Oklahoma State.