So Texas Christian, the current holder of the Unofficial College Football Championship, will be going to San Antonio tomorrow to defend its title in the Alamo Bowl. The Horned Frogs will take on the Oregon Ducks, who last played for the UCFC in the 2010 National Championship Game against Auburn. The Ducks got off to a shaky start, going 3-3 to open the season. But since then, Oregon has won six games in a row, including a 38-36 win at Stanford, which just cruised to victory in the Rose Bowl. Furthermore, the Pac-12 has looked pretty good in the Bowl Games so far. Check out these results (Pac-12 teams in bold):
New Mexico Bowl: Arizona 45, New Mexico 37
Las Vegas Bowl: Utah 35, Brigham Young 28
Sun Bowl: Washington St. 20, Miami (Fla.) 14
Heart of Dallas Bowl: Washington 44, So. Mississippi 31
Foster Farms Bowl: Nebraska 37, UCLA 29
Armed Forces Bowl: California 55, Air Force 36
Holiday Bowl: Wisconsin 23, USC 21
Rose Bowl: Stanford 45, Iowa 16
That's a record of 6-2, which includes the usual blow-out win in the Rose Bowl. There are good reasons to believe, therefore, that Oregon will put up a real fight in the Alamo Bowl.
Meanwhile, here's how the Big XII has done in Bowl Season (Big XII teams in bold):
Russell Athletic Bowl: Baylor 49, N. Carolina 38
Texas Bowl: Louisiana St. 56, Texas Tech 27
Orange Bowl: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17
Sugar Bowl: Mississippi 48, Oklahoma St. 20
Now these are tough games -- the Big XII doesn't have match-ups with schools like New Mexico, Air Force, or Southern Mississippi. But in general, the Big XII defenses have been as sieve-like as they were during the regular season, while the Big XII offenses (with the lone exception of Baylor) haven't shown the type of fire-power we are used to seeing. That could bode ill for Texas Christian.
Furthermore -- and this is much more significant to me -- Trevone Boykin, who has carried Texas Christian all year, has been suspended for tomorrow's game, and will not play. Josh Doctson, the other half of Texas Christian's Dynamic Duo, will miss the game with an injury. Boykin and Doctson were two of my very favorite players in college football this year, and I'm very sorry they won't be there for tomorrow's game. Certainly Texas Christian will be a very different team without them on the field.
So you would have to give Oregon the edge in this game. In fact, Vegas has installed the Ducks as a 7-point favorite in a a game where 74 points are expected. That would work out to something like a 40-33 win for the Ducks. And I admit that I will be surprised if Texas Christian prevails. But the Frogs are playing in Texas, and they have won 8 of their last 11 bowl games under Coach Gary Patterson. Remember how awesome they looked in last year's Peach Bowl.
Sadly, I will be unable to blog tomorrow's game, as I will be out of town and away from my computer. But I will have a write-up after the game is over, and I'm very excited to know who will have the Big Gold Trophy going into the 2016 season.
