The Sugar Bowl is the rotator for the national title game this year. All 35 bowls, including the five BCS ones, will be dispersed as follows, all times Eastern:

Sat. December 17

New Mexico Bowl (2:00 pm) — MWC vs. Pac-12
uDrove Humanitarian Bowl (5:30 pm) — MAC vs. WAC
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (9:00 pm) — Sun Belt vs. C-USA

Tues. December 20
Beef O’Brady’s Bowl St. Petersburg (8:00 pm) — Big East vs. C-USA

Wed. December 21
San Diego Co. Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (8:00 pm) — MWC vs. WAC

Thurs. December 22
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (8:00 pm) — MWC vs. Pac-12

Sat. December 24
Sheraton Hawii Bowl (8:00 pm) — WAC vs. C-USA

Mon. December 26
Advocare V100 Independence Bowl (5:00 pm) — ACC vs. MWC

Tues. December 27
Little Ceasar’s Pizza Bowl (4:30 pm) — Big Ten vs. MAC
Belk Bowl (8:00 pm) — ACC vs. Big East

Wed. December 28
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman (4:30 pm) — ACC vs. Navy (if eligible)
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (8:00 pm) — Big 12 vs. Pac-12

Thurs. December 29
Champs Sports Bowl (5:30 pm) — ACC vs. Big East
Valero Alamo Bowl (9:00 pm) — Big 12 vs. Pac-12

Fri. December 30
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (noon) — C-USA vs. BYU (if eligible)
New Era Pinstripe Bowl (3:20 pm) — Big 12 vs. Big East
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (6:40 pm) — ACC vs. SEC
Insight Bowl (10:00 pm) — Big 12 vs. Big Ten

Sat. December 31
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas (noon) — Big Ten vs. Big 12
Hyundai Sun Bowl (2:00 pm) — ACC vs. Pac-12
AutoZone Liberty Bowl (3:30 pm) — C-USA vs. SEC
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (3:30 pm) — Pac-12 vs. Army (if eligible)
Chick-fil-A Bowl (7:30 pm) — ACC vs. SEC

Mon. January 2
Ticket City Bowl (noon) — Big Ten vs. C-USA
Capital One Bowl (1:00 pm) — Big Ten vs. SEC
Gator Bowl (1:00 pm) — Big Ten vs. SEC
Outback Bowl (1:00 pm) — Big Ten vs. SEC
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO (5:00 pm) — Big Ten vs. Pac-12

Tues. January 3
Allstate Sugar Bowl (8:30 pm) — SEC Champion vs. BCS

Wed. January 4
Discover Orange Bowl (8:00 pm) — ACC Champion vs. BCS

Thurs. January 5
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (8:30 pm) — Big 12 Champion vs. BCS

Fri. January 6
AT&T Cotton Bowl (8:00 pm) — Big 12 vs. SEC

Sat. January 7
BBVA Compass Bowl (1:00 pm) — Big East vs. SEC

Mon. January 9
Allstate BCS National Championship Game (8:30 pm) — BCS No.1 vs. BCS No. 2

With the anticipation of the draft last week, one super-big story that seemed lost in the shuffle was the actions that the NCAA finally seems to be taking to reign in control over the bowl games. It was announced that college football's governing body would place a three-year moratorium on new bowl games and would look at revamping the certification process of all bowls. What could have motivated the mouse to roar is anyone's guess, but the best bets for an impetus with them are usually money and congressional oversight.

This issue was moved to the forefront of the agenda after the trouble with the Fiesta Bowl, which is in danger of losing it's status as a BCS bowl after it's president resigned in March. Improper expenses and questionable write-offs were found to have been charged to the bowl foundation, including reimbursement for employees' political campaign contributions. How this bowl (or any other one for that matter) keeps it's 501(3)(c) tax-exempt status is way beyond my finance degree knowledge and understanding.

That a bowl game is run like a local fiefdom should be no surprise to anyone, but these allegations are serious and could possibly result in criminal charges. I feel that the NCAA is right to examine the Fiesta Bowl, even if there does seem to be a glaring conflict of interest with the fact that some of the NCAA decision makers have been treated to various events by Fiesta Bowl officials. Glendale may be north of the border, but things like this reek of banana republic shenanigans. I suspect just a scare job from the NCAA, with no real consequences.

If it was up to some Auburn fans, leaving tumbleweeds blowing through Glendale would be a pretty simple choice, given the spartan hospitality found at the BCS title game back in January. Already, a movement is afoot to replace the Fiesta on the BCS roles with the Cotton Bowl. That is a change I think I could get behind and besides, who's going to bet against Jerry Jones, college football's closest thing to Donald Trump? If the Cotton Bowl did supplant the Fiesta, you'd still have two BCS Bowls east of the Mississippi and two west of it. The only loser in that equation would actually be Mississippi, Ole Miss, who would no longer get the Cotton Bowl bone thrown at them once a decade or so.

But while the Fiesta holds on, perhaps the biggest news to come out of all this is the moratorium on new bowl games for at least three years. What took you so long, NCAA? You got bowl games multiplying like Appalachian share-cropper families the past decade or so and these country cousins are about as radiant. I laid it out at the beginning of the year what you should do to reign in this infestation of johnny-come-lately bowl games so I recommend that link as required reading before they start. Crappy bowl games are diluting our college football product nationally and that's a fact before you even start diving into all the questionable financial practices and patronizing you're likely to find with some.

And what exactly is this bowl re-certification revamping the NCAA is supposed to be doing? Details are scarce, but already, all 35 bowls except for three have been granted certification and had their licenses renewed through the 2013 season. Only the Fiesta, the Insight Bowl (which also is played in Glendale) and the TicketCity Bowl (played in Dallas at JerryWorld) are still pending. They should know their fate within a month.

Why the NCAA is attempting to re-assert some measure of control over one of it's most valuable assets is still a mystery. While they run the post-season in all it's other sports, including lower division football, the NCAA just sets up a few guidelines and then lets the bows run themselves--a $270 million venture that many are starting to view as the wild west. Maybe the want control in an attempt to begin the implementation of a playoff, maybe they just want a cut of the action. If they know what's good for the sport, they'll start to throw some of these dirtbag bowls out on their ears as soon as possible by implementing some minimum standards other than TV contracts. We'll see.

What could make the impossibly long interval for the BCS title game a little easier to endure would be some entertaining bowl games on the slate. In case you didn't catch the riveting Humanitarian or New Mexico Bowls--never mind. I think TBS's 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon was more entertaining. I'd rather stick my tongue on a frozen pole than watch most of these match ups. The bowl system needs a total reworking from top to bottom because it's becoming a mockery of itself and is seriously diluting the product. Bowls have ceased being extravagant post season rewards for deserving teams and have morphed into something resembling pre-packaged sub-prime mortgages sold to Fannie Mae, or in most cases, to ESPN. And all the foreclosures are about to tank the whole neighborhood.

I've got a few ideas about how to rework the bowl system and contrary to my statements above, it doesn't necessarily begin with contraction. Bowls need to be basically split into two groups--one for mid-major teams and one for BCS schools, with little cross contamination, if any. Yes, I know, it sounds exclusionary, but the same current 'rules' will apply with deserving non-AQ teams who rank high in the BCS polls getting their due and playing in the big four BCS bowls. I'm talking about The Little Caeser's Pizza Bowl, which featured Florida International and Toledo, or the upcoming GMAC Bowlwith Middle Tennessee State and Miami of Ohio. All enlist mid-major teams. Why not keep it that way until a bowl can move it on up? And by the way, GMAC Bowl, do you really think that playing your sawed-off bowl this Thursday will garner more viewers than if it were the week before Christmas? Why does ESPN let them get away with scheduling it so late? There should definitely be a scheduling hierarchy that follows the prestige of the bowl itself, dollar for dollar, day for day.

You want your bowl affirmative action? Then make the new bowl kids on the block and the ones who change names every year service mid-major teams exclusively. They're the teams who can have great seasons but may never crack the BCS top 50. Let them have their just desserts and choose to go to these games if they want to and if they can afford to. Travelling is expensive and hard for some of these teams, hence the propensity for taking marginal BCS teams. If that's the case, then maybe we should just cut the number of bowl games. But we should try it and have roughly half of the bowls be off limits to BCS teams. I'm tired of these major programs with a .500 record getting into bowl games. They should be held to a higher standard and should just sit home rather than phoning in a half-ass result, like Georgia did with UCF on Friday.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a capitalist and if the networks, the prime enablers of these crappy bowl games, can make a profit, then I understand what they're doing, but there is still the law of unintended consequences. There's little doubt that many of the local insider bowl organizers make plenty of loot by putting on their unsold-out events, and get major  press for themselves, but that's another story. The question is should we be allowing lucrative television contracts and these puny bowl fiefdoms to dilute our college football product with unattractive match-ups and empty stadiums just for the sake of a few dollars and an ego boost? The cameras during these games rarely show crowd shots in an attempt to hide all the empty seats, but they're still visible if you know when to look. What if they threw a bowl game and nobody came? Does a bowl game being played in the woods with nobody around make a sound? Only ESPN knows for sure.

Thirty-four bowls plus the BCS title game. Does 60% of FBS teams really deserve to go to a bowl game? And if so, haven't we just seriously diminished the very meaning of the term bowl game in this brave new everybody wins, yaysociety of ours? So, for the sake of sanity, here is my list of quick, simple changes that need to be made to the bowl process STAT, in order to restore some sense of prestige and honor to this storied portion of our sport before we commercialize it to death.

Establish a name and stick to it: Chose a specific name for your bowl and then choose your sponsor. They can't be the same. If you were always called the Tangerine bowl, or you want to call yourself the Las Vegas Bowl, then that's what you are. That way, it's easier for fans to keep track of you years down the road even when your sponsorships are going to the highest bidder every year. "Oh, the 2007  Peach Bowl. I remember that. Auburn and Clemson went into overtime." Your sponsor can change, and who cares if no fan can remember who it was years down the road. Yea, it'll be less money for the organizers, but we're pimping out our sport to the highest bidder as it is. The sponsors get enough attention by not having to name the entire bowl after themselves. Right now, we're lucky that the bowls are just named for the company itself and not specific products: The Little Caesers Cheesy Bread and Wings Combo Pizza Bowl. TheGeico Save Half Your Income By Switching to Us Bowl. The Glad Quart-Size Zippable Sandwich Bag Bowl. Don't tell me it's not coming. Wait until they require coaches to mention the sponsor every third sentence. We'll start to look like NASCAR before you know it.

Raise the minimum win eligibility requirement to 8: We had the 6-drink GAME minimum back when we only played a 10-game season. With a 12-game season currently the norm, (13 if you play Hawaii in Okinawa or play in a conference championship game) requiring a team to have only won two thirds of their games to get a end of season cookie is about the least we can do--literally. It just is such a buzz-kill to have teams go to a bowl, lose, and finish with a losing record. It instantly makes you wonder why they were in a bowl in the first place. Certainly Georgia isn't the only bowl team the past few years to finish 6-7, but what would be so wrong at making them the last? We just have to eliminate this mentality of bowl entitlement in our sport. It cheapens what the real good teams accomplish.

Minimum ticket sales: Want to start a new bowl or keep your existing one? You must demonstrate the ability to sell a minimum number of annual season tickets to locals, say 25%, and then sell out at least two thirds of the remaining seats for a pre-determined interval, say 5 years. I'm tired of television rights being the life support that keeps these crappy games breathing. If a bowl game is such a cool thing for your community, then people other than fans of the two schools should support it. If they don't, then stick to other things that sell tickets like gun shows, circuses and Dragon/Fantasy Con.

TV Ratings: Okay, I plead ignorance of the ratings of most of these smaller bowl games. Perhaps I need my own Fanblogs intern to do basic research for me. Any volunteers? Naturally, with TV money being the sole existence of most of these bowls, maybe we should examine which bowls attract a large enough TV audience and axe those that don't perform well over a certain time period, regardless of what the networks value them at. I admit, I'm torn about cutting a network off  if they're making a profit off of something, but the NCAA must safeguard it's brand here. To do otherwise, I feel, is devaluing and destroying the sport.

Git-R-Done: The regular season is basically wrapped up even with the conference championship games after the first week in December, (with the exception of Army-Navy, who like to have a whole weekend to themselves, which is permissible) so why not start to get these bowl games knocked out in quick order? You can't blame academics, as most students are out for break around the same time. The only general rule is don't interfere with the NFL, which isn't a good idea as that turf war has pretty solid distinctions set in stone. Since everybody takes so much time off in December, the chances of them catching the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl on a Tuesday night are pretty good.

The heirarchy of bowl games should dictate who has to be completed by which date certain. The lower tier have to be wrapped up by a few days before New Year's, the middle tier has to be completed by January 1st, and the four BCS bowls have to be within 2 days of January1 st unless it falls on a Sunday. Then the BCS title game comes one day after the last BCS Bowl game, again unless there's a conflict. Under that system, we'd have knocked out the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta, and Rose by this past Saturday or last night, and have Auburn and Oregon tonight. Waiting another week makes no sense and I believe makes casual fans lose interest in the title game.

Next step: getting someone to appoint me College Football Czar.

Nothing says 'holiday' like nail-biting bowl games like the Humanitarian Bowl or last night's Beef 'O Brady's Bowl. Have you guys seen the crowds in some of these games? Neither have I, because apparently no one is attending.

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Date/Time/TV Bowl Site Matchup Saturday Dec. 18 2:00 pm ET ESPN New Mexico Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Albuquerque, NM University Stadium BYU vs. UTEP Saturday Dec. 18 5:30 pm ET ESPN Roady's Humanitarian Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Boise, ID Bronco Stadium Northern Illinois vs. Fresno St Saturday Dec. 18 9:00 pm ET ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Louisiana Superdome Ohio vs. Troy Tuesday Dec. 21 8:00 pm ET ESPN Beef O'Brady's Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field Louisville vs. Southern Miss Wednesday Dec. 22 8:00 pm ET ESPN MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium Utah vs. Boise State Thursday Dec. 23 8:00 pm ET ESPN San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium San Diego St vs. Navy Friday Dec. 24 8:00 pm ET ESPN Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Honolulu, HI Aloha Stadium Hawaii vs. Tulsa Sunday Dec. 26 8:30 pm ET ESPN Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Detroit, MI Ford Field Florida Intl vs. Toledo Monday Dec. 27 5:00 pm ET ESPN AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Shreveport, LA Independence Stadium Air Force vs. Georgia Tech Tuesday Dec. 28 6:30 pm ET ESPN Champs Sports Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium West Virginia vs. NC State Tuesday Dec. 28 10:00 pm ET ESPN Insight Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium Missouri vs. Iowa Wednesday Dec. 29 2:30 pm ET ESPN Military Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Washington, DC RFK Stadium East Carolina vs. Maryland Wednesday Dec. 29 6:00 pm ET ESPN Texas Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Baylor vs. Illinois Wednesday Dec. 29 9:15 pm ET ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Antonio, TX Alamodome Arizona vs. Oklahoma State Thursday Dec. 30 12:00pm ET ESPN Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Fort Worth, TX Amon G. Carter Stadium Army vs. SMU Thursday Dec. 30 3:15 pm ET ESPN New Era Pinstripe Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New York, NY Yankee Stadium Kansas St vs. Syracuse Thursday Dec. 30 6:30 pm ET ESPN Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Nashville, TN LP Field North Carolina vs. Tennesee Wednesday Dec. 30 10:00 pm ET ESPN Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Nebraska vs. Washington Friday Dec. 31 12:00 pm ET ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium South Florida vs. Clemson Thursday Dec. 31 2:00 pm ET CBS Brut Sun Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks El Paso, TX Sun Bowl Stadium Miami vs. Notre Dame Friday Dec. 31 3:30 pm ET ESPN AutoZone Liberty Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Memphis, TN Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium UCF vs. Georgia Thursday Dec. 31 7:30 pm ET ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome South Carolina vs. FSU Saturday Jan. 1 12:00 pm ET ESPNU TicketCity Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Dallas, TX Cotton BowlStadium Northwestern vs. Texas Tech Saturday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET ESPN/ABC Outback Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium Florida vs. Penn State Saturday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET ESPN/ABC Capital One Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Alabama vs. Michigan State Saturday Jan. 1 1:30 pm ET ESPN2 Konica Minolta Gator Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Municipal Stadium Mississippi St vs. Michigan Saturday Jan. 1 4:30 pm ET ABC Rose Bowl presented by Citi Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl TCU vs. Wisconsin Saturday Jan. 1 8:30 pm ET ESPN Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium Oklahoma vs. Connecticut Monday Jan. 3 8:00 pm ET ESPN Orange Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Miami, FL Dolphin Stadium Virginia Tech vs. Stanford Tuesday Jan. 4 8:00 pm ET ESPN Allstate Sugar Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Superdome Ohio State vs. Arkansas Thursday Jan. 6 8:00 pm ET ESPN GoDaddy.com Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Mobile, AL Ladd Peebles Stadium Middle Tenn St vs. Miami (OH) Friday Jan. 7 8:00 pm ET FOX AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Arlington, TX Cowboys Stadium LSU vs. Texas A&M Saturday Jan. 8 12:00 pm ET ESPN BBVA Compass Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Birmingham, AL Legion Field Pitt vs. Kentucky Saturday Jan. 9 9:00 pm ET ESPN Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Francisco, CA AT&T Park Nevada vs. Boston College Monday Jan. 10 8:00 pm ET ESPN BCS National Championship Game Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Glendale, AZ Univ. of Phoenix Stadium Auburn vs. Oregon

The 2010 college football season will be capped by exciting college football bowl games, including the 2010 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the 2010 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, the 2010 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 2010 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and the 2010 BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, AZ.

The best college football teams from the major conferences, including the Big10 conference, Big 12 conference, Pac 10 conference, ACC conference, Big East conference, SEC conference, and Mountain West conference will face off in college football bowl games throughout December and into January. If you're looking for updated matchups, odds, insights, betting lines and online wagering for the college football bowl games, please be sure to try BangTheBook.com.

At first glance, it would seem to reward teams that played a tougher schedule rather than padding their record with cupcakes. The change would also give bowls more flexibility to create the most interesting matchup, potentially boosting revenues for struggling bowl committees.

Matt Sanderson, co-founder of Playoff PAC, told the San Diego Union Times that the rule could allow bowls with open slots for at-large teams to select power-conference teams with 6-6 records over smaller-conference teams with winning records.

Sanderson points to this season's GMAC Bowl, which took 9-3 Troy as an at-large team. Under the revised rules, the GMAC Bowl could have offered the at-large slot to 6-6 Notre Dame.

While the new provision still needs an OK by the greater NCAA, most rule revisions that make it out of committee are approved.

Suffice to say... no one wants to see a bad 6-6 team stink it up in a marquee bowl game. The reality is that - with new bowls coming on in Yankee Stadium and the Cotton Bowl - there are going to be 70 teams in bowl games this year. If a bowl needs to dig deep and get an at-large team, I would prefer them to create the most interesting game they can.

No disrespect intended, but I would *much* rather see a hypothetical 6-6 Southern Cal as an at-large against Alabama, for example, over a 7-5 Louisiana Monroe.

Just sayin.

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Date/Time/TV Bowl Site Matchup Saturday Dec. 19 2 :30 pm ET ESPN New Mexico Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Albuquerque, NM University Stadium Wyoming vs. Fresno State Saturday Dec. 19 8:00 pm ET ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks St. Petersburg, FL Tropicana Field Rutgers vs. Central Florida Sunday Dec. 20 8:00 pm ET ESPN R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Louisiana Superdome Southern Miss vs. Middle Tenn St Tuesday Dec. 22 8:00 pm ET ESPN MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium BYU vs. Oregon State Wednesday Dec. 23 8:00 pm ET ESPN San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Utah vs. Cal Thursday Dec. 24 8:00 pm ET ESPN Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Honolulu, HI Aloha Stadium SMU vs. Nevada Saturday Dec. 26 4:30 pm ET ESPN Meineke Car Care Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Charlotte, NC Bank of America Stadium North Carolina vs. Pitt Saturday Dec. 26 5 :00 pm ET ESPN Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Detroit, MI Ford Field Ohio U vs. Marshall Saturday Dec. 26 8:00 pm ET ESPN Emerald Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Francisco, CA AT&T Park Boston College vs. USC Sunday Dec. 27 8:15 pm ET ESPN Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Nashville, TN LP Field Clemson vs. Kentucky Monday Dec. 28 5:00 pm ET ESPN AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Shreveport, LA Independence Stadium Texas A&M vs. Georgia Tuesday Dec. 29 4:30 pm ET ESPN EagleBank Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Washington, DC RFK Stadium Temple vs. UCLA Tuesday Dec. 29 8:00 pm ET ESPN Champs Sports Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Miami vs. Wisconsin Wednesday Dec. 30 4:30 pm ET ESPN Roady's Humanitarian Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Boise, ID Bronco Stadium Bowling Green vs. Idaho Wednesday Dec. 30 8:00 pm ET ESPN Pacific Life Holiday Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium Nebraska vs. Arizona Thursday Dec. 31 2:00 pm ET NFL Network Texas Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Missouri vs. Navy Thursday Dec. 31 Time TBA ESPN Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Fort Worth, TX Amon G. Carter Stadium Air Force vs. Houston Thursday Dec. 31 12:00 pm ET CBS Brut Sun Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks El Paso, TX Sun Bowl Stadium Stanford vs. Oklahoma Thursday Dec. 31 5:30 pm ET NFL Network Insight Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tempe, AZ Sun Devil Stadium Minnesota vs. Iowa State Thursday Dec. 31 7:30 pm ET ESPN Chick-fil-A Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee Friday Jan. 1 11:00 am ET ESPN Outback Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium Auburn vs. Northwestern Friday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET CBS Konica Minolta Gator Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Municipal Stadium FSU vs. West Virginia Friday Jan. 1 1:00 pm ET ABC Capital One Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Orlando, FL Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium Penn State vs. LSU Friday Jan. 1 5:00 pm ET ABC Rose Bowl presented by Citi Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Oregon Friday Jan. 1 8:30 pm ET FOX Allstate Sugar Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks New Orleans, LA Superdome Florida vs. Cincinnati Saturday Jan. 2 12:00 pm ET ESPN2 International Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Toronto, Canada Rogers Centre South Florida vs. Northern Illinois Saturday Jan. 2 2 :00 pm ET ESPN PapaJohns.com Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Birmingham, AL Legion Field Connecticut vs. South Carolina Saturday Jan. 2 2:00 pm ET FOX AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Arlington, TX Cowboys Stadium Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss Saturday Jan. 2 5:30 pm ET ESPN AutoZone Liberty Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Memphis, TN Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium East Carolina vs. Arkansas Saturday Jan. 2 9 :00 pm ET ESPN Valero Alamo Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks San Antonio, TX Alamodome Michigan State vs. Texas Tech Monday Jan. 4 8:00 pm ET FOX Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium TCU vs. Boise State Tuesday Jan. 5 8:00 pm ET FOX FedEx Orange Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Miami, FL Dolphin Stadium Georgia Tech vs. Iowa Wednesday Jan. 6 7 :00 pm ET ESPN GMAC Bowl Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Mobile, AL Ladd Peebles Stadium Troy vs. Central Michigan Thursday Jan. 7 8:00 pm ET ABC BCS National Championship Game Bowl Tickets Flights + Hotels Odds & Picks Pasadena, CA Rose Bowl Alabama vs. Texas

The 2009 college football season will be capped by exciting college football bowl games, including the 2009 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, the 2009 Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana, the 2009 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, CA.

The best college football teams from the major conferences, including the Big10 conference, Big 12 conference, Pac 10 conference, ACC conference, Big East conference, SEC conference, and Mountain West conference will face off in college football bowl games throughout December and into January.

If you're looking for updated matchups, odds, insights, betting lines and online wagering for the college football bowl games, please be sure to try BangTheBook.com.

And now, regular reader Foster Keats gives his predictions AND renames the various bowls to his own anti-establishment liking:

It’s bowl season, my friends. Time to put those novels down, send the wives & kids to bed, and hunker down with non-stop football every day & night of the week until early January. You may live in New Jersey & can’t even point to New Mexico on a map, but HELL, Fresno St & Wyoming is about to come on the tube, live from Al, Alber, Alberker… that big town in New Mexico. And who wouldn’t be interested in Ohio U and Marshall when you have 23 points of confidence placed on the Bobcats, plus water cooler bragging rights in your office pool. And to salute all those hard-working companies that have spent so much of their vast profits to place their name on these delicious matchups, I have decided to give them some of my own, personal added exposure… In some cases, I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I put in multiple choices for your holiday entertainment… enjoy!!!

New Mexico Bowl
The Got Meth? Bowl or The AMC’s Breaking Bad Bowl: Fresno St 31 Wyoming 18

St Petersburg Bowl
The Why Would They Put The Salvador Dali Museum in Our Ghetto Town Bowl: Rutgers 27 UCF 15

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
The We Track Your Shoddy Poisonous Chinese Imports Bowl or The Shouldn’t We Be Moving People OUT of New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss 30 MTSU 23

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl
The Even Burt Reynolds Stop Advertising Our $200 Shitty Paint Jobs Bowl or The Why The Hell Do We Always Get a Mormon School Who Never Gambles Bowl: Oregon St 37 BYU 24

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
The Who Outside of San Diego Could Ever Use Our Bank So Why Advertise It? Bowl or The Cheap Ugly Holiday Flower That You Buy Your Great Aunt Instead of Getting Her a REAL Gift Bowl: Utah 30 Cal 17

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
The At Least Our Hotels Aren’t Synonymous With Party Girl Whores Bowl: Nevada 66 SMU 55

Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl
The Has Anyone You Know Eaten One of Our Small Italian Toon Pies in the Last 20 Years Bowl: Ohio U 23 Marshall 13

Meineke Car Care Bowl
The You Need a New ‘Johnson Rod’, It’ll Cost You $500 Bowl: UNC 28 Pitt 20

Emerald Bowl
The We’re About Nuts, Not Gems or Colors or Isles or The Wizard of Oz Bowl or
The Isn’t Seattle Nicknamed The Emerald City So Why Did We Name Our Bowl This??? Bowl: USC 33 Boston College 6

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
The Muzak City Bowl, Sponsored by a Name Your Kids Always Giggle At: Clemson 40 Kentucky 17

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
The We’d Rather Sponsor a Game in Shreveport Than Do a 4-Hour Infomercial at 3am Bowl: UGA 31 Texas A&M 30

EagleBank Bowl
The 15,000 at a Football Game is Still Better Than Any Baseball Crowd All Year Bowl or The Once We Saw Who is Playing Here We Moved It To a Real Football Stadium Bowl: UCLA 27 Temple 13

Champs Sports Bowl
The Discount Athletic Supporter & Non-Licensed Merchandise Headquarters Bowl: Wisconsin 27 Miami 17

Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl
The We Don’t Arrest Lot Lizards in Our Parking Lots Because We Care About The Small Business Owners Bowl: Idaho 37 Bowling Green 34

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
The We Let Japanese Whalers Kill Our Mascot For $20,000 So We Could Pay Our Rent Bowl: Nebraska 17 Arizona 9

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
The We Don’t Build Sturdy Helicopters Anymore Because They’re Just Gonna Get Shot Down in Afghanistan Anyway Bowl: Houston 48 Air Force 33

Brut Sun Bowl
The At Least We Don’t Smell Like Williams Lectric Shave Bowl or The We Are Here To Mask The Stench of The Rio Grande River Bowl: Oklahoma 38 Stanford 23

Texas Bowl
The We Forgot To Pay a Marketing Company To Think Us Up A Name So This is All We Got Bowl: Mizzou 24 Navy 19

Insight Bowl
The We Do Something Technology-Wise That Even WE Can’t Explain Bowl: Minnesota 27 Iowa St 24

Chick-fil-A Bowl
The You Can’t Get Our Greasy Chicken Sandwiches on Sundays Bowl: Va Tech 23 Tennessee 10

Outback Bowl
The No One Can Better Grasp The Concept of Aussie Food Like Middle Florida Restaurateurs Bowl or
The We Put Your Salad Dressing Underneath Your Salad To Further Confuse Your Knowledge Of Aussie Culture Bowl: Auburn 30 NW 17

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
The When Does Our Sponsorship Contract Expire So We Can Flee Jacksonville Like The Rest Bowl: WV 27 F$U 23

Capital One Bowl
The We’ll Give a Credit Card To Anyone So We Can Further Add To This Country’s Debt Problem Bowl: LSU 21 Penn St 20

Rose Bowl presented by Citi
The Now That a Bank Sponsors Us, All Our Flowers Are Marked Up To Valentine’s Day Prices Bowl or
The Does Anyone Watch Our Parade Anymore? Bowl: Oregon 33 Ohio St 18

Allstate Sugar Bowl
The We Have Pedro Cerrano Doing Our Commercials, So Screw You!! Bowl: Florida 41 Cincinnati 13

International Bowl
The What’s This All Abooot, Eh?? Take Off, You Hoser!! Bowl: Northern Illinois 27 South Florida 21

Papajohns.com Bowl
The We Won’t Deliver Pizza To This Neighborhood But We’ll Sponsor a Bowl Game Here Bowl: UConn 24 USC 18

AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic
The Losing 100,000 Landlines a Day Doesn’t Matter B/C We Are Getting People Back With The iPhones Bowl: Okkie St 30 Ole Piss 23

Autozone Liberty Bowl
The Nothing Says More About Liberty in This Country Than The City of Memphis Bowl or
The You Can Work On Your Cars In Our Parking Lot, We’ve Got Plenty of Kitty Litter Bowl: Arkansas 27 East Carolina 17

Valero Alamo Bowl
The Please Don’t Confuse Us With Enron Or That Oil Company That Bush Bankrupted Back When He Was A Cokehead Bowl: Texas Tech 50 Michigan St 23

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
The Don’t Blame Us If Your Bag of Our Chips Is All Crushed Into Little Pieces, It’s Piggy Wiggly’s Fault Bowl: TCU 26 Boise St 24

FedEx Orange Bowl
The Sorry The Government Make Us Crackdown On Letting You Ship Your Weed To Your Ex College Roommate Bowl: Georgia Tech 31 Iowa 20

GMAC Bowl
The We Forgot How To Make a Decent Automobile But Still Have Enough Cash To Sponsor a Game in Lovely Mobile Bowl or The We’re Still Gonna Fly To Mobile Anyway Because We’re Afraid Of The Red Necks Along I-65 Bowl: Central Michigan 47 Troy 41

BCS National Championship Game
The Didn’t We Already Sponsor a Game in This Stadium So Why Are We Doing It Again?? Oh, That’s Right, the $$$ Bowl or The This Is As Close As You Numb Nuts Will Ever Get To Seeing a Playoff Bowl: Alabama 27 Texas 13

BCS Bowls:

BCS NCG: Alabama and Texas

Rose: Oregon and Ohio State

Sugar: Florida and Cincinnati

Orange: Georgia Tech and Iowa

Fiesta: TCU and Boise State

Non-BCS Bowls:

Cotton: Ole Miss and Oklahoma State

Capital One: LSU and Penn State

Gator: FSU and West Virginia

Outback: Auburn and Northwestern

Liberty: Arkansas and East Carolina

Independence: Georgia and Texas A&M

Chick Fil A: Tennessee and Virginia Tech

Champs Sports: Miami and Wisconsin

Meineke: Pittsburgh and North Carolina

Sun: Stanford and Oklahoma

Papa Johns: South Carolina and Connecticut

Holiday: Nebraska and Arizona

Insight: Iowa State and Minnesota

Armed Forces: Air Force and Houston

St. Petersburg: Rutgers and Central Florida

Music City: Kentucky and Clemson

New Orleans: Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee

GMAC: Central Michigan and Troy

Eagle Bank: Temple and either Army or UCLA

New Mexico: Wyoming and Fresno State

Hawaii: SMU and Nevada

Little Caesar's Pizza: Ohio and Marshall

Emerald: Boston College and USC

Texas: Missouri and Navy

Alamo: Michigan State and Texas Tech

Okay, someone tabulate which conferences have how many representatives. Who's getting hosed? Who's getting better than they deserve?

Officials from the SEC have already confirmed their participation to The Birmingham News. Under the terms, the Gator will get "at least" the sixth pick of bowl-eligible SEC teams. The pick position could vary on a year-to-year basis, but more details would be announced once the Big 10 announces its bowl agreements next week.

The Gator Bowl is also in final talks to become part of a broadcast deal with ESPN, leaving CBS, in a move that could signal the end of the exclusive broadcast window that has been previously negotiated for the Capital One Bowl.

With the Cotton Bowl moving to January 2nd, the result of the Gator Bowl agreement means that all three non-BCS games on New Years Day will feature SEC vs Big 10 matchups.

With the end of the ACC / Big East relationship in the Gator Bowl, the ACC and Big East have signed an agreement with the Champs Bowl which will essentially recreates the conferences past Gator relationship in Orlando.

Under the terms to begin with the 2010 season, the ACC will send its #3 selection to the Champs Bowl to face the Big East's #2 selection or Notre Dame. The Champs can select Notre Dame once over the four year agreement if the Irish have seven wins and are within two wins of the #2 Big East school.

With the Gator Bowl now aligned with SEC, the Independence Bowl finds itself as odd-man out in the SEC bowl mix after 15 years with the conference. Instead, the Independence Bowl will look to sign a new bowl matchup between the ACC and Mountain West.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Citrus Sports is negotiating a contract with the Big East that would drop the Big 10 from the Champs Bowl, pairing the first selection of Big East schools (after the BCS selection) with an ACC opponent. The bowl would also have the option to take Notre Dame twice during the four year span.

"I think that it's still right in the final innings, if you will, of the relationships on in our game matchups and something will probably shake out in the next four or five days, a week, I think for everybody," Hogan said. "I think still the result of who we would partner with – the Big Ten, the Big East or anyone else for that matter – is still a little bit in doubt."

The Big East has made it clear that it wants an exclusive arrangement with the Gator Bowl, rather than renew a deal that split appearances in Jacksonville with the Big 12 conference.

Not surprisingly, the Big 10 conference is involved in negotiations to place its number 4 or 5 pick in the Gator Bowl against the number three pick from the ACC. According to SI, the arrangement between the Gator & Big 10 would be exclusive, leaving the Big 12 out of the Gator mix.

The contract between the Gator Bowl and the Big East is in its final season, and the new Big East commissioner expects changes.

"We want an exclusive deal," Marinatto said, "and we've remained firm. And if (a deal) is not going to be with the Gator Bowl, then it will be with someone else."

Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett called the Big East's position "disappointing" but made clear that the hybrid model is in the best interest of fans and the bowl game, for now.

The Gator Bowl, which picks the third in the ACC selection, has traditionally chosen first from the bowl-eligible pool of Big East teams, but the bowl is making it known that it would like a future agreement with the SEC.

"We have had a lot of conversations with the SEC," Catlett said. "It's a natural tie-in. We sit in their geographic footprint. We would very much like to be a part of the SEC's bowl picks. The problem is they've got some awfully good partners."

While the Gator Bowl would be a nice fit for the SEC, the current arrangement with ABC and the Capital One Bowl guarantees that no other SEC team will play in their early afternoon time slot (which is shared by the Gator Bowl) on New Year's Day. The Gator is not interested in moving its time slot, so a new arrangement would be required before the bowl could select an SEC team.

So is the Gator barking up the wrong tree? Maybe not. The Gator Bowl's gestures to the SEC come during the exact time that the Capital One Bowl is negotiating with ABC... who - by the way - just signed a huge deal with the SEC.

The Gator is hoping it's prime television slot and $2.5 million payout will prompt the SEC to work on its behalf, provided the bowl can pick within the first five slots of the conference.

In other words, stay tuned. This might get interesting.

But the Gator Bowl isn't putting all it's eggs in one basket. It has also held talks with the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12 conferences in hopes of reaching a long-term arrangement for the Jacksonville game.

According to ESPN, the Rose Bowl is set to open itself up to non-BCS teams for a run of three years, starting in 2010, assuming that the traditional qualifying teams from the PAC 10 and Big 10(11) get picked up for a BCS national championship title game. Here's the really strange part: the open slot MUST go to a non-BCS team and not to another perhaps more-qualified BCS team that has earned it's way into a BCS bowl game. In what appears to be CFB's version of bowl affirmative action, the Rose Bowl will give a shot to any deserving mid-major for this three year trial period. No mention yet if they may consider extending this charitable program, but I'd guess that similar to the Bush tax cuts, it'll probably be allowed to expire on it's own.

My question is this: in a time when the Rose Bowl has become increasingly irrelevant in the national championship picture for decades as a result of being handcuffed to two conferences that refuse to modernize, why is it opening up it's doors to only the outsiders looking in? The other BCS bowls are open to the mid-majors, and Utah, Boise State and Hawaii have been given seats at the adults table the last decade, but why does the Rose Bowl risk a continued slide into mediocrity? Why not open it's doors to ANY qualified and attractive candidate? Other than BCS NC games played in Pasadena, the only time the Granddaddy of them all has invited an outsider in the BCS era was after the 2004 season, when Texas played Michigan (and USC was playing Oklahoma instead of Auburn in the Orange for all the marbles). The last time any Southern teams played there was in 1945 when Tennessee lost to USC and in 1946, when Alabama beat USC.

Sure, LSU came close to lobbying themselves in three years ago, but why not aim to get the most attractive teams that you can? Use that clout! Which teams among the rest of the BCS conferences wouldn't send all their fans to a game there? Be certain that I'm not suggesting making every BCS bowl to drop their long-standing affiliations, or am I? Would the major bowls be better off if they took turns each year getting to select the best teams available at the time (notwithstanding the BCS title game) or do you allow them to keep their traditional tie-ins (if they so choose). It's a question worth asking until we finally get the seeds of a playoff in the FBS sown.

It would certainly highlight the extremes that the BCS schools and conferences will go to in order to lock out a non-AQ school.

Utah has sent out email updates regarding scheduling for 2010 and 2011 and, basically, all the BCS schools have declined to schedule Utah.

I think this needs to be highlighted so that, down the road when the S.O.S. argument comes up, this can be pointed out.

Sincerly,
Ben Leaver
Kaysville, UT

Utah wants a home and away series with a BCS conference member for 2010-2011. This hole was formed when Utah State decided that at this point in its program it would be better to only play one of Utah or BYU each year, not both.

The open question is whether a BCS conference member will agree to a home and away or if Utah will be willing to agree to a one and done for those years next year when the urgency is higher.

I have been wanting to expand on what constitutes a reasonable deal for home and away scheduling for a bit now. Historically arrangements fell into the home and away or one and done varieties. Recently two for one arrangements have become more popular.

For out of conference games, excluding traditional rivalries, these arrangement should be made based on average attendance to maximize the total value to the sport. Teams should host games proportionally to their respective fan bases. Examination of the current scheduling practices suggest that the following values are a good estimate of the market value of home field based on attendance.

More fans : Less fans
1:1 to 3:2 warrants a home and away series
3:2 to 5:2 warrants a two for one series
5:2 to 1:0 warrants a one and done

Utah has an average attendance of 45,542K. Utah's home and away range is teams with an average attendance between 30,361 and 68,313. Utah's one and done range is teams over 113,855 (the largest average attendance is 108571, so Utah should always hold out for a two for one deal). Utah should never visit anyone with an attendance under 18,217.

This gives the following realistic targets for various options for Utah:

One and done: None

Two for one: Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Florida, Auburn, USC, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Clemson, FSU, Michigan State, UCLA, Iowa, Kentucky, Arkansas

Home and Away: Virgina Tech, Missouri, BYU, ASU, Washington, Illinois, California, West Virginia, Oregon, NC State, Virginia, Texas Tech, Ole' Miss, Arizona, Kansas, USF, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Iowa St, Miami (FL), UTAH, Kansas State, Oregon State, Mississippi State, Rutgers, East Carolina, Boston College, Hawaii, Louisville, UCF, Connecticut, Vanderbilt, Air Force, Fresno State, UTEP, Navy, Stanford, Baylor, Syracuse, Boise State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Wake Forest, TCU

Recent and up coming series with Louisville, Oregon State, Oregon, Boise State, Washington State, Iowa State and UCLA suggest this is not far from the realities of college football. Their are some SOS bargains in that home and away list that could allow Utah to get a home and away against a team that will give them ranking value.

Utah is a large enough program that they should be able to get good smaller programs to visit for a one and done. Central Michigan, Houston and Nevada are some of the more compelling teams that Utah could consider offering a two for one and expect consideration. One could even ask why Utah is willing to agree to a home and away with San Jose State based on this model.

This is part of the reason why Utah is not fighting hard to preserve the Utah-Utah State rivalry. This is also why the talk of restoring the Utah-Colorado rivalry is stirring (A home and away is set for 2012-2013).

This is also why BYU is able to get teams like FSU to visit when Utah isn't. They have an average attendance of 64,102 to FSU's 77,968, well within the 3:2 ratio. If Utah wants more big names to travel to SLC they need to expand the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium and continue the increase in ticket sales from recent years. Utah is at 102% average capacity and is expecting to sell out of season tickets for the first time this year.

Utah can get games with the big names. If the big names have big fan bases Utah is going to need to travel. Utah has 4 OOC games per year. I would like to see 2 of those be a part of a two for one against winning teams with attendance figures over 68K, a home and away against quality teams with programs of a similar fan base and a hosting a one and done against smaller teams with bowl aspirations.

Wait. The SEC, the premier conference in college football, is meeting 45 minutes from my home? What the heck, right? I got ideas, worse case nothing happens right? So after work I went to Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa. This was a time to wear my "Utah Utes perfect season" tee shirt if there ever was one.

I enjoyed a Yuengling Lager at Barefoots Beachside Bar and Grill and a Captain and Coke at Sandcastles Lounge. The SEC was in a meeting, something about their image. Rumor has it the Rose Bowl officials were there.

There was another conference going on also so I wasn't likely to be able to tell who from whom. Anyways, I ran out of drink before the SEC would finish their meetings and would need to drive home eventually, so I went to the outlet malls to sober up fully, as I know the roads between there and home are one continuous DUI trap. That and the view was better. Something about the gender ratio and the warm humid weather. I also enjoyed seeing people do a double take to see if they really just saw a Utah fan. I really need to get more Utah apparel.

No Utah apparel was available at the outlet stores but I do highly recommend Rocky Mountain Chocolate. Didn't get to advance my ideas any, but it was fun. Can't say I didn't try.

Ok, back on track.

Slive laid down the law about the recent public bickering amongst the football coaches. Apparently there is a place to have these discussions, and the media is not that place. Though no names where mentioned it was made clear who was under the gun. Shame on Kiffin, Spurrier and Meyers. Indeed some leaks prior to the meeting suggested a Kiffin rule might be made to handle this.

With the news of the AFCA deciding to conceal the final ballet starting after 2010, Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier both expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision. Though not present for this meeting, BCS commissioner John Swofford appears to feel likewise.

The MWC proposal was discussed. I get the feeling the SEC is sympathetic with the idea, but a plus one appears to be gaining some more support, with Nick Saban publicly jumping on board. So the SEC is inching closer to full support of a plus one.

Which may be why the Rose Bowl was there, as if to say we will take our conferences away if you do.

The Rose Bowl does have a point. USC is a championship caliber team that might compete with an SEC team if they ever actually played one, unlike the Big 10 teams that get decimated every bowl season by whichever SEC team they face.

If the highest paid (and presumably best) coach can't get Alabama's players and fans excited about playing in a bowl with the rich history of the Sugar Bowl, if USC fans contend that it would be better for them to get out of the Rose Bowl deal to actually play one of the top SEC teams in a bowl game rather than beat down another Big 10 team, isn't that the most compelling reason to advocate for a change to the current post season system?

[note: some hyperbole was used in reference to the recent Big 10 vs SEC bowl performance, but not much]