So, it's going to be the Holiday Bowl?
- Thread starter YakiCoug
- Start date
The Holiday Bowl will likely get to pick between WSU and Stanford. Given the exciting style of WSU's offense, the fact that Leach is a national personality with a knack for quotes and the known apathy of the Cardinal fanbase......I like our chances to get invited. Plus, we beat those a-holes head to head.
All of the above is predicated on the idea that CU doesn't lose to Utah of course. If the Utes win, it creates a giant logjam for the choices between the Alamo, Holiday and Foster Farms Bowls.
Holiday Bowl would work for me. Interesting pick for Holiday Bowl with Stanford clout but a WSU that travels well.
As Yaki said, anything but the Sun Bowl.
Butts in the seats comes second to eyeballs on the tube when choices are made for these bowl games. Remember last year? UCLA got the chicken bowl. Nationally known UCLA. Not us, despite the fact that we had beaten the Bruins on their home field.
That's the best outcome.
Recall that it was Minnesota that Leach faced in a bowl game while at TT that resulted in largest comeback win in bowl history...I believe. The highlights of that game are on YouTube.
Sun Bowl might have bad weather again. Doesn't allow WSU to showcase it's offensive talent and play calling schemes. Holiday 1st , FF 2nd, and skip the Sun and go to Vegas Bowl.
I think Brand Y did a breakdown and essentially it will be Holiday or FF Bowls...
CU winning against Utah was very good for us. Almost guarantees one of those two.
The Fighting Gundy's Mullets v. WSU would be damn entertaining. Scoreboards beware.
FWIW, I would love to have the Cotton Bowl as P12 No. 2 bowl.
Rose
Cotton
Alamo
Holiday
That would be a great top four.
I would be shocked if the Pac-12 were to get three teams into the NY6 bowls. It's not impossible but I'd guess it's very unlikely. Florida (or another SEC team) and Western Michigan are probably going to be outside of the CFP Top 10 but taking up spots in NY6 bowls. If you are outside that Top 10, I'm guessing you don't get invited. With CU likely to be #9 again this week, I don't see them staying in the Top 10 if they lose to the mutts and I think the Rose Bowl takes the Trojans if they get that chance. An overtime loss to UW might keep CU in the running for the Cotton Bowl. I don't believe that the Cotton Bowl wants USC because they've already played in that stadium this year (opener against Alabama). If CU upsets UW, they go to the Rose Bowl and UW goes to the Cotton Bowl. I see the Trojans going to the Alamo Bowl because other NY6 arrangements won't leave a spot.
I'd guess that the chances for us in the Alamo Bowl are less than 10%. I'm betting on the Holiday Bowl. I agree that Iowa's win over Nebraska likely puts them into the Holiday Bowl against us.
I'd guess that the chances for us in the Alamo Bowl are less than 10%. I'm betting on the Holiday Bowl. I agree that Iowa's win over Nebraska likely puts them into the Holiday Bowl against us.
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They have 3 Pac12 teams in NY6 bowls, which is pretty far fetched given the perceived strength of the Big10. They have UW making the playoff, CU still going to the Rose, and SC going to the Cotton Bowl. If CU loses to UW, I doubt they'll be ranked high enough to get a NY6 bowl, thus dropping them to the Alamo.
I think it comes down to whether the Holiday Bowl picks Stanford over us. uw will either get the playoff or the Rose Bowl. USC will get the Rose Bowl if uw goes to the playoff, and the Cotton Bowl if CU wins. The loser of the Pac-12 championship game goes to the Alamo.
Bill Moos and the rest of our alumni should be praying to the college football God's that we draw an opponent from the Big-10, and not someone like an Oklahoma State or North Carolina.
I think we can beat any of those teams, but UNC scored 35+ points 7 times this season, and Oklahoma State scored 44+ points 6 times.
I don't know about you guys, but after these last 2 games, I like our chances better against the likes of Minnesota or Iowa than I do against a high powered offense.
I think we can beat any of those teams, but UNC scored 35+ points 7 times this season, and Oklahoma State scored 44+ points 6 times.
I don't know about you guys, but after these last 2 games, I like our chances better against the likes of Minnesota or Iowa than I do against a high powered offense.
Bill Moos and the rest of our alumni should be praying to the college football God's that we draw an opponent from the Big-10, and not someone like an Oklahoma State or North Carolina.
I think we can beat any of those teams, but UNC scored 35+ points 7 times this season, and Oklahoma State scored 44+ points 6 times.
I don't know about you guys, but after these last 2 games, I like our chances better against the likes of Minnesota or Iowa than I do against a high powered offense.
I'd like it to be a big enough opponent that winning gets us back in the rankings.
OK State has zero defense. Just sayin.
Iowa is a pretty good, well respected team. It would be a completely different game than vs. Oklahoma State.
I guess I'm becoming a crusty old dude, but the thought of a 60-55 game with Okie State doesn't excite me at all. That game between UW and Baylor a few years back was silly IMO.
I guess I'm becoming a crusty old dude, but the thought of a 60-55 game with Okie State doesn't excite me at all. That game between UW and Baylor a few years back was silly IMO.
If it ends up being Iowa-WSU then you should be happy as Iowa won't play in a game like that.
Offensively Iowa will attempt to play balanced offense but frankly the passing game for Iowa is very limited. Good QB but no weapons at WR. Towards the end of the season it seemed like defenses would play the wideouts man to man and dare the Iowa WR to beat the CB. The WR rarely did. Iowa has one receiving threat at TE. He was hurt most of the year but should be healthy for the bowl game. If WSU can limit the Iowa running game the Hawks won't put up a lot of points.
Iowa's defense has been very good over the last 3 weeks of the season. Iowa has a run stuffing LB that is a Butkus Award finalist and a solid DL against the run as well as a 1st team All America CB that for the most part takes away the WR on his side of the field. I don't know a lot about WSU but Iowa really hasn't played a great passing QB all season. If WSU has one that throws the ball all over the field (what I expect to see from a Mike Leach team) than it won't be a great matchup for Iowa in my opinion.
Any attempted scouting report on WSU is apprecaited.
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If we play Iowa, the scouting report you'll get from most of our message board fans is that the Big-10 sucks, Iowa can't score, and WSU will beat them by 3 TDs. That's not how I feel.
I think a matchup with Iowa would be fantastic. As you know, Iowa finished the season 8-4 and won their last 3 games against Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska by allowing a combined 23 points. You lost by 8 against Wisconsin and won at Minnesota. That gives you a better resume than WSU.
To your point, it's a great clash of styles. We'll throw the ball all over the field, something you haven't faced this season, and you'll run the ball and play defense, something we struggle with. I'd love to see this matchup in the Holiday Bowl.
The one place I'll disagree with you is that I think if UW loses the Pac-12 game, there's a fair chance they get the Cotton. They'll probably remain above SC in the polls.
I'd be fine with playing Iowa. Not sure how that one would go - I don't feel like our D would force them off the field that much, don't feel like theirs would either. I think it'd be a great contrast - Iowa with long, grinding scoring drives, WSU with quick ones. Iowa would certainly win TOP.
I think I'd favor us in that matchup, but not by a lot. And if Falk continues to only look at one side of the field, our advantage quickly disappears.
First, our running game is much improved over any previous years by a wide margin. However, the o-line has struggled against the better defensive fronts that we've faced and the inability to gain 1 yard inside the 5 yard line cost us 14 points against UW. Still, the running game is legit enough to force DC's to honor the run which has created more opportunities for our passing game. The loss of Cracraft is a big deal for us because he was a fearless warrior across the middle and had a knack for dragging his toe on the sidelines for some seemingly impossible catches. Marks is arguably better at the toe drag but not as physical in the middle of the field. It's routine for WSU to have 10 different guys catch receptions in a single game.
Leach (and Falk) have shown a tendency to abandon the run game when challenged and don't go back as often as they could when we struggle for rushing yards early. Leach has always been a gambler on 4th down and often makes a decision to go for it when sane coaches wouldn't. Defensively, Grinch goes for the gambling approach as well and wants takeaways and red zone stops to compensate for our talent deficit on the defensive side of the ball. The play is much improved over past years but there are still times when our players are exposed in a negative light. You'll see us rip at the ball and go for turnovers but that often allows a physically strong player to gain another 4-5 yards. I say that we gamble, but we don't gamble on the outside edges of the defense. Our DB's typically lay back and allow short passes with the idea that as the field of play gets reduced, they can tighten their coverage.
Overall, WSU will be one of the most explosive teams that Iowa would face this year and you'll be amazed in the second quarter when it seems like we are almost always on your side of the 50. The Air Raid struggles in the red zone at times and if the Hawkeyes bend but don't break, your chances of winning go up substantially. We have been relatively ineffective at scoring on extended drives. Three weeks ago, I would have bet on the Cougs rolling Iowa but your team has looked solid recently and it should be a great game if it happens.
