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2008 BCS Bowl Games & Schedule

Written December 9, 2008 by Jack Jones

The National Championship game is set. With Oklahoma’s convincing win over Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game and Florida’s win over then-number one ranked Alabama in the SEC Championship, we have an Oklahoma versus Florida BCS National Championship match up. This contest pits not only the two best teams in college football, but two of college football’s greatest players as well. Both Oklahoma’s starting QB, Sam Bradford, and Florida’s starting QB, Tim Tebow, will be finalists for the Heisman Trophy this season and both are capable of taking over a game. The key for either team will be on defense. Both teams have great offenses and, unless someones defense steps up and makes some plays, the winner of this game could be whoever ends up scoring last. The betting odds for the game have already been set. Florida is a 3.5 point favorite over Oklahoma and the total is set at 71.5 points for the BCS National Championship game. The BCS National Championship will be played on January 8th.

The Fiesta Bowl was bound to take the team out of the Big 12 that didn’t make the National Championship game, and that’s exactly what they did, chosing the Texas Longhorns. Texas has been paired with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the only non-conference championship team with at least 2 losses. The Buckeyes did finish their season strong, but they will be playing a Texas team that is understandably ticked off about being passed over by the BCS rankings and missing out on the BCS Championship game. The Longhorns’ play in the regulars season has made them 9.5 point favorites over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl with the total set at 53.5 points. The Fiesta Bowl is played on January 5th this year.

The Rose Bowl pits the Big 10 Champion against the Pac-10 Champion, provided they are both available and, as luck would have it, they both are this season. The Penn State Nittany Lions finished out their 2008 regular season with an impressive win over Michigan State. USC has been as good as they’ve been lucky since losing to Oregon State earlier in the season. They needed Oregon State to lose to Oregon, which they did, but they also needed to win out the rest of their conference schedule to ensure they’d finish first in the Pac-10, which they also did. Both teams are scoring nearly 40 points per game, but there’s no doubt this game will be one by one defense or the other, and both have been very impressive. USC is allowing a FBS-best 7.7 points per game, while the Lions are allowing just 12.4 points per game themselves. This game is set up to be one of the better ones in the BCS Bowl schedule, even though USC is a 10 point favorite over Penn State with the over/under set at 45 points. The Rose Bowl will be played on New Year’s Day, January 1st.

After losing to Florida in the SEC Championship, Alabama will have to settle for the Sugar Bowl. The selection committee chose to match the Crimson Tide with the undefeated Utah Utes. Utah finished the regular season 12-0 and if they want any additional respect on the national scene, they will have to have a good showing against Alabama. It won’t be easy though, the Tide have one of the best defenses in the nation and they’ve played a much more difficult schedule than the Utes. Bama is a 10 point favorite in the Sugar Bowl and the total is set at 45 points. The Sugar Bowl is held on January 2nd this season.

The ACC Champion is locked in the first Orange Bowl bid and Virginia Tech, with their win in the ACC Championship over Boston College, will be the conference’s representative. As far as the BCS Bowls are concerned, the Orange Bowl gets the last choice in the selection process. With Cincinnati winning the Big East and not being placed in a bowl yet, the Orange Bowl decided to give that last spot to them. The Orange Bowl has one of the closest lines in all of the bowl games this season with Cincinnati as 1.5 point favorites against Virginia Tech and the over/under is now 41 points. You can watch the Orange Bowl on January 1st this year.

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