Buckeye Blogger NetworkAfter much internal fighting amongst the staff here at the BBC, I am proud to say that I came out on top and was allowed to preview this fantastic bowl game. Booyah!
I guess I will start with the things that interest me about this game. First, I
The Venue, it's spectacular.
wanted to know about the stadium (yeah, the teams excite me that much).
University Stadium is the home field of the New Mexico Lobos and has a seating capacity of 38,634. So, um, nothing too interesting I guess.
My first thought is if they will sell out this game or not. My guess is they won’t, even with the relatively small seating capacity, which leads me to question whether or not anyone will be making any money off of this thing. I guess someone has to be making some money or else they wouldn’t have it. Only in America can capitalism bring us such an exciting game.
The second thing that interests me about this game is the match up between the two conferences. The Mountain West and the Western Athletic Conference challenge for mid major BCS slots seemingly every year, so establishing which conference is more competitive seems like it would be pretty advantageous.
Wyoming is 6-6, but you have to admit that they have a pretty sweet logo.
I personally think that the Mountain West is a much better conference overall and that going undefeated in the WAC is a pretty worthless accomplishment (I’m looking at you Boise State).
Fresno State looks to be the favorite in this game (based on wins and losses and pretty much nothing else) and if Wyoming were able to win it would send a pretty strong message that the WAC is garbage.
This, of course, assumes that the national media pays attention to these things, which I highly doubt they will. Boise State has a free pass forever thanks to their victory over Oklahoma.
I personally don’t mind mid majors making runs at BCS bowl games, but if Boise State (or any other school in the WAC) wants me to take them seriously, they need to start scheduling three decent out of conference games, otherwise, you don’t deserve anything in my book.
So the conference implications are mildly interesting in this game. I doubt that the national media will pay any attention to them, but if Wyoming wins that would hurt the credibility of the WAC, at least in my eyes.
Given that Boise State going undefeated every year with a pathetic schedule is mildly obnoxious to me, and that scheduling one competitive out of conference team a year to pretend like their schedule is worthy of BCS consideration is even more obnoxious, I will be rooting for Wyoming in this game.
The WAC is not a good conference.
That being said, I chose Fresno State to win.
So to conclude, here are some reason to watch this game.
1. You have nothing better to do.
2. The conference implications are somewhat interesting, especially if Wyoming wins.
3. Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews is the leading rusher in Division I-A this year with 1664 net yards, so it might be fun to watch him run the ball.
4. It is college football, and college football is good, and you need to soak it in as much as you can now before the off season gets here.
The staff here at the BBC are going to be making picks for all of the bowl games this year. I am not sure if there will be a prize for not for the winner (I think the winner should get a case of beer, but that’s just me), but here are the picks.
Jeff at the BBC: Fresno State
Mali: Fresno State
Eric: Fresno State
Jim: Fresno State
It’s unanimous. Who would have guessed a 6-6 team from Wyoming that I am pretty sure no one has seen play a single game all year would not receive a vote of support.
That wraps it up for the first of 34 bowl games this year. The BBC will be previewing them all, and we promise that at least some of the match ups will be a little more intriguing than this one.
Until then, enjoy the bowl games this weekend, if you choose to watch them.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Men,
You guys are horrible. No kind of insight at all.
P.S. Fresno State played Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and Illinois this year … ALL on the road! Don’t ever post anything about Fresno State again, unless you know what you are talking about. Zing!
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December 16th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Don’t worry, we probably won’t post anything about Fresno again for a long, long time… not because we don’t want to, but because they are an irrelevant team in a shitty conference that no one cares about, have fun in the New Mexico Bowl
Also, I was talking about Boise State’s pathetic out of conference schedule, not Fresno State, but since you mentioned it, Fresno Sate lost two out of three of the games you are so proud of, and barely beat an unbelievably pathetic Illinois team, further emphasizing how truly awful your conference is and why none of the teams from the WAC deserve to be considered for major bowls unless they beat quality out of conference competition more than once a year
Fresno did schedule some decent out of conference games this year… and lost, but yeah, you got half of the formula right
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December 16th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
LOL. I am a Wyoming alum and fan and I think we’ll be hard pressed to win. But I’m going to the game anyway.
I saw Wyoming on TV a lot, but I get the mtn, Fox College channels, and Versus on my cable’s sports tier here in Orange County, CA.
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December 16th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Fortunately, my wife and I have dinner plans for Saturday, I won’t be able to watch much of the game.
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December 16th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
If Illinois is so pathetic why did they scare Cincinnati the previous week at Nippert Stadium?
Fresno State would finish in the top half of the big ten every year if they were in it.
The only thing the big ten should be proud of it cleverly sneaking an “11″ into their logo.
It sounded as if you were saying the WAC doesn’t schedule tough teams.
Yes, I am well aware of the losses. By the way Fresno State dominated Wisconsin the entire game, but could not seal the deal. At Cincinnati, FS lost by 8. And everyone knows the Illionois game.
If you guys actaully took the time to preview teams in a bowl game, maybe I’d read he rest of em.
And one last thing: Ryan Mathews is better than ANY big ten player offensively.
“Merry Christmas ya filthy animal!”
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From Jeff at The BBC – We understand you’re loyal to your Bulldogs. However, you’re entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.
1) Fresno State did not dominate Wisconsin the entire game. You jumped out to a lead midway through the second quarter, and then you choked on it. Your quarterback threw three interceptions, and you allowed John Clay to run all over you for 143 yards. Try not to count that as a moral victory.
2) There is no way that a mid-level team from a lower-level conference could possibly finish in the top half of the Big 10. For starters, you let our WORST team overall (3-9) score 52 points on you. The top six teams in the Big Ten allowed Illinois to score the following amount of points;
#1 Ohio State – 0 points
#2 Iowa – did not play
#3 Penn State – 17 points
#4 Wisconsin – did not play
#5 Northwestern – 16 points
#6 Michigan State – 14 points
Yes, it took Illinois ONE game to score 52 points on Fresno State….it took Illinois FOUR games to score a total of 47 points against our top six teams.
3) And if Ryan Matthews was better than any offensive player in the Big Ten, then why did he get out-rushed by Big Ten players in both of his games against us?
Against Wisconsin
Matthews – 107 yards
Clay – 143 yards
Against Illinois
Matthews – 173 yards
LeShoure – 184 yards
So take your chest-thumping elsewhere. Your team sucks and your league sucks. Enjoy your bowl game, or what we call “the pre-season equivalent of a bowl game”.
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December 16th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Illinois finished the season 3-9 and gave up 400 yards passing against Cincinnati, and you consider them one of your stronger opponents?
So the Big Ten is terrible, yet a team that went 2-6 in the Big Ten is one of the best teams you played all year? that is comical, you can only have it one way or the other
I find it funny that you are insulting our coverage of your team and their terrible bowl game… you do know that we didn’t spend a lot of time discussing it because no one cares about your mediocre team and the crappy bowl game that they are playing in, and I certainly didn’t feel like spending a lot of time researching a game that no one gives a shit about
Finally, if Ryan Mathews is better than any Big Ten player offensively, I am assuming you think that he will get drafted higher than any Big Ten offensive player? Would you care to put a wager on that?
Otherwise, your trash talk is weak, your team is not very good, the bowl game they are playing in is even worse, and I don’t really feel like spending any more time on it
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December 17th, 2009 at 8:05 am
RedWaveThunder, thanks for your attempt at humor this morning. I guess if you’ve got nuthin’, you can afford to get all puffed up from behind a keyboard. No one really gives a shit about Fresno State; that’s why they are the ‘foreplay’ to the bowl season.
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December 17th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Who knew that trying to be nice and doing a preview of these teams pathetic bowl game would raise such a controversy
Fresno State fans, we appreciate you coming here to defend your team, but seriously, no one gives a [radio edit]
We were simply trying to throw up a preview of every bowl game, that is all
In the future, maybe if your team validates itself on the field you wouldn’t need to desperately seek validation on internet message boards quite so much, good luck with that, and enjoy the New Mexico Bowl
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December 17th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Seriously, I didn’t know it was possible to get so pissy over four people selecting your team to win a game.
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December 17th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Bro…
I love me some Pat Hill. The Bulldogs’ “upset” of Oregon State a couple of years ago was the highlight of a lot of talk at my (Oregon based) family’s holiday.
I love the “we’ll play anyone, anywhere” mentality. It’s the way to build a program.
But this stuff you’re bringing? Three words, champ: New Mexico Bowl. It’s the first bowl for a reason…
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December 17th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Fresno State? Is that one of those 1-AA teams we schedule as part of our pre-season warmup?
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December 19th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
I see where Fresno State “manned up” against Wyoming tonight. Where are the FS commenters now? Assholes.
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December 20th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Rodney, congratulations on your bowl win Saturday!
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December 20th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Fresno State sucks. They were embarrassed on tv again. I wish that I lived in Ohio so that I could be a fan of a real football team.
From Jim: I made a few changes to the original post so that it would better reflect reality.
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