0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/22/2015
Think of the many long droughts which still exist in modern American sports. The Chicago Cubs’ World Series dry spell is number one. The Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions failing to make any of the first 50 Super Bowls would also rate highly on the list of parched-earth portraits. The city of Cleveland’s professional sports […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Sooner Magic — it’s what Oklahoma found in the 2001 Orange Bowl, and it’s what the Sooners will try to recapture when they face the Clemson Tigers in the 2015 Orange Bowl, which doubles as a College Football Playoff semifinal. The Orange Bowl is simultaneously the place of Oklahoma’s greatest triumphs and its most stinging […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/20/2015
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham had a lot to prove on Saturday. Had this game been suspended or called after one quarter, Whittingham would have looked pretty good. As it is, though, teams have to play four full quarters. Yes, Utah still defeated archrival Brigham Young in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl, but the way the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
One month into a college basketball season, a lot of teams and conferences will remain mysterious, as much of a puzzle as they were when the campaign began in the middle of November. To some extent, a college basketball season is supposed to be a study in uncertainty in the days before Christmas. This season […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/19/2015
On a Wednesday afternoon just before Christmas, many Americans will be working, either in offices or in preparation for their holiday feasts and celebrations. The Northern Illinois Huskies and Boise State Broncos will be working on a field in San Diego, thrown together in a battle of two of college football’s best little-guy strivers and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Given the strength of the American Athletic Conference in 2015, to the diminishment of the other four conferences in the Group of Five, it’s easy to think that the Temple Owls and the Toledo Rockets exist in different places as the Boca Raton Bowl approaches. The AAC dominated the Group of Five race this season. […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/18/2015
Michigan State enters play this weekend as the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation in college basketball. The Spartans are 11-0 and have answered the bell every time it has rung. They are an experienced unit. Last season’s group went deep into March and cracked the Final Four in April despite limited expectations. The […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer
While the recent trend in college basketball has slid toward immediate success for incoming freshman classes such as those at Kentucky and Duke, the 2015-’16 season is calling to mind the 2014-2015 season’s penultimate game, and its most memorable event. Last season, in the second national semifinal, experience prevailed: A seasoned Wisconsin team knocked off […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It’s not Cape Canaveral, but Miami is the Florida city where launches of a different sort occur. A year ago, the first Miami Beach Bowl pitted BYU against Memphis. Bronco Mendenhall coached against Justin Fuente, in a wild game with a ridiculously entertaining overtime finish, marred by a messy and far-ranging brawl. Now, Mendenhall and […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The New Mexico Bowl, played in Albuquerque, grew up in the time — and place — of Breaking Bad. This game regularly opens the bowl season. It is typically played in the middle of the day. The event usually pits a decent Mountain West team against a middle-of-the-road Pac-12 team. Schools from Conference USA (UTEP), […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/17/2015
Let’s set the buffet table, shall we? In a year when the NFL has never been less enjoyable to watch (that’s not fact, but it’s a widely-shared opinion), consider making this upcoming Saturday your big sports day and then using your Sunday as the errand day when you do all the Christmas shopping and take […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
A wonderful symmetry has existed over the past 10 years of the BYU-Utah football rivalry, discontinued in 2014 but happily renewed in Saturday’s upcoming Las Vegas Bowl: Both coaches took over their respective programs at the same time. Bronco Mendenhall — who will coach his final game for BYU before leaving for Virginia — gained […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 12/16/2015
So, this happened on Wednesday afternoon, although subsequent reports indicate the divorce is not yet final: Kevin Sumlin is trying to keep Kyler Murray in College Station, but the mere possibility that A&M could lose both Murray and Kyle Allen in a matter of days is rather remarkable… not in reference to the politics on […]
Virginia’s legitimacy was questioned during the 2014 ACC season. The Cavaliers are not doubted as much this year, but if they falter against Duke on Saturday, they certainly will be viewed with fresh skepticism.
0 comments by Steve Fetch
When Virginia’s Justin Anderson went down with an injury late in the 2014-’15 season, the Cavaliers’ offense collapsed. In the 12 games without Anderson, Virginia lost more games (3) than they had the entire season up to that point (1). Furthermore, Virginia scored over a point per possession just five times in those 12 games.
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The Camellia Bowl, in its second season, is one of a number of bowls created by ESPN not for the tickets sold or the attendance generated, but for the television ratings and advertising dollars that come with it. As is the case with the Bahamas Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, and a few other postseason contests […]
