Fox says 2007 Fiesta Bowl not the greatest
FoxSports discusses the significance of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl involving Boise State:
And while we're at it, let's get rid of the Boise State-as-a-little-guy myth that so many want to cling to. Yeah, the Broncos play in the WAC and yeah, Oklahoma might be viewed by some as the Evil Empire, the Apollo Creed, or the (choose your bad guy) in this game, but Boise State had won 85 games in eight years coming into Monday night's game. This was hardly some fluky, one-hit wonder; this has been a rock-solid program for several seasons. This year alone, Boise State had a blowout win over the same Oregon State team that beat USC this year, a walk-in-the-park win over a Nevada team that pushed Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl, and wins over Hawaii, Utah and San Jose State, who all looked great in their respective bowl wins.
IPBiz notes that the Oregon State game was the only "big conference" game played by Boise State. Miami was 6-6 this year, and barely bowl-eligible, so pushing Miami this year is not a big deal. Winning bowl games is nice, but who you play matters. San Jose State beat New Mexico 20-12. Utah beat Tulsa 25-12. Oregon State was third in the PAC-10, finishing 9-4 [They lost to Cal, UCLA, and Washington State]. IPBiz is not diminishing Boise State, but the perception of many (including Fox commentators Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson) was that Boise State was unlikely to win against the Big-12 champ. In fact, the game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Texas barely scratched by 6-6 Iowa.
Also, FoxSports noted:
Secondly, excitement is in the eye of the beholder. When ranking the thrill level of games, Boise State's win is in the team photo of greatest finishes because of the sheer number of amazing moments, but on an all-time level, the 1982 Stanford-Cal band play, the 1984 Flutie Hail Mary to beat Miami, and USC's final drive to beat Notre Dame in 2005, with the fourth down pass to Dwayne Jarrett and the "Bush Push" for the game-winning score, have to be up there.
Fiutak rated the 1984 Orange Bowl (Miami 31, Nebraska 30) as number 1, and the 2003 Fiesta Bowl (Ohio State 31, Miami 24, 2OT).
A different issue, not addressed in this piece on FoxSports, is "who" gets into which bowl. Rutgers, 10-2 this season, deserved a better fate than 7-5 Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, as in turn did Kansas State back in 1999. And one still has to address the issues of Vai Sikahema's op-ed "Rutgers is Wrong," which has become scarcer than pink diamonds, or human cloning via SCNT.
And while we're at it, let's get rid of the Boise State-as-a-little-guy myth that so many want to cling to. Yeah, the Broncos play in the WAC and yeah, Oklahoma might be viewed by some as the Evil Empire, the Apollo Creed, or the (choose your bad guy) in this game, but Boise State had won 85 games in eight years coming into Monday night's game. This was hardly some fluky, one-hit wonder; this has been a rock-solid program for several seasons. This year alone, Boise State had a blowout win over the same Oregon State team that beat USC this year, a walk-in-the-park win over a Nevada team that pushed Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl, and wins over Hawaii, Utah and San Jose State, who all looked great in their respective bowl wins.
IPBiz notes that the Oregon State game was the only "big conference" game played by Boise State. Miami was 6-6 this year, and barely bowl-eligible, so pushing Miami this year is not a big deal. Winning bowl games is nice, but who you play matters. San Jose State beat New Mexico 20-12. Utah beat Tulsa 25-12. Oregon State was third in the PAC-10, finishing 9-4 [They lost to Cal, UCLA, and Washington State]. IPBiz is not diminishing Boise State, but the perception of many (including Fox commentators Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson) was that Boise State was unlikely to win against the Big-12 champ. In fact, the game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Texas barely scratched by 6-6 Iowa.
Also, FoxSports noted:
Secondly, excitement is in the eye of the beholder. When ranking the thrill level of games, Boise State's win is in the team photo of greatest finishes because of the sheer number of amazing moments, but on an all-time level, the 1982 Stanford-Cal band play, the 1984 Flutie Hail Mary to beat Miami, and USC's final drive to beat Notre Dame in 2005, with the fourth down pass to Dwayne Jarrett and the "Bush Push" for the game-winning score, have to be up there.
Fiutak rated the 1984 Orange Bowl (Miami 31, Nebraska 30) as number 1, and the 2003 Fiesta Bowl (Ohio State 31, Miami 24, 2OT).
A different issue, not addressed in this piece on FoxSports, is "who" gets into which bowl. Rutgers, 10-2 this season, deserved a better fate than 7-5 Kansas State in the Texas Bowl, as in turn did Kansas State back in 1999. And one still has to address the issues of Vai Sikahema's op-ed "Rutgers is Wrong," which has become scarcer than pink diamonds, or human cloning via SCNT.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 5:24 PM
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