Player Gift Package: 08-09 Bowls

Each player of the bowl bound schools will receive a gift package. Here is a list of what they get.

EagleBank Bowl
Players from both schools will receive a Sony 8" portable DVD player with carry case, a 50" x 60" custom woven afghan w/ logo, an autographed football, and a wool hat w/ embroidered logo.

New Mexico Bowl
This year’s player gift package includes an Oakley backpack, an Oakley watch, an RCA video recorder/camera, an Oakley beanie, a personalized commemorative football, a New Mexico Bowl pen by Quill, a New Era Cap, and a one-year subscription to ESPN the magazine.

St. Petersburg Bowl
Players from each school will receive a Flip (digital video device), an Ogio bag, Sony headphones, a commemorative football, a beach towel, and a bucket hat.

Las Vegas Bowl
Players from each school will receive a Wii System, an Oakley Holeshot 3hd watch, and a Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl hat

Poinsettia Bowl
Players will receive a Tommy Hilfiger watch, an 8 gig iPOD touch, a Best Buy certificate, and a hooded sweatshirt from Sports Tek

Hawaii Bowl
Players from both schools will receive a Hawaii Bowl custom backpack, a KICKER IKick500 ipod/iphone, a custom Hawaii Bowl tie, Oakley sunglasses, a Kahala Aloha shirt, a Wearever beach chair, a beach towel, a team t-shirt, an SHB calendar, a Hawaii Bowl hat, a Hawaii Bowl visor, and Luggage Spotter bag tags.

Motor City Bowl
Players from each school will receive a leather, rolling logoed athletic travel bag, a computer/backpack style bag, a Motor City Bowl commemorative watch, and an autographed Motor City Bowl souvenir football.

Meineke Car Care Bowl
Players from each school will receive a Flip (digital video recorder), a personalized commemorative football, a Fossil watch and sunglasses kit, a laptop backpack, and a racing-themed baseball hat.

Champs Sports Bowl
Players receive a $400 Best Buy shopping spree while they are in Florida, a commemorative watch, and a goody bag.

Emerald Bowl
Players from each school will receive Sony noise-canceling headphones, a rolling Armor Gear duffel bag, a Fossil watch, an Emerald Bowl cap.

Independence Bowl
Players from each school will receive a Trek Mountain Bike, a New Era baseball cap, a Timely Co. watch, and a souvenir football.

Alamo Bowl
Players from each school will receive an 80 gig Sony PS3, a basketball PS3 video game, a Fossil watch, and a mini-helmet.

Holiday Bowl
Players from both schools will receive a Tourneau watch, a hooded sweatshirt from Sports Tek, an Insignia 19” HD TV/DVD Player, and a Best Buy gift certificate

Texas Bowl
Each player gets a $350 Best Buy gift card, a Swisstek watch, an Under Armour HeatGear Long-Sleeve Tee, an Under Armour twister pant, an Under Armour tech cap, a Toppers backpack, and a commemorative belt buckle.

Armed Forces Bowl
The game always tries to give at least one major high-tech item. This year it is a flip video recorder. In addition, players will receive an official bowl watch, a commemorative football, a rolling suitcase, a mini- helmet with a bowl logo on each side, an ESPN t-shirt, and a luggage tag with bowl logo.

Sun Bowl
Players from both schools will receive a Sony DVD Handycam, a Timely Watch Co. Silvertone watch, an Armor Gear Dolly Llama Travel Bag, a Majestic Therma Fleece Pullover, a Brut hair dryer, a VP Sports Stone cap, and an official Brut Sun Bowl souvenir coin.

Music City Bowl
Each player will receive a Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Fossil wrist watch, a Sony Electronics package that includes a pair of noise canceling headphones and MP3 player, an Adidas fleece jacket, and an Armor Gear backpack.

Insight Bowl
Players from each school will receive a Vizio 26" LCD HD Television, a Bulova Insight Bowl watch, a snack pack, and a game hat.

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Players on both teams will receive a $300 Best Buy gift card, a travel bag, a commemorative watch, and a Chick-fil-A football and gift card.

Outback Bowl
Players from both teams will receive a custom ring from Jostens, a Fossil watch, and a Pure Digital Flip Mini Camcorder.

Capital One Bowl
Players receive a $400 Best Buy shopping spree while they are in Florida, a commemorative watch, and a goody bag.

Gator Bowl
Players in this year’s game will receive a Bulova watch, luggage, Oakley Thumps, and a commemorative hat.

Rose Bowl
Players from each team will receive a Sony DVD Camcorder, a commemorative Fossil watch, a commemorative OGIO Backpack, a commemorative New Era 59Fifty fitted hat, a commemorative plaque, a commemorative autographed football, and a one-year subscription to ESPN The Magazine.

Orange Bowl
Players from each team will receive a Sony Electronics Gifting Suite, which permits them to select Sony electronics up to a $300 value, Tourneau watch, an Ogio Back Pack/Duffle, a New Era fitted cap, customized Crocs, a Blockbuster Video Rental Subscription, and customized luggage tags.

Fiesta Bowl
Players from each team will receive a MyVu Personal Media Viewer, an Apple iPod Nano, a Kenneth Cole Tostitos Fiesta Bowl watch, a snack pack, and a game hat.

Source: CollegeFootballNews.com

BCS championship game to be available live in 3-D

College football live in 3-D is coming soon.

Burbank, Calif.-based 3ality Digital said Tuesday it had won the contract to shoot the Jan. 8 BCS National Championship game in 3-D.

The game between Florida and Oklahoma will be broadcast live in 3-D to 80 to 100 movie theaters in about 30 U.S. cities, said 3ality Chairman David Modell. Tickets are expected to cost $18 to $22, said Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp., which is working with 3ality to deliver the broadcasts to theaters. To find the nearest participating theater, go to Cinedigm Digital Cinema.

A startup named RealD is supplying the 3-D projector technology and polarized lenses for audience members.

"We will take what we learned from the NFL shoot and apply it to this so this broadcast gets better," said Modell, 47, former president of the Baltimore Ravens.

This month's test 3-D broadcast of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers went black twice before the half as the satellite signal went down. And some camera moves had people in the audience crossing their eyes and removing their polarized lenses.

But audiences -- test runs were done in Boston, New York and Los Angeles -- generally approved of the technology, which adds depth to the field and gives a sense of being there in person. Shots of cheerleaders were a big hit.

"There's been lots of post-morteming," Modell said. "Mostly it's been warm handshakes, hugs and backslaps for having done a good job."

Modell said the format will be roughly the same as it was during the test screening, which had eight 3-D camera crews beside their 2-D counterparts, and a separate set of commentators.

Source: Sportsline.com

Berkley's Fury

Former Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley ripped the school he attended on Monday, saying the only reason the Tigers did not hire Buffalo's Turner Gill as the school's new football coach is because Gill is black.

Auburn on Saturday hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik, who had a 5-19 record in two seasons with the Cyclones. Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn in 2004, when the Tigers finished 13-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country.

Chizik replaces former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who won 85 games in 10 seasons but was forced to resign earlier this month.

"I think race was the No. 1 factor," said Barkley, who played basketball for three seasons at Auburn during the early 1980s. "You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume."


Gill, a former Nebraska quarterback, took over one of the country's worst programs at Buffalo three years ago. He guided the Bulls to an 8-5 record and their first MAC championship this season, upsetting previously unbeaten Ball State 42-24 in the Dec. 5 conference championship game.

The Bulls won 10 games in their first seven seasons at the Division I-A level. Gill guided Buffalo to 13 victories during the past two seasons combined.

"I'm just very disappointed," Barkley said. "I just thought Turner Gill would be the perfect choice for two reasons: He's a terrific coach and we needed to make a splash. I thought we had to do something spectacular to bring attention to the program. Clearly, if we'd hired a black coach, it would have created a buzz."

Barkley, who works as an NBA analyst for Turner Network Television, said he spoke with Gill before Gill interviewed with Auburn officials last week.

"We talked about the whole race thing in Alabama," Barkley said. "I told him it's there and it's going to be anywhere you go. I told him you can't not take the job because of racism. He was worried about being nothing more than a token interview. He was concerned about having a white wife. It's just very disappointing to me."

If you are looking for a defensive mind coach, why not go hard after Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong? It never happens at Auburn because Strong is black and his wife is white. A former dean at an SEC school said that Strong's marital status would be a difficult sell at any Southern university.

Source: ESPN.com

Final Coach's Poll Observation

Take a look at the following intriguing observation.

Frank Beamer ranked his own team No. 23, four spots below where the rest of the coaches had it.

Two of the coaches who ranked Texas No. 1 were Iowa State's Gene Chizik, a former UT assistant coach and North Texas' Todd Dodge, a former UT QB.

Urban Meyer voted Florida No. 1 and Oklahoma No. 2, and had Texas No. 4 behind Alabama. He also ranked the team that beat his UF club, Ole Miss, at No. 12.

Former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden ranked his dad's FSU team No. 21. His old man, Bobby, didn't even rank the Noles.

Mack Brown had the team that knocked off his UT team, Texas Tech, at No. 8.

Dan Hawkins had OU No. 1 and Boise State No. 9.

Pat Hill had Boise State No. 6 and Utah No. 7.

Hal Mumme had Texas Tech, coached by his protege, Mike Leach, at No. 3, one slot ahead of Texas.

Rick Neuheisel had USC No. 3 ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma.

Bo Pelini ranked his Nebraska squad No. 22. Mike Price ranked Bama No. 4, one spot ahead of USC.

Greg Schiano ranked Penn State, a program where he once coached, fourth, ahead of No. 5 Texas.

Steve Spurrier ranked OU, the team coached by his protege, Bob Stoops, higher (No. 1) than he ranked his old employer, UF (No. 2).

Ron Zook had Oklahoma No. 1, ahead of his old team, UF (No. 2).

Source: USA Today

Preseaon Poll Ranking 2008

As the 2008 football season came to end, it is the time to evaluate which preseason poll was most accurate (or questionable thereof).

In my evaluation, you will be penalized if your top 25 teams would end up with losing records. Ranked Clemson in top 10? Oops! Ranked Michigan in top 25? Uh-oh!


Best Preseason Polls


3rd Prize - NationalChamps.net (score: -32)

• The good: Florida, Oklahoma and Texas all ranked top 10
• The bad: 15th through 18th, Auburn, Arizona State, Tennessee and Illinois
• The ugly: No real ugly picks

2nd Prize - Athlon (score: -29)

• The good: Florida in 1st, Oklahoma in 3rd
• The bad: 17th through 19th, Arizona State, Illinois and Tennessee
• The ugly: Auburn in 10th

1st Prize - Phil Steele (score: -28)

• The good: Florida in 1st, Oklahoma in 3rd, Arizona State and Illinois not ranked top 25
• The bad: Auburn in 12th, Notre Dame in 19th
• The ugly: Clemson in 5th

Worst Preseason Polls


3nd Prize - Sports Illustrated (score: -40)

• The good: Ranked Florida and Oklahoma in top 5, Alabama in top 25
• The bad: Clemson in 11th, Tennessee in 12th, Arizona State in 16th and Illinois in th19
• The ugly: Auburn in 9th

2rd Prize - Rivals.com (score: -41)

• The good: Florida in 1st, Oklahoma in 3rd
• The bad: Arizona State in 16th, Illinois in 18th and Tennessee in 19th
• The ugly: Auburn in 7th, Clemson in 9th

1st Prize - Sporting News (score: -44)

• The good: Oklahoma in 4th, ranked Alabama in top 25
• The bad: Auburn in 16th, Arizona State in 17th, and Tennessee in 22th
• The ugly: Clemson in 7th, Illinois in 10th and Michigan in 18th

Preseaon Ranking Source: Wikipedia

Final BCS Standings (December 7, 2008)

Final BCS Standings (December 7, 2008)


1. Oklahoma 12-1
2. Florida 12-1
3. Texas 11-1
4. Alabama 12-1
5. USC 11-1
6. Utah 12-0
7. Texas Tech 11-1
8. Penn State 11-1
9. Boise State 12-0
10. Ohio State 10-2
11. TCU 10-2
12. Cincinnati 11-2
13. Oklahoma State 9-3
14. Georgia Tech 9-3
15. Georgia 9-3
16. BYU 10-2
17. Oregon 9-3
18. Michigan State 9-3
19. Virginia Tech 9-4
20. Pitt 9-3
21. Missouri 9-4
22. Ball State 12-1
23. Northwestern 9-3
24. Boston College 9-4
25. Mississippi 8-4

BCS Championship is Set

No.2 Florida Gators at No,1 Oklahoma Sooners

Dolphin Stadium, Miami, FL
8:00 PM ET FOX

The Gators (12-1) have averaged 49.4 points during their nine-game winning streak, and nobody has come within single digits of them since their 31-30 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27. The Sooners (12-1) have scored 61 or more points in their past five games, and their closest call during their seven-game winning streak was 14 points.

Source: ESPN.com

No.1 Alabama 20, No.4 Florida 31 "Tastes Orange"

No.1 Alabama 20, No.4 Florida 31

Tim Tebow passed for 216 yards and three TDs and added 56 yards on the ground to lead Florida over top-ranked Alabama for the SEC title and likely a spot in next month's BCS national title game.

Down 20-17 entering the fourth quarter, Florida scored twice for its second SEC title in the last three seasons. Florida is now 7-2 all-time in SEC title games.

Florida coach Urban Meyer said, "I've had some great players, and I've got some great players on this team. But I've never had one like this. Tim's got something special inside him. I'm not talking about throwing. I'm not talking about running. I'm talking about making everyone around him better. That fourth quarter was vintage Tim Tebow."


Tim Tebow had an 0-5 record when his team trailed in the second half, and the Gators went to the final period down 20-17. But Tebow removed that blemish from his record, throwing the last of his three touchdowns passes with less than 3 minutes remaining to clinch it.

Alabama had given up 28 points total in its last four games before allowing 31 to Florida.


The Gators had to play without Harvin, who didn't even suit up after spraining his right ankle the previous week in a win over Florida State. He walked on the field stiff-legged -- clearly, it wasn't even a close call whether or not he would play -- and watched the game from the sideline wearing his No. 1 jersey.

During the regular season, Harvin was the team's top receiver with 35 catches for 595 yards and seven touchdowns. He also was second on the team in rushing with 543 yards, scoring nine TDs on the ground.

But Florida still had Tebow. That was the difference.



Source: ESPN.com

Weis to stay, Tuberville Out

No mercy in SEC.

Charlie Weis comes up with the worst year in the long and storied history of Notre Dame football, bounces back with a mediocre year and an offense that can’t get a first down against USC until late in the third quarter, and he’s granted immunity on the island.

Tommy Tuberville put together a program that’s just four years removed from being on the wrong end of the mother of all BCS national title debates, had won five bowl games in six years before this season, and had beaten arch-rival Alabama six years in a row, an eternity in this series, and he’s fired after losing to a Tide team that’s No. 1 in America and a game away from playing for the national title.

Welcome to the SEC. Coach at your own risk.

Phil Fulmer had Tennessee in the SEC championship game last year. Last week he was carried off the field while Lane Kiffin was busy seeing how he looked in Dreamsicle orange.

Sylvester Croom took the SEC’s most impossible coaching situation, next to the Vanderbilt gig, and made Mississippi State more than just competitive with a solid 8-5 2007 and the first bowl appearance since 2000. His team struggled this year with no offense and an injured defense, and he “resigned.”

Next year at this time we’ll know if Notre Dame was right or wrong by letting Weis get one more year with the guys he put in place and helped develop over the last two years. If he was in the SEC, he wouldn’t have gotten that same shot.

Source: CollegeFootballNews.com

Harris Poll Head-scratcher

First of all, let’s give a round of applause to the Harris Interactive Poll voters, who made a valiant effort all season to out-moron the coaches. However, some have questioned the validity of the Harris Interactive poll, which has had a spotty run in its four years as being part of the BCS.

There was a bizarre exchange between Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman, and Harris Poll voter Pat Quinn, the former OSU sports information director, two weeks ago in the Oklahoma State press box. Tramel, who described the conversation on the Web site, asked Quinn how he would rank Oklahoma and Texas if the Sooners beat Oklahoma State.

Tramel: How would you vote Oklahoma and Texas if the Sooners won Saturday night?

Quinn: Oh, I don’t know. Doesn’t really matter.

Tramel: Really?

Quinn: I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship.

Tramel: You do? (Brain explodes)

Quinn: They’re the only undefeated teams, aren’t they?

Tramel: Uh, actually, Penn State has a loss.

Quinn: Oh, well, those Big Ten teams have a lot of votes.

Unbelievable! We all found that all that talk about an unbeaten Penn State possibly being left out of the BCS national title game turned out to be premature when Penn State lost to Iowa on November 7. Iowa reserve kicker Daniel Murray kicked the game-winning field with one second remaining.

How could Pat Quinn miss the game as a poll voter?

By the way, reading the “others receiving votes” part of the Harris poll is a nonstop source of comedy for the entire season. Enjoy!

Source: The Oklahoman

BCS Standings (November 30, 2008)

BCS Standings (November 30, 2008)

1. Alabama 12-0
2. Oklahoma 11-1
3. Texas 11-1
4. Florida 11-1
5. USC 10-1
6. Utah 12-0
7. Texas Tech 11-1
8. Penn State 11-1
9. Boise State 12-0
10. Ohio State 10-2
11. TCU 10-2
12. Ball State 12-0
13. Cincinnati 10-2
14. Oklahoma State 9-3
15. Georgia Tech 9-3
16. Georgia 9-3
17. Boston College 9-3
18. BYU 10-2
19. Oregon 9-3
20. Missouri 9-3
21. Michigan State 9-3
22. Northwestern 9-3
23. Pitt 8-3
24. Florida State 8-4
25. Virginia Tech 8-4

Texas is officially out for the Big 12 championship.

Rusty Tomahark

Florida-Florida State rivalry should be more meaningful and intense. Hey FSU, we need you come back. Go Noles! (I can't believe I'd say this...)