Category — Rose Bowl

Apologies, we’re extremely late getting around to this.
You’ll just have to take our word about us getting the 1st 2 right. Utah State over Toledo was a no-brainer, but Arizona made us sweat in a come-from-behind victory over Nevada.
The rest of the story.
Poinsettia: San Diego State over BYU
Beef O’Brady’s: Central Florida over Ball State
New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette over East Carolina
Las Vegas: Boise State over Washington
Hawaii: Fresno State over SMU
Little Caesars: Western Kentucky over Central Michigan
Military: San Jose State over Bowling Green
Belk: Cincinnati over Duke
Holiday: UCLA over Baylor
Independence: Louisiana-Monroe over Ohio
Russell Athletic: Rutgers over Va Tech
Meineke Car Care: Texas Tech over Minnesota
Armed Forces: Air Force over Rice
Pinstripe: West Virginia over Syracuse
Kraft Fight Hunger: Arizona State over Navy (sorry Uncle Jack)
Alamo: Oregon State over Texa$$
Buffalo Wild Wings: TCU over Michigan State
Music City: Vandy over NC State
Sun: Georgia Tech over USC
Liberty: Tulsa over Iowa State
Chick-fil-A: LSU over Clemson
Gator: Mississippi State over Northwestern
Heart of Dallas: Okie State over Purdue
Outback: South Carolina over Michigan
Capital 1: Georgia over Nebraska
Rose: Stanford over Wisconsin
Orange: Florida State over Northern Illinois
Sugar: Florida over Louisville
Fiesta: Oregon over K-State
Cotton: A&M over OU (keep the hate mail coming)
BBVA Compass: Ole Miss over Pitt
GoDaddy.com: Kent State over Arkansas state
BCS title game: Notre Dame 17, ‘Bama 14.
Cheers!

Nick Saban is famous for it. So is Bob Stoops. But several Pac-12 coaches have taken it to a new level.
There continues to be a growing feud between writers who cover the Pac-12 and coaches trying to control what they write. UCLA’s Jim Mora is the latest to blow a gasket, throwing the media out of the Bruins’ practice yesterday after becoming incensed because camera crews from ESPN and L.A.’s Channel 5 were too close to the field.
Nuts.
Mora’s blowup is the just the latest. Last week, USC’s Lane Kiffin walked out of an interview with reporters after 1 of them had the audacity to ask about an injured player returning to practice. A week before that, Kiffin banned Scott Wolf of the L.A. Daily News after Wolf reported about USC’s kicker having surgery.
Pac-12 coaches, among others, keep crying about a “competitive advantage” or disadvantage when writers report players who have been injured, particularly in practice.
Saban recently chastised reporters covering Alabama about them not giving more ink to Western Kentucky. Western Kentucky, in our best Allen Iverson imitation. Imagine if those same reporters told Saban how to do his job.
Stoops frequently has a stick up his rear about similar issues with the media. Pick 1. And if you question him about some of his questionable strategy, God help you. I’ve watched OU games on TV and observed a player getting hurt, then watch the Sooners surround the player so cameras can’t get a view of what’s going on. I think they call it protecting the state’s secrets?
Coaches are well-known as control freaks. It just in their DNA. But if they don’t want the media in their practices, then ban them and be done with it.

Terrelle Pryor picked the right place to shine. He also picked the right time. Without his clutch play, Ohio State doesn’t win the Rose Bowl despite a gritty effort from Oregon. Mr. Predictable, Coach Jim Tressel, mixed it up (must have been than Cali air that influenced him) and allowed his sophomore quarterback to throw the ball. And oh did he throw it. His numbers: 23 of 37 for 266 yards and two touchdowns. Nothing fantastic you might say, but for Pryor and the Buckeyes, they opened some holes on the Ducks’ defense. Pryor also ran for 72 yards and performed some stiff arms that surely will put him among the frontrunners for the Heisman next year. Overall, Ohio State rushed for 153 yards and 419 yards overall to only 260 for Oregon’s high-powered offense. And Pryor sparked an offense that converted 11 of 21 third downs (Oregon was two for 11) and controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes. Huge. When it’s speed vs. power, power usually prevails with a 2-to-1 possession edge. The big boys start to wear on the little fellas.
ESPN.com

Some things never change. The Trojans use a dominanting first half to roll past the Nittany Lions in Pasadena. QB Mark Sanchez (above left) throws 4 TDs and SC builds a big lead early to cruise. Turnovers and a sometimes stifling Trojan defense killed Penn State. And as usual, SC just mauls teams from the speed-challenged Big 10.
L.A. Times