Insight Bowl
Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Iowa State Cyclones
December 31, 2009, 5pm Central
Tempe, Arizona
Network: NFL Network

It seems that the departure of Gene Chizik did Iowa State some good. The Cyclones managed just five wins over the last two seasons, but went 6-6 this year. While they only went 3-5 in conference play, things are clearly headed in the right direction.

Texas Bowl
Navy Midshipmen versus Missouri Tigers
December 31, 2009, 2:30pm Central
Houston, Texas
Network: ESPN

Even after losing Chase Daniel and a number of other key players, many thought 2009 would be a great year for Missouri. They seemed to be living up to expectations, going 4-0 against the patsies at the beginning of their schedule. Then they saw three straight loses to ranked teams. They pulled it back together and won four of their last five, for a 8-4 season.

Sun Bowl
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Stanford Cardinal
December 31, 2009, 1pm Central
El Paso, Texas
Network: CBS

Oklahoma fielded their worst offense in the Bob Stoops era this year. Injuries kept Sam Bradford out for most of the season, and the offensive line has as many holes as a TSA security plan.

Prior to this morning’s hearing to address the injunction Mike Leach filed yesterday, Leach’s attorney Ted Liggett received a letter from Texas Tech president Guy Bailey terminating Leach’s employment for cause, effective immediately. As a result, the court hearing never occurred (I assume because Leach no longer had standing for the injunction).

Ted Liggett stated that a lawsuit against Texas Tech would be coming soon.

Holiday Bowl
Arizona vs. Nebraska
December 30, 2009, 7pm Central
San Diego, California
Network: ESPN/ESPN Radio

The Holiday Bowl has a reputation for shootouts, but the 2009 game will likely be a struggle dominated by defense.

The Austin American Statesman’s Cedric Golden and Suzanne Halliburton are reporting on Twitter that Mike Leach, the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, has been suspended indefinitely. Apparently, this has something to do with an injured player and a complaint by a player (or his parents).

Ruffin McNeill will coach the team at the Alamo Bowl on January 2nd.

Independence Bowl
Texas A&M vs. Georgia
December 28, 2009, 4pm Central
Shreveport, Louisiana
Network: ESPN2

Texas A&M played their best game of the year against the Texas Longhorns a month ago, and it was nearly enough to knock off the number two team in the country. When quarterback Jarrod Johnson is on, he’s amazing. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the Aggie team have been very inconsistent.

With the new year almost upon us, it’s time for filler posts to look back on the top posts from the previous year. Clearly, the syndicated cartoons are among the consistantly most popular posts.

With Urban Meyer’s announcement yesterday that he is stepping down after Florida’s bowl game, I’ll confess that I was a bit concerned about Will Muschamp being offered the job. I expect Florida wants a defensive minded coach with experience in the SEC. Texas’ defensive coordinator certainly fits that description.

And if the Gators came a’calling, I don’t see how Muschamp wouldn’t answer. I’m one of the biggest Longhorn homers in Austin, but even I can’t convince myself that head coach of Texas sometime in the future is better than head coach of Florida now.

However, the more I think about the situation, the less worried I become.

© Copyright 2009 Parker – All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.