Bowl game disappointment

Of all sports, I'd have to say that college football is my favorite, with curling being a close second. Having said that, though, I've been rather disappointed with the bowl games this year. Of the 33 bowl games, 10 have been decided by one possession. Of the 9 games that have been played since New Year's Day, only 2 have been decided by one possession. Baylor and UCLA had all the makings of a fun shootout in the Holiday Bowl, but while Baylor kept up their part of the deal, UCLA laid an egg in a 49-26 blowout by the Bears over the Bruins. Speaking of eggs, that's what West Virginia laid against Syracuse in their 38-14 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl. The typically pesky Air Force Falcons got pummeled by Rice 33-14. USC forgot to show up against Georgia Tech in their 21-7 loss to the Yellow Jackets in the Sun Bowl. Purdue had no business being in a New Year's Day bowl game, but still, they should have put up a better fight than they did, losing 58-14 to then 7-5 Oklahoma State. Northern Illinois didn't appear to belong in a BCS bowl game and got clobbered in the 2nd half by Florida State, losing 31-10 to the Seminoles. Louisville looked fully interested and motivated to play in the Sugar Bowl, but their opponent - the Florida Gators - didn't look like they really wanted to be there and it showed, in the Cardinals' 33-23 win over the heavily favored Gators. The Fiesta Bowl became less and less interesting as the game progressed, with Oregon beating Kansas State 35-17. Then in a Big XII rematch, Texas A&M dominated Oklahoma 41-13 in the Cotton Bowl. I hate to sound like a pessimist, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Alabama beat Notre Dame by at least a couple scores in tomorrow night's national championship game. With a couple exceptions, there haven't been too many great finishes in the bowl games so far. For whatever reason, it's felt as if the games this year have just generated less excitement than in previous years, for me at least. Perhaps it's the fact there are 35 bowl games and even a 6-7 team was rewarded this year with a bowl bid (Georgia Tech). Perhaps it's the seemingly constant changing bowl names, some which are comical (the Idaho Potato Bowl? Really?). Perhaps it's the extraordinarily long layoff for some teams, which makes them more prone to showing rust, especially in the first half of these bowl games. Whatever it is, I can't wait for the playoff to start, and hopefully the expansion of it.