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ACC is 3-1 in Bowls ... So Far
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, TSLMail #465, December 31, 2010

Halfway through the ACC's bowl slate (8 bowls), the league is 3-1, second-best among BCS conferences (percentage-wise) through Thursday night's games.

BCS Conference Bowl Records Through 12/30/10
Conference Record Remaining Bowl Games
Big Ten 2-0 Northwestern vs. Texas Tech, TicketCity Bowl
Michigan State vs. Alabama, Capital One Bowl
Penn State vs. Florida, Outback Bowl
Michigan vs. Mississippi State, Gator Bowl
Wisconsin vs. TCU, Rose Bowl
Ohio State vs. Arkansas, Sugar Bowl
ACC 3-1 Clemson vs. USF, Meineke Car Care Bowl
Miami vs. Notre Dame, Sun Bowl
FSU vs. South Carolina, Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. Stanford, Orange Bowl
BC vs. Nevada, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Pac-10 1-1 Stanford vs. Virginia Tech, Orange Bowl
Oregon vs. Auburn, BCS Championship
Big East 1-1 USF vs. Clemson, Meineke Car Care Bowl
UConn vs. Oklahoma, Fiesta Bowl
Pitt vs. Kentucky, BBVA Compass Bowl
Big 12 1-4 Texas Tech vs. Northwestern, TicketCity Bowl
Oklahoma vs. UConn, Fiesta Bowl
Texas A&M vs. LSU, Cotton Bowl
SEC 0-1 Georgia vs. UCF, Liberty Bowl
South Carolina vs. FSU, Chick-fil-A Bowl
Alabama vs. Michigan State, Capital One Bowl
Florida vs. Penn State, Outback Bowl
Mississippi State vs. Michigan, Gator Bowl
Arkansas vs. Ohio State, Sugar Bowl
LSU vs. Texas A&M, Cotton Bowl
Kentucky vs. Pitt, BBVA Compass Bowl
Auburn vs. Oregon, BCS Championship


So far, the only ACC team to lose a bowl game is Georgia Tech, 14-7 losers to Air Force in the Independence Bowl. Maryland thrashed ECU 51-20 in Ralph Friedgen's Terp finale (Military Bowl), NC State whipped West Virginia 23-7 (Champs Sports Bowl), and UNC beat Tennessee 30-27 in a wild double-overtime game (Music City Bowl).

The ACC placed nine teams in bowl games, second only to the SEC with ten bowls. The Big Ten has eight bowl teams, followed by the Big 12 with seven, the Big East with five, and the PAC-10 with just four.

Remarkably, the SEC has played just one of its ten bowl games thus far, and has two games scheduled for today (Dec. 31st). The SEC will play seven bowl games on or after January 1st, a testament to the conference's drawing power and ability to sign tie-ins with high profile bowl games. There are 13 bowl games after the New Year dawns, and the SEC is involved in over half of them.

Of course, not all bowl games after New Year's Day are high profile: the lineup includes the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the BBVA Compass Bowl, and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. SEC teams are only occupying one spot in those three games (Kentucky vs. Pitt in the BBVA Compass Bowl).

Similar to the SEC, the Big Ten has played just two of eight games and has some high profile games left, including five games on New Year's Day and beyond. The Big Ten and SEC play each other in four games after the New Year, including the Sugar Bowl. Not surprisingly, the Big Ten and SEC are two of the three conferences to receive at-large BCS bids (Ohio State and Arkansas), and those two teams are playing each other in the Sugar Bowl. The Pac-10, which received only four bowl bids, included at-large Stanford to the Orange Bowl.

It's hard to project final conference records at this point, but the Big 12 will only go .500 at best, having gotten off to a horrible 1-4 start. If the ACC can win two of its remaining four bowl games, the league will have five bowl wins, which is guaranteed to be more than the Pac-10, Big East, and Big 12. That would leave the ACC, Big Ten, and SEC duking it out for most bowl wins in 2010.

ESPN has a listing of all bowl games, including results so far and matchups to come, at this link.


 

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