From a high level perspective, we essentially got what we expected from the Playoff games on Friday and Saturday.
While not always excellent football, the two games that figured to be close, were. The ones that didn’t carry such expectation – well, let’s just say the decision to put them up against the NFL games taking place on Saturday was a justified decision.
But let’s pump the brakes on the narrative that the G5 conferences have no place in the Playoff. They didn’t have the juice to place two teams in – this year. But that wasn’t their fault. And in other years, there have been teams from those ranks that can hang with any of the other First Round participants from this season.
But stepping down off of that soapbox, it’s time to refocus and acknowledge that we have more than a week of Bowl Mania that will carry us through to the next time we’ll get to evaluate what is going on with the Playoff.
Let’s take a look at Monday’s college football matinee.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Washington State vs. Utah State (Monday, 2 PM ET – ESPN)
A standalone game for college football being played on the blue turf in Boise on a Monday afternoon three days before Christmas is the epitome of Bowl Mania. The two squads have met rather recently, a 49-28 drubbing of the Aggies at the hands of the Cougars last season. Things should probably stay a bit tighter in this one, though, judging by the performances of each team this season. Washington State struggled offensively but was stifling at times defensively. Utah State was the opposite. Consistency certainly favors the Aggies, however. For the second time in as many seasons, Washington State will head into an offseason unsure of who its head coach will be next year.
Bryson Barnes has been kept busy as the Utah State quarterback this season. The former Ute has played well for the Aggies, leading the team in both passing and rushing yards and generally speaking keeping his team in games. The Aggies turn the ball over as infrequently as any team in the Mountain West and don’t hurt themselves, which is typically necessary when playing an opponent with bigger, faster players. There is a direction with this program under Bronco Mendenhall, who despite bolting from New Mexico after just one season appears to be committed to building something at Utah State. The Cougars, unfortunately, will be without their head man, who jumped on the unexpected opportunity to take the Iowa State job less than a year after arriving in Pullman from South Dakota State. While Washington State fairly easily dispatched of both Mountain West teams it played during the regular season, it will be both a physically and likely mentally different team that takes the field in Boise. The Cougars will need to rely on its defense to slow down a capable offense that I think should also be motivated to play well as a way to head into the offseason with momentum for next year.
My Pick: 31-24 Utah State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 13 points
