Motivation for bowl teams??

[stagger lee]

In the past I have tried to look for teams that might be going into a bowl on a high note and teams that may be disappointed in the bowl they are going to.

Sifting through some of the recent posts have read that Texas might feel shafted with a trip to San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.

Have to wonder about USC?s motivation. Pete Carroll is saying all the right things about how they are the No. 1 team in the polls and the Rose will determine the national champion. Sure they have a month to prepare but you know the media ain?t going to let this go. This could work either way, spur on the Trojans or get them thinking that they were screwed.

These are some of the teams that I think may be going into a bowl on a high note:

Kansas (1st bowl appearance since 1995)

TCU (they got the bowl they wanted rather than playing in GMAC, plus a home game. If Frogs aren?t motivated as a sizable home dog, then something?s wrong)

Houston (same scenario as Jayhawks with a nice season going and 1st bowl appearance since ?96)

Cal (another squad with limited bowl appearances - last trip was ?96)

Michigan St (nice turnaround season)

Navy (last bowl was ?96)

Tulsa (strong finish and haven?t been to a bowl in years - the book I have doesn?t have Hurricanes going to a bowl in L10 years)

Some of these teams that haven?t been to bowls in number of years could just be happy to be there and may not react well to the hoopla, but thought I?d throw them out and hopefully get some feedback.

Teams that may have less motivation for their upcoming bowl:

Va Tech (late season slide plus question of whether Kevin Jones will play after declaring for draft)

Nebraska (this is one?s iffy since Bo Pellini takes over for Solich and from what I?ve read, he?s a good motivator that the players like. They may play ?hard? for Pellini in his audition for head coach job. But it?s also got to be tough for a new coach to go into a 1-game situation not knowing his future)

Texas (see above)

Tennessee (again from reading posts here, Vols going to the Peach probably isn?t what they expected)

Georgia Tech (who wants to go Idaho in January for a meaningless bowl, unless you?re Tulsa where bowl appearances are few and far between)

Appreciate any feedback if these are way out of whack, or teams that I may have missed.

 

[THE KOD]

stagger

using motivation of teams is a good line of thinking about the upcoming bowl games.

thanks for posting.

KOD

 

[wareagle]

As far as the big MO goes you have got to take a look at the Memphis Tigers. I know their best two playmakers are out RB and WR, but they still have the bets QB in CUSA and one of the bets defenses. I think if they win, it will be a real close game. This number is too high IMO. The univ of memphis bowl history is 1-0. They beat san jose st in then 1971 Pasedena Bowl 28-9. This will be the Tigers first bowl invite in 32 yrs...

 

[wareagle]

The low-key partying started the moment receiver Maurice Avery, fitted with a brace on his left knee, trotted out to practice.

Avery, the U of M's leading receiver, missed the Tigers' final two games of the season with a torn left medial collateral ligament, but is projected to play in the New Orleans Bowl against North Texas, the Sun Belt Conference champion.

For a high-scoring offense that struggled in its final two games, having Avery return - even in a limited capacity Monday - brightened the offense's outlook.

"It gives you more depth," said Tiger offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. "He gives you that dual (receiving/running) threat. And he's a bigger guy in there for blocking and a bigger guy in there for running with the ball. As you know, we ask those guys to run the ball, too.

"And I think he brings a confi-dence level. There's just something about Mo. He's a confident-type player. And he's found ways to put the ball in the end zone."

Avery had 46 catches for 728 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games before sustaining the injury during the team's 37-7 Conference USA win at Louisville.

Avery's 728 receiving yards ranks seventh on the school's single-season list. He also rushed 22 times for 95 yards and three TDs.

"He's a big-play guy," said Tiger quarterback Danny Wimprine. "And he's been one all year long. He makes the offense go up another level. He allows me to spread the ball around."

 

[wideopen]

stagger, i have found the same thing to be true.

The team that stuck out to me was texas. They were all set to get into a BCS bowl game when K-state ruined it for them. Now they are relegated to the holiday bowl on december 30th. On the other hand, Washington st is still trying to establish itself as a big time program, so they should be highly motivated to beat a top 5 texas team.

 

[Scott4USC]

Don't worry about the USC team not being motivated. The players were disapointed to find out they are ranked #3 BCS but the very next day the team hit the practice field and things went back to normal. USC's goal all year was to win the pac 10 and play in the Rose Bowl. That is all Pete Carroll preaches. USC is suppose to make their NC runs in the next 2 years, which is scary to rest of college football. This is a YOUNG USC team.

Well, USC is going to Rose Bowl, playing an awesome opponent in Michigan, and playing for a National Championship. It really does not get much better than that for USC fans. ROSE BOWL is the best bowl game with sooooo much history and tradition. The BCS screwed that up but now its back. I would have been worried if traditional poweres like Michigan or Ohio St. were not not playing USC in Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl will be setting itself up as the National Championship Bowl Game and that is how the USC team is looking at it. Remember, USC is #1 in both polls so USC has to defend themselves being #1 in the country.

FIGHT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wideopen]

agreed. I think USC will be out to prove they are the best team in the nation. The problem may be that michigan is equally motivated with better talent and less distractions. Should be a great game to watch.

 

[THE KOD]

agreed. I think USC will be out to prove they are the best team in the nation. The problem may be that michigan is equally motivated with better talent and less distractions. Should be a great game to watch.

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wide

the only thing about Michigan is the QB Navaronne. I have never trusted him with alot of my money. He is way too inconsistant and QB is the position that will win this game.

KOD

 

[wideopen]

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wide

the only thing about Michigan is the QB Navaronne. I have never trusted him with alot of my money. He is way too inconsistant and QB is the position that will win this game.

KOD

very true, he is the big ten version of claussen. But navarre started to impress me late in the season playing well in big games. He lead the team back from near death against minnesota and was excellent against OSU in the biggest game of his collegiate career. You can't have more pressure than he had on himself in that game (having never beaten them).

 

[THE KOD]

On John Navarre:

"One thing about Navarre that we knew coming into this year was that he was a much more mature quarterback and was capable of handling the pressure that comes with starting at the University of Michigan. We talked last year and the year before that John was trying to gain his confidence. We knew once he gained his confidence there'd be no stopping him. It seemed like it was this summer when John gained that confidence and we knew going into this year he was going to do everything in his capability to lead us to a Big Ten championship and possibly something more. John is a leader now. He can care less about what people say because he realizes the bigger picture. You can't worry about what people say because if you spend too much time worrying about that, it takes away time that you have to get better, time you have to do other things. John just brushed everything off and became the man that we needed him to be. As a result, we're champs. A large part of it is because of John Navarre and his leadership efforts this year."
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