Bowl announcement Sunday doesn't seem to have the same amount of anticipation or surprises as NCAA tournament selection Sunday, probably because there aren't many surprises. However once the match ups come out they are interesting to analyze, and most college fans start looking for the games that look most intriguing, especially if they are games that have significance in terms of conference superiority.
In the case of Penn State and the Big 10, the news was mixed. The conference received a second BCS bid when Iowa was selected to play Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, which was not a surprise but a mild disappointment for PSU fans. However in the end, which match up do you prefer? Would Penn State fans rather be playing Georgia Tech in the ACC on January 5, or LSU from the SEC on January 1? At worst this is probably a wash.
One of my favorite sites for all things college football is collegefootballnews.com, and I usually after the bowls come out I immediate check out their analysis and ranking of the bowls. They clearly agree that the Capital One Bowl with PSU and LSU "could be a BCS game and no one would blink", and it seems obvious that Penn State got a pretty good deal in terms of opponent and destination. Incidentally, they expect the Orange Bowl to be a blow out (for one team or the other).
Part of what makes a bowl signficant is not just the quality and parity of the teams, but its role in defining conference superiority. This game definitely will be a measuring stick for the Big 10 and SEC. Penn State is the 3rd best team in the Big 10, and LSU is arguably the 3rd or 4th best team in the SEC. Penn State and the Big 10 has arguably more to lose in this game and in a lot of ways there is a good amount of pressure on the shoulders on the Nittany Lions.
Penn State is an early 2.5 to 3 point favorite in this games based on most of the sources I looked at. This line seems about right to me, and reflects a fairly even game that should be very competitive. Bowl games are tricky to pick mainly due to long layoffs and the various ways teams approach them. I feel pretty good about Penn State chances.
Its been a very good season for Penn State, and it would be great to top it off with a great win over a very good team from a very good conference.
Go PSU!!
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