by Peter Schrager

Bowl season roundup

Bowl recaps and analysis:

EagleBank: Wake 29, Navy 19 | CFN
New Mexico: Colo. St. 40, Fresno St. 35
St. Petersburg: S. Florida 41, Memphis 14
Las Vegas: Arizona 31, BYU 21 | CFN
New Orleans: SMU 30, Troy 27 (OT) | CFN
Poinsettia: TCU 17, Boise St. 16 | CFN
Hawaii: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 | CFN
Motor City: FAU 24, Cen. Mich. 21 | CFN
Meineke: W. Virginia 31, UNC 30 | CFN
Champs Sports: Fla. St. 42, Wis. 13 | CFN
Emerald: Cal 24, Miami 17 | CFN
Independence: La. Tech 17, NIU 10 | CFN
Papajohns.com: Rutgers 29, N.C. St. 23
Alamo: Mizzou 30, N'west. 23 (OT) | CFN
Humanitarian: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
Texas: Rice 38, W. Michigan 14
Holiday: Oregon 42, Oklahoma St. 31 | CFN
Armed Forces: Houston 34, Air Force 28
Sun: Oregon St. 3, Pittsburgh 0 | CFN
Music City: Vandy 16, BC 14 | CFN
Insight: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Chick-fil-A: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
Outback: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 | CFN
Capital One: Georgia 24, MSU 12 | CFN
Gator: Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
Rose: USC 38, Penn St. 24 | Analysis
Orange: Va. Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
Cotton: Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34
Liberty: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19
Sugar: Utah 31, Alabama 17
International: UConn 38, Buffalo 20
Fiesta: Texas 24, Ohio St. 21 | Analysis
GMAC: Tulsa 45, Ball St. 13
BCS title: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
Complete bowl schedule

Photo gallery:

• Fiesta Bowl snapshots
• Snapshots from Saturday's bowls
• Best from bowl season's 1st weekend

Shopping:

• Get your '09 BCS bowl gear!

This week's slate? Aside from Ohio State and USC, 2007 upstarts Kansas and South Florida meet up in Tampa on Friday night, Oregon travels to Purdue and Oklahoma makes the trip out west to play Washington. This year's two chic non-BCS conference BCS bowl picks, Fresno State and BYU, play Wisconsin and UCLA, respectively.

In other words, from noon to midnight, you won't be leaving the couch on Saturday. What to expect? Here are my Five Shots for Week 3.

1. The Ohio State-USC game will garner the most media attention this weekend and rightfully so. But after USC opens up a four-touchdown lead in the second quarter, you may want to flip over to the late night Wisconsin-Fresno State battle being played a couple hundred miles up CA-99 in Fresno. Rest assured, it'll be a much closer game.

In one of those head-scratching curious early lines from Vegas, the No. 21-ranked Bulldogs are actually favored by a couple points over the No. 10-ranked Badgers. A mid-major team is favored over a top-10 nationally ranked Big 10 squad? Really? Yes, really.

Though they fell down by two touchdowns before scoring 51 unanswered last weekend, Wisconsin's looked pretty dominant two weeks into the season. Yes, they got off to slow starts against Akron and Marshall, but they put it together beautifully in the second through fourth quarters of both contests. Overmatched, perhaps, neither the Zips nor the Thundering Herd had any answers for the Badgers' mix of a power running game and a surprisingly exciting aerial attack. Kansas State transfer Allan Evridge has been a dream at quarterback, guiding the Badgers offense to a rare 300-plus yards through the air last weekend. P.J. Hill is a legitimate Heisman candidate. Travis Beckum, arguably the best tight end in the country, should be available Saturday. He's been out with a strained hamstring.

But the Bulldogs are more than spunky. They're legit. They, too, got off to a slow start in their first game, only to clean Greg Schiano's Rutgers Scarlet Knights' clocks 24-7 in their first-ever trip to the East Coast two weeks ago. They've been off, resting, and preparing for the Badgers since Labor Day.

Fresno's ready to repeat history on Saturday night. Though a win over the Badgers won't be nearly as dramatic as it was then, David Carr and the 2002 Bulldogs shocked a stacked Wisconsin team in Camp Randall six years ago. Carr rode that win (and a blowout of Oregon State) to magazine covers, a bowl appearance for the Bulldogs, and the eventual top overall pick in the NFL draft.

Though none of the current Badgers players were on the squad for that one, it's all they've heard about this week. And when they walk around the Fresno campus this weekend? It's all they'll hear about there. The 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs are no joke. If they get by Wisconsin, they may very well be on their way to an undefeated season and a BCS bowl berth.

And according to Vegas, it wouldn't even be considered an upset.

2. Speaking of non-BCS teams, how about those Arkansas State Red Wolves? A season after losing their best player to the NFL (Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson), the Red Wolves are off to an incredible 2-0 start, including a gutsy upset win over Texas A&M in College Station and last weekend's 83-10 laugher over Texas Southern.

Though the 83-10 final score certainly raised eyebrows across the nation, one guy in Jonesboro was especially surprised. His name? Hoppy Hoffman.

Who?

Hoffman's the owner of an Arkansas State apparel store called the Design Shoppe. In an attempt to raise sales, Hoffman came up with a curious promotion. For every point Arkansas State wins a game by, he'd take 1 percent off all merchandise on Monday.

This week? Everything in Hoffman's store was 73 percent off on Monday. To say the least, business was booming.

"It got crazy. We opened at 9:30. The people who probably got in line by 10 checked out about 1:30," Hoffman told the AP. "When the door opened at 9:30, I know at least 200 people filed in. It was hilarious. ... It looked like they were waiting to buy rock concert tickets."

Big sales discounts at the Design Shoppe aside (though I'm a sucker for the two-P Olde English spelling of shop), Arkansas State is 2-0 for the first time in 22 years. They take on future NFL running back Damion Fletcher and a strong Southern Mississippi squad at home on Saturday. Vegas has the Red Wolves listed as 2.5 underdogs. If they beat the Golden Hurricane this weekend? Well, then they won't be underdogs again until they take the field against Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 1.

Let's just hope Hoffman's still got some t-shirts left in stock for that game. If they keep winning, he may be all out before we know it.

3. Miami gave Florida a much better game than the final score indicated, Virginia Tech and Clemson both notched easy wins, and Florida State won by 69 points. So, the ACC is back, right?!

Eh, not quite. In fact, things looked arguably even worse for the former power conference last week than it did two weeks ago when just about every team in the conference was embarrassed. Let's take a closer look at the ACC's performance last Saturday. Maryland -- a squad that features two capable quarterbacks, a big time running back, and a future NFL first round pick at receiver -- lost to Middle Tennessee State. That one was never even all that close. Virginia, though eventually a 16-3 winner, was trailing 3-0 in the fourth quarter to Division I-AA Richmond at home. North Carolina State, also winners, nearly collapsed to a William and Mary squad that scored 24 points in the second half. Duke lost to Northwestern, Wake Forest barely survived against Ole Miss, and neither Georgia Tech nor Boston College looked very strong in the Yellow Jackets' 19-16 victory. Oh, and that Florida State 69-point win? It came over Western Carolina.

This weekend? Look for Navy to beat Duke, Cal to blow out Maryland, and UConn to take care of Virginia. A forgettable year for a forgettable conference.

Will Steve Spurrier and his Gamecocks have a surprise in store for Georgia again this year? (Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)

4. Though it may seem like ancient history now, a sizzling Georgia team came into their Week 3 match-up with South Carolina ranked 11th in the nation last Sept. 11. The Bulldogs were at home, fresh off two early season blowout wins, and there was legitimate talk of an SEC title in Athens.

Spurrier and the boys then promptly shut the Bulldogs offense down, kept Georgia out of the end zone for the entire evening, and essentially killed any national title hopes with a dominant 16-12 victory.

This year, the game's in Columbia. Chance for an upset? Sure. Likely? Probably not.

But there's no denying the fact that Georgia quarterback Matt Stafford seems to have his troubles against the Gamecocks defense. Aside from last year's dud, in which the golden armed gunslinger went an atrocious 19-for-44 and was sacked three times, Stafford threw three interceptions in an ugly 18-0 win during his 2006 freshman season.

South Carolina's offense looked horrendous for much of last Thursday night's Vanderbilt game. The defense couldn't stop the Commodores down the stretch, either.

But if history means anything, all that goes out the window when the Gamecocks take on Georgia.

5. Sure, Notre Dame looked terrible for three quarters and needed a serendipitous goal-line strip to kick-start a second-half comeback at home vs. San Diego State in its opener. But I'll tell you what: Jimmy Clausen? The kid wasn't half bad. Completing 21 of 34 passes for 237 yards and tossing three touchdowns, the sophomore quarterback looked like a strong, competent, half-capable signal caller.

As for that horrible "Gossip Girl" hair-do he's rocking? Well, I can't defend it. Not for a second. It's horrible. The only thing worse would be a Brian Bosworth mullet.

GAME YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT TIVO'ING THAT YOU SHOULD: UCLA at BYU, 3:30 p.m. ET. The Bruins and Cougars are quietly becoming the Yankees and Red Sox of college football. It seems like they play each other every other week. In truth, this is the third time the two squads will be meeting up in 13 months. UCLA took the regular-season battle last season, while BYU stole the bowl game on a blocked field goal. Both teams are coming off miraculous victories (UCLA at home vs. Tennessee, BYU in the controversial Washington game), and should put on a heck of a show.

UPSET PICK OF THE WEEK: We nailed this last week with Rice's win over Memphis. Fourteen points in the final minute will do that. This week's pick?

Purdue (1-0) over No. 16 Oregon (2-0).

PLAYER WHO HAS NO EXCUSE NOT TO GO BONKERS: Nebraska WR Nate Smith versus New Mexico State

SCHRAGER's LATEST GRIPES:

1. Talking heads going nuts over the Washington-BYU call days after the fact. Do we really need guys on national TV or a local columnist screaming about this two days later? No one would argue that it was a crappy flag to throw, so who are you yelling at when you're screaming into the TV about it? Not exactly rocket science to say the ref was wrong on this. Be the guy who defends the call, then let's talk. That, Mr. screaming red-faced man, takes courage.

2. Fantasy football "experts" telling owners to pick up Eddie Royal after he caught 9 balls for 146 yards and a touchdown. Umm, you think?!

3. People who recite lines from the previous Sunday's "Entourage." These people are terrible.

Each week moving forward, we're going to give you, the readers, a chance to play a part in this column. Answer the Reader Question of the Week in the most entertaining manner you know how, and we'll print your response. Be funny. Be smart. Be yourself.

Last week's QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Which school boasts the best tailgate scene and why?

The ANSWER OF THE WEEK comes from reader James Layman:

This is an easy one. In the late '70s through about 1985 Washington State University was Playboy magazine's No. 1 party school consecutive years. In fact one year, I believe in '84 or '85, we weren't ranked at all, only to be mentioned at the end of the article as a professional party school and this ranking was only for amateurs.

Well, here we are all grown up and flush with our success in life — but as WAZZU alumni we go down to the games, and put the co-eds to bed every night. We might be in our 40s and even 50s now but Coug Alums still hit the tailgate party as hard as anyone — and nothing is prettier than the Palouse on a sunny fall day.

As a Coug alum, you spent four or five years stuck in Pullman as an undergrad, and that builds a sense of community and Cougar pride that is evident on game day. We enjoy seeing each other, the campus and watching a really good or really bad Cougar football team. That is usually secondary to the party! The game is just an excuse to stretch our legs and flex those old party muscles!

Go Cougs!

— Jamey Layman
Party Professor Emeritus
Washington State University

Thanks, James. Looks like I'll need to make the trip out to Pullman this year.

This week's QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

Jimmy Clausen's sporting a pretty terrible haircut these days. What's the worst haircut in sports history? Send a picture and your reasons why. Email those to PeterSchrager@gmail.com and we'll get you involved in next week's column.

Enjoy the weekend, folks.