We talk about all of Saturday's bowls without once mentioning the title sponsors. Take that, we say!
• The Cal Golden Bears pulled out a 24-17 win over the Miami Hurricanes in Telecom Conglomerate Park in San Francisco after breaking out a winning preparation strategy (from the AP): "The Bears’ campus is roughly 12 miles from San Francisco, yet the team stayed in a hotel in the city during its week of preparation, crossing the Bay Bridge for daily practice in Berkeley." In other completely unrelated news, Cal-Berkeley would like to break away from the California state university tuition price structure so they can charge up to 25% more for the privilege of being a Berkeley student.
• Florida State 42, Wisconsin 13. More time was spent on the Billy Mays forced promotional tie-in than covering the game, which was all for the better. Just so we're clear, though: we're not touchers, Billy. We don't want to be touched. Keep your arms at your sides should we ever cross paths.
• And as covered here previously on "Baywatch Nights", West Virginia pulled off what seemed unlikely through most of the contest: a 31-30 win. Pat White aside, our new mancrush is on UNC receiver Hakeem Nicks. This catch makes our toes tingle still. Go your own way, young man.
Tonight, Northern Illinois heads south to Shreveport to collect a sizable paycheck to play Louisiana Tech. We don't recommend this one unless you want more dramatic pieces about horrific deaths than an MSNBC holiday marathon. On the other hand, we're pretty fascinated to see what the students of a prairie school and a swamp school will do with those free mountain bikes.