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THE MAG.COM PRESENTS: ALL WORLD POWER RANKINGS

by Ted Bauer

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Should be fun, right?

BOWL GAME WE'RE MOST EXCITED FOR? FAIRLY OBVIOUS, BUT THERE ARE A FEW CONTENDERS

It's a rough weekend for sports, honestly: unless you are a huge believer in Mr. Stiff Arm or get hyped for Xavier/Cincy in hoops, your Saturday is better spent with the wife at Bed, Bath and Beyond. To get you thinking about the college gridiron again, we're gonna evaluate the potential quality of bowl games nine days before the first one (Wake Forest vs. Navy in the EagleBank!) Eh, it was either this or link a bunch of Mos Def videos, since it's his birthday today. Here's the entire bowl schedule, by the way.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
1 (4) THE BCS TITLE GAME (OKLAHOMA VS. FLORIDA, JANUARY 8) Should legitimately be a good time, plus it decides the title, and ya play for titles, right? Our question: is this an issue?
2 (6) THE ROSE BOWL (USC VS. PSU, JANUARY 1) The night game on 1-1-09, Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech, probably doesn't hold a ton of interest for ya unless you think Brian Kelly will be coaching Notre Dame in the fall of 2010, so this will anchor Hangover Day. Pete Carroll vs. Joe Paterno will be fun, especially since Carroll "marvels at what Paterno has accomplished."
3 (7) THE GMAC BOWL (BALL STATE VS. TULSA, JANUARY 6) The scoreboard in this game is literally going to blow up.
4 (9) SHERATON HAWAII (NOTRE DAME VS. HAWAII, DECEMBER 24) Charlie Weis in a lei? Fantastic.
5 (11) COTTON BOWL (OLE MISS VS. TEXAS TECH, JANUARY 2) One reason: anything Mike Leach is pretty fun. Second reason: Ole Miss is gonna be filthy next year, so this could be their "coming out" party.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
19 (180) CAPITAL ONE BOWL (GEORGIA VS. MSU, JANUARY 1) Storyline to follow for fall 2009: if Javon Ringer blows up and the Dawgs lose this one, is Mark Richt coaching for his gig next year? SEC coaches get axed for less.
138 (1,651) POINSETTIA BOWL (BOISE STATE VS. TCU, DECEMBER 23) The full title of this thing is "San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl." Eh, we like Bank of America more. ATMs everywhere, ya know? We digress. These teams are both very legitimate and it should be a slobberknocker. Dick Bumpas, D-Coordinator of TCU, thinks so.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT WHAT
HOLIDAY BOWL: OREGON VS. OKIE STATE ON DECEMBER 30 (Could be a nice shootout too.)
FIESTA BOWL: OSU VS. TEXAS ON JANUARY 5 (It'll be a good game and all, but doesn't it feel both these teams should be in a different bowl?)
For more All-World Power Rankings, CLICK HERE


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