Sunday, January 4, 2009

Fiesta Fiesta

Tomorrow night's Fiesta Bowl means oh so much for both Texas and Ohio State. Both programs have something to prove and are looking to use the Fiesta Bowl as their stage.

The former #1 Texas Longhorns don't believe they should be playing tomorrow night, rather they should be suiting up on Thursday against the Gators. After beating Oklahoma earlier this season Texas was on a crash course with the BCS championship game; that is until Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree showed up. A late season loss to the high flying Texas Tech Raiders derailed the dream season. After getting left out of the Big XII title game Texas felt snubbed and all hell broke loose. Texas settled for the Fiesta Bowl and will march out with a huge chip on their shoulder. A big win for the Longhorns and you might just see them hoisting the AP title at the end of the year.

Ohio State on the other hand is playing for more than themselves in this game. The Big 10 has come under serious fire the last three years after the Buckeyes were trounced twice in the BCS National Championship. Thursday's Rose Bowl did not help as Penn State fell to USC. The Buckeye's themselves took a serious blow eariler in the year when they were man handled by USC, as well. This is a much different Ohio State team, however. First of all Beanie Williams, their star running back, is no longer injured as he was against the Trojans. Most importantly, however, Terrell Pryor their precocious freshman QB has really matured this season and stepped up as a bonafide star in college football.

Tomorrow night Texas steps onto that field looking to prove to everybody that they should be playing on Thursday night. Ohio State steps onto the field representing an entire conference. Big 10 fans may not be so happy about that one.

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