BOWL PREVIEWS: Friday, December 28th—POWER 5 POWER BOWLS

Music City Bowl

by Shooter Flatch

Purdue vs Auburn | 12:30 | ESPN

We usually keep things pretty light around here, especially with our bowl previews each year. And as much as I’d like to roast the hell out of Good Auburn / Bad Auburn and Purdue Pete’s scary ass, I can’t do that today. Instead this preview deserves to focus on Tyler Trent. I’m sure you’re all aware by now of Tyler, a Purdue student that we all learned about when the Boilermakers hosted Ohio State earlier this season. Tom Rinaldi did an amazing piece on him and his fight against cancer during GameDay that morning. Just yesterday I ran across this on Twitter:

https://www.news-press.com/story/opinion/contributors/2018/12/24/tyler-trent-face-my-last-days-why-am-grateful/2405781002/

Well The Colts owner Jim Irsay sent Tyler and his family to the Music City Bowl in his private plane and Tyler will be the Honorary Captain today. Tyler’s story serves as inspiration, and perspective. I truly hope Purdue can get one more win today.

Boiler Up! Hammer Down! #TylerStrong

Camping World Bowl

by Rush

West Virginia vs. Syracuse | 4:15 p.m. | ESPN

Are you excited about a ranked Syracuse-WVU matchup? Does it conjure up grainy images of games being played on rock-hard Astroturf by men in hulking neck rolls and enormous 1990s facemasks? Well, you may have BIG EAST NOSTALGIA and we’re here to tell you that there is, in fact, a cure.

1) Location, location location. Keep in mind that nobody’s going to ruin anyone’s season here: that’s already been taken care of. They’re playing in Orlando in a game that has previously been sponsored by Blockbuster and Micron PC.

2) Numerical improbability. Simply focus on the gaudy stats associated with these squads. Nothing utilitarian or vintage Big East about these numbers.

3) Dressed for success? Peel your eyes: are there jerseys tied off to expose midriffs? Do the linemen all have weightlifting gloves? Are the coaches out there in garish polo shirts, tinted eyeglasses, and splashy headwear? Certainly not. Those glorious locks are unencumbered by earthly restraints.

Once you confirm that the fashion and gameplay is of the present and not a tiny rift in the wormhole of time, you can safely establish that this matchup is purely coincidental, and not an homage to a simpler time, when the two powerhouses of the mighty Big East line up loaded with hype, only to fizzle out to an eventual 16-16 tie or something that has absolutely no impact on the college football landscape. Anyway, it couldn’t have been real anyway because neither of these teams lost to Miami this year. Enjoy the present, it’s way weirder than the past.

Alamo Bowl

by Chuck

Washington State vs. Iowa State | Friday, December 28th | 8 p.m. | ESPN

We at Good Bull Hunting enjoy mixing our college football viewing with our various recreational substances, that is no secret. This year’s Alamo Bowl will be a different kind of beast, though. The Cyclones and Cougars are teams that struggle historically with football success, but they are both college playoff championship level drinkers.

Last year a bar in Memphis ran out of Busch Light after being overrun with Iowa State fans for the Liberty Bowl. (In the bar’s defense, who could know that particular potion was Cyclone nectar?) In response, Busch has assured Iowa State fans that won’t be a concern at the Alamo Bowl this year.

Then there are the Cougars, who... well...