Picking and choosing: staring at a smorgasbord of 28 bowl games can be daunting, so sink your teeth into these storylines and matchups first

Sporting News, The, Dec 22, 2003 by Tom Dienhart

Though Memphis quenched its postseason drought by playing North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl on Tuesday, it isn't alone in exorcising bowl demons. Before gaining a bid to the GMAC Bowl, Miami (Ohio) had been on the outs since the 1986 season. Tulsa (Humanitarian) last played in a bowl in 1991, and Bowling Green (Motor City) the year after that. Kansas (Tangerine) hasn't been bowling since '95, and Houston (Hawaii), California (Insight.com) and Navy (Houston) are making their first postseason trips since the '96 season.

Currently, there are 117 Division I-A schools fighting for 56 bowl slots; that means a whopping 48 percent get invitations. But there still are 18 schools that have gone 10 or more seasons without playing in the postseason as a I-A team.

                      Last bowl
School                   season

Indiana                    1993
Wyoming                    1993
San Jose State             1990
SMU                        1984
Northern Illinois          1983
Eastern Michigan           1987
Western Michigan           1988
Vanderbilt                 1982
Temple                     1979
Rutgers                    1978
Kent State                 1972
Louisiana-Lafayette        1970
Ohio                       1968
Rice                       1961
New Mexico State           1960
Akron                      none
Arkansas State             none
Louisiana-Monroe           none

Best players not in bowls

Offense

Pos.   Name, Class, School

WR     Reggie Williams, Jr., Washington
WR     Kerry Wright, Jr., Middle Tennessee
TE     Chris Cooley, Sr., Utah State
L      Antonio Hall, Sr., Kentucky
L      Travelle Wharton, Sr., South Carolina
L      Tyson Clabo, Sr., Wake Forest
L      Drew Strojny, Sr., Duke
L      Nick Romeo, Sr., Syracuse
QB     Scott Rislov, Sr., San Jose State
RB     Michael Turner, Sr., Northern Illinois
RB     Julius Jones, Sr., Notre Dame

Defense

Pos.   Name, Class, School

L      Jason Babin, Sr., Western Michigan
L      Raheem Orr, Sr., Rutgers
L      Justin Tuck, Jr., Notre Dame
L      Matt Zielinski, Sr., Duke
LB     Rich Scanlon, Sr., Syracuse
LB     John Garrett, Sr., Baylor
LB     Rian Wallace, So., Temple
DB     (S) Medford Moorer, Sr., Colorado
DB     (S) Yaacov Yisrael, Sr., Penn State
DB     (S) Dexter Reid, Sr., North Carolina
DB     (S) Jamaal Brimmer, Jr., UNLV

Specialists

Pos.   Name, Class, School

K      Steve Azar, Sr., Northern Illinois
P      Matt Prater, So., Central Florida
KR     Michael Waddell, Sr., North Carolina

Best bet to last more than four hours Hawaii Bowl, Houston vs. Hawaii

When he lands in Hawaii, Houston freshman quarterback Kevin Kolb probably will throw a pass while deplaning. He'll keep firing as he walks to the bus, to the hotel, past the dancers in grass skirts, under the flaming limbo bar and to his poi dinner. That's the life when you play for a pass-happy coach like Art Briles.

Then there's Hawaii's Timmy Chang, who has completed 327 of 559 passes for 3,724 yards and 24 touchdowns this season in June Jones' run-and-shoot offense.