Before the postseason began, we asked y’all to vote on which bowl games you felt would be the best and worst of the non-BCS group.
Thirty-five bowls later, the only thing we’ve confirmed is that you might be better off picking games by throwing a dart blindfolded. With that in mind, it’s time to go back and rank the 10 best bowls of the 2012-13 postseason (note: there’s no need to rank the 10 worst because, well, why would you want to relive cruddy bowls?).
1. Outback Bowl: No. 8 South Carolina 33, No. 24 Michigan 28
A back and forth game between the Big Ten and SEC that came down to the final seconds on New Year’s Day would be enough by itself to warrant the top spot on our list. Then Jadeveon Clowney made arguably the best individual, game-changing play of the bowl season. Of course, if you argue with Clowney, he’ll form tackle you into a fine powder.
2. Chick-fil-A Bowl: No. 11 Clemson 25, No. 14 LSU 24
Tajh Boyd‘s heroics against LSU’s blitz-happy defense were amazing until you realize he was actually a test subject in a real-life episode of ESPN’s “Sports Science.” Today, we ponder how many times a quarterback can get hit with the same amount of force per square inch exerted by a space shuttle on liftoff... and live to tell about it.
3. Alamo Bowl: No. 19 Texas 31, No. 20 Oregon State 27
“Texas back?!?!?!?” will undoubtedly be the theme for the Longhorns this year after a come-from-behind win over Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl. Defensive end Alex Okafor went Oka-BEASTMODE with nine tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble, most of that damage coming in the third and fourth quarters. The win makes UT’s offseason tolerable, but 2013 is a critical year for Mack Brown.
4. Belk Bowl: Cincinnati 48, Duke 34
Oh, Duke. Y’all were so close to winning your first bowl game since 1961. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils “Belk’d it” by allowing Cincinnati to score on an 83-yard touchdown pass and a 55-yard pick-six within the final minute of the game. For 59 minutes though, this game was awesome.
5. New Mexico Bowl: Arizona 49, Nevada 48
Nobody circles the wagons like the fightin’ RichRods. Down 13 with under two minutes to play, Arizona scored not once, but twice with the help of a successful onside kick to win the first bowl game of the season. I can only imagine the shock of the loss played a role in Chris Ault‘s retirement. Okay, it didn’t really. But still.
6. New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette 43, East Carolina 34
America demands offense in games that have no national implications because we don’t give a single damn about your defensive coordinator’s job security, even in the worst of economies. The New Orleans Bowl understood that and obliged by racking up 45 points in the second quarter. The sacrifice was complete.
7. Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Texas Tech 34, Minnesota 31
Comebacks are always welcome in bowl games and Texas Tech scored 10 points in the final 1:10. However, we can only speculate that had Tommy Tuberville been on the sidelines, the Red Raiders would have elected to take a knee and play for overtime rather than attempt a risky 28-yard, game-winning field goal.An opportunity missed to jump up our rankings, to be sure.
8. Rose Bowl: No. 7 Stanford 20, Wisconsin 14
This was the only BCS bowl where the game was decided by a touchdown or less. That should give you an idea as to how the BCS bowls played out this year. Defense lovers will point to the low score; cynics like me who only wish they were athletic enough to play football will point to some iffy execution by both offenses. But a close one in The Grandaddy of Them All? We’ll gladly take it.
9. Capital One Bowl: No. 5 Georgia 45, No. 25 Nebraska 31
The irony of an “SEC defense” and the “blackshirts” giving up a combined 76 points and over 1,000 yards was too much for us not to include this game. This was old man football... if the old man was in better shape than you and could probably beat you up.
10. Military Bowl: No. 21 San Jose State 29, Bowling Green 20
I’m gonna miss you, WAC. At least San Jose State was able to get you a win before you went peacefully into that big ‘ol bowl game in the sky. Also, there were, like, four blocked punts because weird things tend to occur when #MACtion and #WACtion happens at the same time on the same field.