BGSU is most attractive for GMAC Bowl

11/26/2007

Idle thoughts from an idle mind while wondering if Toledo's football staff will go the junior college route to find immediate help for its defensive line.

t You heard it here first, unless it doesn't happen. But Bowling Green figures to be headed for the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

This year, the GMAC, one of three bowls with which the MAC is affiliated, gets the first pick of conference teams. BG's league-high eight wins, its strong finish, and its offensive firepower have to make the Falcons the most attractive MAC team to a bowl game, even if two other teams, Central Michigan and Miami, will meet in the league's title game.

BG lost badly at Miami, but the GMAC Bowl can afford to

ignore that in light of three things:

1. Miami is 6-6 and limping into the title game.

2. BG beat one Big Ten team (Minnesota) and gave another (Michigan State) a decent tussle.

3. The Falcons have won four straight and five of their last six. They're playing better than any MAC team at the right time.

It's all about marketing and selling tickets and BG is the GMAC Bowl's best bet. Central Michigan is more suited to the Motor City Bowl in Detroit. That would leave Ball State or Miami for the International Bowl in Toronto.

It would be a good deal for the Falcons and their fans too. Mobile's bowl date is well after the holidays (Jan. 6) and is the only destination of the three where parkas and boots are not formal attire.

t Jason Whitlock of the

Kansas City Star wrote an interesting column last week leading up to Saturday's big tilt between Missouri and Kansas. It was a piece about how he had called former Kansas athletic director Al Bohl to apologize and to thank him.

Whitlock was one of Bohl's harshest critics, calling him "Shallow Al" and an "utter failure" while AD at Kansas, which didn't exactly make Whitlock unusual. But he took a unique approach last week by crediting Bohl for his acumen in hiring football coaches.

Bohl was responsible for hiring Kansas' Mark Mangino, of course, but also hired Gary Pinkel, now the Missouri coach, while serving as AD at Toledo. Bohl also hired Nick Saban at UT and Pat Hill, who has had considerable success at Fresno State. Bohl was the Fresno AD between his stints at Toledo and Kansas.

It surely is an impressive track record for Bohl, who lives in Florida and is no longer

involved in college athletics.

t Congrats to Pinkel for Mizzou's big win over Kansas. The 11-1 Tigers are now ranked No. 1 and are a win away from playing for the national title.

Missouri's administration deserves credit for its patience with Pinkel's rebuilding job. He was 29-30 after five seasons, which buys a coach a pink slip at many schools, and Pinkel has rewarded that confidence with a 19-5 mark the last two seasons.

It parallels the performance line Pinkel had at UT. His Rocket teams were 23-19-2 after four years and 50-18-1 in his next six seasons.

t A friend e-mailed some old-time Ohio State football images the other day. The collage included some ticket stubs and you might be interested to know that a reserved seat for the 75th OSU-Michigan game in Columbus in 1948 cost $2.92 plus federal tax of 58 cents for a total of $3.50. A year later, in Ann Arbor, the ticket for Section 43, Row 32, Seat 17 cost exactly a thin dime more. Ah, for the good old days.