Couch potato paradise

Six games, big names save New Year's bowl day

Posted: Thu January 1, 1998 at 1:43 AM ET

ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- January 1 may not be what it has been in years past -- without the Orange Bowl and the Fiesta, without Nebraska or Miami or Notre Dame -- but the biggest bowl day of the season still has plenty to offer.

"This is still the traditional day for viewing college football bowl games," said Rick Catlett, the executive director of the Toyota Gator Bowl, a game back on New Year's Day for the third straight season. "I think our ratings reflect that. "[But] the Alliance has caused significant problems for the bowl system ... It has lessened the impact and the value of the rest of the system."

Yes, that pesky Alliance is holding the No. 2 and 3 teams, Nebraska and Tennessee, out until Friday night's Orange Bowl.

Still, it's New Year's Day. When else can you get away with plopping down from morning to midnight in front of the TV?

This big bowl day still features Paterno and Bowden and Spurrier, the No. 1 team in the country and seven of the Top 10. It has the 1996 national champion, the Heisman Trophy winner and, maybe, the best college quarterback in the land. And you can check out the hottest team in the country, too.

So grab the chips and the remote, put the dog out and get set for what still is the best day of couch-potatoing around.

The Rose Bowl

No. 1 Michigan (11-0) vs. No. 8 Washington State (10-1), 5 p.m. (ABC)

The biggest game of the bowl season has been billed as Charles Woodson, the Heisman Trophy-winning cornerback/receiver/punt returner from top-ranked Michigan, against Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has leapfrogged Tennessee's Peyton Manning on many early NFL draft charts.

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Leaf is the best QB ever to play for the Cougars, according to coach Mike Price -- take that, Drew Bledsoe -- and finished third in the Heisman voting,

"All year long, coach Price said 'Don't throw here, or don't throw there,' but that kind of fuels my fire a little," Leaf said. "I'm not going to worry about what Charles is doing. If someone's open, I'll throw to him."

Leaf will be throwing to the "Fab Five" -- take that, Michigan basketball fans -- the quintet of Washington State receivers who have accounted for 186 catches and 30 TDs.

"I try not to think of other cornerbacks or DBs because when it comes down to it," Leaf said, "we have five good receivers who will knock them in the mouth just as much as they'll knock our receivers in the mouth."

Michigan has not faced an offense this season like Washington State's. But then, Washington State hasn't faced a defense like Michigan's. When it comes down to it, something has to give: Michigan's top-ranked defense is allowing just 8.9 points a game while Washington State is averaging 42.5 points a game.

"Our strength is our defense, theirs is their offense and somebody has to go down on that day," Woodson said. "So hopefully they'll go down and we'll play our best game."

Sugar Bowl

No. 4 Florida State (10-1) vs. No. 9 Ohio State (10-2), 8 p.m. (ABC)

This will be kind of a bridesmaid's bowl, with Florida State and Ohio State, two coulda-been contenders. FSU had one bad game, a loss to Florida that knocked the Seminoles out of the national championship hunt. Ohio State had two losses, to former No. 1 Penn State and now No. 1 Michigan.

Those stumbles -- and that Alliance thing -- may take some attention off this otherwise marquee game. There are estimates some 20,000 seats will be empty at the Superdome in New Orleans.

"People are only interested in 1 vs. 2," FSU coach Bobby Bowden told CNN/Sports Illustrated. "It's hard for the other games to draw what they are used to drawing because all the attention goes to 1 vs. 2 ... I really hate to see that."

The Seminoles, known for offense, have the best run defense in the country. Ohio State, which barely missed a national championship last year, is behind only Michigan is scoring defense.

So how's this game shape up?

"I think it should be a low-scoring game, but very, very exciting," said Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer. "Of course, to me very exciting is a lot of short runs, a lot of incomplete passes. That's my idea of excitement."

Gator Bowl

No. 7 North Carolina (10-1) vs. Virginia Tech (7-4), 12:30 p.m. (NBC)

In the old days, no team with Virginia Tech's 7-4 record had a hope of playing on New Year's Day. Blame this matchup on the Alliance, which also is to blame for not getting North Carolina into a bigger game.

"When you look at [Carolina] overall -- one loss and that being against Florida State -- I think this is an Alliance team," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.

The Gator may be worth watching to get a last glimpse of North Carolina's defense -- the Tar Heels have the fourth-best run defense in the nation -- something that may never be the same now that coach Mack Brown has left for Texas.

Citrus Bowl

No. 11 Penn State (9-2) vs. No. 6 Florida (9-2), 1 p.m. (ABC)

This shaped up to be an interesting matchup between Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida's Steve Spurrier, who have never coached against each other. That was before one of the players worth watching, Penn State tailback Curtis Enis, was bumped from the game because of his unsuitable dealings with an agent.

Defending national champion Florida slipped up against Louisiana State and Georgia, while preseason No. 1 Penn State lost to Michigan and then was blown out in the season finale against Michigan State.

It's only the second time in history these two teams have met. Florida won, 17-7, in 1972.

Without Enis and the Nittany Lions' leading receiver, Joe Jurevicius, out because of academic problems, Penn State's streak of four straight New Year's Day wins are in danger.

Outback Bowl

Wisconsin (8-4) vs. No. 12 Georgia (9-2), 11 a.m. (ESPN)

This Southeastern Conference-Big Ten showdown is a nice warmup to the day: Georgia's passing game with quarterback Mike Bobo vs. the running of Ron Dayne and Wisconsin.

And Dayne, bothered by injuries all season but still able to churn out three 200-yard games, finally is healthy.

"He has qualities that many don't have. His size [5-foot-10, 250-plus pounds] is one that jumps out at you," Badgers coach Barry Alvarez said. "He has tremendous speed and quickness for a guy that big."

Cotton Bowl

No. 20 Texas A&M (9-3) vs. No. 5 UCLA (9-2), 1:30 p.m. (CBS)

Remember when the Cotton Bowl used to mean something? Of course, that's when Texas and Notre Dame were actually good.

Instead, this season you get Texas A&M, a decent team but hardly national championship material -- the Aggies lost to Texas Tech and Kansas State and were blown out by Nebraska in the Big 12 title game, 54-15. The saving grace of this game is UCLA, winners of nine straight and a team many believe is the best team in the country right now.

"I feel we are the best team in the nation," running back Skip Hicks said. "We got a raw deal not being in an Alliance Bowl. "

The Associated Press contributed to this report.