Ultimate Football Tournament

Anybody notice there are 32 bowls? That means there are 64 teams. That is a pretty special number, so I mixed em up, seeded by their Sagarin rating and am playint the ultimate National championship tournament.

Unfortunately something happened to my first post in this series. So here were the results from the East bracket.

1 Florida def. 16 Houston 42-10
9 UCLA def 8 Penn State 27-21
4 Oregon def 13 New Mexico 33-13
12 Georgia Tech def 5 Oregon State 27-24
2 Virginia Tech def 15 Florida Atlantic 45-7
7 Texas def 10 California 42-24
3 South Florida def 14 Fresno State 56-20
6 Illinois def 11 Air Force 34-3

But we press onward and upward. Here are the first round results for the South Region

16 Nevada vs. 1 Ohio State - The Wolf Pack hadn't been shutout since 1980 when Weber State accomplished the feat, but the Buckeyes turned the trick in this 37-0 pasting to advance to Round 2. Ohio State held Nevada to just 116 yards of total offense. Meanwhile Chris Wells ran for 141 yards and two scores to lead the victory.

9 Utah vs 8 Virginia - Mikell Simpson's 15 yard touchdown run in the first overtime session allowed the Cavs to escapse with a 19-16 win over Utah. The game was close the whole way. Tied at 7 at the half, the teams traded third quarter field goals, before UVA took a 13-10 lead on Chris Gould's 48-yard field goal with 3:49 left. Utah marched down the field and nearly won it at the end of regulation. But Ray Stowers was knocked off his feet at the one after a 15-yard run with 2 seconds left. The Utes opted for the tie and Louie Sakoda sent it to overtime with an 18-yard field goal. In the extra session, the Utes were stopped after three plays and Sakoda again made the field goal, this time from 40 yards. The Cavs picked up a first down on their possession as Cedric Peerman gained the needed yard on third down. Then on first down, the Cavs ran a draw and Simpson broke one tackle and sprinted to the win.

13 TCU vs 4 Hawaii - There was more to Hawaii's first round win than Colt Brennan. The senior quarterback threw for 290 yards, but the balanced attack that also produced 216 rushing yards helped Hawaii to a 41-20 win. Ryan Grice-Mullen caught 7 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns and earned player of the game honors.

12 Colorado vs 5 Tennesseee - The 12th seeded Buffaloes put a scare into Tennessee, but the Volunteers scored 17 unanswered fourth quarter points to pull out a 34-20 victory behind the dual running attack of Arian Foster and Monterio Hardesty. Both backs went over 100 yards, but Foster garnered the spotlight by scoring four times, including the go-ahead TD from 12 yards with 10:42 left. The Tennessee defense also deserves some of the credit as it intercepted Cody Hawkins five times.

15 Bowling Green vs 2 West Virginia - Still reeling from that season ending loss to Pittsburgh that cost them a #1 seed, the Mountaineers rolled past Bowling Green 51-7. Pat White threw for 273 yards ran for 68 more as West Virginia overcame an early 7-0 hole. The Mountaineers led only 13-7 at the half but behind two second half Steve Slaton touchdown runs they blew away the Falcons. Slaton finished with 121 yards on the ground.

10 Michigan State vs 7 Boise State - The Broncos shellacked the Spartans 59-35 in a game that was over at halftime. Boise led 38-14 and stretched the lead to 52-14 after three quarters before Michigan State finally got some offense going to make it look at least a little better. Ian Johnson was all-everything for the Broncs, scoring four times. He had TD runs of 1 and 37 yards and he caught passes from Taylor Tharp (17-19 326 yards, 5 TD's) for 44 and 69 yard scores. On the day, he finished with 303 total yards (171 rushing, 132 receiving).

14 Navy vs 3 Missouri - Navy got the third-seeded Tigers attention with a 20-17 lead, but Missouri rallied behind Heisman finalist Chase Daniel for a 44-27 win. Daniel threw for 273 yards and three scores. Tony Temple ran for 113 yards on 18 carries and scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the second half.

11 Oklahoma State vs 6 Kentucky - One of the most anticipated offensive matchups of Round one did not disapoint. Kentucky and Oklahoma State nearly scored triple figures as the Cats held off the Cowboys 47-42. Andre' Woodson threw four touchdown passes on his way to a 419 yard day. Woodson also ran in the go-ahead touchdown from 3 yards out with just 3:46 to play to give Kentucky a 40-35 lead. Kentucky promptly stopped OSU and got the ball back in Cowboy territory. They scored to extend the lead to 47-35 and then held on as the Cowboys marched down the field to make it 47-42. However, Kentucky recovered the onside kick to seal the win. Dantrell Savage led the Cowboy offense with 148 yards on 24 carries.

So the 2nd round matchups are set in both the East and the South.

East
9 UCLA vs. 1 Florida
12 Georgia Tech vs. 4 Oregon
7 Texas vs. 2 Virginia Tech
6 Illinois vs. 3 South Florida

South
8 Virginia vs. 1 Ohio State
5 Tennessee vs. 4 Hawaii
7 Boise State vs. 2 West Virginia
6 Kentucky vs. 3 Missouri

Some interesting 2nd round matchups particularly in the South, where all the seeds held. I think there might be some points scored in that bracket. Plus the Texas/Virginia Tech pairing is certain to excite some folks. Who do you like?