All about the match-ups
by Pat Dooley
There is still one game to go (Orange Bowl on Wednesday night) in the state of Florida’s bowl bonanza, but so far we have seen the evidence of how important it is to have the right matchup.
Just look at the announced attendance for the bowls which have been played:
Champs — 68,305.
Capital One — 61,351.
Gator — 61,312.
Outback — 49,429.
Beef O’Brady’s — 20,072.
The Champs Bowl had a great matchup based on tradition and history. Ditto the Gator. As a result, both bowls went over the 60,000 mark. So did the Cap One because Nebraska fans are among the best when it comes to travel and Gamecock fans were coming off a strong finish.
But the Outback matched up two excellent teams who lost their last games of the year. Dawgs wanted to go to the Sugar, Spartans to the Rose. Each lost its conference title game.
This bowl stuff is tricky business.
Pat Dooley shot an 85 at Augusta National. Tripled the 18th. Other than that, there’s not much to tell. Great wife, two beautiful daughters. Been at The Sun since 1987 and worked in Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale before that. Spent a year in Storrs, Conn. Actually, it was only five days but it seemed like a year. Likes Tom Petty, The Beatles, Weezer and long walks on St. Augustine Beach as long as they end at the Beachcomber. Reads every e-mail except those sent with Russian alphabet. Favorite sports are college football, college basketball, golf and cooking chili.
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