The chatter
Florida State won two national titles under Bobby Bowden. Now five years retired, Bowden can’t help but wonder how many more he might have won if the College Football Playoff had been around during his tenure.
Bowden, 85, led the Seminoles to national championships in 1993 and 1999, but his teams finished fifth or higher in the Associated Press rankings every year from 1987 to 2000. That translates to plenty of berths in the four-team CFP bracket.
“We’d have had a chance,” Bowden said. Then he recalled, “We used to play pretty good in November, too.”
Bowden likes his former team’s chances of upsetting Oregon in Thursday’s semifinal in the Rose Bowl. Oregon is a nine-point favorite over the defending champion Seminoles, who have won 29 consecutive games.
Grudge match?
There’s some history between LSU and Notre Dame, Tuesday’s opponents in the Music City Bowl. But you might have to go to the basketball court to find it. As Ron Higgins of the New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote:
“Back in 1985 in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, LSU’s SEC championship team was upset, losing to 78-55 to No. 13 seed Navy.
“One of Navy’s stars that day was center David Robinson, who had 18 points and 18 rebounds and was just beginning to introduce himself to a national audience.
“Yep, that David “The Admiral” Robinson, the now retired 49-year-old Hall of Fame center for the San Antonio Spurs. He raised a trio of athletic sons, including Corey who broke the family’s basketball-playing mode and is a wide receiver at Notre Dame.
“‘I hope LSU’s corners didn’t do their homework and think this is a revenge game,’ joked Corey, who’s as smart and as engaging as his father.”
Oakman spurns NFL
Baylor gave Shawn Oakman a second chance. Now he intends to return the favor.
Oakman, an All-Big 12 defensive end, says he plans to return for his senior season at Waco. Some projections have Oakman as a high NFL draft pick next spring if he comes out early. But the junior said Monday that he has “unfinished business” with the Bears.
Oakman (6 feet 9, 280 pounds) has 10 sacks and a Big 12-leading 18 1/2 tackles for losses this season. He was a third-team AP All-America pick.
He says it’s not time to leave the program that allowed him to resurrect his career. He had to sit out 2012 after transferring from Penn State, played in all 13 games last season and now has started every game this year.
The Bears face Michigan State in Thursday’s Cotton Bowl.
By the numbers
2,800
The distance in miles Maryland traveled to play in Tuesday’s Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, Cal.
11
The distance in miles Stanford traveled to face Maryland. The two school clash in Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers and just a long drop-kick from Stanford’s Palo Alto campus.
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