Missouri's blowout of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl underlined nicely the snub of Missouri in this year's college bowl selections by "Bowl Championship Series" (BCS) officials. The BCS bowl games are the elite games, with the largest television audiences. Hence, they are very important to a program's recruiting efforts. The Cotton Bowl game started at 10:30 in the morning, St. Louis time, airing opposite the nationally televised Tournament of Roses Parade.
Nonethess, for Missouri, the Cotton Bowl is a good bowl. The Cotton Bowl is located in Dallas, Texas, just down the road from the home of Missouri quarterback, Chase Daniel. Strong recruiting out of Texas has played well into the resurgence of the Missouri football program.
In case you didn't see it, the Missouri Tigers trounced Arkansas in every aspect of the game, winning 38-7. Missouri running back Tony Temple ran for 281 yards and four touchdowns, setting two Cotton Bowl records.
Later in the day, out on the west coast, Illinois was trounced by USC in the Rose Bowl, leading the national broadcast team to openly quesion why 11th ranked Illinois was seated in a BCS bowl game while 7th ranked Missouri was not.
For years people have questioned the BCS bowl selection process, with more calls for a national college football playoff system, at least for the top 8-12 teams. This year's controversy involving the treatment of Missouri by BCS officials will add fuel to that discussion.
Congratulations to both Missouri and Illinois for great seasons. Illinois went from a 2-win season in 2006 to the Rose Bowl this year, and Missouri surprised everyone with the teams' first 12 win season in Missouri history.
Looking into next season, one question still up in the air for Missouri is whether the NCAA will grant St. Louisan Tony Temple one more year of college eligibility due to his previous redshirt status.
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