College Football’s Fifth Quarter: Bowl game previews, Mike Leach

Power Five bowl match-ups are underway. Here are my five takeaways from potentially the biggest college football week of the season so far.

The major power five bowls are under way the week of December 26th through January 1st. This edition of the fifth quarter covers the Holiday Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Cotton Bowl; as well as players choices to skip or play in bowl games and everything that makes up Mike Leach. Also, the rumors that Deion Sanders may leave behind the NFL Network for waking up at 4 a.m. to coach at Florida State.

The Holiday Bowl and the Orange Bowl are both a clash of styes. The Holiday Bowl gives us the quirky Mike Leach versus the stoic Mark Dantonio. The Orange Bowl is less a clash of coaching styles and more a clash of program ideals. The Miami Hurricanes have always been seen as a “rogue” program, although with Mark Richt at the helm and the past decade that hasn’t been the truth. Wisconsin is the blue collar Big Ten program that uses tight ends and wins games. Turnover Chain versus cheese. The Cotton and Fiesta are fighting for which bowl game is the better faux Rose Bowl or Fauxse Bowl.

With Kansas State blowing out UCLA, could Josh Rosen have played and contributed to a victory or was it the right thing to do to sit out and stay healthy heading into his NFL career? This brings up many other players who have sat out recently as well.

Here are my five takeaways from the week that’s passed and the weekend ahead.