Wednesday, December 29 It's the matchup that matters, coaches say
Associated Press
HONOLULU -- Besides beating Arizona, a dream season for
Arizona State would include victories over Southern California,
UCLA and Washington.
"If someone told me before the season that you're going to win
in Seattle, you're going to beat both L.A. schools and you're going
to win over U of A, I would have said, 'We're going to the BCS!"'
Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder said.
While the Sun Devils won all their dream games, surprising
nonconference losses to New Mexico State and Notre Dame combined
with Pacific-10 Conference losses to California, Oregon and
Stanford turned the Sun Devils' dream season into a near-nightmare.
Arizona State salvaged its season with a 42-27 win over Arizona
that gave the Sun Devils a trip to Hawaii for an Aloha Bowl meeting
against Wake Forest.
"It's easy to go back and say, 'Damn, we let that one get away
and we let that one get away,' and crying over spilled milk," he
said. "But once they're gone, they're gone. We did what we did, we
earned what we earned. It doesn't do any good to go back and say,
'What if?"'
Wake Forest is making its first bowl appearance in seven
seasons, but the Demon Deacons had to win their last game against
then-No. 14 Georgia Tech to get the Aloha Bowl bid. Few gave them
the chance.
"I didn't tell our kids anything magical before the game. I
told them we were right on the cusp and that it could go either
way," coach Jim Caldwell said before his team's 26-23 victory over
the Yellow Jackets. "I told them I believed in them but,
ultimately, it was up to them."
Both coaches defended bowl bids to their 6-5 teams, and all 6-5
teams, saying bowl games should be rewards for teams with winning
seasons.
"One of the beauties of the bowl system is that a lot of teams
end their seasons" with a victory, Snyder said Monday. "I have no
problem with that. One of the reasons part of me is against a
playoff system is that fewer teams would end up feeling good about
themselves."
Caldwell said most people can't even tell you a team's record
and only care whether the matchup is interesting.
"It's a reward for a winning season and that's what counts in
this game, you've got to have more wins than losses," Caldwell
said. "I don't believe people can tell you what most teams'
records are.
"They know you have more wins than losses, and what they're
looking at is the matchup."
