The No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners are gearing up for their BCS matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes as the Insight Bowl kicks off on December 30 in Tempe.
Arizona college football fans may not feel much like cheering following the disappointing season from the Arizona St. Sun Devils that ended with a blowout BCS loss against the Boise St. Broncos on Thursday, but Adam Kress of the Phoenix Business Journal points out that the Phoenix area is going to play host to two of the best games of the BCS bowl season.
All eyes will likely be on the Fiesta Bowl on January between No. 3 the Oklahoma St. Cowboys and the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal, but there is plenty of star power present in the Insight Bowl just a few days earlier.
The Sooners are out to make a statement in what could be their fourth straight bowl game win, as Travis Haney of the Oklahoman points out. The Sooners are 16-point favorites against the Hawkeyes and are looking to claim a sense of redemption at the end of a disappointing 9-3 season when many experts had them as favorites to win the National Championship. They could be playing with renewed vigor as a means of saying, "Watch out for us next year." The players are well aware of the disappointment and are eager to grab that 10th win in 2011.
"Right now, you could call us a bunch of jokes or whatever," sophomore linebacker Tom Wort said. "Until we fix it, that's what we're going to be. We've got something to prove."
The Insight Bowl may just end up being a sleeper of a terrific game. Arizona fans have an opportunity to bear witness to this one first-hand.
To discuss the matchup with Oklahoma fans, go to Crimson and Cream Machine. To talk about the game with Iowa fans, go to Black Heart Gold Pants.
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