Bowled over

Sunday was one of the Blob's favorite days of the year, and not because it was the Day Half The Christmas Lights On The Tree Went Out Even Though They All Worked Before They Went On The Tree.

It's Bowl Day, America!

In which we find out who goes to which bowl games, and inevitably someone says, "Geez, there are a lot of these things. What do they do, breed?" and "Why do we need this many bowls?"

Well. There are two reasons.

1. There's a lot of people selling chicken out there and it's not gonna sell itself.

2. The Mid-American Conference needs somewhere to go for the holidays, too.

And so there is a Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and a Popeye's Bahamas Bowl, which is where Western Michigan is going, speaking of the MAC. Also speaking of the MAC, Toledo, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Ohio and Akron are also headed for bowl games.

That's seven MAC schools who'll be playing postseason bowls, and if you think that just proves there's too many bowls, well, phooey on you for being a wet blanket. Like you'd deprive Ohio of playing in the gloriously named Raycom Media Camellia Bowl? Or Akron from experiencing the wonders of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl?

These are once-in-a-lifetime experiences for these young men -- I bet even now there are middle-aged men who recall every detail of the late, great Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl -- and, besides, it's not like the MAC has a monopoly or anything. After all, there are 10 Big Ten schools headed to bowls. That means everyone in the conference is going bowling except for Purdue, Illinois, Rutgers and Maryland.

And Illinois, which finished 5-7, could have gone, because two 5-7 teams -- Minnesota and Nebraska -- did land bowl berths.

Indiana at least finished .500 at 6-6, which is why the Hoosiers are playing in the Pinstripe Bowl. Their opponent is Duke, which should be intriguing. OK, not that intriguing, because it's only the Pinstripe Bowl, but more intriguing than, say, Duke-Indiana basketball turned out to be.

As for me, I'll be watching every minute of the Advocare V100 Texas Bowl, mainly because I want to see what an Advocare V100 trophy looks like. Ditto the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, for the same reason.

A giant crystal spud. That's what I'm guessing.