ESPN college football analyst Rod Gilmore talks with The Post’s John DeMarzo about appealing bowl matchups and Rutgers’ prognosis in the Big Ten.
Q: Of the 22 bowls will be played between Friday and Jan. 2, which game looks the most appealing to you?
A: Miami-Louisville (the Russell Athletic Bowl) on (Saturday) is compelling for a couple of reasons. One, [with] Miami’s return to the postseason, they look like they are close to getting back to being the Miami of old. It’s a marquee matchup with [Louisville’s] Teddy Bridgewater, who is projected to be the [first] quarterback taken in the draft, facing Stephen Morris, who should also be a relatively early draft pick. It’s a chance for him to go head-to-head with Bridgewater to see if he can improve his stock.
Q: Which bowl game is being overlooked?
A: The Capital One Bowl (Wisconsin-South Carolina), which gets overlooked because it’s on Jan. 1, before the Rose and Fiesta bowls. That’s a Wisconsin team that was just a play or two away from being in a BCS game, and South Carolina is 10-2. The other underlying theme is, ‘How do the Big Ten teams match up with the SEC teams?’ That game, Nebraska-Georgia (Gator Bowl) and Iowa-LSU (Outback Bowl) will tell what you need to know about the Big Ten.
Q: How would you assess Rutgers as its gets ready to make the move to the Big Ten next season?
A: At a crossroads. They fired a couple of coaches, which tells you there’s some instability with the coaching staff. They’re heading into a conference where you have to objectively say they’re not ready to compete in right now. The question becomes, does getting into the Big Ten help Rutgers in recruiting and visibility? I don’t think they’re going to have the same kind of impact in the Big Ten that Missouri and Texas A&M had when they moved to the SEC.
Q: Do you see an Alabama letdown coming, a la 2008, when the Tide lost by 14 to Utah in the Sugar Bowl?
A: It’s so hard to predict these things, because you just don’t know about motivation. If you’re not into the game, do you spend the time relaxing [and] having fun, or are you actually watching tape [and] putting the extra time in after practice? We know that teams are focused that way for the Rose Bowl or national championship game. Will Alabama have that for this game? My guess is that (it) will. If Alabama shows up and plays anywhere near (its) capability, this is not a close game.
Q: Which NFL hopeful could really use a strong bowl performance to boost his stock?
A: I think there will be a focus on quarterback play. A guy like [Blake] Bortles at Central Florida — who’s playing against Baylor in a high-profile game — he’s projected as a guy who could be [drafted] as high or higher than Bridgewater. Bortles has been under the radar, and now he’s in the limelight. A lot of [people] like Bortles’ size a little bit better than Bridgewater’s.