TicketCity Bowl at Cotton Bowl in Dallas to pit Houston against Penn State

by Shawn Williams of Dallas South News

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Not a bad matchup for the fledgling bowl.

The college bowl system is an absolute mess. But Cotton Bowl Stadium managed to get one of the better matchups this postseason as the Houston Cougars will face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2nd TicketCity Bowl on January 2 at 11 a.m.

There are 35 bowl games (which includes the “national championship game”) this postseason. Thirty of those bowls lie outside of the BCS system. Of those 30 games, only four match two teams ranked in the final BCS Top 25. One of those games will be the TicketCity Bowl and another will be the Cotton Bowl in Arlington (Arkansas vs. Kansas State).

The Capital One Bowl (S.Carolina vs. Nebraska) and the Outback Bowl (Georgia vs. Michigan State) are the other two.

For the University of Houston, the TicketCity Bowl is disappointing consolation prize for missing out on a BCS game (think Sugar Bowl). The Cougars bring to Dallas a quarterback in Case Keenum who was mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate until this past Saturday.

And coach Kevin Sumlin is one of hottest coaching commodities out there right now although his star lost a little luster after U of H was smacked down in the Conference USA Championship Game. If Sumlin leaves for Texas A&M or another coaching gig, it’s very possible he might not coach the team in the bowl game.

Penn State, well, it’s been a rough couple of months for the Lions. Word is the Car Care Bowl in Houston passed over Penn State due to the controversy surrounding the school’s handling of child abuse allegations. Outside of the unfortunate events of that troubling situation, Penn State had a decent season. The game will give Houston the chance to show they can hang with a school from a BCS conference.

Last year on New Year’s Day, Texas Tech defeated Northwestern 45-38 in the inaugural TicketCity Bowl. There were 40,121 in attendance for the 2011 contest. That’s not a bad showing, but in the massive Cotton Bowl (current capacity 92,100), it makes for a half empty -- or half full to the optimist! -- stadium.

I have to say I’m intrigued by the matchup, possibly to the point of purchasing a ticket and heading out to the good old Cotton Bowl. But of course weather will be a factor, as it always is in Fair Park this time of year.

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