R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, December 17, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
What it is: Another opportunity for ESPN to talk about the recovery of New Orleans AND DREW BREES AND THE SAINTS ARE SO GREAT WHO DAT SAYIN ESPN OBJECTIVE?
The Sponsor: It's a trucking company. That was so much funnier about five years ago.
The Teams: San Diego State and Louisiana-Lafayette
How San Diego State got here: By bouncing back from the loss of head coach Brady Hoke to have another eight-win regular season. In addition to a three-touchdown loss to Hoke's first Michigan team, the Aztecs lost to TCU, Boise State -- and Wyoming? Much of their success on offense was powered by Ronnie Hillman, who ranked third in the nation with 138 rushing yards per game. Hillman only ran for less than 100 yards three times, and one of those was in the game against Boise State, when he had three carries. The rushing defense ranked 81st in the country, but that was good for third in the Mountain West when we're talking apples-to-apples.
How Louisiana-Lafayette got here: Playing in the Sun Belt. Only two of the Ragin' Cajuns eight wins were in the non-conference schedule, and those were at Kent State and against Nicholls State of the FCS. Somewhere along the way, ULL also managed to lose games against Western Kentucky and the most dreadful Arizona teams in most of our lives. The Cajuns weren't particularly good at anything, though Blaine Gautier had some relatively eye-popping stats when he got to throw the ball around a bit. But La-La also wasn't bad at much, which counts for something in the Sun Belt.
College football fans care because: I really have no idea how to begin to make this game sound important.
SEC fans care because: Because Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Mark Hudspeth is eventually going to get his chance at a BCS program, and it might be yours.
Watch this game if...: You're less sensitive about ethic nicknames than the NCAA.
The result: San Diego State 35, Louisiana-Lafayette 14