Carrying On

Barney continues his non-stop coverage of the 2008-2009 college football bowl season, sponsored by Nissan who reminds you to shift the way you move through the world. Tonight, Barney breaks down an epic battle between two of the nation's top teams, hailing from two of the nation's top conferences. Surely to be an ESPN Classic when it's all said and done in New Orleans tonight. 

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Southern Mississippi vs. Troy


Sunday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)


Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA

Why to Watch: Who doesn’t love the annual Conference USA versus Sun Belt showdown in “The Big Easy”? Nothing gets the heart racing and the adrenaline flowing like the smash mouth football that occurs in the famed New Orleans Bowl. Alright, I think it would be safe to say that ESPN’s Incredible Dog Challenge probably has more appeal to the common sports fan, but it’s the only bowl game of the night, so why not hype it up a little bit? But in terms of quality of play, the game falls on the lower end of the spectrum. Even Todd McShay was struggling to gives his proper pre-game analysis. A player to keep an eye on though is Southern Miss receiver DeAndre Brown. The kid averages more yards per game (92.33) than any other freshman receiver in the country.

Why not to Watch: Could it be more obvious. Aside from the quality of the teams playing in the game, the R+L Carriers New Orleans bowl games themselves never turn out to be entertaining. The closest game was back in 2002 when North Texas beat Cincinnati 24-19. Aside from that, each winning team has won by wide double-digit margins. And besides, what football fan won’t be watching the Panthers and Giants battle it out on Sunday Night Football. If I were a Troy alumnus, I’m pretty sure I’d still tune into the Football Night in America coverage, with maybe an occasional channel switch whenever John Madden has been talking for more than 20 seconds.

Randomness: Southern Miss has a case to be the #2 team in the country. How, you wonder? Follow along: Southern Miss beat ECU, who beat Virginia Tech, who beat Georgia Tech, who beat Georgia, who beat South Carolina, who beat Ole Miss, who beat Florida. If I were Larry Fedora, I’d be outraged to be delegated to the lowly New Orleans Bowl. Protest, Larry, protest!

Pick: Troy 30, Southern Miss 28