Joe's 2010 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Review

by Joe

Looking at each team's performance over the season, the two teams in this year's Hawaii Bowl looked pretty close.

Evaluating recent performance a bit closer, Tulsa had the edge: TU went to Hawaii with 6-straight wins: at Notre Dame, three-straight rivalry games and Southern Miss (was on the verge of top-25).
Hawaii had won 3-straight, but against teams with a combined record of 5-33. Tulsa's previous 3 opponents were 19-17 combined (2 bowl-eligible). Hawaii hasn't beaten a bowl-eligible team since the October win over Nevada.

Tulsa had slightly better losses (last second loss @ECU, blowout loss @ Big-12 South co-champion OSU and slim loss @ C-USA West co-champion SMU), but the early season struggles had more to do with 10 Freshman & Sophomore starters (24 on two-deep). Once they got the swagger, the defense was so good at ruining opposing QB's days I often felt sorry for them.