Originally Posted by
Eddy Munny
While I agree with the premise, I disagree with most of these examples you cited. You can't just assume that any team who struggles down the stretch will find themselves in a bowl they'd rather not be, and hence, be unmotivated to play.
"All Duke had to do was win two out of three games to win the ACC Atlantic..." You make it sound simple enough, but when you're Duke, nothing is taken for granted. This is football, mind you. Sure, things could have went better, but they could have went worse, too. When you play football for Duke, just securing a bowl bid is an achievement in and of itself. Furthermore, they will be pitted against a sexy, PAC 12 team with a high powered offense in Arizona St., whom most people probably expect will dispatch Duke matter-of-factly. Duke is always battling the public perception that they are just a cute story, and not a real football team, and this game will be no exception. They will embrace the underdog role yet again. The question is, will Arizona St. be motivated?
Colorado State is in a similar boat as Duke. Maybe they could have elevated their bowl stock with a win, but they certainly don't think so highly of themselves as to scoff at the chance to play Utah. When do CSU players ever get a chance to play in front of an ABC television audience, with no other games to compete with? Again, Utah is from a power conference, with lofty wins over UCLA, USC, and Stanford. I don't think the Rams players were in a "Fiesta Bowl or bust" state of mind from the outset, so I don't think expect that they are devastated by having to "settle" for Utah in the Vegas Bowl... And as far as the "1/10 of the money" thing, that's irrelevant. That money wasn't going into the players' pockets anyway, and they're the ones who'll be suiting up.
With Georgia, you may have a legitimate point. Playing Louisville in the Belk Bowl probably isn't what they had in mind, but the Cardinals may have UGA's attention nonetheless, considering what they (Louisville) did to another SEC team, in Florida, that was asleep at the wheel in last year's bowl game. It's hard to say where Georgia's head will be at for this game, but I wouldn't doubt that Louisville may be the more motivated team here.
I don't think the Iowa Hawkeyes will simply mail it in because of their rough finish. Let's not kid ourselves, they are a middle of the pack B1G team. Nobody is ready to quit just because they didn't reach the conference title game. They may have been 6-2 heading into the home stretch, but they hadn't played anybody. Even their losses were to scrub teams like Iowa St. and Maryland. Then you have to consider that three of their final four games included Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska, so I'd say their record was pretty close to par for the course. If anything, I think Iowa may be motivated to finish the year on a strong note, and prove that they are more like the team that made Wisky sweat, and less like the team that got their asses handed to 'em by Minny. You also have to consider that they drew an SEC team (Tennessee) and schools from perceived inferior conferences always salivate at the opportunity to knock of an opponent from the darling super-conference.
To answer you question though, I think you have to start with TCU and Baylor. You can't say with absolute certainty that these two teams will be lethargic or apathetic in their respective games, but the end to the year certainly raises questions as to the mindset of the team. They were thinking playoff berth and national championship, right up until the time they realized they were the 5th and 6th teams, and thus, the first two teams left out. That's a tough pill to swallow, and will test the mental resolve of any player, as well as the ability of the coaching staff to keep players focused.
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