Bowl Preview: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
Ford Field, Detroit
Ohio University vs. Marshall
Date: Dec. 26
Time: 1 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Line: Ohio -3

About Ohio: The Bobcats are coached by former Nebraska coach Frank Solich and won the MAC East Division this year. OU has a long history of being one of, if not THE, worst Division I football program -ever. I still find it weird they're in a bowl. I keep re-reading the paper to see if it was all a joke and it's actually Miami, Oh. instead. But no, it's actually OU. That's creepy to type.

Intangibles:
Halloween: +2
"YOU MAY HAVE WON BUT WE PARTY SO MUCH HARDER THAN YOU! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!": -3
Athens during the summer: +3
Athens any other time of the year: -3

About Marshall: The Thundering Herd is the football definition of gettin' a little big for its britches. In the 90s, Marshall went from being a Division 1-AA power to moving to Division I and become a MAC power. All that winning went to its collective head when Marshall made the decision to join Conference USA. Whoops. Can we go back to the MAC? So after mediocrity ensued the Herd has now fired coach Mark Snyder and hired WVU assistant Doc Holliday. Frankly, I have no idea who's coaching this team in the bowl game.

Intangibles:
"Alma mater" of Randy Moss: -3
"We Are Marshall" : +1
Matthew McConaghey in "We Are Marshall": -4

Impact player: Ohio WR Taylor Price is the real deal. Big and fast and can catch the ball. And there was a story about him in the paper today which is why I know these things.

Bowl slogan: "Pizza! Pizza!"

Little known fact: Ohio University is the greatest school on the face of the earth. If you have any doubt about this, ask an alum and they will tell you. AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. AND THEY WILL NEVER SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT IT. COURT STREET, HALLOWEEN, YEAH, I GET IT DUDE. IT WAS AWESOME. JESUS.

Little known fact #2: When these two schools were both in the MAC, they used to play a "rivalry" game known as "The Battle for the Bell." Where this bell was located, I was never really sure.

Watchability (1-5): 1.1

The pick: Bobcats 26, Thundering Herd 21