Bowling in place beats the alternative

When the bowl lineup comes out each year, there’s always some matchups you’d love to see — but probably won’t.

Washington State vs. Boise State in the Rypien Reunion Bowl.

Oregon vs. Florida State in the Willie Taggart Bowl.

Idaho vs. ... oh, that’s right.

(It would be nice to see Oregon State in ANY bowl game, but that looks to be a few years away.)

WE’VE ALMOST been conditioned to the point where, now that we have the College Football Playoff, all the other bowls are consolation bowls — filler TV, leading up to the national semifinals and then the national championship.

Not quite.

The Rose Bowl matchup for one, should excite — Washington vs. Ohio State. Champions of the Pac-12 and Big Ten conferences, meeting in “The Granddaddy of Them All,” just like the old days.

(What’s weird is watching a Rose Bowl which includes a team not from the Pac-12 or Big Ten — like the 2003 game with Oklahoma beating WSU. Not only because Jason Gesser, one of the Cougars’ all-time great quarterbacks, concluded his dynamic career as somewhat of a sitting duck against an active Sooners defense because of a sprained ankle. But also because WSU let Mike Price coach in the game as a good-bye present, after he’d already accepted the job at Alabama.)

Anyway, Ohio State probably thinks that, with a little different political climate and a closer loss to Purdue, the Buckeyes would be in the College Football Playoff. But I’m sure they’ll gladly settle for Pasadena and the Urban Meyer Retirement Game No. 2 on New Year’s Day.

Then there’s the Huskies. WSU fans quickly label Washington’s season a disappointment. The Huskies entered the season with playoff aspirations, but couldn’t beat Auburn in the season opener, then stumbled vs. Oregon and Cal in conference play.

OK, but despite all that, the Cougars still couldn’t take advantage of the supposedly bumbling Huskies, losing to them at home in the Apple Cup, then blaming the snow for cramping their offensive style.

Snow won’t be a problem inside the Alamodome, where WSU will take on some college football players representing Iowa State on Dec. 28 in San Antonio.

At least dropping to the Alamo Bowl after losing the Apple Cup lessened the chance of WSU having to head to San Diego for a third straight year for a bowl game — as if repeated trips to San Diego is a bad thing.

That didn’t use to be a problem for the Cougars. Prior to 1981, they’d been to all of two bowl games. Now they’re headed to their fourth straight, and fifth in six seasons.

But it’s their first trip to the Alamo Bowl since 1994, and only their second trip overall.

Despite their recent success, I don’t think WSU takes these annual bowl trips for granted — though the Cougs probably need to maybe win one of them — after looking bad in their last two bowl games, losses to Minnesota and Michigan State.

(Also, I don’t care about the glut of bowls — I just look at bowl games as programming — something to fill 3 1/2 hours of airtime. If you don’t like it, watch something else. No worries.)

THEN THERE’S Boise State.

The Broncos are used to going to the same place for a bowl game — their first three bowl games were in Boise. But they haven’t had to “settle” for playing a bowl game in their home stadium since 2005.

Boise State is headed to its 19th bowl game in 20 years, and since bowl tie-ins don’t change much, there’s bound to be some returning to the scene of the crime.

Last year’s Las Vegas Bowl was Boise’s fourth trip to Sin City in eight seasons.

At least Boise can say it played in the first First Responder Bowl — the game was called the Heart of Dallas Bowl for the first eight years.

Boise fans can grumble about not getting to go to SoCal or Arizona for a bowl game, but it’s their team’s own fault — it lost the conference championship game on its home field.

But in time, rather than grumbling about their bowl destination, fans of WSU and Boise State should realize it’s better than the alternative.

Just ask Oregon State ... and Idaho.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.