Moment 6: “BCS Mania”(December/January 2009 and 2010)
Yesterday I told you of the month of December in 2008, which ended on New Year’s Eve, where I found myself standing on the field that the Florida Marlins, by the strength of Edgar Renteria’s 11th inning hit, won the 1997 World Series on. 
From way up in right field, this was my view of the Orange Bowl
I always say that Carrie Underwood was right, “Crazy Dreams do come true.”
Well, that 2008 season led the Cincinnati Bearcats to their first ever BCS Bowl game, a place usually reserved for the biggest names in the sport. I watched the 2006 Orange Bowl that pitted Bobby Bowden and Florida State against Joe Paterno and Penn State just a few years earlier. Cincinnati was not a team that should ever be in a BCS bowl game, but some guy named Brian Kelly was a wizard, and he made it happen.
The Bearcats take the field in Miami. It was certainly an awesome feeling.
Standing in Joe Robbe Stadium that evening was an almost surreal experience. Before we left the hotel that afternoon for the game, myself and my co-workers discussed how we had come to the top of the college football food chain, so to speak, and reached one of the pinnacles of the game.
My how we were wrong.
One year later we found ourselves sitting in the video office with a perfect 12-0 record watching as Colt McCoy scrambled to his right and threw the ball out of bounds in the Big XII title game. No time remained on the clock. We were headed to play in the National Title game.
And then, as you all know, it was deemed that time had not run out, and Texas hit a game-winning field goal to go to the title game, where they lost to Alabama.
Well, we were close at least.
Back to Miami, where although the matchup between Virginia Tech and the UC Bearcats seemed like it would be a close game, nothing ever really clicked for us beyond the first drive. Tony Pike threw four interceptions and we lost 20-7.
Even though we lost, it’s one game that I’ll never forget.
In New Orleans 365 days later things couldn’t have been more different. Kelly had gone to Notre Dame and interim head coach Jeff Quinn was named head man at Buffalo, but he was still around coaching the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl.
That Sugar Bowl will forever be known as the final game for Tim Tebow. And Tebow made the most of it, throwing for 482 yards and three touchdowns. One reporter noted that the game was over by halftime, “30 minutes in which Tebow had already rung up the best statistical outing of his four-year college career.”
Tebow warms up before the Sugar Bowl where he absolutely lit up the UC secondary, leading then-UC defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to cry for mercy at halftime
That game may not have been fun to watch as a UC fan, but I enjoyed watching the team my brother has rooted for his entire life. It was pretty cool to see Albert and Alberta—the Gator mascots—and to hear the Florida band play their “Jaws” theme.
My brother Tony is still jealous when he sees photos like this one
Co-worker Joe Stanek even told me, “Your brother would love this I bet.”
He would have, no doubt, but I loved those two experiences even more. UC’s football program had truly reached the pinnacle of college football, and it was exciting to be wrapped up in those experiences. While we didn’t win either game, it was almost surreal to be at those games. I noted numerous times to friends and family that, “The endzones are painted just like you see them on TV!”
Yeah, I’m a dork. And I love it.
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That was moment No. 6 in the countdown, and tomorrow we check in to the beginning of the top five rundown in the most impactful and important moments in my undergraduate career.
If you’ve missed any of the top ten countdown, check the links below for the run down:
No. 10- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/10-days-until-graduation.html
No. 9- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/nine-days-until-graduation.html
No. 8- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/eight-days-until-graduation.html
No. 7- http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-week-until-graduation.html
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