Rating the Independence Bowl: Double the option, double your fun

Bowls: There are a lot of them. As a public service, the Doc is here to rank each game according to five crucial criteria, with help from the patron saint of the game in question. Today: The Independence Bowl!

Teams. Air Force Falcons (8-4) vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-6).
Particulars. Dec. 27 (Today), 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Favorite: Air Force (–3)
Patron Saint: Widowed, alcoholic Vietnam vet turned crop-duster Russell Casse, hero of the 1996 smash "Independence Day," whose previous experience as an alien abductee fuels his suicidal attack on the alien mothership with the U.S. Air Force's last remaining missile. Casse was portrayed by award-winning actor and notable crazy person Randy Quaid.

• Locale. If you assume that Shreveport's Independence Stadium exists for the sole purpose of the production of the Independence Bowl – the most celebrated bowl game in Northern Louisiana! – in a lonely city with no football-producing campus of its own, well, you're basically right. Despite Shreveport's considerable efforts – the city has spent tens of millions since 2005 on a new replay scoreboard ("the magnificent marquis" you'll spot during your "leisurely drive" along adjacent Interstate 20), a renovation that raised the capacity above 50,000, the installation of FieldTurf and additional concession stands flanked by televisions to ensure no fan might miss an "action-packed moment" on the field – the non-Independence Bowl action is basically limited to a few local high school games.

    More 2010 Bowl Ratings
  • Dec. 17: New Mexico Bowl
  • Dec. 18: Humanitarian Bowl
  • Dec. 18: New Orleans Bowl
  • Dec. 22: Maaco Bowl Las Vegas
  • Dec. 23: Poinsettia Bowl
  • Dec. 24: Hawaii Bowl
  • Dec. 26: Little Caesars Bowl

Since the unfortunate departure of the World Football League's Shreveport Steamer in the mid-seventies and the CFL's Shreveport Pirates 20 years alter, the stadium's purpose is limited to occasional fair duty and the New Orleans Saints' first post-Katrina preseason game back in 2006.

• Tradition. The Independence Bowl began life in 1976 as the Bicentennial Bowl, making it the 11th-oldest bowl game, and hasn't carried the immortal "Poulan Weedeater" sponsorship since 1996. But deep down, it will always be the "Weed Whacker Bowl" – the embodiment of the depressing holiday destination to cap a mostly depressing season: Including Georgia Tech tonight, eight of the last ten teams invited to Shreveport since 2006 have limped in at 6-6. At 8-4, Air Force is the first team to show up with fewer than five losses since Miami (Ohio) in 2004, and could emerge as the first nine-game winner on the other side since Arkansas in '03.

It wasn't always that bad, before the bowl glut – along with the decision to incorporate conference-specific tie-ins, instead of leaving the game open to the most attractive options available – pushed the Independence further down the food chain. From 1991-2000, the winner of the Independence Bowl finished in the top 25 eight times, capped by Mississippi State after its overtime comeback over Texas A&M in a New Year's Eve blizzard in 2000. Whatever else happens, they'll always have the Snow Bowl.

• Swag. It's pretty much standard fare here: Players come away with a couple of hats and a watch, meaning success and failure of Independence swag comes down to the undefined items in the "gift suite." If they happen to include a private dance party with these guys, this paint job and/or a gift certificate to wherever this guy got his hair done, obviously, it's a smashing success.

• Sponsors, trophies and other ambiance. Say what you will about Shreveport (and I know you will), but it knows how to bring out the stars, dahling:

Unless Soulj Boy unexpectedly shows up at the TGI Friday's again, you're not going to find a hotter ticket this year.

• This year's match-up. Georgia Tech and Air Force will be recreating the mirror scene from "Duck Soup" in a clash of two of the four offenses nationally still running some version of the classic bone-based, triple-option attack. It may be a high-scoring affair, but it most certainly will not be high-flying: The Yellow Jackets and Falcons finished No. 1 and No. 2 nationally in rushing offense, and put the ball in the air less often than any offenses outside of their option brethren at Army and Navy.

That didn't translate well against respectable competition – only three of the 14 wins between both teams came against opponents that finished with a winning record. If you're into disciplined cut-blocking, though, this is your game of the year.

• Star power. Georgia Tech fullback Anthony Allen picked up the baton from Jonathan Dwyer, the ACC Player of the Year for last year's conference championship team, churning out a 1,225-yard season between the tackles that gave the Jackets their fifth 1,200-yard rusher in as many years. But Tech has missed the other high-profile cog in the option machine, senior quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who was on pace for his first 1,000-yard season on the ground when he went down with a broken forearm in the Nov. 4 loss at Virginia Tech.

Nesbitt remains doubtful to play tonight, leaving sophomore Tevin Washington one last chance to solidify his status as heir apparent going into spring practice, after an inconsistent closing month in Nesbitt's stead.

Final rating: out of five.
Again, for old school cut-block enthusiasts, this is your game: Both of these attacks are guaranteed to leave shredded knees in their wake. Once the novelty wears off, though, it's a pair of also-rans that failed to beat a ranked opponent. Not bad, but it's no Snow Bowl.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Ashley Greene April Scott Mia Kirshner Elisabeth Röhm Lily Allen