NCAA Football tulsa Golden Hurricane

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Alabama), which pits Tulsa against Ball State.

Overview/Matchup: If you're Ball State, you are most likely doing your best David Byrne impression and wondering, "How did I get here?" This is not my undefeated season. This is not my BCS bowl. And so on. After Nate Davis and crew coughed up a horrid MAC Championship loss to Buffalo, they crushed any argument they had to go anywhere but Mobile. And waiting for them, in the next to last bowl of the year, is Tulsa, who just lost to East Carolina in the championship game. Third place is the second loser!

Hotels: Already one of the finest hotels in Mobile, the Renaissance Riverview Plaza is almost finished with a US$60 million overhaul that will make it one of the finest hotels in southern Alabama. Bowl travelers will also be happy with the hotel's proximity to the stadium; Ladd-Peebles Stadium is just minutes away.

I tell you what -- "East Carolina is your conference champion" is not a phrase I really planned on hearing (or wanted to hear, for that matter) in 2008. However, after the Purple Pirates defeated Tulsa, 27-24, on a late field goal to win the Conference-USA championship and a Liberty Bowl berth, it's just a phrase everyone is going to have to get used to hearing.

The Pirates, though, without delving into some ridiculous coming-of-age type of storyline, are once again fun to root for; the first few weeks of this season, the Pirates were America's sweetheart, rising up in the polls as they continued to upset bigger name teams.

And people whispered those magic "BCS" letters, because the Pirates, could have, conceivably, run the table in their Conference and landed in a big January bowl. They didn't make it all the way to the top, but a resurgent second half of the season has them headed towards the Liberty Bowl now (as I predicted elsewhere).

Oh yeah -- the game itself was interesting too.

It was a nice story -- aren't they all? -- but things aren't always meant to be. The boy doesn't always get the girl. Some Cinderellas don't get to ride in giant pumpkins. Tulsa won't get its undefeated, BCS dream season after falling to Arkansas 30-23.

The Golden Hurricanes' vaunted offense staggered early, trailing 17-7 before rallying to within three points at halftime, 23-30. The difference was an Arkansas kickoff return touchdown in the third quarter. Scoring was frozen after that as Arkansas' defense tightened. Tulsa did manage over 500 yards of offense but could not score in the decisive fourth quarter.