A trivial pursuit of bowl season

Since December is a fine time for reflection, I went over some of my columns this fall and came upon a startling statistic: Six of my last 12 columns have been good, which means I'm eligible to cover a bowl game.
What can I say? I'm honored.
Of course, it won't be one of those flashy bowls like the Sugar Bowl (sponsored by Nokia) or the Silicon Valley Football Classic (sponsored by Pamela Anderson, I think), so I made sure to brush up on my bowl knowledge.
So, after 38 excruciating seconds of research, I've put together my second-annual Bowl Trivia Contest. The winner receives a lifetime subscription to this paper, provided he (or she) pays for it.
Questions
1. Match the host city with the following car-related bowl games.
I. Continental Tire Bowl
II. Alamo Bowl
III. Motor City Bowl
IV. GMAC Bowl.
a. Mobile, Ala.
b. Detroit
c. Charlotte, N.C.
d. San Antonio
2. Which of the bowls in Question 1 is definitely NOT the stupidest?
3. Michigan, which ended Ohio State's national championship dreams, will play Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Which begs the question, How do you get a Michigan graduate off your porch?
4. What do you get if you drive slowly through Ann Arbor?
5. The Bowl Championship Series has taken a lot of heat over the past few years for being confusing, inadequate and stupid. But what is the BCS best known for?
6. Do games such as the Las Vegas Bowl -- which pits the immortal New Mexico Lobos against the illustrious Oregon State Beavers -- serve only to shovel cash into the greedy palms of athletic administrators, TV networks and shady Las Vegas bookies?
7. Will Michigan lose to the Trojans by 50 points, or 60?
8. Wouldn't Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning look darn good in a Browns uniform next season?
9. Who will win the Sugar Bowl?
Bonus question: Does the Dec. 31 Music City Bowl have a corporate sponsor?
Answers
1. I-c, II-d, III-b, IV-a.
2. The Motor City Bowl, because EVERYONE wants to go to Michigan in December, especially since that bowl pays an extra $50,000 over the GMAC and Continental Tire Bowl. And that extra money definitely DOES NOT go to pay for homicide insurance, and even implying that it does would be a pretty cheap Michigan-related joke.
3. Pay for the pizza. But seriously, I'm not going to sit around and rip on Michigan just because I might be a wee bit bitter about the Ohio State game. The rest of the questions will be nice. Promise.
4. A diploma. (OK, I lied.)
5. Being confusing, inadequate and stupid.
6. Absolutely not. They exist to enrich the overall college experience of our nation's devoted student-athletes.
7. My guess is 104, but only if they run continuous clock in the second half.
8. Yes.
9. Oklahoma. But the real winners are the LSU fans, who need to drive just a few miles to watch their team in the national title game. And who knows? Maybe they'll run over dinner on the way.
Bonus question: Actually, a prestigious bowl game like that needs two. Which is why there's no better way to get ready for the new year than grabbing a glass of fine champagne, a dollop of caviar and plopping down in front of the TV to watch two 7-5 teams battle in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Presented by Bridgestone.
(Everybody sing!)
Should this bad bowl game be forgot
And never brought to mind.
It's probably because you got sloshed
From drinking too much wine.
XJoe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.