COLLEGE BOWLS Upset leaves Eagles kicking Continental Tires

Boston College appeared headed to a BCS game until it lost to Syracuse.
Associated Press
Boston College missed out on a Bowl Championship Series game thanks to a lopsided loss to Syracuse, so it must settle for the Continental Tire Bowl instead.
The Eagles (8-3) were invited to the Dec. 30 bowl in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday, three days after falling to the Orangemen 43-17 and losing out on their first outright Big East title. The Eagles will face future ACC rival North Carolina (6-5) in the bowl.
There was plenty of other bowl action Tuesday, including Georgia accepting a bid to play Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day in Tampa, Fla.; and Florida State formally accepting its bid to play in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1 against West Virginia.
More bids
Also, Boise State will play Louisville in the Liberty Bowl; New Mexico faces Navy in the Emerald Bowl; Connecticut heads to the Motor City Bowl; Marshall was invited to the Fort Worth Bowl against Cincinnati; Bowling Green will play Memphis in the GMAC Bowl; Georgia Tech goes to the Champs Sports Bowl; and Wyoming is headed to the Las Vegas Bowl, and Virginia will play in the MPC Computers Bowl. Peach Bowl officials said they want Florida to play in the Dec. 31 game.
All Boston College had to do to get a berth in either the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl was win at home against a Syracuse team that was 5-5 and needed a victory just to be bowl eligible. But the Eagles could not get it done in their last season in the Big East. BC and Syracuse finished tied for the league title with Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
The Eagles join the ACC next year.
No. 8 Georgia (9-2), considered a national title contender at the beginning of the season, fell short with losses to SEC rivals Tennessee and Auburn.
Still, the Outback Bowl is a good consolation prize, following up appearances in the Sugar and Capital One the last two years.
Plenty of offense
The Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., features the nation's top two offenses. No. 7 Louisville (9-1) leads the nation in total and scoring offense behind quarterback Stefan LeFors, while No. 11 Boise State (11-0) is second in both categories.
Connecticut (7-4) will play the winner of Thursday night's Mid-American Conference title game between Toledo (8-3) and Miami of Ohio (8-3) in its first postseason trip as a Division I-A school.
Marshall (6-5) earned its seventh bowl trip in eight seasons despite losing two of its final three games.
The second-year bowl was supposed to pit teams from Conference USA and the Big 12, but there weren't enough eligible Big 12 schools. Bowl officials also had negotiated with the ACC and Big East for another opponent.
Georgia Tech finally will play in a bowl that's not too far from home. After being sent out West for three straight years, the Yellow Jackets (6-5) will play a team from the Big 12 in the bowl formerly known as the Tangerine.
The announcement had been expected since the weekend, when Virginia said it would not play in a bowl on Dec. 13-21 because of exams. The Cavaliers are expected to play in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., on Dec. 28. That game has an opening because the SEC doesn't have enough eligible teams to meet its bowl commitments.
The Peach Bowl wants the Gators and hopes Ron Zook will hang around to coach the game in Atlanta.
Bowl president Gary Stokan said that the selection committee voted for Florida over Alabama as its choice from the SEC, assuming the Gators are available.