What outer world says about Iowa-Oklahoma Insight Bowl

To answer the headline of this post, not much. The rest of the world doesn't much care about the Insight Bowl. Or any other bowl, for that matter. Not when our planet may have a twin in another solar system.

But a few people have noticed Iowa will play Oklahoma in Tempe on Dec. 30. Like:

Spencer Hall, SB Nation. He ranked the Insight the 11th-best of the 35 bowl matchups. Hall said. He added:

It'll be odd to see if Oklahoma can sew its own head back on before it faces Iowa, a team that's been deadly competitive in bowls under Kirk Ferentz and all-too-happy to watch you destroy yourself after the Iowa offense runs a bit, tries a few of the same five passing plays they've been running for ten years, and then punts you to death with field position. This is contingent on a.) Iowa defending (an iffy proposition) and b.) Oklahoma playing several pay grades below their ability. This being 2011, "playing below your pay grade" has been an area of expertise for Oklahoma.

OK, I can't top that. But here's what another SB Nation writer, who goes by the name "jtesooner," wrote for Crimsonandcreammachine.com.

Talk about a nightmare scenario for Oklahoma. Last night's embarrassing failure aside (against Oklahoma State), now this team has to go back to Arizona. Again. Except this time it's to an even crappier bowl than the Fiesta. OU will be lucky, and I mean lucky, to sell 5,000 tickets to that game. ...

They'll surely try and "spin" the whole Stoops/Iowa angle (because that hasn't been beaten to death yet), but that isn't near enough to convince Sooner fans to shell out money to go watch this OU team play a middling Big 10 team. Gonna be A LOT of empty seats in Tempe.

This day-after notes package by The Oklahoman's Mike Baldwin points to nothing but misery for the Sooners.

“I was very disappointed with our performance at the receiver position,” said OU co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. “But overall offensively we stubbed our toes in different areas.

“Whether it was the offensive line not blocking, or backs not holding onto the ball, or receivers not making plays, there was plenty of blame to spread around. Offensively, we did not respond against a very good offensive football team.”

The Wall Street Journal assigns a movie to each of the 35 bowls. I would have guessed Iowa-Oklahoma to be "Friends With Benefits." Because Kirk Ferentz and Bob Stoops are friends, and both, uh, aren't poor.

But the WSJ went with "Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

You can find out why here, though it's not really much of an explanation. I much prefer the article's movie for the Kansas State-Arkansas Cotton Bowl:

The Social Network

(Cotton Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas State, Jan. 6 in Dallas) Bill Snyder, a genius lacking somewhat in charisma, manages to build a powerhouse out of nothing.

I enjoyed "The Social Network" a great deal. But "Dr. Strangelove," now that's a classic. Good luck living up to that, Hawkeyes and Sooners.