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It's always nice to talk about the great stories of the bowl season. This year includes teams like the Western Michigan Broncos, who went from 1-11 in 2013 to an impressive 8-4 finish in 2014. And the South Alabama Jaguars, who didn't even have a football team until 2010, a year in which they played seven games at the FCS level and won them all. One other great story has to be the Ohio State Buckeyes, down to third-string quarterback Cardale Jones who propelled them into the first-ever CFB Playoff with a 59-0 crushing of Wisconsin.
These are all beautiful stories, but just getting to a bowl game is not enough for some. There are squads out there in this year's field that absolutely need a win. It may be because a coach is on the hot seat or because recruiting is trending down. Regardless of the reason, these five teams need bowl victories more than anyone else.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
While the Irish have the 10th-ranked recruiting class in the nation currently, with nine four-star recruits and 12 three-stars, this game could still benefit them on the recruiting trail. In all honesty, though, that's not the reason the Irish need to win this game. There was hype surrounding Notre Dame before this season and all the way through its 6-0 start (and even after just narrowly losing to FSU, for that matter) about the Irish's potential to nab a CFB Playoff spot. All of that fell apart fast, thanks to four straight losses to end 2014.
This is a team that went from being a defensive juggernaut, to making a complete turn for the worst after losing to FSU. The Irish gave up an average of 17.2 points per game through their undefeated start, but ended the year allowing 29.3 points, ranking them 85th in the nation. Sure, injuries hurt this team, but there are no excuses to be made for Irish football when it comes to a collapse like this. Notre Dame hasn't lost six games in a season since 2009, and they surely don't want that streak to end in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 vs. No. 23 LSU.
Irish head coach Brian Kelly was looking for a tough bowl matchup, and he's got one here against the Tigers. Knocking off a prestigious program like LSU heading into the offseason could do wonders for this team's confidence heading into 2015, and obviously it couldn't hurt to break that painful four-game losing streak.
Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes massively underachieved in 2014, to put it gently. Sure, they made a bowl game, but they finished the year with just a 6-6 record, going 3-5 in ACC play.
Let's put it this way, when you have a freshman quarterback in Brad Kaaya who throws for nearly 3,000 yards with 25 touchdowns, and a stud running back in Duke Johnson, who averaged an incredible seven yards per carry en route to 1,520 yards and 10 touchdowns, there's no excuse to be this mediocre.
Now, losing three games through the first half of the season to Louisville, Nebraska and Georgia Tech is nothing to turn your nose up at. The issue is that this Hurricanes' team fell apart again down the home stretch, as they lost three straight to close out the year. Sound familiar? How about last season when the Hurricanes started out 7-0, then dropped three in a row and lost their bowl game 36-9 to the aforementioned Cardinals? Or 2012, when they started 4-1, but then lost four of five games and ended the year at 7-5 overall. We could go back one more year, when Miami went 2-3 to finish the season and landed right at the .500 mark again.
A 9-4 season in 2013 (a year that truly should have gone even better) is the only time this team has topped a 7-5 record since 2010. This is the case of a prestigious program that has delivered mediocrity recently, which all adds up to one thing: a very hot seat for head coach Al Golden, who started at Miami in 2010.
Hurricanes' athletic director Blake James has had Golden's back, even through the tough finish to end 2014. With that said, if the Canes suffer a bowl loss against a struggling South Carolina team and have a mediocre year in 2015, then it could be back to the drawing board for Miami football. This Hurricanes' team needs to end this season on a high note and head into next year with great expectations.
Texas Longhorns
The start to Charlie Strong's run as Texas Longhorns head coach didn't come with expectations of a national championship. What it did come with was the hope that this team could continue heading in the right direction after going 8-4 in the regular season in 2013. Last year, the Longhorns' four losses came to an 8-4 BYU Cougars' team and three teams then ranked in the top 25 -- Ole Miss, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
However, this year was disappointing one. Now, the Longhorns get a pass to at least some extent after losing quarterback David Ash to a career-ending head injury and competing without both their starting center and nose tackle. Despite the injuries, the Longhorns have quite a bit of talent, and a 6-6 finish simply wasn't enough. Heck, even getting to 6-6 was a challenge for this team, as they started the year out 3-5 with an upward climb to bowl eligibility. Fortunately, the Longhorns avoided complete disaster by winning three straight before getting run over by the TCU Horned Frogs 48-10 in the season finale.
In the Texas Bowl, the Longhorns have a chance to defeat an SEC opponent and end the year on a high note. Arkansas is 6-6, but all but one of its losses came by a touchdown or less. They were beaten by Alabama by a single point and lost to Mississippi State, Georgia and Missouri by seven. Arkansas also has wins over Ole Miss and LSU on its resume.
A win for Texas could not only provide a huge momentum swing going into 2015 but also save QB Tyrone Swoopes' starting job next year if he's able to have a strong showing against the Hogs' SEC defense.
South Carolina Gamecocks
How much more fun can this game between Miami and South Carolina get?
South Carolina is in the midst of a strange, strange time right now. How much longer will Steve Spurrier coach? No one actually knows, and that may include Spurrier, too. This has been one of the most frustrating seasons of his head coaching career. Losing to the struggling Hurricanes? Well, that would be the icing on a very ugly cake.
The good news for the Gamecocks is that Spurrier has done a great job of bringing in some serious talent and they have the 12th overall recruiting class for 2015. But the reason South Carolina needs to win the Independence Bowl is pretty simple: A 6-7 year, while going 3-5 in SEC play, would just be flat out ugly for a team predicted to play for the conference title during the preseason.
This is the first time that South Carolina has lost six games since 2009. The last time that they lost seven games? We're talking back in 2003, when they capped off their season with a 63-17 loss to top rival Clemson.
Look at South Carolina's body of work this season. They beat one current top-25 team in the Georgia Bulldogs, and also defeated East Carolina and Florida. Their losses? Well, they came against pretty much everyone that would have helped out their resume this year. They were dominated by Texas A&M in the opening game of the year and then beaten by Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee and finally Clemson.
But the worry isn't just about one season alone. It's about the fact that this Gamecocks' team needs to show that they can end on a high note and then refocus on getting back into the SEC Championship talks next season. Luckily for the Gamecocks, they still have the opportunity to walk away with what could be a confidence-building consolation prize.
Tennessee Volunteers
The Volunteers haven't been to a bowl game since 2010, and are looking to return to relevance against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the TaxSlayer Bowl. This Tennessee team finished the year at 6-6 with a 3-5 SEC record, but they clinched bowl eligibility after a win over Vanderbilt in the final week of the season. While the Vols have to be happy to be bowling again, very few of their wins this year stood out on paper, specifically in conference play.
The Volunteers have an incredible football tradition, but it's been a tough stretch over the past few seasons for them. The excitement around Tennessee football has taken a bit of a hit, but if they can make a statement this bowl season then it could help them in many ways, including through recruiting. If Tennessee can show recruits that they are once again a possible threat to make some noise in the SEC, then it could lead to even more success, and help them build on a strong 2015 recruiting campaign. This school has great facilities, a strong fan base and all of the makings for what should be a consistently successful program.
There's obviously still plenty of work to do outside of one bowl game for the Volunteers, but a win could get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Follow Jeff Smith on Twitter @JSM8ith.
