We're only hours away from kickoff of the first bowl game that will feature two ranked teams, the Maaco Last Vegas Bowl. In case you still haven't made your plans for the game, kickoff is set for 5:00 PM on ESPN. The game will also be available on ESPN360.com for those of you without access to the Worldwide Leader on your television set.

Speaking of ESPN, they're pretty amped up for this game, and why not? Like I mentioned above, it's the first bowl game that features two ranked teams, they both have prolific offenses-- quarterbacks, in particular-- and it's the only game of the night, exclusively on their network.

Staying on the topic if ESPN, we'll shift to their bloggers now. This has already been brought up here on BtD, but here it is again, for good measure: Ted Miller is picking BYU, and Graham Watson (covers the smaller conferences for ESPN) picked the Beavers.

Their reasoning? Watson likes the overall team speed of Oregon State to overwhelm BYU. Miller is worried about OSU's secondary, and thinks the fact that BYU is riding high after a win over Utah will put them over the top.

However you look at those two perspectives, it sticks to the trend that the better defense in tonight's game will win.

OSU wide receiver/holder Taylor Kavanaugh's last diary in The Oregonian doesn't dissapoint. Along with the other twelve seniors on the team, he'll be playing his last college football game today.

A lot has been made this week of the missionaries BYU has on their roster, esentially means that a lot of BYU's players are two years older than the players they are lining up against on OSU's roster. However, the Beavers do have four players who have returned from missions-- Sioeli Nau, linebacker Walker Vave, as well as Kevin and Devin Unga. 

Dick Harmon of the Desert News has his take on the Canfield/ Hall duel:

Hall versus Canfield. Sounds like a boxing card. But it's a great story line to start with Tuesday night in a city known for its marquees.

If there's any other links you'd like to share, drop them here.

--Jake | (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)