When I first sketched the idea of this thread the idea was to promote the idea of boycotting the Orange Bowl to make the Fiesta Bowl the more popular bowl in the TV ratings.  If a significant number of fans watch all the bowls games except one that would get noticed in the rankings.

Then I came to realize that the Fiesta Bowl just needs to be acknowledged as the better and more marketable game on its own right.  I still plan on watching "The Blindside" instead of the Orange Bowl.

If the Fiesta Bowl can out Nelson the Orange Bowl this will mark a turning point when the at large conferences (or at least the MWC and Boise State) demonstrate their marketability to the national audience.  This could lead to large scale perception changes among the people who really matter.

And if you really hate the BCS but find the idea of protesting all of their games ridiculous, I ask you to consider just giving up this one Orange Bowl.

Some numbers I found interesting:

Population of Idaho: 1.5M

Population of Iowa: 3.0M

Population of Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Plex: 6.3M

Poputation of Atlanta metropolitan area: 5.6M

Fiesta Bowl fan base population:   8.1M

Orange Bowl fan base population: 8.6M

This is not a vary wide margin of difference.  It should be observed that the Fiesta Bowl participants, particularly TCU, have not saturated their markets to the level of the Orange Bowl participants.  My question is which game has the broader national interest?  One factor to consider is that the Fiesta Bowl will be in the football fan friendly Monday Night with the Orange Bowl deferred to Tuesday night.  This alone could even out the differences in fan base levels of the teams.

Not to mention the 25-0 vs. 21-4 combined records and #5 and #9.5 average BCS ranking differences.  The Fiesta Bowl also features the only team among the four participants in these bowls to have won a BCS bowl (Boise State).

Basically the Fiesta Bowl is a must see while the Orange Bowl is a see if you are a fan of either of these teams or are feeding a football addiction..