Allstate curse? Teams featured in popular insurance commercials falter in bowl games

Allstate has long been tied with college football because of popular insurance commercials promoting their company as well as college football. Throughout the years there have been curses such as the Madden curse, as well as the Sports Illustrated curse. Players who were on the magazine or the cover of the game would go on and struggle and have unfortunate phases in their careers.

Now, you can add the Allstate curse to the list. Allstate featured 3 teams in its college football commercials this season. Those 3 teams were West Virginia, Alabama and Oregon, and all 3 of those teams lost their respective bowl games.

West Virginia was the first team of the 3 to play, and the Mountaineers lost to Memphis, 42-37 in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl. The Mountaineers had 520 yards of offense in the game, but 2 turnovers proved costly in the game.

Alabama played Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl and lost by a score of 19-13. That was arguably one of the most startling results of the postseason with a depleted Michigan roster controlling the game against Alabama. The Crimson Tide ended the season with a 9-4 record, which is the first time in 17 seasons that they haven’t won at least 10 games.

Oregon was the final chance at 1 of the 3 teams in the commercials to get a win, but the Ducks were down 34-0 late in the 2nd quarter against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. They battled back a little bit in the second half, but couldn’t get any closer than 19 points in the 41-21 win by the Buckeyes.

So, there you have it. Customers of Allstate might be in good hands, but teams in their commercials certainly are not.

Mark Kern