Rest Of The Non-BCS Bowl Picks

Well, Mississippi State finally scored again in the Liberty Bowl (it was still the worst bowl game so far) so I'm 10-3 right now. Here are the picks for all the non-BCS bowls that I didn't get the first time around.

Armed Forces Bowl (Dec 31): California vs. Air Force - At one point Cal was 5-0 and ranked second in the country. They only won one game after that. I can't imagine they feel all that great being there. Air Force is playing well and probably up for this. On the other hand, Cal has responded well in previous bowl games. Then again, the Mountain West Conference is undefeated in bowl games, so I'm going with my brother's alma mater.
Humanitarian (Dec 31): Fresno St. vs. Georgia Tech - Tech just fired their coach after another less than great season. Fresno St. loves to take down the BCS teams. Trouble is Fresno isn't as good as past teams. Still, I think they take this one.
Sun (Dec 31): South Florida vs. Oregon - Easy call. With Dennis Dixon, Oregon was good. Without him, they were really bad. They won't have him.
Music City (Dec 31): Florida State vs. Kentucky - As I said before, FSU is missing 36 players. If UK loses this game, they should take up permanent residence in Nashville.
Chick-fil-A (Dec 31): Clemson vs. Auburn - My first thought was that Clemson barely beat a non-bowl SEC team in South Carolina so how can they beat Auburn. Then I remembered how bad Auburn looked in some games this year. This is a tough call because I wasn't impressed with either of them. I'll take Clemson.
Insight (Dec 31): Indiana vs. Oklahoma St. - Indiana had the feel good story of the year as the Hoosiers fulfilled the bowl dream of coach Terry Hoeppner who died in the offseason. Oklahoma State is led by national punchline Mike Gundy. The irony is that Oklahoma State has played better since Gundy benched the player he was giving such a spirited defense of. Still Ok. State gives up too many points.
Outback (Jan 1): Wisconsin vs. Tennessee - I don't think much of the Big 10, but I also don't think much of Tennessee when they play bowl games against teams from the Big 10.

NFL Break: I just watched another defensive back watch as Randy Moss runs right by him on a deep route. It's amazing how well receivers do when they aren't covered.

Cotton (Jan 1): Missouri vs. Arkansas - Arkansas got in this bowl solely by beating LSU to finish their regular season. Missouri was shafted into this bowl. Even though both Missouri's losses came to Big 12 champ Oklahoma, they still fell out of the BCS bowls. Two teams they beat, Kansas and Illinois, are in BCS bowls. Missouri belonged in a much better bowl and they'll take it out on Arkansas whether or not Darren McFadden plays.

Another NFL break: Eli Manning reverted to his national form as he destroyed any chance the Giants had of beating the Patriots with a horribly inaccurate pass that was intercepted 10 yards behind the receiver.

Gator (Jan 1): Virginia vs. Texas Tech - Virginia has a great defense. Texas Tech has a great offense. The question is whether or not Virginia's defense can slow Texas Tech's offense enough. I think they can do better than most, but the big problem is whether or not Virginia can score enough even if they do hold them. I'm thinking not. Tech's defense isn't that good, but Virginia only scored more than 23 points three times. If Duke and North Carolina can stop them, so can Tech.
Capital One (Jan 1): Michigan vs. Florida - Defending champ Florida had a disappointing season as they finished third in the SEC East. Michigan rebounded from their losses to Appalachian State and Oregon to do OK in the Big 10. Until they lost their last two. So, they are slumping, their two worst losses were to teams running the spread option and Florida runs the spread option. Gee, I wonder if I'm going with Michigan. Unlikely.

Last NFL break: This is how inept an Eli Manning offense is. The Giants had the ball at the Patriots 17 at the two minute warning stoppage with a 10 point deficit. They ran a play for 13 yards, and then dicked around enough that there next snap was with 1:20 on the clock. They ran one play in 40 seconds. Pee-wee teams can run a better hurry up offense.

International (Jan 5): Rutgers vs. Ball State - A bowl game in Toronto. Rutgers is so bad they lost to Louisville. Ball State hasn't beaten anybody. Still, I can't see Ball State beating Rutgers. Ball State can't run the ball, and Rutgers is good at stopping the pass. I think Ray Rice runs all over them.
GMAC (Jan 6): Tulsa vs. Bowling Green - Ah, the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Been there twice. Nice city. Should be a good game with plenty of offense. Neither team has much of a defense. I think Tulsa has a better offense. Maybe UL should have taken that Tulsa coach.

Penn State beat Texas A&M which makes me 11-3 in my bowl picks. Stay tuned in a couple of days for my five BCS Bowl picks.