Independence Bowl (Dec 28): No. Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech -I liked this bowl so much better when Weedeater sponsored it because people called it the Weedwhacker Bowl. It's really odd to see this matchup because recently this game paired SEC versus Big 12 every year. Granted, it was the bottom of the barrel teams from those conferences, but this year, they couldn't fill it so the bowl gets a 6-6 MAC team facing a 7-5 WAC team. I'm picking No. Illinois based on fewer bad losses.
Papajohns.com Bowl (Dec 29): NC State vs. Rutgers - If I was basing Rutgers hot streak on the destruction of Louisville to end the season, I wouldn't pick them. But their hot streak did include some good teams and some serious beatdowns so I will pick them.
Speaking of Louisville, I need my favorite reminder of better times.
Alamo Bowl (Dec 29): Missouri vs. Northwestern - I think the Big 12 was a lot better than the Big Ten. Northwestern has a better defense, but I don't think their offense can keep up with the Missouri offense. Defense may win championships, but winning a midlevel bowl isn't a championship (nor do I necessarily ascribe to that notion) so take Missouri and their offense.
Humanitarian Bowl (Dec 30): Maryland vs. Nevada - Ah, the bowl game on the blue turf. How did a bowl game in Boise, Idaho ever get locked in with the ACC? I'm sure Maryland fans will be scarfing up tickets to go see this game. Possibly even 250 of them. The Terps were wildly inconsistent all season. I can't see traveling to Boise to suffer frostbite as a reward for a winning record is going to make them suddenly change that. Take Nevada.
Texas Bowl (Dec 30): Western Michigan vs. Rice - These teams score a lot. Both teams are 9-3. Rice is a definite home team, but I think Western Michigan has a better defense so they should get more stops.
Holiday Bowl (Dec 30): Oklahoma State vs. Oregon - Oregon lost to Boise State, USC and Cal (combined 5 regular season losses; four by Cal). Oklahoma State lost to Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma (1 regular season loss each). Five is higher than three so take Oklahoma State.
Armed Forces Bowl (Dec 31): Houston vs. Air Force - Air Force already beat Houston once and they didn't seem to handle the option at all well. I don't think they've learned enough yet. Take Air Force again.
Sun Bowl (Dec 31): Pitt vs. Oregon St. - Oregon State was one loss from winning the PAC-10. Pitt was one loss from winning the Big East. The PAC-10 is probably better. But Oregon State can't stop the run. Pitt can run. Take Pitt.
Music City Bowl (Dec 31): Boston College vs. Vanderbilt - BC doesn't lose bowl games. Vandy usually doesn't go. BC finished first in their division. Vandy finished fourth in their's. BC beat several other ACC teams. Vandy lost to the only two they faced. Since one of those was 4-8 Duke, go with BC.
Insight Bowl (Dec 31): Kansas vs. Minnesota - Kansas finished the season beating Missouri. Minnesota finished by losing to Iowa 55-0 in a game that was only notable because of the couple arrested for having bathroom sex (see Dec 13 blog posting). No way I'd trust Minnesota right now.
Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Dec 31): LSU vs. Georgia Tech - Picking one ACC win over the SEC in a bowl game should be enough, but LSU looked like crap down the stretch. LSU is another team I have no trust in.
I should be thankful to Steve Kragthorpe. With an uncertain economic future, it's really nice that he's saving me money by not getting Louisville to a bowl game so I waste my money traveling to places like Miami to watch them play. So, I found the following video that says how much he is appreciated in the Ville. They really need to work on the audio, but I think the case is well made.
4 years ago
2 comments:
Something tells me you're not going to pick an SEC team to win their bowl game. Hmmmm?
Dave
Should I have picked a Vandy team that has one win since the first week of October? Or an LSU team that went 3-5 in a fairly weak SEC, hasn't won a conference game since mid-October and is playing the only ACC team I really respect?
Don't worry. I do think the SEC is down overall which means they have a lot of teams playing in higher caliber bowl than their record would normally suggest which means a higher caliber opponent than they'd normally face (see Ole Miss vs. Tex Tech). However, off the top of my head, Georgia should be a lock and Bama probably is too. And I still haven't decided on the BCS title game.
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