Rolling Through the Bowls

Well well, after my inauspicious start to bowl season, I've come back onto the winning side. Last night, Florida Atlantic capped off a great season to take their first ever bowl victory of what promises to be many. Earlier today, Cincinnati showed a little Big East toughness by knocking off Southern Mississippi. Right now, i'm watching the halftime show of the New Mexico Bowl and, surprisingly enough, New Mexico is leading Nevada 20-0 at their home stadium.

My prediction record: 2-1

December 31
Peach Bowl, Atlanta, GA
Clemson University vs. Auburn University

This could be the best of the non-BCS bowls this postseason. Auburn came oh-so-close to taking out LSU in Baton Rouge earlier in the season, and took some big victories against Alabama and Florida. Clemson is simply fun to watch on offense and they can score a lot of points if the opposing defense isn't paying attention. Having the game be a just-about-equal distance from both Clemson and Auburn means the crowd should be pretty even. My prediction? I like Auburn more than Clemson, personally, so I'll just pick them winning by a field goal.

January 1
Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL
University of Tennessee vs. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Another great matchup that everyone will automatically give to Tennessee because "the SEC is faster and the Big Ten is weak". Obviously, those people haven't seen PJ Hill run the ball because he is fast and strong when he gets the chance to run. Of course, Tennessee is a strong team and I think this will be quite the shootout in Tampa. There will be big plays on offense interspersed with a lot of defense from both teams. Unfortunately, Wisconsin won't quite have what it takes to beat the Vols. Tennessee wins by a touchdown.

January 1
Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
University of Missouri vs. University of Arkansas

Well, this one would have been a great game except that Arkansas went and fired their head coach and will probably never go to another bowl game after this year. Missouri will be angry because they were snubbed by the Orange Bowl for no reason whatsoever and they'll want to prove their worth to the nation. This game will be a blowout -- Arkansas shouldn't even show up.

January 1
Capital One Bowl, Orlando, FL
University of Florida vs. University of Michigan

This is one that has the potential to be a good game except for one thing: I'm pretty sure Michigan fans stopped caring after the team lost to Appalachian State way back in September. Since then, it seems like Michigan just kind of sleepwalked through the season. Of course, Michigan's sleepwalking can still take down a lot of Big Ten teams, but they could not beat Ohio State at the end of the season. Florida, on the other hand, has Tim Tebow, who Florida fans and members of the media equate to the second coming of Jesus, and they'll have a gigantic crowd packed into the Citrus Bowl to cheer them on. Florida wins huge.

January 1
Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL
University of Virginia vs. Texas Teck University

A lot of people might look at the top-25 ranking that UVA is carrying into this game and automatically give them the game. Unfortunately, as they showed us when they played Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers can't really stop a well-oiled offense. Did I mention that Texas Tech has one of the best offenses in the country with the country's best receiver hauling in any ball that comes anywhere near him? Yeah...Michael Crabtree brings in at least three touchdowns and Texas Tech wins this one over Virginia.

January 5
International Bowl, Toronto, ON
Rutgers University vs. Ball State University

Ball State is a very spunky team out of a very spunky Mid-America Conference. Unfortunately for them, Rutgers is just a terribly strong team. Rutgers, who couldn't win on a $5 scratch-off ticket ever since defeating Princeton in the first-ever intercollegiate football game, has made their third straight bowl game and does not look to be slowing down for a long time with Greg Schiano at the helm. Ray Rice will run circles around the Ball State defense and Rutgers will come away with the victory.

January 6
GMAC Bowl, Mobile, AL
Bowling Green University vs. University of Tulsa

A totally fun matchup of non-BCS schools the day before the National Championship game. I'm going to be honest here: I don't know much about either of these teams and no one is going to care about this game outside of Bowling Green and Tulsa, so I'm just going to pick Bowling Green. Their colors are so totally nauseous...how can they lose?

There you have it! All of the games that don't fit into that wonderful BCS system have been picked. I'll be back later with the five BCS games. In the meantime, enjoy the football!