Well, we had to crank one of these out, it's almost an obligation you know. The silly season for College Football begins in earnest this weekend (though you could argue it started last week with the coaching carousel). And because we want to provide all 100 or so of our readers with the latest, the greatest and best information on the College Bowl-a-palooza; we will gladly churn out our thoughts here.
In the spirit of the holiday...enjoy this clip from Christmas Vacation...thanks You Tube:
And now Casey Kasem..."It's on with the Countdown".
The Dirty Dozen (Best Bowl Games):
1. The Fiesta Bowl (Boise St. vs. TCU...the BCS Buster Bowl. Though we completely think this game was a cop-out by the turds who run the BCS, really it should be a pretty damn good game. They match up very well...Great Offense vs. Great Defense. It should be a very fun game to watch. Prediction: TCU 41, Boise St. 37)
2. The Sugar Bowl (Florida vs. Cincinnati. An intriguing game as Florida won't have D-Coordinator Charlie Strong and Cinci is without Coach Brian Kelly. Again, a very good offense vs. a very good defense. It will be interesting to see if Cincinnati actually can play at an elite SEC level. Prediction: Florida 35, Cincinnati 21)
3. The Gator Bowl (West Virginia vs. FSU. Bobby Bowden's goodbye game. Florida State will be very emotional and the stadium will be highly pro-FSU. Bowden is one of the good ones who unfortunately couldn't go on his terms. Prediction: FSU 31, W.Va. 20)
4) The Chick-fil A Bowl (Tennessee vs. Va.Tech. Just because this is always a good game. Every year. Tennessee may be in a bit of trouble this offseason. Va.Tech rebuffed Georgia's attempt at hiring Bud Foster. Foster will be Frank Beamer's replacement in 2 years. Mark my words. Prediction: Va. Tech 27, Tenneessee 14 Vol Girls)
5) Orange Bowl (Iowa vs. Georgia Tech. An intriguing matchup of flash and speed versus strength. I still don't buy Iowa as a legit top 10 team, I haven't all year. They got lucky...a lot and they play in the 10. Prediction: Ga. Tech 34, Iowa 19)
6) Sun Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Stanford. It should be slightly more exciting than last years game (look it up). Call it the redemption bowl or whatever. It will be the East Coast chance to see Toby Gerhart since it is on CBS. Prediction: Stanford 40, Oklahoma 30)
7) Rose Bowl (Ohio St. vs. Oregon. Another intriguing matchup. I maintain anyone coming out of the 10 is overrated. Oregon has been one of the best teams in Football the last month of the year. Ohio St. isn't exactly known as a good bowl team....don't look for that to change. Prediction: Oregon 27, Ohio St. 21)
8) Emerald Bowl (Boston College vs. USC. I put this here only because of the national media who don't believe how USC could end up here. Guys, they weren't that good. Deal with it. BC is no great shake either but this should be a close game...if anyone actually sees it. Prediction: USC 20, BC 17)
9) Capital One Bowl (Penn St. vs. LSU. Only because these teams both had higher expectations this year. They both managed to get lost in the shuffle somewhere. This may be the 10's chance to say they can play on an SEC level. Prediction: Penn St. 23, LSU 21)
10) Hawaii Bowl (Nevada vs. SMU. Because of the June Jones Hawaiian homecoming storyline. That and Nevada is the best rushing team in the NCAA. SMU was one of the worst teams in Division 1 a couple of years ago, kudos to June for turning that around. Prediction: Nevada 39, SMU 29)
11) Music City Bowl (Kentucky vs. Clemson. This should be a very good game. Two very solid teams who overachieved a bit this season. If nothing else, watch the game and check out CJ Spiller for Clemson and Randall Cobb for Kentucky, you'll be glad you did. Prediction: Clemson 41, Kentucky: 34)
12) Las Vegas Bowl (Oregon St. vs. BYU. Another interesting matchup. Just picturing the kids from BYU being forced to take in the Casino's and other sites in Vegas is kind of funny. But these are two pretty good teams and should be a good game to watch. Prediction: Oregon St. 36, BYU 31)
The Bottom of the Barrel:
5) Independence Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Georgia. Yawn. If they play this game in the woods (they are) would anyone notice? This is the last place Georgia wants to be in late December, plus they are playing a decent offensive team and have no defensive coaches. Prediction: Texas A&M 53, Georgia 51)
4) Insight Bowl (Minnesota vs. Iowa St. Wow. Do these teams have any fans? I suppose some will come to Arizona just to get out of the cold but geez. Is anyone really going to watch this? If you know someone who does, you might suggest they get out and search for there lives, because they are seriously missing one. Prediction: Do I have to?)
3) International Bowl (South Florida vs. Northern Illinois. This game may not be played. Apparently none of the South Florida folks have passports. Should they not have checked that before accepting this game? Maybe Northern Illinois has fans north of the border because this game has ratings dud written all over it. Prediction: US Border Patrol 178, Northern Ill. 26)
2) Cotton Bowl (Ole Miss vs. Okie State. This should be renamed "The Overrated Bowl". Were there 2 better underachievers this season than these 2? These 2 are the poster children for banning preseason predictions and polls. Prediction: Ole Miss 3, Okie St.2)
1) The BCS Championship Game (Alabama vs.Texas. OK...who else thinks Texas has no business in this game? This is why we hate the BCS and argue that is corrupt and biased against everyone but the SEC and Big 12. This "SHOULD" be a horrible game, but Alabama will find a way to keep Texas in it. Prediction: Alabama 13, Texas 10, BCS and College Football Fans 0)
So there you have it. The College Bowl season gets stupider every year. From the NCAA allowing teams to hire away Bowl game coaches before the bowl game to the BCS picking the best game for TV (in their opinion) rather than the "BEST GAME" with the "BEST TEAMS" for the National Championship, it's been a somewhat disappointing College Football season. Maybe next year it will be more fun.
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