Interesting Bowl Matchups

Maaco Bowl Las Vegas: Arizona Stave vs. Boise State

It
will be interesting to see how both teams respond to the cool desert
air. The Sun Devils of Arizona State lost their last four games of the
regular season, thus head coach Dennis Erickson was fired. The Boise
State Broncos defeated The Utah Utes in this game last year 26-3. The
Broncos should have been New Orleans bound for The Sugar Bowl and you
wonder if The Broncos will have a hangover about the situation. What
should help The Broncos is that head coach Chris Petersen is staying put
in Boise after telling UCLA “no thanks” after the school tried to lure
him to Southern California and The Broncos can also look forward to
competing in The Big East.

Prediction: Boise State 38-17

Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Two
of the storied teams in college football square off in Orlando,
Florida. In the preseason I had both The Florida State Seminoles and The
Notre Dame Fighting Irish in BCS games. That didn’t happen but both
programs want to have some momentum to take into 2012. Both teams are on
the cusp of returning to greatness and a win to close out the campaign
would go along way for next year, especially in the preseason rankings.

Prediction: Florida State 28-24

Valero Alamo Bowl: Washington vs. Baylor

Both
The Washington Huskies and Baylor Bears are making their second
consecutive bowl game and both are building steam quickly. The Huskies
are a better team than the 7-5 record that they have while The Bears can
score with any team in America.  The game is in San Antonio, Texas
which is only 167 miles away from Baylor’s campus in Waco which means it
will be a Baylor crowd to watch quarterback Robert Griffin III in what
should be his final collegiate game.

Prediction: Baylor 38-24

Insight Bowl: Iowa vs. Oklahoma

The
Oklahoma Sooners strolled into 2011 as the consensus pick to win The
BCS Championship. Injuries and a few hiccups along the way changed that.
The Sooners lost out on a BCS bid and a chance to play in The Fiesta
Bowl by losing to The Oklahoma State Cowboys in the regular season
finale. The Iowa Hawkeyes spent this season flying under the radar. The
Hawkeyes upset The Missouri Tigers in this game last season and would
love to make it two in a row. The Sooners have had a history lately of
being heavily favored in bowl games only to lose. It will be interesting
to see if Sooner head coach Bob Stoops can get his team up for this
game.

Prediction: Oklahoma 34-20

The Northwestern Wildcats have not won a bowl game since they
won The Rose Bowl in 1948. This might be Northwestern’s best chance to
do it as The Texas A&M Aggies will limp into Houston. The Aggies
were the best team at blowing halftime leads this season, which is why
Mike Sherman is no longer the head coach. Sherman had given The Aggies
stability and now that is gone from a school that thinks more of
themselves than what they actually are. The Aggies are off to The
Southeastern Conference after this game and we don’t know what this
roster will look like next season. The Wildcats started the season with a
record of 2-5 and were able to finish at 6-6 and dusting off The Aggies
would be great for the team’s mindset heading into spring practice.

Prediction: Northwestern 31-27

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Illinois vs. UCLA

There
are several bowls that are rewarding mediocrity this year, but this one
really stands out. The Fighting Illini started the season at 6-0 only
lose the last six contests of the season and head coach Ron Zook was
shown the door. The UCLA Bruins finished the regular season with a 6-6
record and backed into The PAC-12 Championship Game due to The USC
Trojans being on probation. The Bruins were defeated in that game by The
Oregon Ducks and now have a sub .500 record at 6-7. The NCAA had to
grant a special waiver to allow The Bruins in order for them to play in
this contest with a losing record. The Bruins will be running the pistol
offense with quarterback Kevin Prince which is tough to defend. The
game is in San Francisco so it will be interesting to see how many Bruin
fans make the trip north.

Prediction: UCLA 27-24

Ticket City Bowl: Houston vs Penn State

This game
might be the ultimate in contrast of styles. The Houston Cougars love to
light up the scoreboard as they are averaging 50 points a game this
season. The Penn State Nittany Lions are a hard-nosed blue collar team
from Western Pennsylvania that loves to grind out wins. The Cougars fell
one game short of making The Sugar Bowl and they are looking to get
that sour taste out of their mouths. This season cannot end quick enough
for Penn State after all of the sexual abuse allegations that have
rocked the foundation in Happy Valley. Interim head coach Tim Bradley
has kept the ship afloat for The Nittany Lions and a bowl win would go a
long way as far as him having the interim tag removed from his title.
It will be interesting to see which team imposes their will on the
opponent first.

Prediction: Houston 38-20

Outback Bowl: Michigan State vs Georgia

Both
The Michigan State Spartans and The Georgia Bulldogs lost their
respective conference championship games and both are looking to end a
good season on a great note. The Spartans have lost five consecutive
bowl games and they want to erase the embarrassment of last season’s
Capitol One Bowl in which they lost to The Alabama Crimson Tide 49-7.
The Bulldogs were rolling until they faced The LSU Tigers in The SEC
Championship Game. Now Bulldog head coach Mark Richt is off of the hot
seat and he knows that he has a talented team returning in 2012 led by
quarterback Aaron Murray. Two of the top defenses in the nation will be
on display for this one in Tampa and we should be in for a real treat..

Prediction: Georgia 23-17

TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl: Ohio State vs Florida

It is now
time for “The Urban Bowl”. New Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer gets to
see The Florida Gators once again and I am sure that he will not get a
warm reception in Jacksonville. Meyer said adios to The Gators last year
after he led the school to two BCS Championships in his six seasons in
Gaines These two meet for The 2006 BCS Championship in which The Gators
who were led by Meyer cruised by The Buckeyes for a 41-14 victory. Both
teams will limp into this game with 6-6 records as they look towards the
future. The Gators and Buckeyes have struggled on offense for most of
the season as they have relied on defense. The storyline leading up to
the game will be much more interesting than the game itself.

Prediction: Ohio State 20-17

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon

The
Rose Bowl is indeed “The Granddaddy to Them All” for bowl games. The
sunny skies of Pasadena, California on New Year’s Day is priceless and
the classic Big Ten versus Pac-12 contest will get the juices flowing.
The last two losers of this game will compete in this one and it should
be a dandy. The Wisconsin Badgers may appear to be blue collar on the
outside, but they can score with the best of them led by quarterback
Russell Wilson. The Oregon Ducks know how to turn every game that they
play into a track meet as they are averaging 46 points a game this
season. I hope the cheerleaders for both teams will have had time to
strengthen those arms for pushups after the touchdowns are scored in
this one.

Prediction: Wisconsin 38-31

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State

Two
teams that were on the heels of playing for The BCS Championship will
have to settle for The Fiesta Bowl which is not a bad consolation prize.
This will be the last college football game for Stanford Cardinal
quarterback Andrew Luck who is expected to be the first overall
selection in April’s National Football League Draft. The Cardinal won
The Orange Bowl last season and are looking to win another BCS Bowl. The
Oklahoma State Cowboys are making their first BCS appearance and head
coach Mike Gundy wants to show everyone that The Cowboys are poised to
be national title contenders consistently. The Cowboys have a prolific
quarterback in Brandon Weeden who can sling the ball all over the field.
NFL scouts will be on hand to see Cowboy wide receiver Justin Blackmon
who is expected to be the first receiver taken in the draft.