It is never too early to start looking forward to the new college
football season. While the powers that be are busy changing their
conference affiliations and deciding on a playoff system, we still have
games to play. Last season saw two Southeastern Conference teams play
for The BCS Championship as The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated The LSU
Tigers 21-0 in New Orleans. Once again The SEC will be the premier
conference in college football,, but will this be the year that The
SEC’s six-year reign comes to an end? Here are my bowl projections for the upcoming season.
BCS Championship: Georgia vs. USC
The Trojans will
enter the 2012 season as the team to beat and they will be up to it by
finding a way to Miami. The Dawgs will feed off of the momentum from
2011 and it will fuel them to The BCS Championship Game.
Orange Bowl: Louisville vs. Clemson
Clemson came to
South Beach last year and got throttled by The West Virginia
Mountaineers 70-33 in The Orange Bowl. The good news for Clemson is that
West Virginia is in The Big 12 and they can now rest a little easier.
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. West Virginia
The Tide’s
consolation prize for losing to Georgia in The SEC Championship Game
will be going to New Orleans for The Sugar Bowl. It won’t have the
excitement as last year’s BCS Title Game did for ‘Bama, but Alabama head
coach Nick Saban will get his team ready as if the big trophy is on the
line.
Fiesta Bowl: Florida State vs. Oklahoma
This could be a preview of future Big 12 foes in The ‘Noles and Boomer Sooner.
Rose Bowl: Michigan vs. Oregon
The Wolverines are returning to glory, but they get an Oregon Duck team that is one of the fastest in America.
Sun Bowl: UCLA vs. Virginia
Two programs that are looking to improve can use the extra practice time in El Paso as preparation for 2013.
Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Baylor
The
LSU Tigers will be better than most teams that are in BCS bowls, but
being that they are in The SEC, they must settle for a trip to Dallas.
Gator Bowl: South Carolina vs. Iowa
It would be
fitting that “the ol’ ball coach” Steve Spurrier is coaching South
Carolina in The Gator Bowl being that he played for and coached at The
University of Florida.
Liberty Bowl: Marshall vs. Mississippi State
This game will really help ESPN win the ratings war.
Capital One Bowl: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
With Auburn and Wisconsin it will be time to buckle up the chinstraps for some good old-fashioned paint swapping.
Chick-fil-A-Bowl: Arkansas vs. Virginia Tech
Two teams
that had early season aspirations of a BCS Championship will have to
settle for a trip to The Georgia Dome on New Year’s Eve.
Independence Bowl: Miami vs. Texas A&M
This will be a step in the right direction for The Miami
Hurricanes while this is the harsh reality for The Texas A&M Aggies
in The Southeastern Conference as they get to know the non-New Year’s
Day bowl games.
Holiday Bowl: TCU vs. Washington
Before coming to The Big 12, TCU played a postseason bowl in San
Diego in the form of The Poinsettia Bowl. Times have changed for The
Horned Frogs and this trip to San Diego will be a bigger payday.
Washington Huskies head coach Steve Sarkasian is building a contender in
The Pac-12 and making three consecutive bowl games looks real good.
Outback Bowl: Florida vs. Michigan State
Gators head
coach Will Muschamp is finding that as tough as it is to recruit in The
SEC, it is even tougher to win there while Sparty will try to make it
two consecutive bowl wins in Tampa.
Insight Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Nebraska
Isn’t this a
regular-season conference game? That’s right Nebraska bolted The Big 12
in favor of The Big Ten so now these former conference foes will clash
in Tempe.
Russell Athletic Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Georgia Tech
The best part of this game will be watching The Ramblin’ Wreck lead The Yellow Jackets onto the field.
Las Vegas Bowl: California vs. Boise State
The scoreboard will be lit up by to high-scoring teams on The Vegas strip.
Alamo Bowl: Kansas State vs. Utah
Two of the most underappreciated teams in college football will square off in San Antonio.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: San Jose State vs. Bowling Green
This game will be attended only by friends and family of both teams.
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Penn State vs. Ohio
Penn
State head coach Bill O’Brien will survive a tough first season in
Happy Valley and he and his team will be rewarded by a trip to Motown.
Music City Bowl: North Carolina vs. Tennessee
We saw
what happened a few years ago when these two teams met in Nashville as a
controversial finish gave North Carolina the victory. This time around
you have to ask yourself if a win by The Tennessee Volunteers will be
enough to save head coach Derek Dooley’s job?
GoDaddy.com Bowl: Toledo vs. Arkansas State
I will rush home to make sure that I have a seat to see this one.
Meineke Car Care Bowl: Illinois vs. Texas Tech
Two teams that are happy to be bowl eligible will be very thankful for a week in Houston.
New Mexico Bowl: Northwestern vs. Wyoming
Could this be the year that The Northwestern Wildcats finally win a bowl game?
New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. UAB
Good seats will still be available for this game at The Superdome.
Belk Bowl: NC State vs. South Florida
These two teams won’t get a ton of publicity, but this will make for a good ball game in Charlotte.
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Stanford vs. Navy
The Stanford Cardinal will be playing an unofficial home game in
San Francisco, but The Naval Academy gives a top-notch effort every
time that they take the field.
Hawaii Bowl: Tulsa vs. Utah State
Oh the joy of spending Christmas in Hawaii and of course football as well!!!
Armed Forces Bowl: SMU vs. Air Force
This will be a home game for Southern Methodist in Dallas, but Air Force’s triple option is always a tall order to stop.
Poinsettia Bowl: Fresno State vs. BYU
The BYU Cougars under head coach Bronco Mendenhall are always a
tough draw and Fresno State will have to find that out the hard way.
Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr could use this game to state his
case as a future National Football League quarterback.
Compass Bowl: Rutgers vs. Missouri
Like Texas A&M, Missouri will get a reality check in year one as members of The SEC by playing in lower-tier bowl games.
Military Bowl: Miami (Ohio) vs. Army
There is no question that The Army Cadets will be the favorite
to win this one as The Pentagon might be closed for business on this
day.
Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Connecticut
If you don’t have anything to do on this day, then this is the game for you.
Pinstripe Bowl: Texas vs. Notre Dame
This
isn’t a misprint as two of the most storied programs in college
football are relegated to the cold of New York City in December. With a
large alumni base in The Big Apple this will work as an unofficial home
game for Notre Dame and we might be looking at the end of an era in
Texas with head coach Mack Brown.
Ticket City Bowl: Houston vs. Purdue
This is a new era
of Houston Cougar football but that doesn’t mean that they can’t still
light up the scoreboard. This game however won’t win the ratings war
against other games on New Year’s Day.
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