BCS Bowl Series - 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl Preview - Missouri Tigers Vs Northwestern Wildcats

The 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl pits the Chase Daniel led #23 Missouri Tigers (9-4) against the #20 Northwestern Wildcats (9-3) on Tuesday, December 29th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. In a game pitting the 4th ranked offense in the Championship division (Missouri) against the defense-led Wildcats, Missouri enters the game a heavy favorite to win the bowl.

Missouri Tigers Trends

Chase Daniel started the season as one of the leading Heisman Trophy candidates. He was eclipsed by the play of Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy but has had a strong season none-the-less with amassing 4135 yards passing and 37 touchdowns in the 2008 NCAA football season. He will be leading the #23 ranked Tigers in their first Alamo Bowl appearance. Last season, Daniel led the Tigers over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 2007 Cotton Bowl, 38-7. In this year's matchup look for Daniel to attack the Northwestern secondary quickly before pushing Missouri's running attack. Wide Receiver Jeremy Maclin and Tight End Chase Coffman (2008 John Mackey Award Winner) look to have big games after coming off of their loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title Game (62-21).

Northwestern Wildcats Trends

Northwestern enters the Alamo bowl as one of the surprise teams in the Big 10 in the 2008 season finishing in fourth place with a 9-3 overall record. Led by senior quarterback, C.J. Bacher, the Wildcats come into the game with a more balanced offensive attack. Bacher's statistics are a bit down from the 2007 season with only having 2128 yards passing (compared to 3656 from 2007), 14 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. The Wildcats have one victory this season over a top 20 team (24-17 over then #17 Minnesota). Northwestern's last bowl appearance was in the 2005 Sun Bowl where they lost to the UCLA Bruins 50-38. They have not won a bowl game since the 1948 Rose bowl against California. The Wildcats will be looking for big games from cornerbacks Jordan Mabin and Sherrick McManis in order to keep the Missouri offense in check.

Alamo Bowl Predictions

Missouri is favored to win the 2008 Valero Alamo Bowl by 12 points. Northwestern's defensive performance will determine how long the Wildcats can compete with the Tigers in the bowl. Our prediction is that the Tigers will defeat the Wildcats, but that the Northwestern defense will be stingy enough to prevent the Tigers from covering the spread. Final score prediction: Missouri 31 - Northwestern 24.