Bowl Game Predictions 2008-2009

Some of the bowl games have already been decided. In the EagleBank Bowl, Wake Forest beat Navy 29 to 19, though I would have picked Navy for the win on this one. And in the New Mexico Bowl game, Colorado State defeated Fresno State 40 - 35, which I would have bet on happening. In the strangely named magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl USF handily beat Memphis 41 - 14. This was also to be expected. The Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl had Arizona surprisingly winning over BYU 31 - 21. And in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Southern Miss eventually won over Troy in overtime, 30 - 27 (OT).

The following are my picks for the remaining bowl games (winning teams in italics):

San DiegoCountyCreditUnionPoinsettia

Boise State will end up losing to TCU, despite a superior squad. It will be all emotion on the part of the Horned Frogs (I am not making that name up).

Sheraton Hawaii

Notre Dame will beat Hawaii, even though it is being held in Honolulu. The Fighting Irish will be Fighting mad over the loss to Southern Cal (36-3).

Motor City

Florida Atlantic will be soundly thrashed by a hungry Central Michigan.

Meineke Car Care

West Virginia will see a loss to North Carolina, with the Tar Heels having a virtual home field advantage. But look for a close score.

Champs Sports

Wisconsin may have struggled this year, but they have been hot of late and will triumph over Florida State.

Emerald

Miami (Fla.) will lose a squeaker to California. Look for the Golden Bears' Jahvid Best to do some serious running during this battle.

Independence

Northern Illinois will surely defeat Louisiana Tech, even though the latter Bulldogs have a better record, are in their own backyard and have a heck of a runner in Phillip Livas. What the huskies have going in their favor is a post season penchant for not looking like their regular season selves.

Papajohns.com

NC State will lose face to the team from Rutgers, despite all the drama for the Scarlet Knights off the field. Not only are they coming off a six game win streak (vs a four game streak for NC), but they have nothing more to lose. And that makes anyone dangerous.

Valero Alamo

Missouri will go into overtime against Northwestern, but Mizzou will triumph. Both the Tigers and Wildcats are hot, with talent both on the field and on the sidelines, and this will probably be the game to watch. Its on Dec. 29 at 8pm.

Roady's Humanitarian

Maryland will lose against a superior Nevada defense. Not much else to be said except Maryland will be rebuilding next season after losing 31 seniors this year.

Texas

Western Michigan will fall to Rice in a quarterback shoot out, in one of the most evenly matched games outside of the Missouri - Northwestern game.

PacificLifeHoliday

Oklahoma State will not last against the pounding of Oregon's Big "D". Most people are expecting a shoot out, since both teams have put lots of points up on the board during the regular season, but it is going to be a question of defense shutting the points down.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces

Houston will spiral, crash and burn against an under-rated Air Force team. Despite both teams having changed since their first meeting in September, the Falcons will recreate their victory.

BrutSun

Oregon State will pull out a surprising win over Pittsburgh. OSU's defense against the run will figure prominently in this game.

GaylordHotelsMusicCity

Boston College will go home much sadder when they lose to Vanderbilt.

Insight

Kansas will not know how to handle their defeat at the hands of Minnesota.

Chick-fil-A

LSU will reign over Georgia Tech. Look for this contest to be a low scoring ground game.

Outback

South Carolina will not last long against Iowa, though I will be rooting for the Gamecocks. Iowa's Shonn Greene, NO. 2 in rushing in the country, will be too great an obstacle for the win hungry SC team.

Capital One

Georgia Bulldogs will be whimpering when they are trounced by Michigan State. But this should be an interesting day to watch two talented runners, Javon Ringer and Knowshon Moreno, facing off on either side of the offensive lines.

Konica Minolta Gator

Nebraska will be clawed by the Tigers of Clemson. This will be a coaching match-up; with first year Bo Pelini of Nebraska going up against the mid-season replacement of Dabo Swinney.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi

Penn State will very squarely lord it over a stunned USC team and their fans, who are expecting their number one defense to crush Paterno's Nittany Lions.

FedEx Orange

Virginia Tech will crumble under the offensive onslaught of Cincinnati. The number 21 Hokies are down several starters and will have an uphill climb just to stay competitive against the 12^th ranked Bearcats.

AT&T Cotton

Ole Miss will teach a few new tricks to the boys at Texas Tech. It's called "Football. And sportsmanship." While the Red Raiders of Tech have been whining about not only the Cotton Bowl selection, but the lack of appreciation for their QB, Graham Harrell (not being selected as a Heisman finalist), Ole Miss players are just thrilled to be playing. It is that heart that will win out in this game.

AutoZone Liberty

East Carolina will just barely defeat Kentucky. Although Skip Holtz' Pirates are 6-6 in the regular season, they won six of the last seven games of the season, whereas Kentucky is coming off a dismal record of losing five of their last six games.

Allstate Sugar

Utah will know what it is like to be rolled over by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Everyone is expecting the Tide to be beat by Utah because Alabama is supposed to win. This makes no sense. The Tide were robbed of their chance to play for the national title by a bad call that sent the game spiraling downward. But it is Bowl time, and Alabama never shrinks from such a call.

International

Buffalo and Connecticut will trade score for score, but the contest north of the border will be decided by the Bulls Manning Award contender, Drew Willy.

Tostitos Fiesta

#10 Ohio State will rip the horns off #3 Texas in a decisive victory. Despite the rankings, the long spell before the Jan. 5 match-up will work against the Longhorns. The Buckeyes are looking to dispel the lingering doubts since their loss to Florida in last year's championship game.

GMAC

Ball State will have a tough ride over Tulsa, but they will win out. The Cardinals will be looking to erase the memory of the dismal loss to Buffalo (their only loss of the season) in the final game.

FedEx BCS National Championship Game

Florida will have the wind knocked out of them by Oklahoma. Despite being ranked 4^th going into the game against the Tide, their win brought them here. For no other reason than a bad call is Florida even in contention. The Sooners, on the other hand, earned their place in this National Championship game with decisive victories throughout the season. This should prove to be the game that toppled the Heisman curse, with the Sooners Heisman Trophy QB Sam Bradford facing fellow Heisman finalist Tim Tebow.

* Disclaimer - these predictions are for the sole purpose of supplying entertainment value. Any money lost will just be your own darned fault for listening to me in the first place.