Your Guide to All the 2007-2008 College Bowl Games, Schedules, Matchups and Predictions

After a completely confusing final weekend in college football the BCS has finally ironed everything out (we think and many still have things to say because its a lose/lose situation for whoever is #2) for this year's bowl games. With 32 games in all there is definitely plenty to talk about kicking off with game:

#32 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia (December 20th, 9:00p.m. eastern)

Utah vs. Navy(San Diego, California)-Hey the Midshipmen are on a terror and it may not stop until they win the Poinsettia Bowl. Winners of their last four and breaking the 43 year curse to Notre Dame, Navy plans to take their 48 ppg average over that span and put Utah to the test. With a open style running offense and averaging almost 400 ypg on the ground the Midshipmen should have no problems scoring, but giving up the points is usually an issue.

Utah has beaten Louisville and UCLA this year with a stout defense holding opponents to a mere 15 ppg. If Utah can stop the run (which I don't see why not) they'll have a rather simple time with Navy. Utah has their eye on the prize.

Utah 35 Navy 21

#31 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (December 21st, 8:00p.m. eastern)

Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis(New Orleans, Louisiana)- Unfortunately on paper this looks like nothing more then a #1 vs. #16 in college basketball, but were playin' football here people! Don't be fooled, while Memphis was playing the cupcakes in Conference USA FAU was doing something different. They were sticking their heads where they don't belong and gaining experience playing games against Kentucky, Oklahoma State, and Florida. Sure they lost them all, but its a great resume of teams compared to Ole Miss, Central Florida, and Southern Mississippi. Don't be surprised if FAU stills one while no one is looking.

FAU 41 Memphis 34

#30 Papajohns.com Bowl (December 22nd, 1p.m. eastern)

Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati(Birmingham, Alabama)- After looking at all of the games this might be the biggest mismatch of them all. UC sporting a 9-3 record playing in the Big East and averaging 36.8 ppg while only giving up 18.6 ppg has to look scary to Southern Miss playing in the weak C-USA. Finishing 4th in their division and 6th overall in the conference the Golden Eagles are giving up too many points to stay in this game after they get a taste of quarterback Ben Mauk. UC wins big.

Cincinnati 44 Southern Miss 16

#29 New Mexico (December 22nd, 4:30pm eastern)

Nevada vs. New Mexico(Albuquerque, N.M. )- If you haven't figured it out yet the golden rule in college bowl games is, "Take any team who is playing in their backyard" and the Lobos are doing just that. Nevada comes in scoring at will averaging 36.3 ppg and never scoring less than 24 all season (loss to San Jose State) if you throw out the first game against Nebraska (10-52). Its not going to matter as it is going to feel like 50,000 against 22.

New Mexico 30 Nevada 20

#28 Pioneer Las Vegas (December 22nd, 8p.m. eastern)

UCLA vs. BYU(Las Vegas)- If this isn't an upset game I don't what is. UCLA pulled off some of the most ridiculous losses this year (Utah 6-44, Notre Dame 6-20, Washington State 7-27, Arizona 27-34) with their biggest win against a Dixon-less Oregon Duck squad. However earlier in the year BYU lost to this same UCLA team 27-17, but that was before they reeled off 9 in a row to get here. Take the Cougars for some redemption.

BYU 20 UCLA 10

#27 Sheraton Hawaii (December 23rd, 8p.m. eastern)

Boise State vs. East Carolina(Honolulu, Hawaii)- What happened to our "Cinderella" team from a year ago. If you missed it they lost the second game of the year to Washington and then won 9 straight before running into Hawaii at the end of the season. East Carolina's biggest win this year game from beating either Central Florida or well Central Florida. Boise State already showed it could handle Southern Miss so look for much of the same here with ECU giving up around 30 ppg and the Broncos averaging 42 ppg a contest. Broncos big.

Boise State 52 East Carolina 20

#26 Motor City (December 26th, 7:30p.m. eastern)

Purdue vs. Central Michigan(Detroit, Michigan)- Purdue is an upset special waiting to happen. They finished 3-5 in a weak Big 10, lossed their last three games and their best win of the season came against Iowa (31-6). The only thing they have going for them right now is of their 7 wins one of them was against Central Michigan in September 45-22. That alone is enough to get them their 2nd win against the Chippewas and the Motor City Bowl.

Purdue 55 Central Michigan 28

#25 Pacific Life Holiday (December 27th, 8:00p.m. eastern)

Arizona State vs. Texas (San Diego, California) - Definitely a matchup we never expected in a bowl game this year. However the Sun Devils quarterback Rudy Carpenter has been "lights out" throwing for over 3,000 yards this season and 23 touchdowns. One thing about Arizona State is they know how to spread the ball around even in the backfield with runningbacks Keegan Herring and Ryan Torain.

Texas was hurt when they lost the game of the season to Texas A&M 38-30. Before that they had won 5 straight and looking strong, but here they are and about as mediocre as they come this year. Only one win against a ranked opponent (then #19 TCU 34-13) the Horns have shown they can be beat by the upper echelon teams. Arizona State is definitely one of those teams this year.

Arizona State 27 Texas 24

#24 Texas (December 28th, 8p.m. eastern)

TCU vs. Houston(Houston, Texas)- Normally I would have said "Here comes the golden rule again", but this time both teams are basically at home so it's a little more difficult than that. I guess you could be one of those people that say, "Well TCU beat Stanford and Stanford beat USC so they should easily win this game" I'm telling you don't be so sure. Houston is one of those teams that scratch and claw like they did against Alabama on the road and came out on the wrong end of a 30-24 game.

TCU on the other hand shutout New Mexico (New Mexico Bowl) lost by five and seven points to BYU and Utah respectfully and beat Stanford 38-36 after the Cardinal beat USC. As they say though defense wins games and this will stay true with TCU giving up 19 ppg to Houston's 29 ppg. Have to go with the Hornedfrogs.

TCU 28 Houston 24

#23 Champs Sports (December 28th, 5p.m. eastern)

Boston College vs. Michigan State(Orlando, Florida) - Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan's Boston College team lost the ACC Championship to Virginia Tech and any chance at a BCS game which put them here against an okay Michigan State squad. Finishing 3-5 in conference play the Spartans can score there's no doubt about that averaging 34 ppg, but there defense is where it lacks. Expect this one to be a shootout and between Matt Ryan and Spartan quarterback Brian Hover, the first one to make a mistake may cost their team this bowl game. With BC losing three of their last five while Michigan State winning two in a row and scoring 35 and 48 this could be a surprise upset for some. Not for me, I like the Spartans.

Michigan State 35 Boston College 27

#22 Emerald (December 28th, 8:30p.m. eastern)

Maryland vs. Oregon State(San Francisco, California)- Yvenson Bernard of Oklahoma State has rushed for over 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons and was one of the main reasons the Beavers played as well as they did this year. Their four losses were at the hands of Cincinnati, Arizona State, UCLA, and USC who all will be playing in bowl games this year.

The Terrapins on the other hand have given wins to Wake Forest and North Carolina this year while beating Boston College and Rutgers all the same. So while Maryland is trying to run the ball platooning the backfield with Lattimore and Ball, Oregon State will be hoping to do much of the same. Consider this game as a lower scoring affair as both teams may wind up using more clock then expected. Gotta take the Beavers coming out of the PAC-10.

Oregon State 21 Maryland 16

#21 Meineke Car Care (December 29th, 1p.m. eastern)

Uconn vs. Wake Forest(Charlotte, North Carolina) - UConn had a very interesting season. The fluke win against Louisville that officials later apologized for, then losing to Cincinnati 27-3 but getting invited to this bowl while the Bearcats are going to have a field day with Southern Miss. What can you say, they had a great season and deserve it no matter what the critiques say (oops).

Not sure which team is going to show up for this one either the one that lost to West Virginia two weeks ago 66-21 or the team that beat South Florida 22-15. Whichever team comes to play no that the Huskies are very set in their ways and don't make mistakes. When they do its costly, but I'm not sure if Wake Forest can play with the tougher teams this year since they were 1-3 against ranked teams (UConn #25). Good thing its in their backyard.

Wake Forest 24 UConn 21

#20 AutoZone Liberty (December 29th, 4:30p.m. eastern)

UCF vs. Mississippi State(Memphis, Tennessee)- I got to be honest I didn't even notice the Bulldogs all year until they beat Kentucky and for good reason. They were getting crushed by the likes of LSU (0-45), South Carolina (21-38), Tennessee (21-33), West Virginia (13-38) and then all the sudden they go to Kentucky and have Alabama at home and beat both of them. All the tough games seemed to be helping Mississippi State get better and playing a tough schedule like that gives me a sense that the Bulldogs may roll over Central Florida.

Then I see who the Knights have played losing by only three to Texas, steadily winning every week (have won their last seven) and scoring nearly 40 ppg. Central Florida is for real people and even though many consider the SEC the power conference in football, Mississippi State may think this is an easy one. Think again.

Central Florida 35 Mississippi State 31

#19 Valero Alamo (December 29th, 8p.m. eastern)

Penn State vs. Texas A&M(San Antonio, Texas)- Nothing like waiting until the end of the season to sport your first big win of the year especially against then #13 ranked Texas. The Aggies aren't in College Station for this one, but their close and a new head coach on the way against a traveling Big 10 team. You might as well chalk a win up for the Big 12.

Then I look at Penn State and they look exactly like Texas A&M. Both teams are sluggish, they both finished 4-4 in their conference, its an old school matchup, oh wait they're playing in San Antonio almost forgot, sorry. Give these two the lowest total of all the bowl games.

Texas A&M 17 Penn State 10

#18 PetroSun Independence (December 30th, 8p.m. eastern)

Alabama vs. Colorado(Shreveport, Louisiana)- Yep Colorado snuck one by Oklahoma (27-24) early in year to be known by the nation. This team is for real so don't be surprised if the Crimson Tide are caught with their well you know. While the Buffaloes finished 4-4 in the conference and 6-6 overall they lost three games by 5 points or less (Kansas, Texas Tech, Iowa State).

Alabama must of thought if they didn't beat LSU (which they didn't 34-41) the season was over because they've lost their last four with the worst being against Louisiana Monroe 14-21. You always have to wonder about teams that play as well as their opponents. That loss may have made the alumni think twice about Nick Saban, so don't expect it to happen again although this will be close.

Alabama 28 Colorado 21

#17 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces (December 31st, 12:30p.m. eastern)

Air Force vs. California(Fort Worth, Texas)- I hate to say it but California was who I picked at the beginning of the year along with Michigan to get to New Orleans for the Championship. Its okay to tell you I was wrong because the entire nation was wrong at some point this year except for Hawaii fans I guess and even they didn't pick themselves to win it all. The Golden Bears let me down so I am counting on them here to give me a little redemption on the season. Who cares which team has done what I'm a Golden Bear all the way.

California 31 Air Force 17

#16 Roady's Humanitarian (December 31st, 2p.m. eastern)

Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State(Boise, Idaho)- Sometimes you have to sit back and wonder how teams get into some of these bowl games. Georgia Tech has already lost their coach, they had one win against a ranked team (Clemson) and the teams they beat aren't very exciting (Notre Dame, Samford, Army, Duke, Miami-FL). There might just be too much chaos going on in the Yellow Jacket locker room to muster up a win.

Add the fact that Fresno State beat Kansas State and played Hawaii down to the wire this might be an upset. If Georgia Tech will even be favored.

Fresno State 19 Georgia Tech 12

#15 Brut Sun (December 31st, 2p.m. eastern)

Oregon vs. South Florida(El Paso, Texas)- This game would have been more fun to watch if Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon was playing. Don't get me wrong it will still be a good game because in my opinion South Florida has been overrated all year long and even without Dixon the Ducks have an ample shot at winning. The matchup in this game will come from Oregon runningback Jonathan Stewart being able to run the ball like he did against Oregon State. 39 carries for 163 yards is definitely carrying the load, but he'll have to get into the endzone to give the Ducks a fighting chance.

I still don't think it will be enough with the Bulls stacking the line and creating no space for Stewart to run. South Florida sneaks out of Texas with a win.

South Florida 37 Oregon 23

#14 Gaylord Hotels Music City (December 31st, 4p.m. eastern)

Florida State vs. Kentucky(Nashville, Tennessee)- When I first looked at this matchup I was thinking how weird it is to see Kentucky in a bigger bowl game. Then I thought it was weird to see Florida State here as well after all their success so this must be a great matchup to the bowl committee. Then I looked up to the left and was trying to imagine a Kentucky team who has lost five out of their last seven games is going to keep up with their 36 ppg average they've accumulated all year although they are only averaging 24 on the road.

Florida State has been hot and cold all year long mostly due to the fact that they can't figure out who to play quarterback, why they don't need to run the ball all the time, and when if ever they are going to spend an entire game throwing lob passes to 6'3" wide receiver De' Cody Fagg. Now would be the game to do since Kentucky doesn't have a cornerback taller than 6'0". I'm gonna go with Florida State just because its my brother's favorite team. I bet it's ugly though. Go Seminoles!

Florida State 24 Kentucky 19

#13 Chick-fil-A (December 31st, 7:30p.m. eastern)

Clemson vs. Auburn(Atlanta, Georgia)- Auburn probably has to be one of the most annoying teams to watch. Just when you think they are a strong team they lose and then you think they're down and out they win. They have one of the toughest defenses in the nation giving up only 16.7 ppg, but when they lose they are giving up 30 ppg.

Which doesn't look good in this matchup after Clemson just finished beating another SEC team in South Carolina 23-21 and they are averaging 34.2 ppg while giving up under twenty so I think this one is where Auburn looks strong kinda after beating Alabama so its time to lose.

Clemson 28 Auburn 24

#12 Insight (December 31st, 6p.m. eastern)

Indiana vs. Oklahoma State(Tempe, Arizona)- All I have to say about this game is its worse against worser if thats a word. Oklahoma State won six games this year and of those six they beat Florida Atlantic, Baylor, Sam Houston, and 2-6 conference foe Nebraska. Not anything to brag home about or anywhere else for that matter.

Then there is Indiana who beat Indiana State. Western Michigan, and Akron to pad their bowl bid early in the season. Then the school thought they won the national championship when they beat Purdue their final game of the season on a last second field goal. Boy o' boy which way do we go which way do we go! I'll go ahead and take Indiana just to honor Hoeppner who I met along with ex-IU basketball coach Mike Davis at a restaurant I used to work at. Plus I'm a Hoosier so:

Indiana 34 Oklahoma State 31

#11 Outback (January 1st, 2008, 11a.m. eastern)

Wisconsin vs. Tennessee(Tampa, Florida)- Beginning of the season both were definite contenders for their conferences. Amazing what 11 or 12 games will do. Keepin' this one short and sweet the Badgers 3 losses this year were against Ohio State, Illinois, and Penn State. Tennessee had the SEC championship in hand before succumbing to the Tigers defense.

Gotta take the Fulmer driven Vols against the inexperienced Badgers.

Tennessee 21 Wisconsin 10

#10 AT&T Cotton (January 1st, 2008, 11:30 a.m. eastern)

Missouri vs. Arkansas(Dallas, Texas)- Its really unfortunate that Missouri lost considering the National Championship game could have been to offenses like Mizzou and West Virginia. Oh well Oklahoma showed us it wasn't worth it, but this matchup will be much of the same. One game with Chase Daniel and Darren McFadden both in it. Well worth the switch. Expect a ridiculous amount of points and an Arkansas triumph on a McFadden pass as time expires. Oh wait Nutt is gone I almost forgot. Doesn't matter.

Arkansas 51 Missouri 48

#9 Gator (January 1st, 2008, 1p.m. eastern)

Texas Tech vs. Virginia(Jacksonville, Florida)- All I want to say here is that Graham Harrell is sick. No he doesn't has the flu he has over 5,200 yards passing and 45 touchdowns on the year and they beat Oklahoma even though quarterback Sam Bradford was hurt most the game it still cost the Sooners in the end. Texas Tech really didn't beat anyone but them so the Gator bowl could be a stretch for the Red Raiders. Until you realize Virginia hasn't beaten anyone at all except UConn.

Texas Tech's offense is going to walk all over Virginia as they won't know what to do to stop it.

Texas Tech 33 Virginia 24

#8 Capital One (January 1st, 2008, 1p.m. eastern)

Michigan vs. Florida(Orlando, Florida)- Ah yes the two teams that fought for the chance to play Ohio State last year. Florida showed why it belonged and the Wolverines lost to the Buckeyes at the end of the year. The Big 10 needs a championship game and break up the conference in divisions or something to solve the problem there. Michigan is losing Carr so there might be a lot of sentimental feelings in this one, but I thought there would be in the Ohio State game. Florida will prevail and big.

Florida 48 Michigan 21

#7 BCS Rose Bowl presented by Citi (January 1st, 2008, 4:30pm eastern)

USC vs.Illinois(Pasadena, California)- "The Juice Is Lose" and so are the Fighting Illini against a USC squad who is on the move at the right time. Their defense is playing strong only allowing 12.3 ppg over the last four games while scoring on average 29 ppg. Although Oregon proved this year that USC is susceptible to a running quarterback attack which Illinois will use with Williams.

The difference between Oregon and Illinois is that the Ducks held USC to 17 points in their meeting earlier in the season while giving up 23.9 ppg over the course of the season. Illinois is at 19.5 and they beat Ohio State at the Horseshoe. This will be a great game to watch especially when USC takes the Fighting Illini for granted. Juice Williams runs a 45 yard bootleg for a touchdown to put them ahead for good with 2:48 left in the game.

Illinois 24 USC 21

#6 BCS Allstate Sugar (January 1st, 2008, 8:30p.m. eastern)

Hawaii vs. Georgia(New Orleans, Louisiana)- The two teams in the BCS that just didn't get much love this year. How fitting they play against one another and the interest in this game may be bigger than all the other BCS games. Hawaii comes in off a come from behind victory against Washington to remain undefeated while the Bulldogs didn't make the SEC championship and caused somewhat of a situation for the committee to let LSU leapfrog them to the title game.

However this will be an odd matchup for the Bulldogs who only allow 21 ppg going up against quarterback Colt Brennan and the nation's best offense averaging 46.2 ppg. With the ability to change the game in a matter of seconds the Rainbows may be able to keep up with any team. Don't be surprised if they pull the upset here, but thats what everyone wants. Except Georgia fans of course and there team is well deserving of the Sugar Bowl bid, we only hope they come prepared to play and not on edge after the snub from the committee. Even though Hawaii came back from 21 in the final game of the season, they will have a hard time coming back against a team like the Bulldogs. It'll be a tight one though.

Georgia 33 Hawaii 28

#5 BCS Tostitos Fiesta (January 2nd, 2008, 8p.m. eastern)

Oklahoma vs. West Virginia(Glendale, Arizona)- Who would have thought these two would be playing in the Fiesta Bowl against each other. Regardless you had to love the "Bob Stoops Campaign Plan" after they beat Missouri for the Big 12 championship trying to spruce interest in his team going to the title game. Well that didn't work so here they are playing the Mountaineers who started all these scenarios in the first place.

The Sooners couldn't have gotten a better matchup than West Virginia. They've played Missouri twice and Texas Tech (which the only reason they lost was because Bradford had a concussion) which have pretty much the same offense as the Mountaineers. Whether quarterback Pat White is healthy or not, the Mountaineers will lose this game unless they come up with a different offensive game plan. There defense is known for giving up a decent amount of points against good offenses. This will be no different.

Oklahoma 38 West Virginia 27

#4 BCS FedEx Orange (January 3rd, 2008, 8p.m. eastern)

Virginia Tech vs. Kansas(Miami, Florida)- Well isn't this just one of the most interesting matchups. Virginia Tech surprised a lot of people this past weekend beating Matt Ryan and Boston College, but the Hokies are no slouch by any means. The only problem with this matchup is the fact that Kansas is still not impressing anyone even with the one loss to Missouri. The only other top #25 team they have beaten is Kansas State and that was back in week 6 of the season. Not to mention the Jayhawks haven't played well on the road even though they've won it wasn't against a team of Virginia Tech's stature.

Look for the Hokies to control this one and while the first half may be a little confusing with getting use to how Kansas runs their offense the special teams will come into play many times for Virginia Tech. The Kansas offense will stall.

Virginia Tech 40 Kansas 21

#3 International (January 5th, 2008, 12p.m. eastern)

Ball State vs. Rutgers(Toronto, Canada)- Boy we are just expanding our horizons playing in Canada. Don't know what to expect out of this game. Ball State has played some decent teams this year most notably Illinois which they lost by 11 on the road. In fact all their losses were to somewhat decent teams and Rutgers is not near the team they were in 2006.

Ball State will air it out most of the day and you can expect this one to be a fairly high scoring game where combined their defenses give up about 45-50 ppg. Expect Rutgers to provide a balanced attack with quarterback Mike Teal and runningback Ray Rice. Unfortunately Rutgers won't be up for the game after losing 3 out of there last 5 and the final upset of the season will go to the Cardinals.

Ball State 31 Rutgers 28

#2 GMAC (January 6th, 2008, 8p.m. eastern)

Tulsa vs. Bowling Green(Mobile, Alabama)- So your still trying to figure out why in the world this game is being played the day before LSU and Ohio State? Don't worry so are we. Try to look at it as a filler so you aren't having football withdrawals. Trust me this will be entertaining as both teams have no defenses. You could see a 100 points in this one.

Tulsa 55 Bowling Green 45

#1 Allstate BCS Championship Game (January 7th, 2008, 8p.m. eastern)

LSU vs. Ohio State(New Orleans, Louisiana)- If there is a matchup that suits the Ohio State Buckeyes it may be this one. LSU seems to play as well as their opponent and not having to worry about a wide open offense the Buckeyes could pull this one off. They will most likely rely on Chris Wells to push the offense and control the clock with quarterback Todd Boeckman going 20/36 for 206 yards and 4 interceptions in the last two games.

As boring as this game looks, LSU will most likely blitz continuously from the outside throughout the evening keeping Boeckman on his heels and still being able to control the middle of the line against the run. Ohio State will show once again its offensive line just isn't fast enough to keep up with SEC defenses. Plus OSU doesn't have a chance with another 50 plus day layoff right? However the Tigers will leave them lingering for about 3 quarters before an interception returned for a touchdown to seal the deal and crown the Tigers champions.

LSU 30 Ohio State 17