Welcome to Part III of IV of my spectacular Bowl Preview. Most of the bad games have been played, and hopefully the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day games will be exciting. There definitely are some great games that have yet to be played, and for me to get any respect I am going to have to correctly guess some of them right. Going into tonight's Independence Bowl, I am 5-9 in my predictions. That is awful and I am doing more research and better picking then ever for the final 18 games. So here goes nothing, with the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Bowl Preview edition.
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
California vs. Air Force
Mon. Dec. 31st 12:30 pm ESPN @Fort Worth, TX
The most surprising point of this game is that California was once #2 in the Country with a 5-0 record, and on the brink of becoming #1. Then everything fell apart beginning with a loss to Oregon State. On the other side, Air Force brings the 2nd best rushing attack in country to this game, led by Chad Hall. Hall is an explosive player who leads the team in rushing and receiving yards, and returns punts and kicks. It will be hard for Cal to get up for this game after their promising season turned into such a disappointment. I would have loved to see Air Force vs. Navy in this game by the way. My prediction: Air Force 31 California 21.
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State
Mon. Dec. 31st 2 pm ESPN2 @Boise, ID
Neither of these teams beat a ranked team this season, and for Georgia Tech that is even more surprising considering they were ranked as high as 15th this season. This is quite possibly the worst Bowl for an ACC team, and Georgia Tech really may not be up to play this game for an Assistant Coach in a cold weather game. As for Fresno State, I think they will be looking to prove they can contend with a BCS school. Fresno State has a very good rushing attack, as Tech counters with one of the best rushing defenses in the country. My prediction: Fresno State 27 Georgia Tech 13.
Brut Sun Bowl
South Florida vs. Oregon
Mon. Dec. 31st 2 pm CBS @El Paso, TX
If you said in October that these two teams would be facing each other in a Bowl, the best guess would have been in a BCS Bowl Game. But now both teams started fast and faded early, as these two former #2's will play in the Sun Bowl. Without Dennis Dixon, Oregon looked like an awful team, and South Florida seemed to be a bit overrated. Look out for Matt Grothe, the South Florida QB, who threw for over 2400 yards and ran for over 800. The major difference between these teams is that South Florida has their QB healthy, and have won 3 games in a row to end the season. My prediction: South Florida 45 Oregon 31.
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Kentucky vs. Florida State
Mon. Dec. 31st 4pm ESPN @Nashville, TN
This game could have been real interesting, but now Florida State will be playing a bunch of walk-ons and no names after the cheating scandal at the school. Kentucky has been a real up and down team towards the end of the season, beating #1 LSU, but losing to the rest of the ranked opponents they faced in the 2nd half of the year. Andrew Woodson is real dangerous, and will be able to pick apart the FSU team, seeing that their will be mostly reserves playing on defense. Even with everyone I don't think FSU stood a chance. Kentucky: 34 Florida State 18.
Insight Bowl
Indiana vs. Oklahoma State
Mon. Dec. 31st 5:30pm NFL Network @Tempe, AZ
Both these teams are great offensive teams, and poor defensive teams, so expect lots of points. For Indiana, they are playing a Bowl game for the first time since 1993, and have dedicated this season to their former coach who passed away from cancer, Terry Hoppner. Adarius Bowman should be huge for the Cowboys, as he comes back from injury, and is QB Zac Robinson's favorite target. I expect Indiana to get out to a lead, but in the end the Big 12 will show its dominance in this game. My prediction: Oklahoma State 48 Indiana 42.
Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Clemson vs. Auburn
Mon. Dec. 31st 7:30pm ESPN @Atlanta, GA
These teams are very similar in the way they play, and they are both in the top 10 in points allowed in the country. The main difference is that Clemson can score at will sometimes, as they led the ACC in scoring this past season. Clemson is led by their 2 big RBs James Davis and C.J. Spiller, who ran for over 1600 yards combined. Auburn does have good experience playing in the best conference in the country, but Clemson's offense is too potent for Auburn's stingy defense. My prediction: Clemson 23 Auburn 17.
Outback Bowl
Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
Tue. Jan. 1st 11am ESPN @Tampa, FL
The first bowl game of the day will be a great game, definitely the best non BCS game of the day. The Vols are led by their Senior QB Erik Ainge who threw for over 3000 yards, in an offense that was always picking up their young defense. Wisconsin will be without their best RB, P.J. Hill, but Freshman Zach Brown stepped in well for him in the last few games of the year. This game should be a great one on paper, but I have to give the edge to the SEC teams this year, because of all the great games they have played in this year. My prediction: Tennessee 27 Wisconsin 21.
Cotton Bowl
Missouri vs. Arkansas
Tue. Jan. 1st 11:30am FOX @Dallas, TX
This is a strange match-up, with Arkansas playing after their coach left for Ole Miss, and Missouri is playing after getting snubbed by the BCS. Hopefully for the sake of the viewers. both teams show up to play this great offensive match-up. Chase Daniel and Darren McFadden are two household names that will definitely come to play in what could be their last college game. Everyone knows the 2 big stars, but the biggest player in this game is Felix Jones, the other Junior RB at Arkansas. He is just as elusive as McFadden, and may benefit from the Tigers over pursuing on McFadden. Missouri has something to prove to the country in this game, and should show up to play. My prediction: Missouri 38 Arkansas 31.
Capital One Bowl
Florida vs. Michigan
Tue. Jan 1st 1pm ABC @Orlando, FL
Since 1980 Heisman winning QBs are 5-7 in Bowl games. The difference between Tim Tebow and all the other's is that he is a Sophomore and still has lots of doubters to show that he really is 'that good.' Michigan had one of the strangest seasons in recent memory, starting and ending the season with 2 game losing streaks and winning 8 in a row in between. Not to mention their loss to Appalachian State and their no show against Ohio State. Florida has big time players that have played in big games. I think Michigan is really over matched in this game, and received such a good game because of their name. Lloyd Carr will go out on a sour note. Florida 55 Michigan 17.
Gator Bowl
Texas Tech vs. Virginia
Tue. Jan 1st 1pm CBS @ Jacksonville, FL
This is a very interesting match-up starting with the heart attack team at Virginia. The Cavaliers played and won 6 games that were decided by less than a TD, and 5 of those were by 2 points or less. Virginia has a great defense, but the caliber of teams they played in the ACC are not even close to what they will face in this game. Texas Tech was 1st in the country passing yards per game, 2nd in total yards, and 6th in total points. The Red Raiders offense is led by QB Graham Harrell who threw for 45 TDs and almost 5300 yards this season. He will be throwing to Freshman Michael Crabtree who set all kinds of Division 1-A records this season for receiving. My prediction: Texas Tech 59 Virginia 38.
The Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi
Illinois vs. USC
Tue. Jan 1st 4:30pm ABC @Pasadena, CA
Unfortunately for all the viewers, the Rose Bowl wanted to keep the Pac 10/Big 10 match-up tradition intact after Ohio State was picked for the championship game. Illinois is definitely not the best match-up for USC, as the Trojans have played their best football towards the end of the season. For all those people wanting a playoff system, USC could be the team to pull the upset and become National Champ. But for now USC has to stop Juice Williams, the elusive Illinois QB. For USC's offense, John David Booty should have a field day against the Illini defense. I would have loved to see USC/Hawaii in this game, but this will have to do for the opening game of the BCS schedule. My prediction: USC 35 Illinois 10.
Allstate Sugar Bowl
Hawaii vs. Georgia
Tue. Jan. 1st 8:30pm FOX @ New Orleans, LA
This game is very similar to last year's Oklahoma/Boise St match-up. An undefeated WAC team faces a pretty good BCS conference team in a game for respect. Georgia was passed over for the National Championship game, rightfully so, but Knowshon Moreno and the Bulldogs are one of the hottest teams in the country right now. Georgia has played great defense this year, but they haven't faced anything like Hawaii and Colt Brennan. Hawaii led the country in scoring this year, and have everything in the world to prove, as they try and finish undefeated. How many wins will it take until the BCS realizes the WAC teams are for really. My prediction: Hawaii 48 Georgia 45.
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