2007 Bowl-a-Rama part Deux

Bowl-A-Rama part Deux

Alrighty then, the first 8 bowl games of the extra season of American college football are over and in the books. We’ll begin with a quick review of my picks:

1. Poinsettia Bowl, My Pick: Navy…Utah won 35-32
2. New Orleans Bowl, My Pick: Shopping…and we got the last bit of it done. And for the record FAU beat Memphis 44-27.
3. Papa Johns.com Bowl, My Pick: Cincinnati…UC beat the Golden Eagles 31-21.
4. New Mexico Bowl, My Pick: My in-laws arrive…they did and we had Big Jakes BBQ! And for the record New Mexico ended a streak of bowl losses going back to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, winning 23-0 and I didn’t have to watch.
5. Las Vegas Bowl, My Pick: BYU…and it was way to close and not much scoring, Cougars win 17-16.
6. Hawaii Bowl, My Pick: Boise State…and their Cinderella run is over, the Pirates pulled the upset 41-38.
7. Motor City Bowl, My Pick: Christmas day leftovers…the ham was delicious! And for those of you keeping score at home, Purdue wins a shoot out 51-48.
8. Holiday Bowl, My Pick: Texas…the Horns did hook the Sun Devils 52-34.

That makes me 6 right, 2 wrong…Now on to my next round of prognosticating expertise:

Champs Sports Bowl, December 28 at Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL
BC (10-3) lost the ACC title game and finds themselves heading south to the land of Mickey with a streak of 7 consecutive bowl wins to face the Michigan State (7-5) out of the Big 10. The Spartans will be missing at least 5 players as a result of “incidents” that took place off field and BC has a QB named Matt Ryan who spent much of the season in the Heisman race.
MY PICK: BC should easily handle the Spartans in the Sunshine state, by 14.

Texas Bowl, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX
Not exactly the battle for Texas supremacy when former SWC foes Houston (8-4) out of the Conference USA faces off against TCU (7-5) out of The Mountain West Conference. Yeah…2 mid-majors, I can’t help but jump up and down (yawn). Houston is winless in bowl games, but is basically playing at home (yes Houston…you do have a college football team!) but the Horned Frogs are picked by 4.5.
MY PICK: I’ll take the line, TCU.

Emerald Bowl, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA
The Granola City (full of fruits, flakes and nuts) gets a bowl game named after a nut company…go figure! Maryland comes out of the ACC with a 6-6 record and flies cross country to face off against the Beavers of Oregon State (8-4) out of the Pac 12. And even though these are major conferences, this is another example of too many bowl games since the Terps finished 8th in their conference.
MY PICK: Too much jet lag, I’ll pick the Beavs and probably won’t watch this one.

Meineke Car Care Bowl, December 29 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
Ah, the beauty of corporate buy outs as we have yet another bowl game named after a company playing in a stadium named after a company! Two up and comers face off with UConn playing more than basketball bringing a 9-3 record out of the Big East to face off against last year’s BCS crasher Wake Forest (8-4) out of the ACC making it’s second EVER consecutive bowl appearance. While I am a committed Baptist myself, Wake does tend to be left of Fidel Castro in terms of theology and politics…while the state of Connecticut has given us Joe Lieberman.
MY PICK: I like Joe…UConn by a TD.

Liberty Bowl at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN
The Dawgs of Mississippi State (7-5) return to bowl action under the leadership of SEC Coach of the Year Sylvester Croom and face off against the University of Central Florida with a 10-3 record. Remember the good old days when Florida, Florida State and Miami were the football schools? I like State, and other than LSU, they are the only team I consistently cheer for in the SEC…but UCF has a great junior running back named Kevin Smith who needs only 181 yards to break the NCAA single season rushing record; and he may be the game breaker.
MY PICK: As much as I like State, I think Smith will make the difference, UCF by 7.

Alamo Bowl at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, TX“Joe Pa’s” 500th game at the helm of the Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4) heads south to play the Aggies from Texas A&M (7-5), fresh off a win over arch rivals Texas to end the season. While the Aggies tend to fall apart in bowl games, Penn State has been inconsistent at best in big games over the last few years.
MY PICK: I’ll go with home field and the ability to win a big game by picking A&M by 10.

Independence Bowl at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, LA
I’m still not sure if Alabama will make it to the game since they can’t get through Monroe (or the University of Louisiana at Monroe, who beat the Tide in Tuscaloosa!). Nick Satan…oops, I mean Saban and his Gumps come into Shreveport for a 2nd year in a row with a not so stellar 6-6 record to face Big 12 foe Colorado with a matching 6-6 record. Uh…yeah, this is a winner. Reminds me of the good old days when the I-Bowl could only get mid-majors.
MY PICK: Two words…BEAT SABAN! The Buffs beat Oklahoma; they should be able to beat the Gumps too.

Armed Forces Bowl, December 31 at Amon G Carter Stadium in Ft Worth, TX
The artist formally known as the Ft. Worth bowl gets renamed to the Armed Forces Bowl and gets one of the service Academies, Air Force (6-3) to face off against Cal (6-6) out of the Pac 10. The boys from Berkley started off strong this year with a big win over Tennessee and had the opportunity to #1 in the nation after LSU lost to Kentucky…but their wheels fell off, BIG TIME! They wound up with a pathetic 6-6 record and face off against the high powered offense of the US Air Force Academy Falcons.
MY PICK: I’m a proud American…unlike Berkley, which I’m not so sure is American; Air Force by 10.