LeRoy_Was_Here
Senator
We have some terrific bowl games and some real stinkers coming up. But I think we DO have a legitimate national championship game this year, and it should be an entertaining one.
1. Notre Dame (12-0): BCSC: vs Alabama
2. Alabama (12-1): BCSC: vs Notre Dame
3. Oregon (11-1): FIESTA: vs Kansas State. This is the bowl game that excites me the most.
4. Florida (11-1): SUGAR: vs Louisville. A terrible mismatch. Don't expect this game to be competitive after the 1st quarter.
5. Kansas State (11-1): FIESTA: vs Oregon. I make Oregon an early 4-point favorite. But I reserve the prerogative of changing my mind!
6. Georgia (11-2): CAPITAL: vs Nebraska. I expect Georgia will pretty much hammer Nebraska.
7. Texas A&M (10-2): COTTON: vs Oklahoma. Another simply CLASSIC matchup. I like Johnny Football in this one.
8. Stanford (11-2): ROSE: Wisconsin. Yes, I think Stanford will win this. But it might be closer than you think.
9. Oklahoma (10-2): COTTON: vs Texas A&M. They thought they were going to get a BCS bid, until No. Illinois messed things up for them.
10. Ohio State (12-0): PROBATION. Ain't going nowhere.
11. Louisiana State (10-2): CHICK-FIL-A: vs Clemson. I think LSU will handle Clemson, and perhaps easily.
12. South Carolina (10-2): OUTBACK: vs Michigan. This one could be a fairly good game. Michigan is 8-4, but look at their losses: to the two unbeaten teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State, and to the defending national champs, at Alabama.
13. Oregon State (9-3): ALAMO: vs Texas. I think OSU is the superior team here. Oregon State by 9.
14. Florida State (11-2): ORANGE: vs No. Illinois. I think the Huskies of No. Illinois will give the Seminoles a better game than most people expect.
15. Clemson (10-2): CHICK-FIL-A: vs Louisiana State. I still think Clemson may be overrated. They give up a lot of points on defense.
16. UCLA (9-4): HOLIDAY: vs Baylor. Now THAT should be a very interesting game.
17. Oklahoma State (7-5): DALLAS: vs Purdue. A mismatch. Oklahoma State will be ALL over Purdue.
18. Texas (8-4): ALAMO: vs Oregon State. I could be wrong, but I don't think Texas can handle Oregon State.
19. Michigan (8-4): OUTBACK: vs South Carolina. I'll be watching this game, for sure.
20. Southern Cal (7-5): SUN: Georgia Tech. USC can't be happy about playing in this bowl, given preseason expectations. But Georgia Tech is WAY overmatched here, and USC will have a month to get ready for the option attack.
21. Wisconsin (8-5): ROSE: vs Stanford. WHAT WAS THAT, that we saw in the Big Ten title game?!? 539 yards RUSHING?!? Are you KIDDING me? The Badgers will certainly try to run on Stanford, but will find the going harder.
22. Baylor (7-5): HOLIDAY: vs UCLA. Expect a high-scoring game in this one!
23. Utah State (10-2): POTATO: vs Toledo. A serious mismatch, here. In an ideal world, Utah State would playing someone like No. Illinois in a good bowl game.
24. No. Illinois (12-1): ORANGE: vs Florida State. The first non-AQ BCS buster without an undefeated record. To hear some people tell it, a worse injustice than the Nazi Holocaust. But I like this team. They deserve this.
25. Nebraska (10-3): CAPITAL: vs Georgia. Tempting to drop this team completely out of the top 25, after that 70-31 shellacking (and it wasn't that close). But we must go by the body of work.
26. San Jose State (10-2): MILITARY: vs Bowling Green. Seems like another mismatch here. San Jose State should be playing someone much better.
27. Texas Christian (7-5): BUFFALO: vs Michigan State. I think TCU has had an up-and-down year, but I think they can win this game.
28. Boise State (10-2): VEGAS: vs Washington. Not one of your classic Boise State teams, but I make them a slight favorite against Washington.
29. Northwestern (9-3): GATOR: vs Mississippi State. An intriguing matchup here. N'western a slight favorite; they're a VERY resourceful team.
30. Arizona State (7-5): HUNGER: vs Navy. I think this is another mismatch. ASU big.
31. Vanderbilt (8-4): MUSIC: vs N. Carolina State. This may be the best Vanderbilt team I've ever seen. I think they'll handle NC State pretty easily.
32. Texas Tech (7-5): MEINEKE: vs Minnesota. Sigh. Yet another mismatch. Texas Tech, easily, in this one.
33. Arizona (7-5): NEW MEXICO: vs Nevada. I don't Nevada has the horses for this game. I'll take the PAC-12 team.
34. Penn State (8-4): PROBATION. Ain't goin' nowhere.
35. Fresno State (9-3): HAWAII: vs So. Methodist. Damn. Another mismatch. Fresno State will CLOBBER SMU.
36. Mississippi State (8-4): GATOR: vs Northwestern. Miss. State did not do well against the GOOD teams they played. Thus, I think they will manage to lose this game.
37. Brigham Young (7-5): POINSETTIA: vs San Diego State. Now this should be a good bowl game, between two fairly evenly matched teams. I'll take BYU by 3.
38. West Virginia (7-5): PINSTRIPE: vs Syracuse. West Virginia SHOULD win this game big, but will old Big East familiarity make this one closer than it should be?
39. Washington (7-5): VEGAS: vs Boise State. These two teams play again at the beginning of next year. So even though this should be an interesting game, I think they could have found a better opponent for both teams. But I'm sure it will command very high interest in the Pacific Northwest!
40. Louisville (10-2): ORANGE: vs Florida. Sorry, but I see this game as an early blowout.
When I get time, I will post my complete summary of ALL the bowl games, along with my picks.
1. Notre Dame (12-0): BCSC: vs Alabama
2. Alabama (12-1): BCSC: vs Notre Dame
3. Oregon (11-1): FIESTA: vs Kansas State. This is the bowl game that excites me the most.
4. Florida (11-1): SUGAR: vs Louisville. A terrible mismatch. Don't expect this game to be competitive after the 1st quarter.
5. Kansas State (11-1): FIESTA: vs Oregon. I make Oregon an early 4-point favorite. But I reserve the prerogative of changing my mind!
6. Georgia (11-2): CAPITAL: vs Nebraska. I expect Georgia will pretty much hammer Nebraska.
7. Texas A&M (10-2): COTTON: vs Oklahoma. Another simply CLASSIC matchup. I like Johnny Football in this one.
8. Stanford (11-2): ROSE: Wisconsin. Yes, I think Stanford will win this. But it might be closer than you think.
9. Oklahoma (10-2): COTTON: vs Texas A&M. They thought they were going to get a BCS bid, until No. Illinois messed things up for them.
10. Ohio State (12-0): PROBATION. Ain't going nowhere.
11. Louisiana State (10-2): CHICK-FIL-A: vs Clemson. I think LSU will handle Clemson, and perhaps easily.
12. South Carolina (10-2): OUTBACK: vs Michigan. This one could be a fairly good game. Michigan is 8-4, but look at their losses: to the two unbeaten teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State, and to the defending national champs, at Alabama.
13. Oregon State (9-3): ALAMO: vs Texas. I think OSU is the superior team here. Oregon State by 9.
14. Florida State (11-2): ORANGE: vs No. Illinois. I think the Huskies of No. Illinois will give the Seminoles a better game than most people expect.
15. Clemson (10-2): CHICK-FIL-A: vs Louisiana State. I still think Clemson may be overrated. They give up a lot of points on defense.
16. UCLA (9-4): HOLIDAY: vs Baylor. Now THAT should be a very interesting game.
17. Oklahoma State (7-5): DALLAS: vs Purdue. A mismatch. Oklahoma State will be ALL over Purdue.
18. Texas (8-4): ALAMO: vs Oregon State. I could be wrong, but I don't think Texas can handle Oregon State.
19. Michigan (8-4): OUTBACK: vs South Carolina. I'll be watching this game, for sure.
20. Southern Cal (7-5): SUN: Georgia Tech. USC can't be happy about playing in this bowl, given preseason expectations. But Georgia Tech is WAY overmatched here, and USC will have a month to get ready for the option attack.
21. Wisconsin (8-5): ROSE: vs Stanford. WHAT WAS THAT, that we saw in the Big Ten title game?!? 539 yards RUSHING?!? Are you KIDDING me? The Badgers will certainly try to run on Stanford, but will find the going harder.
22. Baylor (7-5): HOLIDAY: vs UCLA. Expect a high-scoring game in this one!
23. Utah State (10-2): POTATO: vs Toledo. A serious mismatch, here. In an ideal world, Utah State would playing someone like No. Illinois in a good bowl game.
24. No. Illinois (12-1): ORANGE: vs Florida State. The first non-AQ BCS buster without an undefeated record. To hear some people tell it, a worse injustice than the Nazi Holocaust. But I like this team. They deserve this.
25. Nebraska (10-3): CAPITAL: vs Georgia. Tempting to drop this team completely out of the top 25, after that 70-31 shellacking (and it wasn't that close). But we must go by the body of work.
26. San Jose State (10-2): MILITARY: vs Bowling Green. Seems like another mismatch here. San Jose State should be playing someone much better.
27. Texas Christian (7-5): BUFFALO: vs Michigan State. I think TCU has had an up-and-down year, but I think they can win this game.
28. Boise State (10-2): VEGAS: vs Washington. Not one of your classic Boise State teams, but I make them a slight favorite against Washington.
29. Northwestern (9-3): GATOR: vs Mississippi State. An intriguing matchup here. N'western a slight favorite; they're a VERY resourceful team.
30. Arizona State (7-5): HUNGER: vs Navy. I think this is another mismatch. ASU big.
31. Vanderbilt (8-4): MUSIC: vs N. Carolina State. This may be the best Vanderbilt team I've ever seen. I think they'll handle NC State pretty easily.
32. Texas Tech (7-5): MEINEKE: vs Minnesota. Sigh. Yet another mismatch. Texas Tech, easily, in this one.
33. Arizona (7-5): NEW MEXICO: vs Nevada. I don't Nevada has the horses for this game. I'll take the PAC-12 team.
34. Penn State (8-4): PROBATION. Ain't goin' nowhere.
35. Fresno State (9-3): HAWAII: vs So. Methodist. Damn. Another mismatch. Fresno State will CLOBBER SMU.
36. Mississippi State (8-4): GATOR: vs Northwestern. Miss. State did not do well against the GOOD teams they played. Thus, I think they will manage to lose this game.
37. Brigham Young (7-5): POINSETTIA: vs San Diego State. Now this should be a good bowl game, between two fairly evenly matched teams. I'll take BYU by 3.
38. West Virginia (7-5): PINSTRIPE: vs Syracuse. West Virginia SHOULD win this game big, but will old Big East familiarity make this one closer than it should be?
39. Washington (7-5): VEGAS: vs Boise State. These two teams play again at the beginning of next year. So even though this should be an interesting game, I think they could have found a better opponent for both teams. But I'm sure it will command very high interest in the Pacific Northwest!
40. Louisville (10-2): ORANGE: vs Florida. Sorry, but I see this game as an early blowout.
When I get time, I will post my complete summary of ALL the bowl games, along with my picks.
