bowls previews and reviews

here are my previews of some of the bowl games, with reviews written after the game. all picks were made before the games themselves. check back often as games go final to get the reviews.

poinsettia bowl - utah vs. navy

preview: my first instinct is to say that utah lost to air force, and navy beat air force, so it stands to reason that navy can probably beat utah. so i'll pick navy based on this simple, yet often-times flawed, logic.

final score: 35-32 utah

review: utah had a good game plan. navy looked slightly lost with paul johnson no longer at coach.

new orleans bowl - florida atlantic vs. memphis

preview: howard schnellenberger has done a pretty good job at a school that did not even have a football program 7 years ago. who would've thought the school at which he once coached, miami, would be absent in bowl season, but a team nicknamed the owls would be in? i think FAU is better coached and will be better prepared thanks to having played a tougher schedule. i pick the owls.

final score: 44-27 fau

review: memphis was simply overmatched.

papajohns.com bowl - (20) cincinnati vs. southern miss

preview: cincinnati has made a habit of beating inferior opponents all season. this game will be no different.

final score: 31-21 bearcats

review: this was the type of tough-fought game that southern miss typically has. and also typically, they lost.

las vegas bowl - ucla vs. (19) byu

preview: byu is the better team. they were when they played ucla in september, and they still are now. only bad coaching and/or turnovers will cause their loss. i don't see too much of either of these happening, so i'll take the cougars.

final score: 17-16 byu

review: byu needed a hand of Moroni field goal block to retain victory. i hope the voters will forget about this by january 8th and put byu in the top 15, thus increasing our chances at high preseason placement next season.

hawaii bowl - (24) boise state vs. east carolina

preview: though i will pick the broncos, i will in no way be surprised if east carolina wins this game.

final score: 41-38 pirates

review: i am in no way surprised by this.

holiday bowl - (12) arizona state vs. (17) texas

preview: arizona state is a little overrated heading into this game, and texas is probably getting a little overlooked after laying an egg versus rivals texas a&m. after seeing what usc did to the sun devils, i'll take texas to deliver a similar, though slightly more gentle, beatdown.

final score: 52-34 longhorns

review: there were zero definitive angles that showed that kid on the texas sideline touching the ball. so how was that determined "conclusively" by video review? i may never know the answer to this question.

champs sports bowl - (14) boston college vs. michigan state

preview: this looks like a classic team just happy to be playing in december versus team that's annoyed to be stuck in something called the champs sports bowl. in many of these cases, it's wise to take the underdog, which is what i'll do here. go spartans.

final score: 24-21 eagles

review: michigan state had a chance to win this but boston college's superior talent ultimately won out. i forgot how easy it is to beat a mediocre big 10 team.

liberty bowl - central florida vs. mississippi state

preview: my only question entering this game is how did mississippi state win 7 games this year? seriously, i could spend an entire year thinking about this and still not come up with a good answer. while i honestly do believe sylvester croom is doing an admirable job in starkville, for him to be voted SEC coach of the year over the potential national champion coach les miles of LSU is somewhat ridiculous. still, i will pick the bulldogs here, only because i just know croom will make me rue the day i pick against him (again).

final score: 10-3 mississippi state

review: i think i'm glad i only watched the one highlight of this game.

meineke car care bowl - connecticut vs. wake forest

preview: this is by far the worst name for a bowl. incidentally, i will be attending this game, which is being played in charlotte. i'll pick wake forest in what will be basically a home game for them.

final score: 24-10 wake forest

review: the uconn husky is a humorously plain mascot.

independence bowl - alabama vs. colorado

preview: two 6-6 teams. only one will finish with a winning record. i'm picking saban just because i'm sure his players will play more scared than dan hawkins' players will.

final score: 30-24 alabama

review: john parker wilson somehow played a decent game, while colorado took a good quarter and a half to realize they were not, in fact, playing intramurals.

music city bowl - kentucky vs. florida state

preview: the seminoles will be without like a million players and will basically be fielding the chess team plus local denny's employees. still, they'll play inspired football and keep it close, but lose.

final score: 35-28 kentucky

review: maybe it's just me but bobby bowden just doesn't seem that upset with losing anymore. he's still a legend, and he's certainly earned the privilege of leaving FSU on his own terms, but shouldn't he be a little more passionate?

insight bowl - indiana vs. oklahoma state

preview: oklahoma state head coach mike gundy is both a man and 40 years old. do not bet against him.

final score: 49-33 cowboys

review: i expected indiana to make this more of a game.

chick-fil-a bowl - (15) clemson vs. (23) auburn

preview: this is one of my favorite bowls of this season simply because i can call it a tiger fight. i predict the clemson tigers shall be mighter than the tigers of auburn

final score: 23-20 auburn (o.t.)

review: for this being a game between two teams nicknamed tigers, and for them both having orange in their school colors, i was disappointed with the lack of orange jersey and/or pant in this game. in other news, c.j. spiller is really good.

outback bowl - (16) tennessee vs. (18) wisconsin

preview: though i live in orange country, i am not a volunteer fan. still, i acknowlege they've had a good season, and their tough schedule will prepare them well to beat wisconsin.

final score: 21-17 vols

review: it just wouldn't feel like new year's if tennessee wasn't playing at 11:00 a.m. they improve to 54-47 all time in outback bowls.

cotton bowl - (7) missouri vs. (25) arkansas

preview: i fully expect darren mcfadden to run through the mizzou secondary like a knife through hot butter and for jeremy maclin to have a sub-par day. missouri will still be disappointed to have been snubbed by the bcs. my pick is the hogs.

final score: 38-7 missouri

review: really, i could not have been more wrong in this prediction. arkansas looked very lazy and missouri looked very sharp. i hope bobby petrino goes 0-12 next year.

capital one bowl - michigan vs. (9) florida

preview: florida's spread option attack should overpower and bewilder lloyd carr's bunch.

final score: 41-35 michigan

review: there are many things i could say here for excuses, such as the well-documented post-heisman-winning jinx. but really the michigan players played hard for lloyd carr in his last game. and florida's inexperience on the defensive front really showed. sadly, the michigan seniors did not go 0-4 in their bowl games.

rose bowl - (13) illinois vs. (6) usc

preview: only the most deluded of college football fans really believe illinois is either 13th best in the country or that they'll give usc problems. the trojans have already played and nearly beat oregon. they will have no trouble with oregon jr.

final score: 49-17 usc

review: it looked like the illini had never seen such speed on defense. indeed, it's unlikely they had; as the happy ninja put it, "they don't make teams like this in the big 11."

sugar bowl - (10) hawaii vs. (4) georgia

preview: i look forward to the inevitable.

final score: 41-10 uga

review: "i don't care who you play, going undefeated is impressive."

fiesta bowl - (11) west virginia vs. (3) oklahoma

preview: an interesting conspiracy theory surrounding rich rodriguez has emerged, stating that he intentionally threw the game vs. pittsburgh so that the mountaineers wouldn't be playing in the national title game so that he could take the job at michigan. i'm not sure whether this is actually true, but i do know that oklahoma currently has a better coach and better athletes, so i expect them to win.

final score: 48-28 west virginia

review: "did i say ninja? i meant ninny. i am such a ninny." i should probably start believing more in west virginia. they looked very good and i was surprised how well they played given the uncertain coaching situation. the long runs by pat white and noel devine prompted me to say out loud that they looked like a video game. i'm sorry to say, but once again, bob stoops lays an egg in a bcs game.

orange bowl - (8) kansas vs. (5) virginia tech

preview: kansas has had a good season, and their fans should be happy with their 11-win campaign. they should also probably not watch this game, as the hokies will show no mercy.

final score: 24-21 jayyyyyhawwwwwwks

review: at least for me, this is one of the bigger surprises of the bowl season. va tech drops to 0-3 all time in BCS bowl games. k.u. coach mangino always seemed a step ahead of beamer and the hokies. it also helped that tech QB sean glennon kept throwing passes directly to the opposition.

bcs championship - (2) lsu vs. (1) ohio state

preview: would usc have made a better opponent for the tigers? will ohio state's record in bowl games versus the SEC fall to 0-9? and are there way too many commercials for astrive loans on television? the answer to all of these questions is yes.

final score: 38-24 lsu

review: thankfully, with this second consecutive beatdown of ohio state in a championship game, people are starting to realize that it has nothing to do with "a huge 50-day layoff" and has everything to do with the SEC simply being a stronger and better conference than the Big 11, and this is particularly true when ohio state is the team doing the representing (or lack of). gary crowton had a good offensive game plan to exploit ohio state's lesser speed on defense. on the other side of the ball, lsu was simply too fast and too physical on defense. their db's were able to play man coverage all night, freeing up 7 to 8 players to load the box and, with the exception of one long play by chris wells early, they contained the buckeyes running game. congratulations to the tigers for playing a great game and winning the national title.