Charles Bowl Picks

New Mexico: Fresno St. vs. Wyoming
Wyoming is a terrible football team, while Fresno State is merely bad.
My Pick: FRESNO STATE

St. Petersburg: Rutgers vs. UCF
This is on my short list for most likely to be the most boring bowl game. I'm going to pretend it's a play-in game for Rutgers to get into the Big 10, with the recent expansion talk and whatnot.
My Pick: RUTGERS BABY

R+L Carriers New Orleans: Southern Miss. vs. Middle Tenn.
Southern Miss is better than their record indicates, although they're not terribly good.
My Pick: SOUTHERN MISS

MAACO Las Vegas: BYU vs. Oregon State
I feel like Oregon State is the much better team, and they've won three straight bowl games, but I'm torn because they might (rightly) feel like this is a consolation game for losers. But then, BYU lost badly to Florida State.
My Pick: BEAVERS

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia: Utah vs. Cal
Utah wants to be here more, and Cal got bad at the end of the season.
My Pick: UTAH

Sheraton Hawaii: SMU vs. Nevada
SMU lost to both Washington State and (We are) Marshall.
My Pick: NEVADA

Little Caesars: Marshall vs. Ohio
As you may have noticed, I don't think too highly of Marshall.
My Pick:JOEHIO

Meineke Car Care: North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
Nothing gets kids from North Carolina pumped up like a bus ride to Charlotte.
My Pick: PITTT

Emerald: Boston College vs. USC
BC has struggled mightily against anybody with a pulse. I don't have the foggiest idea what USC's deal is. Let's go with the team that's actually beaten some good opponents, even if they've lost to some inferior opponents.
My Pick: USC

Gaylord Hotels Music City: Clemson vs. Kentucky
Both of these teams lost to South Carolina. Kentucky as a team wants it more, but C. J. Spiller as a player wants it more; Spiller is better than Kentucky.
My Pick: CLEMSON

AdvoCare V100 Independence: Texas A&M vs. Georgia
I can't imagine either of these teams being terribly excited about this. As much as they've underachieved, Georgia hasn't lost to anybody as bad as TAMU.
My Pick: UGA

EagleBank: Temple vs. UCLA
Temple??? They've got to be excited to be there. Rick Neuheisel is a clown.
My Pick: Temple

Champs Sports: Miami vs. Wisconsin
I will be very surprised if Miami doesn't win this by at least two scores.
My Pick: DA U

Roady's Humanitarian: Idaho vs. Bowling Green
I wish Idaho and Temple had played. The Taters (my unofficial nickname for Idaho's team) gave up 30 or more points seven times.
My Pick: BOWLING GREEN

Pacific Life Holiday: Nebraska vs. Arizona
If King Kong Suh could nearly beat Texas by himself, he can beat Arizona by himself.
My Pick: NEWBRASKA

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces: Houston vs. Air Force
This should be a pretty exciting offensive shoot-out. I think Case Keenum should have been at the Heisman ceremony, although he shouldn't have won it.
My Pick:HOUSTON

Brut Sun: Oklahoma vs. Stanford
Didn't see this one coming in August, did you? Oklahoma is probably not terribly excited about this, while Standford has reason both to be excited (for the bowl) and upset (for Gerhart's losing the Heisman to a player with worse statistics).
My Pick: STANFORD

Texas: Missouri vs. Navy
If Missouri is ready for this game, and I think they will be, they win pretty easily.
My Pick: MISSOURI

Insight: Minnesota vs. Iowa State
Two of the worst offenses in the BCS conferences, if not the country. I'm picking more against Iowa State than I am for Minnesota.
My Pick: MINNESOTA

Chick-fil-A: Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee
I'm probably letting my dislike of Lane Kiffin influence me too much, but Virginia Tech is a pretty good team, and Tennessee is just average. Two of the Hokies' three losses have come to conference champions.
My Pick: VPI

Outback: Northwestern vs. Auburn
SEC speed! This is actually kind of a bad match-up for Auburn, but I think the overall talent difference will mean that doesn't matter much. I also expect Auburn to have a nearly homefield crowd advantage.
My Pick: AUBURN

Capital One: Penn St. vs. LSU
Tough one to pick. I think LSU is a little better, but there's no telling how they'll play. Les Miles versus Joe Paterno is how I'm going.
My Pick: PENN STATE

Konica Minolta Gator: Florida State vs. West Virginia
Florida State has no defense. If West Virginia can just avoid shooting themselves in the foot, they win easily, even against a team that's pumped up for Bobby's last game (serious question: how many players on the FSU roster could Bowden name, if shown their faces? My guess is 60%).
My Pick: WEST VIRGINIA

Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi: Ohio St. vs. Oregon
Oregon has been underrated and unlucky for like eight years now. Ohio State does not have the offense to win this game.
My Pick: DUCKS

Allstate Sugar: Florida vs. Cincinnati
I was going to Pick Cincinatti, because Florida will be so disappointed, but with Brian Kelly leaving, and Tim Tebow leaving, I think the Gators will be more in the game, which gives Cincy little hope.
My Pick: FLORIDA

International: USF vs. Northern Illinois
If Jim Leavitt didn't punch that guy, his players will get behind an embattled, unfairly attacked coach. It sounds like he didn't. Neither of these teams comes in on what you'd call a hot streak.
My Pick: USF

Papajohns.com: Connecticut vs. South Carolina
It's difficult for me to take South Carolina entirely serious as a team.
My Pick: UCONN

AT&T Cotton: Oklahoma St. vs. Mississippi
Losers! Both of these teams failed to live up to expectations, and got whipped by inferior in-state rivals. At least Ole Miss showed signs of life against MSU; Oklahoma State was just embarassing against Oklahoma.
My Pick: OLE MISS

AutoZone Liberty: East Carolina vs. Arkansas
East Carolina has a terrible pass defense. Unless Arkansas turns the ball over several times, there's no reason to think they can't easily outscore the Pirates. Plus, without the magic talisman of East Carolina's midfield logo, they're in trouble.
My Pick: ARKANSAS

Valero Alamo: Michigan St. vs. Texas Tech
I'm seeing people make this a match-up of the best passing games of their respective conferences. If that's the criteria, it's a pretty easy choice which conference I'll take.
My Pick: TEXAS TECH YARRR

Tostitos Fiesta: TCU vs. Boise St.
Offense wins games, defense wins meaningless Fiesta Bowls.
My Pick: TCU

FedEx Orange: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Option time! Iowa is not as good, at the end of the season, as they were at the beginning. Georgia Tech's had some weird games, but their two losses didn't come right at the end of the season (well, one did). Whatever. I like Paul Johnson a lot.
My Pick: TECH

GMAC: Troy vs. Central Michigan
This should be a pretty exciting game. I like Central Michigan's high-flying offense better than Troy's, plus the Chippewas are arguably the best team in their state.
My Pick: CMU

Citi BCS National Championship Game: Alabama vs. Texas
I'd like to say that I think Alabama will be overconfident, or Texas will show that they're underrated, etc etc. But the Longhorns have only played two decent defenses, and they struggled against both. Alabama has an exceptional defense and a good enough offense.
My Pick: alabama