Friday, December 16, 2011

Charles picks some bowls

New Mexico Bowl
12/17/11
Temple (-6.5) vs. Wyoming
I got to see a good pick of Temple on the teevee because of the NBA lock-out. Good start!
My pick: TEMPLE

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
12/17/11
Utah St. (-2.5) vs. THE Ohio University
Utah State has the momentum. They're also better than their record suggests.
My pick: UTAH STATE

New Orleans Bowl
12/17/11
San Diego St. (-4.5) vs. UL-Lafayette
ULL is much closer to home, but isn't there a lot of talk that their coach might be going somewhere else? That's reason enough to pick the favorite.
My pick: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAN DIEGO STATE

St. Petersburg Bowl
12/20/11
Marshall vs. FIU (-4)
Marshall's coach is actually named Doc Holliday. Plus, I heard a rumor that Mario Cristal Ball is going to get hired at Pitt. Our first upset selection!
My pick: MARSHALL

Poinsettia Bowl
12/21/11
Louisiana Tech vs. TCU (-10.5)
I almost picked an upset here, for the letdown factor etc, but TCU is just way better than La Tech.
My pick: TCU

Las Vegas Bowl
12/22/11
Arizona St. vs. Boise St. (-14)
Arizona State hired a huge dick of a coach, and their players know it, and this has been a terrible season. BSU isn't going to be excited about this, I don't think, but their opponents probably just want this thing to get over. Neither of these teams should be here, for opposite reasons.
My pick: BOISE STATE

Hawai'i Bowl
12/24/11
Nevada vs. Southern Miss (-6)
SEE I MET THIS WOMAN FROM HAWAII/STUCK IT IN HER ASS AND SHE SAID AAIII
My pick: NEVADA

Independence Bowl
12/26/11
Missouri (-5) vs. North Carolina
North Carolina is not very good, and neither is Missouri, but they are on a winning streak. In a couple of years this will be an intraconference game.
My pick: MISSOURA

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl
12/27/11
Purdue (-2.5) vs. Western Michigan
This should be a fun game. Going with the name brand football program. Wait, no, that doesn't work. Going with the better team. No, not that either. WeMU lost to Michigan by 24; Purdue only lost by 22. I pick the Boilermakers by 2.
My pick: PURDUE

Belk Bowl
12/27/11
NC State (-3) vs. Louisville
Here's two pretty uneven teams. I am guessing more than usual.
My pick: LOUISVILLE

Military Bowl
12/28/11
Air Force vs. Toledo (-3)
I would have picked Toledo, because they're actually pretty good and their offense is strong, but then their coached left. But then the offensive coordinator was named coach, so he'll want to do a good job and the offense will want to look good for him. So, yeah.
My pick: TOLEDO

Holiday Bowl
12/28/11
California vs. Texas (-3)
The Holiday Bowl is frequently a destination for teams I feel like should have gone to a bigger bowl game. But then, not always. I don't think I watched much Cal this year, but they appear to have finished strong. I watched Texas a fair bit and was not impressed.
My pick: CALIFORNIA

Champs Sports Bowl
12/29/11
Notre Dame vs. Florida St. (-3)
Catholics vs. Indigenous Peoples, round 2! I think Brian Kelly is a better coach, and I watched the Florida-Florida State game.
My pick: NOTRE DAME

Alamo Bowl
12/29/11
Washington vs. Baylor (-9)
Take a drink every time someone mentions the Heisman and a shot for each mention of Superman, socks, or Superman socks. Also: Washington is not a good football team.
My pick: BAY, LORD OF THE BEARS

Armed Forces Bowl
12/30/11
Tulsa vs. BYU (-3)
If I were a betting man, I would take the over on this game, which I've seen in the mid-50s. I am picking BYU just because they ended the regular season in a stronger fashion.
My pick: BYU

Pinstripe Bowl
12/30/11
Iowa St. vs. Rutgers (-1.5)
Rutgers, I guess, is kind of at home.
My pick: RUTGERS

Music City Bowl
12/30/11
Mississippi St. (-7) vs. Wake Forest
Wake Forest got blown out by Vanderbilt. Mississippi State is at least as good as Vanderbilt. People seem to think that Mississippi State is having a down year, but they've lost to a bunch of ten-win teams and the defending national champ at that team's season peak.
My pick: MISSISSIPPI STATE

Insight Bowl
12/30/11
Oklahoma (-14) vs. Iowa
Oklahoma is way better. If they're unhappy about the lower bowl and don't play well, they win comfortably. If they're angry and play like it, blowout.
My pick: OKLAHOMA

Texas Bowl
12/31/11
Texas A&M (-10) vs. Northwestern
This is a tough pick. Texas A&M is a better team, but their coach got fired and this is not the kind of bowl game they expected at the start of this season. I am going with the team that's more emotionally invested.
My pick: NORTHWESTERN

Sun Bowl
12/31/11
Georgia Tech (-3.5) vs. Utah
Georgia Tech is better, but Utah is well-coached and will have plenty of time to get ready for the option.
My pick: UTAH

Liberty Bowl
12/31/11
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt (-2.5)
I think Vanderbilt was close to being a pretty good team this year. It was too far apart in the season to mean anything, but Vanderbilt did lose closer to their common opponent Tennessee.
My pick: VANDY

Kraft Fights Hunger Bowl
12/31/11
UCLA vs. Illinois (-2.5)
When people talk about there being too many bowl games, they think they're talking about games like Tulsa-BYU, but they are really talking about games like this. Two bad, headless losers flailing like bad, headless children. They're playing in a stupid bowl game with a dumb name. It is closer to UCLA's campus, and that is how I am picking.
My pick: UCLA

Peach Bowl
12/31/11
Virginia vs. Auburn (-1.5)
When you get right down to it, these aren't very good teams. Both teams got blown out by their rivals, but Auburn's rivals are much better than Virginia's. Losing Mike Dyer hurts, but Auburn has still got quality running backs, and the coaches seem to have forgotten about him anyway.
My pick: AUBURN, BECAUSE HEY, WHY NOT?

Ticket City Bowl
1/2/12
Penn St. vs. Houston (-5.5)
I imagine that Penn State will not give this game their undivided attention. There's a good chance that Houston will be a bit unhappy about missing a BCS bowl, but that will wear off by January. I would be more surprised by a Penn State win than by a Houston blow-out.
My pick: HOUSTON

Outback Bowl
1/2/12
Michigan St. vs. Georgia (-4)
I still am not convinced that Georgia is a very good team. Better than average? Sure. But they haven't beaten what I would call a strong team all season. Their best win is ... maybe Georgia Tech? That just doesn't do a lot for me. Michigan State, on the other hand, has looked good against good teams.
My pick: MICHIGAN STATE

Capital One Bowl
1/2/12
South Carolina (-2.5) vs. Newbraska
This is a pretty interesting game. South Carolina looked very good against Clemson. I think the Capital One Bowl is big enough that they won't feel bad about missing the SEC title game or a better bowl (which is what happened when they played in Birmingham).
My pick: SAKERLINA

Gator Bowl
1/2/12
Florida (-2) vs. Ohio St.
Part of me imagines that Charlie Weis is out of the way, and Florida suddenly has one of the two or three best offenses in America. But probably not, because Florida sucks. A mediocre match-up of mediocre teams.
My pick: AN OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Rose Bowl
1/2/12
Wisconsin vs. Oregon (-6)
This should be fun. Two offenses that are very good in different ways. Wisconsin is strong, but I don't see them keeping up with Oregon, a team with some of the best skill players in the country and who very easily could have been playing for the national title.
My pick: OREGON

Fiesta Bowl
1/2/12
Oklahoma St. (-3.5) vs. Stanford
This should be fun. Two offenses that are very good in different ways. Stanford is strong, but I don't see them keeping up with Oklahoma State, a team with some of the best skill players in the country and who very easily could have been playing for the national title.
My pick: OKLAHOMA STATE

Sugar Bowl
1/3/12
Virginia Tech vs. Michigan (-2.5)
Like Georgia, Virginia Tech has a fancy record but little reason to think that they're very good. Michigan, in contrast, has played (and beaten!) good teams.
My pick: MICHIGAN

Orange Bowl
1/4/12
Clemson (-3.5) vs. West Virginia
The ACC is a lot better than the Big East. I think Dana Holgorsen is a fine coach, better than his opponent, but Clemson is just the stronger team overall.
My pick: CLEMSON

Cotton Bowl
1/6/12
Kansas St. vs. Arkansas (-8)
Bill Snyder is the best coach in America. I still think Arkansas wins, because they're a much better team, but close.
My pick: ARKANSAS

BBVA Compass Bowl
1/7/12
SMU vs. Pittsburgh (-5)
I have heard that Pittsburgh's team is really upset about their coach leaving. Will that come out as an angry team playing hard, or a flat team going through the motions? I think angry. Also, neither of these teams are very good, SMU particularly.
My pick: PITT

GoDaddy.com Bowl
1/8/12
Arkansas St.(-1.5) vs. Northern Illinois
I'm surprised ASU is favored, as Northern Illinois finished with basically the same record in a tougher conference against a tougher schedule. Arkansas State is also going through a coaching change. Arkansas State seems pretty excited about their new coach, but interim coaches often have trouble. Also I am still partial to NIU for upsetting Alabama several years ago.
My pick: NORTHERN ILLINOIS

BCS National Championship
1/9/12
LSU (-1) vs. Alabama
LSU is the better team and won the first match-up at Alabama. Also, even if Alabama wins this game, I would vote LSU number one, because LSU played a tougher schedule and won the game in Tuscaloosa.
My pick: LSU

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