After a rather successful regular season, it's time to choose the best betting options from the bowl season. With 34 bowls to choose from, there are certainly plenty of choices.
BYU (+3) over ARIZONA - People aren't giving the Mountain West enough credit, and I'm not that impressed with Arizona. Remember BYU was ranked in the top 15 most of the year.
TCU (-2) over BOISE ST - While Boise certainly has the experience factor and no one can forget the last time they were undefeated and went to a bowl, this time the WAC is having a down year. I've been very impressed with TCU all year, and I just don't think Boise's really been tested. They won at Oregon, but the Ducks weren't great early in the year. This should be one of the best bowl games, pitting two of the best teams from second-tier conferences.
FLORIDA STATE (-5) over WISCONSIN - FSU has the defensive strength to stop Hill, and the Badgers almost lost to Cal Poly. This could, and probably will, get ugly.
MISSOURI (-12) over NORTHWESTERN - Another massacre at the Alamo. Even if N'Western can score, the Tigers will put up so many points it will be ridiculous.
NEVADA (-1) over MARYLAND - The Terps have played exactly 1 good half on the road this year, and that was because Clemson fell apart. Other road games include UVA, VT, BC, and MTSU, none of which went well. Playing on the blue field of death, we now face the pistol offense and the WAC offensive player of the year. This isn't going to be pretty. Also, Nevada's not ranked, so we probably won't show up.
KANSAS (-9) over MINNESOTA - No respect for the Big 10, and plenty of respect for the Jayhawks, who beat Missouri to finish and had a pretty tough schedule. They're better than their record. This team won the Orange Bowl last year.
GEORGIA TECH (-3) over LSU - A home game for Tech in Atlanta, the Wreck has one of the best rushing offenses in the country. Meanwhile, the Tigers have given up 50 points to a couple teams, and have no QB. They needed a huge comeback to beat Troy, but the GT defense is not that weak. Plus, I don't think LSU will show up to play one year after winning the national championship. This is not that team.
Boston College (-4) over VANDERBILT - I know the Eagles will probably be pissed about being in this bowl, but they should manhandle a Commodore team that's 1-5 in its last 6 games, including losses to Duke and Wake.
USC (-9) over PENN ST - Both of these teams were close to being in the national championship, but the talent of USC playing at home will overwhelm PSU in the same way that it did Ohio St.
CINCINNATI (-2) over VT - The Bearcats are better than most people are giving them credit for, and while the Tech defense is solid, I think the ACC loses yet another BCS bowl. All the parity in the ACC meant that there wasn't a single really good team, except maybe GT who peaked a little too late.
ALABAMA (-9) over UTAH - The Utes will not enjoy the power and physical nature of the Crimson Tide. This won't be as bad as Hawaii last year, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Utes are shut out.
TEXAS (-7) over OHIO ST - The Longhorns will use this game to make a statement about their team and their QB having been snubbed. OSU will get pounded again, because the Big 10 underbelly could not be weaker.
FLORIDA (-3) over OKLAHOMA - Tim Tebow might be the best player in the nation, and I think Florida is the more complete team. The Sooners have stunk it up in their last 4 or 5 BCS games, with bad losses to West Virginia, Boise St., USC, LSU, and FSU. So I give the coaching edge to Urban, and the QB edge to Tebow. The loss of Murray for OU, and the likely return of Harvin, swings the running back edge to Florida as well. Florida will probably also win special teams since OU has given up a bunch of kickoff returns for TDs this year. I think the defenses are comparable. Overall, significant edge to Florida.
Regular Season: 50-36-2
December 20, 2008
College Football Picks - Bowls
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7 Responses:
Whomever wrote these predictions should at least get the facts straight...Oklahoma did not lose, they BEAT FSU in 2000 to win their 7th National Championship. Also, apparently the writer didn't watch this year's Big 12 Championship and see that there is NO DROPOFF at RB for OU. Murray was hurt the opening kickoff, and Brown/Madu then combined for >200yds rushing. BOOMER SOONER!
I dunno about Utah. So I decided to be ballsy in a pool and pick them to win. I think the game should be exciting. Besides if you're going to give TCU props, remember Utah beat them.
I think VT is better than you think. Beamer's special teams often manage to make an impact and I don't think Cinci has been tested this year.
Regarding OU-Mizz, well I would hope they combined for 200+ yards as OU won by 41. I think Bradford has the edge, he's got all day in the pocket and there is some depth in OU's run. It's almost really a toss up and I think Florida only has the edge because everyone loves Tebow.
But I'd let the FSU error go. Russell had better be spending his time writing his proposal and not checking every fact. Besides, it's pretty easy to believe OU losing in the BCS; it's been done consistently. But I can't gloat too much since GT hasn't even been to the BCS.
I'm surprised you ignored Notre Dame/Hawaii (ND-1). Hawaii should stun them at home while we sit in confusion as to why Weis is still employed.
I'm not confused about Weis being employed. Notre Dame is stuck in 1982. Like Auburn, they'd rather have a white coach lose than a black coach compete.
Well that's fine by me. I don't like Notre Dame anyway so the more they suck, the happier I am.
Ty Willingham just wasn't getting it done in Washington and while he did decently well at Notre Dame, I think he just wasn't recruiting well.
However, Gill has done very well and I think he will end up at an excellent position in the near future. I suppose I could bait Ben but there will probably be a few others competing for his services.
As for the issue of black football coaches, how many are in assistant coaching positions? Looking through GT's assistants, we have only two. So maybe it's partially a game of numbers (less black asst coaches results in less head coaches) as head coaches usually are stand out assistants. Is there a way to find numbers on that?
But I guess my real problem in understanding the situation (besides the obvious race issue) is figuring out how one becomes an assistant coach. Is it just a part of who you know? Right place, right time? Standout high school coaching? Random white guy on the street?
I like how your second and third paragraphs assumed the issue of black head coaches, and then you open the third paragraph with "As for the issue of black football coaches..."
No, seriously, I just assumed you were talking about Ty Willingham and Turner Gill as football coaches in general.
Errr, fourth paragraph has that line...depending on how we're defining the term "paragraph".
Looking back at my post, I realize it seems stupid the way I wrote it too. But I think I was trying to respond to the original comments and then broaden the scope from just those two schools to all of NCAA and then reasoning behind a lack of black coaches. That's what I gathered from rereading it now. Thoughts on those issues from the last two paragraphs?
I guess some naive part of me thinks that dumb white folks can't be entirely to blame while I'm sure it's the sad reality. Combine that with the engineer wanting data to see if there's another contributing factor.
Doing a little bit of research, I came across this blog post - http://raggedthots.blogspot.com/2007/01/state-of-nfl-black-coaches.html and it seemed they were asking similar questions as me. If I have a little more time, I'll try to see what else I can find.
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