Bowl Predictions

It's College Bowl time.

And that means college games coming out of the waa-zoo. Seeing that we went 49-29-2 in the regular season, we figure we might as well pick every Bowl game too. It's our Christmas gift from us here atVFLOAB, to you. It's a season of giving.

We won't do all the games at once seeing that picking the National Title game three weeks before the game seems a bit silly. But here are the first week or so of bowls... if lines change drastically, we'll up date it, but I doubt I'll change it. (And we already lost one game, we're fully aware).

Another Bowl Challenge would be to get drunk for every bowl game. That's only getting drunk 17 out of the next 21 days... and you get Christmas off. Hey, if you're single andunemployed it's just a thought. We're looking out for you here.

December 19 - Poinsettia Bowl: TCU (-12) Northern Illinois
Hey we know a thing or two about Northern Illinois... and it's been a disappointing season for the Huskies. Garrett Wolfe has had a nice season, but even thought he's just a few yards short of 2,000 for the season, it's been a bit of a disappointing season for Wolfe too. Sure he lead the NCAA in rushing this year, but you almost expected him to have a superhuman season... in other words he wouldn't need 13 games to get to 2,000 yards. And on top of all that for the Huskies have to go to their backup QB for this game. Meanwhile,TCU had a nice season finishing second in the Mountain West and only losing two games. But that's a lot of points... and outside of that Ohio State game,NIU has played everyone close in their losses.
PICK: Northern Illinois

December 21 - Las Vegas Bowl: BYU (-3) Oregon
We were in love with Oregon for most of the first half of the season. And then they fell apart. And we jumped off the bandwagon that I'm pretty sure we were only riding. But you know what, Oregon can run the ball and I figure they control the clock because of it. And therefore, I'm going to take the points
PICK: Oregon

December 22 - New Orleans Bowl: Rice (-4) Troy
I'll openly admit that I know nothing about this game. Nothing. To the point where I'm not even going to look up these two teams. I could careless, least interesting bowl match-up. But the line is moving towards Troy...
PICK: Troy

December 23 -
Papajohns.com Bowl: South Florida (-5) East Carolina
I've got a friend who is doing his PhD at South Florida, which I might add is located in the Tampa area. And they beat West Virginia this year, so I'm going to go with 'em over the Pirates.
PICK: South Florida

New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico (-3.5) San Jose State
San Jose State has come a long way the past few seasons and have a better record. But this should be more of a home game for New Mexico... neither team has a win that stands out and makes you think 'one they're the team here'. Tough pick. San Jose State should be able to run the ball, but New Mexico probably has a bit of an edge on D. Really tough pick seeing that I haven't seen either team. I'll take the points.
PICK: San Jose State

Armed Forces Bowl: Tulsa (+1) Utah
Hey look, a bowl game named after the Armed Forces that doesn't feature either of the three military branches! Anyway, in a pretty evenly matched game, I'll take the team that creates more opportunities and played well down the stretch.
PICK: Utah

December 24 - Hawaii Bowl: Arizona State (+6.5) Hawaii
When I first looked up this line, it was at 8. Now it's 6.5... which actually sort of surprises me. I figured that if this line was going to move, it'd move in Hawaii's direction seeing that this game is in Hawaii andASU is playing for a lame duck head coach. Hawaii will put a lot of points on the board and although they don't have a great win, ASU doesn't even really have a good win out of their seven victories. I'll take Hawaii and their O.
PICK: Hawaii

December 26 - Motor City Bowl: Middle Tennessee State (+9) Central Michigan
Three true facts:
1) I've actually seen Central Michigan play more than once this year.
2) Chippewas QB, Dan LeFevour, grew up in Downers Grove, IL which is really close to where VFLOAB grew up.
3) Any team called the Chippewas has a place in our heart. If for no other reason than everyone's favorite beer in the Midwest not named Bell's is brewed in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. That's right, Leinenliegel's!
Anyway, the Chippewas won the MAC this year and while that doesn't sound totally awesome, it's impressive since you always hear about how Big Ten and Big East teams refuse to play the MAC teams away from their 70,000 plus seat stadiums. (I should add that the Chippewas played the Wolverines closer than theNotre Dame Fighting Irish). Expect this one to be close for a while, but I think Central Michigan's passing attack eventually blows it up.
PICK: Central Michigan

December 27 - Emerald Bowl: Florida State (+4.5) UCLA
FSU doesn't deserve to be in a bowl game. Meanwhile, UCLA has to be flying high right now. The USC game alone should tell us that UCLA should roll in this one. Plus how many times has a college football team been able to say they beatUSC and Florida State in the same season? (and remember they should have beaten the Irish this year) Of course, the question is how many points will or can they score? If UCLA can't get to 17 points,FSU will cover. I really have no clue about this one... two really good Ds, so I'll take the points and probably live to regret it.
PICK: Florida State

RECORD THUS FAR:
0-1