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Last week: The big loser from the conference title game upsets ? Central Florida ... UCLA falling to the Rose Bowl meant that only one Pac Ten team made the BCS ... which dropped all the rest of the Pac Ten teams one bowl spot, and cost UCF their first ever bowl game.

This week: Bowl time bay-bee ! Time to separate the men from the Hoos ...

Not in action this week: Only the suckers ...

San Diego State vs. North Carolina (no line)

This is Miami (OH)'s bowl spot and everyone knows it. I don't know whether to root against UNC for taking this offer, or against SDSU for campaigning so hard to get UNC as their opponent. The 1998 bowl season starts off with little more than a loud sigh ...

Pick: Miami (OH)

Louiseville (-3.5) vs. Marshall

Possibly the Tulane of '99, Louiseville will first have to deal with Marshall in Detroit. Pardon the pun, but the herd of Marshall fans will likely outnumber the Cardinals that make the trip, and it won't be a fun experience for any of them ... The Louiseville fans because they're gonna get whupped, and the Herd fans because they're going to have to deal with all those Louiseville fans.

Pick: Marshall

#21 Oregon (-5.5) vs. Colorado

Oregon should take this one fairly easily. Colorado was the biggest pretender of the first half of the regular season, and Oregon has more offensive firepower than anyone CU has faced, with the exception of Kansas State. Should be nice and high scoring though, and something to watch after all the presents have been opened.

Pick: Ducks

 

#13 Air Force (-3.5) vs. Washington

UDub at 6-5 is in the bowl that Central Florida wanted. Air Force is the WAC champion, and this is what they are reduced to ... and we complain about Big East tie-ins ! With most of a month to rest up, AFA QB Blain Morgan should be healthy and ready to play. That's bad news for the Huskies. Anyone who watched the WAC championship game could see the difference he makes to the team.

Pick: Air Force

#25 West Virginia (+3.5) vs. Missouri

West Virginia has lost about 50 straight bowl games. I figure that they're due in a big way. The Big East gets off the schnide in our first opportunity.

Pick: West Virginia

#24 Virginia Tech (-5.5) vs. Alabama

While they did go 7-4, Alabama actually gave up more points than they scored on the season. The key to stopping the Tide is fairly obvious ... they average 115 yds/game on the ground, and 107 of that comes from Shaun Alexander. Stop him, and the Tide gets rolled. In a sea of deep red shirts, the Hokies will come out on top.

Pick: Virginia Tech

 

Miami(FL) (-7) vs. NC State

With a bowl game in Miami, the Canes might actually bring in a fan or two. NC State isn't bad ... just inconsistent. I'm a little surprised that Miami is such a big favorite, but if they can carry over some momentum from the UCLA win, they should take this one.

Pick: NCSU

 

#4 Kansas State (-12) vs. Purdue

Right now, the Wildcats are going through the "depression" state of grief at the loss of their MNC shot. By the time this game rolls around, they should be well into their "anger" phase. Purdue, on the other hand, is pretty much through their "football" phase, and well on their way back to their "Purdue" phase.

Pick: Kansas State

Southern Miss (-15.5) vs. Idaho

Exactly what is humanitarian about playing a bowl game in Boise, Idaho at the end of December ? USM should win this one handily unless the weather gets to them. Had Idaho not converted a 2-point PAT in their final game, 3-8 North Texas would be playing in this game ... such is the sad state of affairs in the Big West.

Pick: Vandals (That means Idaho!)

 

#6 Arizona (+3) vs. #16 Nebraska

After a steady diet of WAC and 2nd-tier PAC-10 teams over the years, Holiday Bowl officials are doing cartwheels after getting this dynamite matchup. Nebraska under Dr. Tom was never a team to be taken lightly come bowl time, now we get to see how Frank Solich handles things. Arizona is a _very_ good team, and is perfectly capable of defeating the Huskers. This is quite possibly the best (on paper) of the non-BCS bowl games.

Pick: Arizona

#10 Tulane (-5.5) vs. BYU

Time to find out if Tulane is _really_ a good team, or if Lil' Bowden was just a great Magician. BYU isn't great, but they're more than enough to beat the Green Wave if they don't have all of their ducks in a row. Tulane plays "defense optional" football, but an amazing offense should be plenty to bury the Coogs.

Pick: Tulane

 

Southern Cal (-16) vs. Texas Christian

Twice in three years now, a 2-loss Wyoming team has been snubbed by the bowls. The Sun Bowl is in El Paso. UTEP got left behind by Wyoming and the other WAC breakaways, so Sun Bowl officials told Wyoming "No Bowl for you ! One year !", and chose TCU instead. After posting a 1-10 record last year, TCU is really a great turnaround story ... they're responsible for Air Force's only loss this season. Southern Cal is a bit of a mystery ... sure, the played a tough schedule, but they lost all their big games (Notre Dame w/o a QB doesn't count). Still ... TCU shouldn't present much of a challenge for them.

Pick: USC

 

#12 Wahoo State (-2.0) vs. #19 Georgia

With loss here, Cavaliers headed for 0-11 in '99.

Pick: Hoova

 

Mississippi vs. Texas Tech (no line)

*Yawn* This game is so weak, the bookies have not even set a line out of shear apathy.

Pick: Dick Clark's Countdown to the New Year

#20 Penn State (-7) vs. Kentucky

In possibly his final performance on the college stage, Tim Couch will look to shred a suspect Penn State secondary. The Nits don't lose many games where JoePa has an entire month to prepare, so expect some defensive tricks that Couch has never seen before. The Lions offense is strictly average, but the Kentucky defense is just plain bad. If Paterno's boys can contain the Wildcat passing attack, they should win this one.

Pick: Kentucky

 

#22 Texas (-5.5) vs. #23 Mississippi State

Mississippi State has a pretty darn good defense. They showed that by containing the Vols for 3.5 quarters in the SEC title game. Ricky Williams and Co. are probably a bit much for the Bulldogs to handle, however. Texas already beat MSU once this year, only they were wearing aTm jerseys, so Mack Brown doesn't need to come up with a new game plan.

Pick: Longhorns

 

#14 Georgia Tech vs. #18 Notre Dame (no line)

Unless Notre Dame gets their quarterback healthy in a hurry, Georgia Tech's gonna be going for their all-time biggest victory. For those of you not versed in the history, The Ramblin Wreck of Georgia Tech holds the all time college record for most lopsided victory: They beat tiny Cumberland College by a score of 222-0 back in 1916.

Pick: Georgia Tech

 

#15 Michigan (-3) vs. #11 Arkansas

I'm going to be too busy reveling in Notre Dame's misfortune to watch much of this game, but once again the Citrus has grabbed themselves a _fine_ matchup of quality teams. This really could go either way, but I like Michigan's bowl experience over an upstart Arkansas squad.

Pick: Michigan

 

#5 UCLA (-9) vs. #8 Wisconsin

FSU selected over UCLA for the #2 spot ... must be that East Coast Bias again.

Pick: UCLA

 

#3 Ohio State (-12) vs. #9 Texas A&M

I dunno. 12 points is an awfully big spread. I mean aTm's defense showed up huge against Kansas State, and I wouldn't say that OSU has any more talent on offense than do the Wildcats. I expect the Aggies to have the fan advantage also, as OSU was in New Orleans last year also. Should be a very good game either way though ...

Pick: Aggies

#7 Florida (-7.5) vs. #17 Syracuse

Syracuse can score, we all know that. The challenge will be for them to contain a Steve Spurrier offense. Unfortunately, this game will end up marring the Big East's previous unblemished bowl record this season.

Pick: Florida

#1 Tennessee (+4.5) vs. #2 Florida State

Tennessee is an all-around great team. No single facet of their game is overpowering, but they don't have _any_ holes. Florida State relies on a NFL-caliber defense to support a QB-deficient offense ... that plan has only failed once. I'd peg the overall talent levels to be about equal, which mean you have to go with the coaching. Saint Bobby is used to this. FSU has finished the season in the top-4 for 10 straight years now, and he knows how to prepare for the big games. Phil Fulmer is the winningest (%-wise) active coach in major college football ... but he shows a propensity for struggling in the important games. It took him five years to beat Florida, and didn't figure out Mississippi State until the end of the SEC championship. You can chalk up Arkansas as a "shoulda". Every year, the Vols manage to blow up somewhere, and I think this is where it will happen this year.

Pick: Free Shoes U

Game of the Week to Watch: Other than the obvious ones, I'd say the most entertaining games could very well be the Outback and Holiday bowls.

Upset Special: Kentucky over Penn State

Last week: 3 - 3

Season to Date: 139 - 121 - 4

Upset Special: 3 - 11