Let's see if we can pick ALL of the winners! Here we go...
EAGLEBANK BOWL--Wake Forest vs Navy: the Middies beat Wake Forest earlier this year; my guess is they won't sneak up on them this time. PICK: WAKE FOREST.
NEW MEXICO BOWL--Colorado State vs Fresno State: FSU has a good program and good tradition. PICK: FRESNO STATE.
MAGICJACK ST. PETERSBURG BOWL--Memphis vs South Florida: I like the Bulls, with their experience and their relative success in a pretty tough conference. PICK: SOUTH FLORIDA.
PIONEER LAS VEGAS BOWL--BYU vs Arizona. The Cougars have lots of firepower. PICK: BYU.
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL--Southern Miss vs Troy. The Trojans have an up and coming program. PICK: TROY.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL--TCU vs Boise State. The Horned Frogs have a terrific defense, and could have easily cracked into the BCS. PICK: TCU.
SHERATON HAWAII BOWL--Hawaii vs Notre Dame. The Irish have struggled late. But here's a chance at a tiny bit of redemption, which I think they'll take. Hawaii has struggled without departed coach June Jones.
MOTOR CITY BOWL--Florida Atlantic vs Central Michigan. The Chippewas tend to play well in this one, being so close to home. PICK: Central Michigan.
MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL--West Virginia vs North Carolina. I like WVU's experience here, and the fact that Pat White at QB can make plays. North Carolina is coming on but is still young. PICK: WEST VIRGINIA.
CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL--Wisconsin vs Florida State. The Badgers have been wildly inconsistent this year, and FSU has played better as the season has gone on. It's been a down year for the Big 10. PICK: FLORIDA STATE.
EMERALD BOWL--Miami (FLA) vs California. Expect Jeff Teadford to have some new offensive wrinkles for this game. Remember that Cal gave USC a tough battle earlier this season. PICK: CALIFORNIA.
INDEPENDENCE BOWL--Northern Illinois vs Louisiana Tech. Tech to benefit from home cooking. PICK: LA TECH.
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL--North Carolina State vs Rutgers. Rutgers is one of the hottest teams around late this season; they hung over 60 points on Louisville in their last game. PICK: RUTGERS.
VALERO ALAMO BOWL--Missouri vs Northwestern. I doubt NU is going to be able to slow down Chase Daniel and that Mizzou attack, much less outscore them. PICK: MISSOURI.
ROADY'S HUMANITARIAN BOWL--Maryland vs Nevada. The Terrapins come from a stronger conference, and knocked off some good teams this year. PICK: MARYLAND.
TEXAS BOWL--Western Michigan vs Rice. The Owls throw the ball all over the lot, can move it well and score points, and will play close to home. PICK: RICE.
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL--Oklahoma State vs Oregon. The Ducks were playing well towards the end of the year--did you see the 65 points they hung on Oregon State? Meanwhile, I have a hunch OSU will be feeling a post-Oklahoma hangover, and might lose focus. UPSET PICK: OREGON.
BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL--Houston vs Air Force. Air Force, with its option attack, can be real hard to prepare for. PICK: AIR FORCE.
BRUT SUN BOWL--Oregon State vs Pittsburgh. The Beavers lost out on the Rose Bowl in their final game, a loss to their arch-rival. Meanwhile, Pitt seemed to gain strength as the year went on, and they have momentum. PICK: PITTSBURGH.
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL--Boston College vs Vanderbilt. I know Vandy will be close to home, but I like that BC defense. PICK: BOSTON COLLEGE.
INSIGHT.COM BOWL--Kansas vs Minnesota. Kansas has an excellent quarterback in Todd Riesing, and an offense that can really move. Meanwhile it looked to me like the Golden Gophers faded towards the end of the season. PICK: KANSAS.
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL--LSU vs Georgia Tech. Again, an option offense is tough to prepare for, and that's what the Rambling Wreck run. Meanwhile, LSU lost its last game at Arkansas, and this is not the bowl in which they expected to be when the season began. Will they be focused? PICK: GEORGIA TECH.
OUTBACK BOWL--South Carolina vs Iowa. Iowa really made strides--see for example their late-season win over Penn State. I didn't sense the same improvement in the Gamecocks. PICK: IOWA.
CAPITAL ONE BOWL--Georgia vs Michigan State. UGA has an impressive QB in Matthew Stafford. But that defense has holes, and I can see Javon Ringer having a day in a high-scoring affair. PICK: MICHIGAN STATE.
KONICA MINOLTA GATOR BOWL--Nebraska vs Clemson. Kudos to Bo Pelini for bringing the Cornhuskers along to an 8-4 year in a tough league. Their QB Ganz has come on strong. PICK: NEBRASKA.
ROSE BOWL--Penn State vs USC. This will be a tough, defensive battle. But...Pete Carroll's bunch has an awfully good bowl record over the years, and there's just so much talent on this USC roster. PICK: USC.
FEDEX ORANGE BOWL--Cincinnati vs Virginia Tech. I think the Bearcats will be sky-high for this game, and very focused. PICK: CINCINNATI.
AT&T COTTON BOWL--Ole Miss vs Texas Tech. Tech and that offense will put up a lot of points. PICK: TEXAS TECH.
AUTO ZONE LIBERTY BOWL--Kentucky vs East Carolina. UK has a solid defense, and gave teams such as Alabama and Georgia a real tough time earlier this year. PICK: KENTUCKY.
ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL--Utah vs Alabama. Question here: will Alabama be focused and ready to play, having lost out on a national championship? My guess is yes, though Utah will give them a battle. PICK: ALABAMA.
INTERNATIONAL BOWL--Buffalo vs Connecticut. Buffalo is on a roll, and will be playing not far from home in this one. PICK: BUFFALO.
TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL--Ohio State vs Texas. Colt McCoy to get the job done in this one, generating enough offense to keep the Horns in the lead vs Terrelle Pryor (who is young, and will make at least one big mistake in this game). PICK: TEXAS.
GMAC BOWL--Ball State vs Tulsa. Ball State has lost their coach, Brady Hoke (he's off to San Diego State). They lost out on a perfect season in the MAC Championship game. Tulsa meanwhile can really score. PICK: TULSA.
FED EX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME--Florida vs Oklahoma. It's simple--both teams can score. And will. But I see Oklahoma playing at just a tinier higher level right now offensively than is Florida; Sam Bradford will just barely outgun Tim Tebow. PICK: OKLAHOMA.
