Official 2009-10 College Football Bowl Preview
Previews and picks for every FBS div one bowl.
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New Mexico Bowl (December 19)
Wyoming Cowboys (6-6) vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (8-4)
Wyoming simply isn’t a very good team; proof that not all 6-6 teams belong in the post season. Fresno, on the other hand, beat Illinois from the Big Ten, and went toe to toe with Wisconsin and undefeated BCS participant Cincinnati and lost both by a combined 11 points. The Bulldogs should make easy work of the Cowboys.
Prediction: Fresno St 49 Wyoming 10
St. Petersburgh Bowl (December 19)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-4) Central Florida Knights (8-4)
Both teams boast stout run defenses, and neither has a very impressive passing game. UCF should hold the defensive advantage, and should win a low scoring affair.
Prediction: UCF 17 Rutgers 14.
New Orleans Bowl (December 20)
Southern Miss Gloden Eagles (7-5) vs Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (9-3)
If the Raiders are to stay in this game, it will be because Southern Miss has an awful pass defense. But it isn’t likely.
Prediction: Southern Miss 38 Middle Tennessee 17
Las Vegas Bowl (December 22)
#16 Brigham Young Cougars (10-2) vs # 13 Oregon State Beavers (8-4)
Oregon State is a very good 8-4 team; with their four losses coming to USC, Cincinnati, Arizona, and Oregon by a combination of 25 points. BYU should keep it close for awhile, as the Beavers’ Achilles heel is their pass defense, and BYU will throw often.
Prediction: Oregon St 38 BYU 21
Poinsettia Bowl (December 23)
Utah Utes (9-3) vs #19 Cal Goden Bears (8-4)
Utah’s three losses were to Oregon, TCU, and BYU, and should put up plenty of points against Cal’s porous pass defense. Cal will score, but not enough to keep up.
Prediction: Utah 45 Cal 28
Hawaii Bowl (December 24)
SMU Mustangs (7-5) vs Nevada Wolf Pack (8-4)
Nevada runs the ball well and often; well over 350 yards per game. SMU doesn’t stop the run well at all. Should make for a long day for the Mustangs.
Prediction: Nevada 42 SMU 27
Little Caeser’s Pizza Bowl (December 26)
Marshall Thundering Herd (6-6) vs Ohio Bobcats (9-4)
Two very average teams should play a rather average game, but it should be competitive.
Prediction: Marshall 24 Ohio 21
Meineke Car Care Bowl (December 26)
#14 Pitt Panthers (9-3) vs North Carolina Tarheels (8-4)
After coming so close to a BCS berth, Pittsburgh gets the rather weak consolation prize of North Carolina in the Car Care bowl. Assuming there isn’t a letdown, they should handle the ‘Heels.
Prediction: Pitt 31 North Carolina 20
Emerald Bowl (December 26)
Boston College Eagles (8-4) vs #20 USC Trojans (8-4)
The Trojans find themselves in the unfamiliar land of a non- BCS bowl. They will give up points to a good offense, and this should be a very competitive game. But in the end, Carroll has a three weeks to plan for this. Far too much time.
Prediction: USC 31 Boston College 24
Music City Bowl (December 27)
#25 Clemson Tigers (8-5) vs Kentucky Wildcats (7-5)
Clemson was oh so close to playing Cinderella. Instead, they get Kentucky. Don’t underestimate the Wildcats, though. Any team that emerges from the SEC with a winning record is a team to be reckoned with.
Prediction: Clemson 23 Kentucky 16
Independence Bowl (December 28)
Texas A & M Aggies (6-6) vs Georgia Bulldogs (7-5)
The Aggies are all Offense and no Defense. The Bulldogs, SEC tested, will test them physically. Power or finesse?
Prediction: Georgia 35 Texas A & M 31
EagleBank Bowl (December 29)
or
Army (5-6) or UCLA (6-6) vs Temple (9-3)
Champ’s Sports Bowl (December 29)
#17 Miami Hurricanes (9-3) vs Wisconsin Badgers (9-3)
One of the better matchups this bowl season. Should come down to weather the Badgers can bully the ‘Canes and control the lines.
Prediction: Badgers 31 Miami 27
Humanitarian Bowl (December 30)
Bowling Green Falcons (7-5) vs Idaho Vandals (7-5)
Another game that makes you wonder… why? Two mediocre mid level teams. Hooray. At any rate, both have good offenses and give up points, so It should at least make for fun highlights.
Prediction: Idaho 41 Bowling Green 38
Holiday Bowl (December 30)
#19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-4) vs Arizona Wildcats (8-4)
Seems like the team that took Texas to the absolute brink should have landed a better gig than this. The Huskers’ D is stifling, and should throttle Arizona.
Prediction: Nebraska 17 Arizona 13
Armed Forces Bowl (December 30)
#18 Houston Cougars (10-3) vs Air Force Falcons (7-5)
Houston scores. A lot. Air Force’s defensive stats were greatly padded by creampuffs; they’ll be no match here.
Prediction: Houston 42 Air Force 17
Sun Bowl (December 31)
Oklahoma Sooners (7-5) vs # 23 Stanford Cardinal (8-4)
Should be a shootout. Both teams can put em up.
Prediction: Stanford 38 Oklahoma 35
Texas Bowl (December 31)
Missouri Tigers (8-4) vs Navy Midshipmen (8-4)
Navy might surprise the Tigers the same way they did Ohio St earlier this year. Fundamental football is an amazing thing sometimes.
Prediction: Navy 28 Missouri 27
Insight Bowl (December 31)
Iowa St (6-6) vs Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-6)
Another one of those games. Neither team has beaten a good team this year.
Prediction: Minnesota 28 Iowa St 24
Chick Fil-A Bowl (December 31)
#11 Virginia Tech Hokies (9-3) vs Tennessee Volunteers (7-5)
These are both teams who were a couple of breaks from finishing much higher. Tennessee has a strong D, but not like the Hokies.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 27 Tennessee 10
Outback Bowl (January 1)
Northwestern Wildcats (8-4) Auburn Tigers (7-5)
Auburn should push the Wildcats around.
Prediction: Auburn 31 Northwestern 21
Capital One Bowl (January 1)
#10 Penn St Nittany Lions (10-2) vs #15 LSU Tigers (9-3)
One of the more intriguing non BCS matchups. Both teams play tough D, and will try to win this game in the trenches.
Prediction: Penn St 27 LSU 24
Gator Bowl (January 1)
Florida St Seminoles (6-6) vs #24 West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3)
On paper, the Mountaineers should win this one walking away. But with this being Bowden’s last game, emotion could be everything.
Prediction: Florida St 24 West Virginia 21
Rose Bowl (January 1)
#8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) vs #7 Oregon Ducks (9-2)
Has the makings of another Rose Bowl Classic; these two teams match up well down the line.
Prediction: Ohio St 28 Oregon 24
Sugar Bowl (January 1)
Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) vs Florida Gators (12-1)
Cinderella stories are nice, but you have to figure this one ends here. And probably in ugly fashion.
Prediction: Florida 42 Cincinnati 21
International Bowl (January 2)
South Florida Bulls (7-5) vs Northern Illinois Huskies (7-5)
Someone tell me why this is sandwiched between the Sugar and Cotton Bowl? A junk sandwich.
Prediction: USF 31 Northern Illinois 14
Cotton Bowl (January 2)
Oklahoma St (9-3) vs Ole Miss (8-4)
Should be a competitive game, which should be won by whichever secondary shows up.
Prediction: Ole Miss 30 Oklahoma St 27
PappaJohn’s Bowl (January 2)
Connecticut Huskies (7-5) vs South Carolina Gamecocks (7-5)
Is it me, or does it seem like damn near every team in the SEC was 7-5? This should actually be a decent game.
Prediction: Connecticut 28 South Carolina 21
Liberty Bowl (January 2)
East Carolina Pirates (9-4) vs Arkansas Razorbacks (7-5)
Still another 7-5 SEC team! ECU could very well handle a very middle of the road Razorbacks team.
Prediction: ECU 34 Arkansas 21
Alamo Bowl (January 2)
Michigan St Spartans (6-6) vs Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4)
The Spartans only qualified for a bowl by beating 6 bad teams, and wouldn’t have been a match for the Raiders at full strength. With several players suspended, this could be painful.
Prediction: Texas Tech 56 Michigan St 14
Fiesta Bowl (January 4)
TCU (12-0) vs. Boise St. (13-0)
I was kind of disappointed with this matchup. Cinderella vs. Cinderella isn’t near as much fun. I think the BCS really chickened out with this one. That being said, this should be the best bowl of the season, with plenty of fireworks.
Prediction: TCU 45 Boise St 42
Orange Bowl (January 5)
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (11-2) vs Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2)
Should be another great game. Again, these two teams match up extraordinarily well.
Prediction: Iowa 21 Georgia Tech 17
GMAC Bowl (January 6)
Troy Trojans (9-3) vs Central Michigan Chippewas (11-2)
What better way to warm up for the BCS title game that with… this? Two very similar teams; both offered themselves up to BCS predators and proceeded to go undefeated in their respective conferences. Should actually be a decent game. Troy has no pass defense.
Prediction: Central Michigan 31 Troy 24
BCS National Championship Game (January 7)
Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) vs Texas Longhorns (13-0)
If you’re looking for an epic title game, odds are you’ll be disappointed. Alabama should outmatch Texas in just about every aspect. The one where they won’t is at QB… and that’s where, to pull a major upset, they will need Colt McCoy to be virtually perfect.
Prediction: Alabama 38 Texas 17
About your comments on the Insight Bowl, Iowa St. beat Nebraska in Lincoln this year! I would say Nebraska is a “Good” team
Your comment about how ‘the BCS really chickened out with this one’ with regards to the Fiesta Bowl shows how little you know about college football.
The ONLY match up the BCS sets up is #1 versus #2. That’s it. All the rest of the match ups are selected by the bowls themselves. The Sugar Bowl had first choice after the BCS championship game was set, since they lost their automatic qualifier who was ranked #1. They chose Florida. The Fiesta Bowl next, since they lost their automatic qualifier(AQ) in Texas, ranked #2. They chose TCU. The Orange Bowl had next pick to go against their AQ in Georgia Tech. They chose Iowa. Fiesta had next pick, they took Boise, Sugar had no choice but to take Cincy since they were an AQ.
So the BCS didn’t ‘chicken out’. Maybe you should know what you are talking about writing a story/preview.
the same could be said of you. The SEc essentially bullied it’s was OUT of a matchup with either of the teams in question. And the BCS allowed that to happen. They hold the purse strings… and yet they allowed this to take place. i dont mind being proved wrong, but you failed. perhaps you yurself should have done your research.
Nice review.You are surprisingly right on with a couple of picks that appear counter-intuitive, UConn is very underrated as is Arkansas. But while you pick the Huskies to beat South Carolina, you have Arkansas losing to East Carolina. Maillot is a great QB and with the time to prepare look for the Razorbacks to cream the Pirates and set the stage for a run at next years SEC crown. From a betting perspective, I see Arkansas as the best bet on the board. I’m surprised you went the other way.
Actually, the SEC has no control of anything and neither does the BCS. There are essentially commissioners of each of the BCS bowl games (most of which you saw on TV during the last few weeks of the season at games played by Texas, Florida, Alabama, etc). What Richard wrote is correct, each bowl picked their own teams. When the matchups were announced and ESPN had their 3 hour special on it, they even showed how the picks went down. The only reason that TCU is playing Boise State is because the Fiesta Bowl chose TCU first instead of Iowa and that allowed the Orange Bowl to take Iowa. These picks are based on how many people each team can get to travel to the game. I guarantee you that if the Orange Bowl thought they could get 40,000 people to go from Boise, they would have picked them instead of Iowa, but Iowa is known for traveling well, just like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and USC. No matter which bowl those 10 teams play in (Orange, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, BCS Title game) the money pay out is set…it used to be each team got 13.5 million for their conference (not sure if it is still exactly the same amount). So, the SEC could care less if Florida played Boise State or Iowa or Cincinnati…they get to share close to 30 million dollars just from their game and Alabama’s…and that does not count the other teams that made a bowl game.
Mnofdichotomy-
I see you removed my 2nd post. Why? Because I showed that you had no clue what you are talking about?
Bowl Selection Order for 2010 BCS Games:
Sugar Bowl as a result of losing #1 ranked team to BCS game-They pick Florida, their natural SEC connection
Fiesta Bowl as a result of losing #2 ranked team to BCS game- They pick TCU, automatic non-AQ team
Orange Bowl-They already have Georgia Tech, their choice is between Iowa, Penn State, Cincinnati, Boise State. They know Cincinnati doesn’t travel well from last years game. They are concerned about Boise travel to Miami. They chose Iowa 1) They beat Penn State 2) They travel exceptionally well.
Fiesta Bowl again-They basically have Cincinnati and Boise to chose from. They are concerned about Cincinnati travel, they know from past history Boise will travel to Glendale. They take Boise.
Sugar Bowl-left with AQ Big East Champ Cincinnati.
Pretty cut and dried. There is no ‘conspiracy’ by the SEC to keep TCU or Boise out of the Sugar Bowl. If the SEC said to the Fiesta Bowl ‘you take those two or else’ the Fiesta Bowl would laugh at them as the SEC has no tie to the Fiesta Bowl. What is the SEC going to do?
The BCS is there for 2 reasons and 2 reasons only. 1) To determine the #1 and #2 ranked teams for the BCS title game. 2) To determine eligibility of the Top 14 ranked teams for at large consideration.
I happen to know the person in charge of the BCS now, Bill Hancock, as I used to work with his son Will, who was killed in the Oklahoma State University plane crash of 2001. When I ran your ‘bully’ theory by him, he laughed. And he added ‘it is amazing how little people know about the BCS process, that they think we match up the games. We match up one game, the bowls do the rest all on their own.’
So go ahead, keep showing your lack of knowledge. It’s fun to see.
its called promotion, brother. im from big 10 country, and as such not the biggest SEC fan. sometimes i just like to stir the pot. (as you cann see from the comments, it worked. and i didnt delete the comment. i enjoy comments like this; insightful, thought out… from time to time, you need to re enter them on Sporttales. nothing in my control there. the only time i ever delete a comment is when it forrays into something i wouldnt want kids to read.
so i for the most part agree, although im not entirely convinced that politics didnt factor into the process… any time something gets as big as the bcs, politics always rears its head some.
S Fisher-
One thing I need to mention about your post. The SEC, and Big 10, will only get $22M from the two BCS games their teams are in. That is because the BCS caps the 2nd team at $4.5M for the conference. So they get $17.5M for the first game, $4.5M for the second game. The remainder of that money, which this year will equal $26M from the Sugar and Orange Bowls, gets divided out between the AQ conferences, the non-AQ conferences, the FCS conferences, Army, Navy and Notre Dame based on a complicated formula the BCS has.
What Mnofdichotomy is trying to imply by his post is that the SEC colluded with the other bowl games, in particular the Fiesta Bowl, to keep the non-AQ teams, Boise State and TCU, out of the Sugar Bowl because the SEC didn’t want what happened last year, with Alabama losing to Utah, to happen again.
Which quite frankly, is a joke. Because a Florida-Boise State or Florida-TCU game would have more much more buzz to the game than Florida-Cincy does, especially since the Cincy coach will be gone Friday when he becomes the new ND coach and doesn’t coach Cincy in the Sugar Bowl.
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