College Bowl Preview Week 2!

       Dec. 26th Motor City Bowl--Central Michigan vs. Purdue

     This a rematch of an earlier game this season that Purdue dominated 45-22 at home. The score is closer than the game really was as Purdue turned the ball over 5 times and probably cost themselves at least an additional 14 points. Central Michigan couldn't do anything offensively until the game was already out of hand so I see no reason why this game should be any different. The closing line in that game was 22 and for some reason this game has been bet down to 8 so take Purdue and lay the points. Central was embarrassed by Clemson and Kansas as well and their defense against big time programs is pourous to say the least. Purdue wins this one easily 48-24!

       Dec. 27th Holiday Bowl--Texas vs. Arizona St.

     Anyone who follows my plays knows how I feel about Mack Brown. He is one of the best if not the absolute best recruiter in the country and he is one of if not the worst gameday coaches in college football. When Mack plays a really bad team his boys will generally hammer them, but when he plays a team where the talent level is even or Texas has a slight edge he will find a way to lose. Just ask Dennis Franchione who made Mack his caddy for the past 3 years with far less talent. Dennis Erickson on the other hand is an excellent gameday coach and he turned this Arizona St. program around in about 3 games. If talent would win this game Texas wins but coaching will be the difference here as ASU wins 27-24!

       Dec. 28th Champs Sports Bowl--Michigan St. vs. Boston College

     BC has currently won 7 straight bowl games and is now tied with Utah for the most consecutive bowl wins in the country. It helps that they never make a major bowl appearance so they are beating up on middle of the conference teams from around the country. This could be one of the tighter bowl games of the season as both defenses should be able to slow down the other offense. The difference here is at the QB position where a huge edge goes to Matt Ryan of the Eagles.The losses on defense due to academic or team related issues for the Spartans make this too difficult a task for MSU as BC wins 27-10!

        Dec. 28th Texas Bowl--TCU vs. Houston

     This has the makings of a pretty entertaining game. You have one team in TCU that dominates with defense and another in Houston who makes big plays the norm. The Cougars have no defense though as I watched teams like Rice and SMU go up and down the field on them this year. Turnovers will likely decide the winner in this game and TCU is in the habit of forcing turnovers, problem is their freshman QB Ballard doesn't mind giving it away either. This will be a very tight game and it is also one that I will have available on the 28th for ONLY $25!!

       Dec. 28th Emerald Bowl--Maryland vs. Oregon St.

     Oregon St. is one of the bigger surprises of the bowl season as they finished very strong in the Pac 10 and earned a spot with a big win over Oregon in their season finale. Both of these teams are better defensively than they are offensively, but Oregon St. has a stud in Bernard at tailback and he could be the difference in this game. He will finally be at full health in this game so I expect a big game out of him. If Oregon St. is able to shut down the Terps running game they should win this game fairly easily, but Friedgen should have a few surprises up his sleeve for the Beaver defense. This is another game that I will have available on the site for only $20!

       Dec. 29th Meineke Car Care Bowl--UConn vs. Wake Forest

     This is one of the best lower tier bowl matchups of the year and should be tight throughout. The Huskies defense has carried them through what has a been a surprisingly good year. They will be coming in angry after being embarrassed by West Virginia with a chance to win the Big East. I like the Huskies running game against Wake Forest but if you want to beat the Demon Deacons, through the air is your best bet. Riley Skinner is the kind of kid who always makes plays at big points so he'll have Wake in this one all the way. This is another game that I will have available on the site early on Dec. 29th so check back with me for another winner!

       Dec. 29th Liberty Bowl--Central Florida vs. Mississippi St.

     The Bulldogs pulled a rabbit out of their hat to gain this bowl berth by coming back from a 14-0 fourth quarter deficit against their archrival Ole Miss in their final game. This will be the Bulldog run defense against Kevin Smith who needs about 180 yards to break Barry Sanders single season rushing record. Of course Barry played 3 less games, but Smith is for real and he always gains positive yards because of his hard running style. If the UCF QB Isreal plays well then this will be a decent game, if he doesn't I actually like Mississippi St. to pull a minor upset. This is a game that I believe would be a solid money line play!

       Dec. 29th Alamo Bowl--Penn St. vs. Texas A&M

     The Aggies will have a big edge here in the crowd and this will be Gary Darnell's first game as coach of the Aggies. Penn St. has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but their losses are to quality teams like Ohio St. Michigan and Illinois. This line in my mind is a bit too high as Morelli seems to make mistakes in important spots and the Aggies are pretty good at creating turnovers. If Goodson and McGee are able to make plays on the edge then I like the Aggies in a another mild upset. This is one of those games where special teams could determine the winner and I'll go with the Aggies 24-20!

       Dec. 30th Independence Bowl--Colorado vs. Alabama

      A couple of big name programs hoping to rise back to prominence with fairly new coaches. Saban has had success in his bowl appearances of late but the Tide is limping into this bowl matchup. The Buffaloes finished the season moving the ball up and down the field on Nebraska so they will come in with more momentum. Coach Hawkins son Cody has had a decent first year at QB, but I think he'll struggle against Saban's defense with a month to prepare. The Buffaloes didn't fare very well against quality competition this year losing to Arizona St, Kansas, Missouri and Florida St. Bama at least has a couple of quality wins over Arkansas and Tennessee and a near miss against LSU. I'll take the Tide to win this game 31-20!

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