AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 19
Friday, December 19, 2008
Merry Christmas! Let’s go bowling!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re going to take next week off in order to get ready for Christmas. Hope you and yours have a wonderful Holiday Season! Thanks for your support this season. It has been a lot of fun.
But before we go, let’s preview the bowl season, which starts on Saturday. The first part of the preview will be the 10 best bowl story lines. In other words, they are the games that I would pay to see if I didn’t do this for a living. Then, as an added bonus, we are going to pick all 34 bowl games. I had a pretty decent bowl season in 2008 when it came to picking games. I sense this season will be tougher.
In any event, have fun with this and if you disagree let me know about it. See you after Christmas.
TB’s 10 BEST BOWL STORY LINES
1. BCS National Championship: No. 1 Oklahoma (12-1) vs. No. 2 Florida (12-1), Jan. 8: For the second time in five years, both teams in the national championship game have Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback. Florida’s Tim Tebow and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford have led offenses that have been unstoppable this season. Oklahoma leads the nation in scoring (54.0 ppg) and Florida is third (45.15 ppg). Both coaches, Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer, are going for their second national championship. This one has the look of the USC-Texas Rose Bowl for the 2005 championship. Last team with the ball wins. TB’s Pick: Florida 35, Oklahoma 31.
2. Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Texas (11-1) vs. No. 10 Ohio State (10-2), Jan. 5: After getting taken to the woodshed in past two BCS title game, you would think that Ohio State is ready to man up and play well. But Texas is the aggrieved party in this bowl season. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma 45-35 on Oct. 11 and believe they, not the Sooners, should be playing Florida for the BCS title. Texas wants to lay a big number on Ohio State. Then, if Oklahoma beats Florida, Texas might get a share of the national title from the Associated Press. TB’s Pick: Texas 31, Ohio State 21.
3. Rose Bowl: No. 5 Southern Cal (11-1) vs. No. 8 Penn State (11-1), Jan. 1: With one different bounce of the ball for each team, this game could have been for the national championship. Southern Cal lost to Oregon State 27-21 back on Sept. 25 and Penn State lost to Iowa 24-23 on a field goal at the buzzer on Nov. 8. Southern Cal, which leads the nation in scoring defense (7.8 ppg), probably wins this one easily, but I’ll watch because, despite the fact that he just got a three-year extension to his contract, it just might be the last game for Penn State coach Joe Paterno (43 years, 383 wins). Don’t be surprised if Penn State makes this closer than the experts think. TB’s Pick: Southern Cal 28, Penn State 21.
4. Cotton Bowl: No. 25 Ole Miss (8-4) vs. No. 7 Texas Tech (11-1), Jan. 2: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is mad because his quarterback, Graham Harrell, was not invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies. He’ll try to take out his frustrations on the Rebels of Houston Nutt, the only team to beat Florida this season. It is the classic power vs. finesse game. It will also be the last Cotton Bowl in the old stadium by the Texas State Fairgrounds. Next season the Cotton Bowl moves to Jerry Jones’ new $1 billion playpen in Arlington, Tex. TB’s Pick: Ole Miss 34, Texas Tech 31.
5. Poinsettia Bowl: No. 9 Boise State (12-0) vs. No. 11 TCU (10-2), Dec. 23: TCU’s only losses were to No. 1 Oklahoma (35-10) and No. 6 Utah (13-10) in a game the Horned Frogs should have won. TCU has the nation’s No. 2 defense (215.08 ypg). In any other year Boise State would be in a BCS game but No. 6 Utah got the slot reserved for the non-BCS conferences. Can Boise hang with the Horned Frogs? Nope. TB’s Pick: TCU 31, Boise State 21.
6. Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Utah (12-0) vs. No. 4 Alabama (12-1), Jan. 2: Utah is a battle-tested team that is carrying the banner for the non-BCS conferences. Last year Georgia took Hawaii to the woodshed in this game. So there is some pressure on Utah, which has the nation’s No. 18 defense and a very good quarterback on Brian Johnson. I’m watching to see if Alabama will get over its disappointment from the SEC championship game loss and become only the second team in school history to win 13 games. (Alabama’s 1992 national championship team finished 13-0). TB’s Pick: Alabama 24, Utah 14.
7. Chick-fil-A Bowl: LSU (7-5) vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech (9-3), Dec. 31: To say that the Georgia Tech fans are excited would be an understatement. They have bought up every ticket in sight and are ready to take on the defending national champions. I want to see if LSU, whose defense has had problems all season, is going to step up and take this game seriously. If they aren’t ready to play, Georgia Tech will (literally) run them out of the Dome. Ten wins in Paul Johnson’s first season at Tech would be pretty remarkable. Georgia Tech could also finish in the final Top 10. TB’s Pick: Georgia Tech 35, LSU 28.
8. Capital One Bowl: No. 15 Georgia (9-3) vs. No. 18 Michigan State (9-3), Jan. 1: I’m watching to see a duel of two great running backs. Michigan State’s Javon Ringer is the nation’s No. 3 rusher (132.5 ypg) while Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno is No. 16 at 111.5 ypg. I’m also watching because there is a pretty good chance that it will be the last game at Georgia for both Moreno and QB Matt Stafford. A win would give Georgia 10 or more victories for the sixth time in the last seven seasons under Mark Richt. His eight-year record would be 82-22. TB’s Pick: Georgia 31, Michigan State 24.
9. Holiday Bowl: No. 13 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. No. 17 Oregon (9-3), Dec. 30: This one should light up the scoreboard as Oregon is No. 7 in scoring offense (41.92 ppg) while Oklahoma State is No. 8 (41.58). Oklahoma State has one of the best offensive trios in the country in quarterback Zac Robinson (2,735 passing), RB Kendall Hunter (126.5 ypg) and WR Dez Bryant (109.42 ypg). Oregon’s offense, led by coordinator Chip Kelly, exploded in the final two games with Arizona and Oregon State, scoring 120 points. TB’s Pick: Oklahoma State 35, Oregon 33.
10. GMAC Bowl: Tulsa (10-3) vs. No. 22 Ball State (12-1), Jan. 6: This one kicks at 8 p.m. and might go to midnight. Tulsa is second only to Oklahoma in scoring at 47.38 points per game. In Donald Johnson the Golden Hurricane has a quarterback who averages 8.79 yards per play. Only Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford is better at 9.4 ypg. Ball State was 12-0 before losing to Buffalo in the MAC Championship game. Junior quarterback Nate Davis (3,446 yards passing, 26 TD) is the real deal. TB’s Pick: Tulsa 35, Ball State 30.
FIVE OTHER STORY LINES WORTH WATCHING
11. Orange Bowl, Jan. 1: The ACC has lost eight straight BCS games. Virginia Tech (9-4) will try to end that streak against No. 12 Cincinnati (11-2), the Big East champ. Virginia Tech 24, Cincinnati 21.
12. Music City Bowl, Dec. 31: Vanderbilt’s appearance against Boston College (9-4) will be the Commodores’ first bowl since 1982 and only the third in school history. Vanderbilt’s bowl record is 1-1-1. The only win came in the 1955 Gator Bowl. The Commodores tied Texas Tech 6-6 in the 1974 Peach Bowl and lost to Air Force 36-28 in the 1982 Hall of Fame Bowl. Boston College 28, Vanderbilt 20.
13. Liberty Bowl, Jan. 2: Kentucky has been playing football since 1881. The Wildcats have never won three straight bowl games in their history. Rich Brooks can win his third straight bowl game at Kentucky by beating East Carolina (9-4), the Conference USA champ. Kentucky 17, East Carolina 14.
14. International Bowl, Jan. 3: The nation’s leading rusher is Connecticut’s Donald Brown (151.83 ypg), who squares off against Buffalo (8-5), the MAC champ. Buffalo coach Turner Gill has had a tough offseason and may have something to prove. Buffalo 24, Connecticut 17.
15. Papajohns.com Bowl, Dec. 29: At midseason neither N.C. State (6-6) nor Rutgers (7-5) thought they would be in a bowl game. N.C. State closed with four straight wins, including dominating performances over North Carolina (41-10) and Miami (38-28). Rutgers started 1-5 and finished the season with a six-game winning streak, scoring 231 points (46.2 avg.) in their last five games. N.C. State 27, Rutgers 20.
THE REST
In chronological order:
16. EagleBank, Dec. 20: Wake Forest 28, Navy 24.
17. New Mexico, Dec. 20: Fresno State 31, Colorado State 23.
18. St. Petersburg, Dec. 20: South Florida 28, Memphis 20.
19. Las Vegas: Dec. 20: BYU 34, Arizona 20.
20. New Orleans, Dec. 21: Troy 21, Southern Miss 20.
21. Hawaii , Dec. 24: Notre Dame 24, Hawaii 20.
22. Motor City, Dec. 26: Central Michigan 28, Florida Atlantic 20.
23. Meinke Car Care, Dec. 27: North Carolina 31, West Virginia 28.
24. Champs Sports, Dec. 27: Florida State 27, Wisconsin 17.
25. Emerald, Dec. 27: California 31, Miami 24.
26. Independence, Dec. 28: Louisiana Tech 21, Northern Illinois 17.
27. Alamo, Dec. 29: Missouri 31, Northwestern 21.
28. Humanitarian, Dec. 30: Maryland 24, Nevada 22.
29. Texas, Dec. 30: Rice 35, Western Michigan 24.
30. Armed Forces, Dec. 31: Air Force 28, Houston 27.
31. Sun, Dec. 31: Oregon State 27, Pittsburgh 21.
32. Insight, Dec. 31: Kansas 35, Minnesota 24.
33. Outback, Jan. 1: South Carolina 21, Iowa 20.
34. Gator, Jan. 1: Clemson 31, Nebraska 24.
