2008 Bowl Predictions

Well, I may have slacked off the last several weeks of this miserable season, but I have decided to return for the much more exciting bowl predictions! Here we go, preliminarily picking the bowl winners, although I may be updating this as the coaching carousel undoubtedly takes some of these teams' coaches away. On to all 34 Bowls by order of occurrence:

EagleBank: Navy v. Wake Forest. I'm sure we are all excited for a rematch of Navy's earlier defeat of Wake. Yawn. Since then, Navy has gotten better and Wake has gotten worse. Plus, the game is being played in DC, basically a home game for the Midshipmen.

New Mexico: Fresno State v. Colorado State. CSU is bowl eligible? Really?

St. Petersburg: USF v. Memphis. In this match-up from the old C-USA the biggest question is, will the Bull faithful bother driving the 30 miles to St. Petersburg from Tampa?

Las Vegas: BYU v. Arizona. Oh well, Arizona has a a very good season for them anyway.

New Orleans: Southern Miss v. Troy. Dear Troy, this is your reward for winning the Sun Belt.

Poinsettia (aka Mexican Flame Leaf): Boise St. v. TCU. Probably the best non-BCS Bowl match-up. I expect TCU to spoil Boise's second perfect season in 3 years.

Hawaii: Notre Dame v. Hawaii. ND has an excellent opportunity to end its NCAA record 9 bowl game losing streak. But come on, its a home game for Hawaii and ND lost to SYRACUSE at home.

Motor City: FAU v. Central Michigan. Well, I hope at least a few Owl fans travel to Detroit. Michigan could really use an economic boost.

Meineke: North Carolina v. WVU. Normally I would predict a hideous ACC blowout victory like I was forced to suffer through in the 2002 Tire Bowl, the 2003 Gator Bowl, and the 2004 Gator Bowl, but Pat White has won three straight bowl games over much better teams...These are two of the most maddeningly inconsistant teams in the FBS so really, all bets are off.

Champs Sports: Wisconsin v. Florida State. Wisconsin lost to Michigan.

Emerald: Cal v. Miami. I see no reason to think the Canes can pull this out in San Fran.

Independence: Northern Illinois v. Louisiana Tech. Really? This is the best this bowl could do? I have not heard one word about either of these teams. I'm picking NI because I vaguely remember them being good a few years ago. I'm not even sure I knew that LT was I-A.

Papajohns.com: North Carolina St v. Rutgers. Let me tell you how much people care about this game. Its being played at 3 PM on a random Monday. But honestly, these teams finished red hot and I expect a very good game.

Alamo: Northwestern v. Missouri. Stopping Chase Daniel is a far more difficult task than stopping Nick Sheridan and his Big Ten ilk.

Humanitarian: Nevada v. Maryland. Question one: why is there a bowl game in Boise? Question two: why does the ACC force one of its teams to play in it?

Holiday: Oklahoma St. v. Oregon. Expect your usual 77-70 annual Holiday bowl shootout.

Texas: Rice v. Western Michigan. I kind of wish I didn't get the NFL network so I couldn't accidently turn this on...

Armed Forces: Houston v. Air Force. Go Cougars! I guess...

Sun: Oregon St. v. Pittsburgh. Jacquizz Rodgers + LeSean McCoy = 400 yards rushing in this one.

Music City: Vandy v. Boston College. Hope you are enjoying your stay in the ACC, Boston College. Winning the Atlantic division just got you a trip to play 6-6 Vandy in Memphis.

Insight: Kansas v. Minnesota. Two teams that really struggled down the stretch.

Chick-fil-A: Georgia Tech v. LSU. I have seen nothing from LSU to indicate they have any chance at stopping the GT triple option attack or score points on this defense. Expect a blowout.

Outback: South Carolina v. Iowa. I think its about time for the Ol' Ball Coach to give up on the Gamecocks.

Capital One: Michigan St. v. Georgia. I think Michigan State is too one-dimensional to get it done.

Gator: Clemson v. Nebraska. Another ACC bowl head scratcher. How is Clemson even bowl eligible after going only 5-5 against I-A competition (they played TWO FCS schools)? And why in the world would the Gator Bowl SELECT them?

Rose: USC v. Penn St. USC taking on the Big Ten in Pasadena is a recipe for disaster.

Orange: Cincy v. VT. Let's see if the Big East can make it 4-0 in BCS bowls since the re-alignment. That would also drop the ACC to 1-10 all time in BCS bowls. These teams both have good defenses. But Cincy's offense is MUCH better.

Cotton: Texas Tech v. Ole Miss. Ole Miss hasn't faced anything like TT's offense in this years week SEC.

Liberty: Kentucky v. East Carolina. This is a caveat game. I might change my mind if Skip Holtz finally takes a better job.

Sugar: Utah v. Alabama. This game should be much better than last year's UGA - Hawaii showdown.

International: UConn v. Buffalo. Congrats on Buffalo for getting their first ever bowl invite, but I'll be really shocked if Turner Gill sticks around long enough to coach in it.

Fiesta: Texas v. Ohio State. Does anyone really believe that the Buckeyes can stop a very pissed off Longhorns squad? No, me neither.

GMAC: Tulsa v. Ball St. Another good match-up between teams that had BCS Bowl asperations earlier in the year.

BCS National Championship: Oklahoma v. Florida. This has the potential to be a great match-up - or a Florida beat down. Oklahoma has been terrible in BCS bowls lately. Let's remember that their defense was completely non-existant against WVU in the Fiesta Bowl last year. They will not stop Tim Tebow and Parcy Harvin, so they will have to score points. Unfortunately for the Sooners, Florida defense is light years ahead anything they faced in Big 12. It will either be a shootout or a LONG night for Sam Bradford.