So much football over the next few weeks
Pick results summary here. Last week was the Army v Navy game so only one result came in which didn’t change our standings at the top. Once again congratulations to donkeygoatrunner for winning the top spot. Gtbadcarma came in second, with myself in third. Best of luck to everyone during bowl season and next year!
There isn’t much to update on as the bowl games we picked for last week are still ongoing. We have a ton of football coming up so I’m just going straight into our picks. We are staying a week ahead on our picks so this week we will cover all the games through Monday December 22nd through Saturday December 27th. Watch out for the article next week, it should come out early and cover the games from Monday December 29th through Friday January 2nd. Let’s make some picks!
picks:
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Washington State Cougars v Utah State Aggies (-2.5)
Logan: Statistically Utah State is the significantly better team. The argument of “they play in the Mountain West, so of course they have better stats” holds some water, but if you look at Washington State’s schedule the Cougars best win on the year might be Toledo. I’m not sure I trust either team much here. I guess I will take the Aggies as they aren’t changing head coaches at the moment (I did have to google to verify this was accurate, I don’t really keep tabs on those Aggies).
Logan’s pick: Utah State
Bush’s Baked Beans Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo Rockets v Louisville Cardinals (-8.5)
Logan: Love the alliteration here for the bowl name. Regarding the teams, I don’t know if Louisville is going to be super motivated in this game after how their season ended. Other than the big win over Kentucky, Louisville had to drag themselves across finish line in the ACC race. Toledo has played their best ball to end the season. I don’t know if Toledo wins, but I think they can keep the game within a touchdown.
Logan’s pick: Toledo
New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (-3.5) v Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Logan: I don’t know much about either of these teams, and the FPI has this game as practically even. I don’t have a great justification for this, but the statistics on offense favors the Golden Eagles so I will side with Southern Miss.
Logan’s pick: Southern Miss
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: UNLV Rebels (-3.5) v Ohio Bobcats
Logan: Just a personal take, I always like the Bobcats. Ohio tends to punch above their weight class. I like both of these teams, and UNLV has obviously won more games this year, but I still think Ohio will find a way to win this game.
Logan’s pick: Ohio
Hawai’i Bowl: Cal Golden Bears (-1.5) v Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors
Logan: Cal’s QB Sagapolutele is coming home for this game. I expect him to put up some big numbers. Glad Hawai’i had a good season but I don’t see them winning this one.
Logan’s pick: Cal
GameAbove Sports Bowl: Central Michigan Chippewas v NorthWestern Wildcats (-10.5)
Logan: All the games played on December 26th (so this one and the next two) are basically going to be me agreeing with the spread. While the opponents both earned their bowl spots, these are competitions between teams at different levels of play comparing their wins and losses. If the more talent team has their players actually show up there is no reason to think they won’t win by a fair amount. NorthWestern is my pick here.
Logan’s pick: Northwestern
Rate Bowl: New Mexico Lobos v Minnesota Golden Gophers (-2.5)
Logan: I actually think Minnesota wins by more than a field goal here. Lobos turn the ball over frequently and Minnesota has an above average defense.
Logan’s pick: Minnesota
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: Florida International Panthers v UTSA Road Runners (-8.5)
Logan: Road Runners have a better offense and have played tougher opponents in my opinion.
Logan’s pick: UTSA
Go Bowling Military Bowl: Pittsburgh Panthers (-3.5) v Eastern Carolina Pirates
Logan: We all so how good Pitt is when everything is clicking. I’m not sure if all the starters will play in this bowl game, but I still think Pitt will be the better team on the field.
Logan’s pick: Pitt
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: UConn Huskies v Army Black Knights (-6.5)
Logan: Is this game sponsored by the condiment of wasabi, or some company I’m not familiar with? Is wasabi a condiment? These are things I refuse to google. We all know how hard it is for defenses to play against an option style offense. This combined with UConn bringing in a new coach gives the Black Knights a decided advantage. Still, I think UConn is having one of those “prove everyone wrong” style years, and I think the players will be motivated to end it with a win.
Logan’s pick: UConn
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State Nittany Lions v Clemson Tigers (-4.5)
Logan: We’ve come so far from the start of the season. Both these teams were supposed to be top competitors for the CFP championship, and now they are battling to win the Pinstripe bowl. I think both teams just want the season to be over, so I’m just expecting a lot of chaos here and not much effort. When it comes to chaos always go against the spread. I’ll take Penn State.
Logan’s pick: Penn State
Pop Tarts Bowl: #22 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ #12 BYU Cougars (-4.5)
Logan: Hey, it’s us! Y’all know the story, I always pick the Jackets. I think this game will say a lot about the state of the team. Given how the season ended I’m not sure how motivated our players will be for this game, so it will be curious to see how hard they fight. BYU will probably be more motivated to play and they certainly have a better defense than we have had most of the season. I choose to believe that the Jackets will play up to the Cougars in order to send out our seniors, especially Haynes King, on a high note. I’m not super confident, but I do think the Jackets can win this one.
Logan’s pick: Georgia Tech
Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl: Miami of Ohio Redhawks v Fresno State Bulldogs (-3.5)
Logan: Back to the teams I don’t know much about. Based on Miami of Ohio’s schedule they seemed to struggle against the top tier teams in their conference. Fresno State didn’t have a great season, but they were in the running for the Mountain West Conference Championship. I think Fresno State should win if they prepare themselves properly.
Logan’s pick: Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl: #25 North Texas Mean Green (-2.5) v San Diego State Aztecs
Logan: I’m not sure who is closer to New Mexico geographically, but I did note that San Diego State struggled in road games, including their most recent road game against the New Mexico Lobos. I think North Texas will do better in this road matchup.
Logan’s pick: North Texas
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: #19 Virginia Cavaliers v Mizzou Tigers (-6.5)
Logan: I hope UVA proves me wrong, but in an ACC v SEC matchup it’s a smart call to side with the SEC team. I’ll take Mizzou.
Logan’s pick: Mizzou
Kinder’s Texas Bowl: LSU Tigers v #21 Houston Cougars (-2.5)
Logan: Vegas must be thinking what I’m thinking. How motivates is LSU going to be to win a game after the season they just had and all the coaching changes going on. I think Houston wins this one by a field goal because of all the chaos around the LSU program.
Logan’s pick: Houston
Category: General Sports
