SATURDAY, JANUARY 3
– International Bowl: UConn vs. Buffalo (ESPN, 12pm) – The advertising surrounding this game makes it sound like they’re playing this in Monte Carlo or Rio or some place really exotic, alas, it’s just a game in Skydome in The Center of the Universe (that’s Toronto, for those of you not from Toronto).  Two offense oriented teams should make for a fun match up, I’m giving the edge to Buffalo since a) this is pretty much a home game for them, b) having a 3000+ yard passer in Drew Willy and a 1300+ yard rusher in James Starks will trump the Huskies one-man-wrecking-crew name Donald Brown (1800+ yards and 17 TD’s).

MONDAY, JANUARY 5
– Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Texas (FOX, 8pm) – Poor Ohio State.  Every year, a seemingly good team gets obliterated in a bowl because the other team is pissed… and Texas has a very good reason to be pissed.  If it weren’t for a tough loss to then-#6 Texas Tech, they’d be playing for the title.  And a lot of people consider them to be the best team in the country, and it’s hard to argue with Colt McCoy passing for about a mile a game and a stifling defense that allowed 14 points or less seven times.  tOSU isn’t going to lay down and die though, and true-freshman Terrelle Pryor is going to try to win this game by himself.  But it will not be enough.  This one may get ugly.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 6
– GMAC Bowl: Tulsa vs. Ball State (ESPN, 8pm) – Oh god, let’s just end this season already.  Ball State was the team that was the sporting blog universe’s “this year’s Boise State” until they randomly lost to Buffalo.  They’ve got an absolutely ridiculous offense led by Nate Davis (and pay attention to that name, you’re going to hear it alot in the 2010 NFL draft talk) and a pretty decent defense to boot.   But Tulsa’s offense is going to make you say wow.  They average 565 yards per game(!) and score 47.4 points per game(!!).  Tulsa QB David Johnson is like a mini-Brett Favre,  he’s passed for 43 touchdowns and had 18 INT’s.  But that’s where the impressiveness ends….  their defense is suspect to say the least.  They’re one of the only teams in NCAA history to win a game by scoring 70 points and lose a game by allowing 70 points. And Johnson ended the regular season by allowing 5 picks to a decent, but not great East Carolina team.  BSU should win this one handily, but they do not want to get into a shootout.  It’s anyone’s game then.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8
– National Championship: Florida vs. Oklahoma (FOX, 8pm) – And this is it.  The Sooners fought and clawed their way to get in and curbstomped a good Mizzou team to get into this game.  The Gators have averaged nearly 50 points in their nine game winning streak and have an absolutely deadly special teams unit.  And frankly when you’ve got two teams as evenly matched as these two, special teams usally makes the difference and that’s where UF should take this game over.  OU has awful special teams coverage and UF has Brandon James.  James makes (college) Ted Ginn look like a kid,  he makes Devin Hester look terrible.  He’s going to crack off a couple of big ones against OU and give Tim Tebow the ability to circumcise the Sooners… whether they want to be or not.

Well that’s it.  Goodbye college football.  Until next year when we can all debate the horridness and terroristic nature of the entity known as the BCS.

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27
– Meineke Car Care Bowl: West Virginia vs. North Carolina (ESPN, 1pm) – This has been a bad year for the Mountaineers and UNC, well, this is basically a home game for them.  Also, watch this for Pat White, WV’s quarterback, he’s truly a special player.  So see him now before his soul is crushed next year when he wears a Detroit Lions uniform.
– Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Florida State (ESPN, 430pm) – FSU and UW have never faced each other and if my math is right, after this game, Wisconsin is never going to want to see the Seminoles again. They can’t stop the run so watch for FSU’s Antone Harris to have a terrific game.
– Emerald Bowl: California vs. Miami (ESPN, 8pm) – The U is on the way back to respectability, especially when they’ve got freshmen(!) like Sean Spence who can do stuff like this. But unless he becomes a one man wrecking crew, this is going to be a long day for the Canes.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28
– Independence Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois (ESPN, 815pm) – Again, I question the NCAA’s sanity for putting up a bowl game against a gigantic NFL matchup.  At least no one outside the alumni will care enough to complain.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 29
– PapaJohns.com Bowl: Rutgers vs. NC State (ESPN, 3pm) – Might as well call this the rocket arm bowl.  Both teams have QB’s who can light the world on fire. Rutgers QB Mike Teel looks like he’s 14 years old, but god damn can he throw a football.   And for NC State, Russell Wilson, the gentleman of African descent pictured here. Both have bright futures ahead of them. This day should belong to Teel.
– Alamo Bowl: Northwestern vs. Missouri (ESPN, 8pm) – Ah, the Alamo Bowl, the last 3 years this has been a nailbiter for any team that’s involved. NU has 50+ years since they last won a bowl, and this year will probably be no different.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30
– Humanitarian Bowl: Nevada vs. Maryland (ESPN, 430pm) – Yay, it’s the smurf turf game! Watch your High Def TV be very sad as it tries to compensate for that ungodly field. As for the game itself, Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick (who’s actually pretty cute) is that prototypical running QB who ends up getting crushed when he heads to the NFL.  As it is, Maryland doesn’t exactly have Tony Polamalu back there so he’ll have a good day.
– Texas Bowl: Rice vs. Western Michigan (NFL Network, 8pm) – Neither of these teams runs the ball. Um, pretty much at all.  Thank god Knute Rockne invented the forward pass. This is going to be a shootout of the highest magnitude and is pretty much anyone’s game.
– Holiday Bowl: Oregon vs. Oklahoma State (ESPN, 8pm) – And since no one gets the NFLN, this will be the marquis matchup of the evening.  You’ll think this was the run and gun days of old.  Seriously, this could be a 52-52 game going into OT.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31
– Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs. Houston (ESPN, 12pm) – In the “we have too many damned bowls” category, I present this game.  These teams played earlier this season when AFA defeated UH 31-28.  I’ll say Houston returns the favor
– Sun Bowl: Pitt vs. Oregon State (CBS, 2pm) – As a Dolphins fan, I can tell you this rash of Pitt success is a fluke and Wannstedt will screw it up.  You watch and see.
– Music City Bowl: Vanderbilt vs. Boston College (ESPN, 330pm) – Great defenses + bad offenses equals a bad football game.  Simple as that.
– Insight Bowl: Kansas vs. Minnesota (NFL Network, 530pm) – They haven’t played for about 30 years and Minny has had some incredible wins this year, but I don’t see KU getting beat here.
– Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. LSU (ESPN, 730pm) – LSU fell apart down the stretch. The Georgia Institute of Technology runs an old-school offense that’s going to give LSU absolute nightmares.  They’ve got 3 guys with over 600 yards rushing, and Jonathan Dwyer is the best of them (1300+ yards, a dozen TD’s).  He’s likely to have a monster game on this night, if LSU wants any chance of winning, they have to stop him.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1
– Outback Bowl: Iowa vs. South Carolina (ESPN, 11am)  – Good lord, finally a January game! Iowa RB Shonn Greene is going to be a terrific running back in the NFL.  He’s as talented a runner as there is in college football.  And though Iowa is a favorite here, I wanna pick the upset for some reason.  Maybe it’s because I love Cocks so much.
– Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Georgia (ABC, 1pm) – Will the SEC’s bowl dominance of the Big 10 continue?  UGa’s got a lot of pride to play for here, since they thought they should’ve been included with the big boys. MSU isn’t going to be able to hang with Georgia and Knowshon Moreno.
– Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs. Clemson (CBS, 1pm) – In the late 80s and early 90s this could have been a National Championship game.  Nebraska QB Joe Ganz isn’t only cute as a button, but he’s also a stats monster.  Now, that could be because the boy can ball, but it could also be because the Big 12 sucks.  I’ll go with the earlier since I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

– Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State (ABC, 430pm) – Now we’re talking. The ultimate new school versus old school.  And in this case, you never go against the old man.  He’ll take you out behind the shed and beat you silly.

– Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech (FOX, 830pm) – Frank Beemer’s going to have his boys ready for a war and that’s exactly what they’re going to get.  Va Tech is going to give them everything they can handle, but this game just means that much more to Cincy who’s going to be playing for elite recruits next season and the chance to really hang with the big boys.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 2
– Cotton Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech (FOX, 2pm) – TTU is pissed.  Pissed pissed pissed.  They truly felt they should’ve been in a big BCS match-up.  But Mississippi are not to be taken lightly.  They’ve got an incredible pass rush, but I expect TTU to stomp them to prove their point.
– Liberty Bowl: Kentucky vs. East Carolina (ESPN, 5pm) -This is again a “there are too many bowl games” matchup.  ECU should be able to handle a rapidly deteriorating Kentucky team.
– Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Utah (FOX, 8pm) – Again, as a Dolphins fan, I say this for my analysis of this game.  Fuck. Nick. Saban. 

Phew.  That’s it for now.  More picks next week!

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The basic premise of the BCS is this: if you won 6 games and have any kind of national exposure, you get to play one more meaningless game between this Saturday morning when Wake Forest plays Navy in the EagleBank Bowl and ending roughly in the middle of next July when the University of Florida beats Oklahoma (sic) in the National Championship Game in Miami.

One of the fun things about seeing these games is seeing a ton of commercials for scam products you’ve never heard of (magicJack) or products you have no access to (Bell Helicopter).  Occasionally you’ll get a terrific football game, like BSU shocking Oklahoma last year.  More often than not though, the matchup favors one team heavily over another and you end up with scores like 56-3 and making the matchmakers look like morons for not getting the winning team into a higher tier bowl (Texas Longhorns, I’m looking in your direction).

So with all that said…  let’s make some picks for this week’s games:

December 20, 2008
Eaglebank Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Navy - WFU is the worst of the ACC teams to make a bowl.  Watch this game for Navy’s Triple Option package.
New Mexico Bowl: Colorado State vs. Fresno State – Pundits seem to think this one will be a shootout.  That’s code for saying both team’s defenses suck.
magicJack St. Petersberg Bowl: Memphis vs. South Florida – USF went from being darlings of the media to an also ran  pretty damned quick.  But, this is a home game for them.
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl: BYU vs. Arizona - Mormons in Las Vegas! And hey, they’re ranked too.  I think the den of sin and iniquity that is LV will befoul the Cougs’ souls and lead to the mild upset.

December 21, 2008
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Troy - lol. They put a bowl game against the Giants-Panthers game.  Troy’s a good team, but no one’s going to watch this.

December 23, 2008
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Boise State vs. TCU – It’s weird seeing BSU play anywhere other than Idaho where their blue field causes their opponents to go into hypnosis.  This one is going to be good. BSU in a squeaker.

December 24, 2008
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame – Charlie Weis needs to be fired. Now.  The only reason ND is in this game is because they won the national championship 20 years ago. HI in a blowout.

December 26, 2008
Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan – On paper, this is an easy call for CMU.  However, much like you never get into a land war in Asia, you never, ever, go up against Howard Schnellenberger in a bowl game.

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Fresh off impressive back-to-back victories over ranked squads from Virginia Tech and West Virginia, the Pirates have played the underdog role extremely well.  But now we’re going to see if ECU can handle the added pressure that comes with those victories.

The Pirates will likely be favored in each of their remaining games, including road contests against the Atlantic Coast Conference’s NC State (Sept. 20) and Virginia (Oct. 11).  In Conference USA play, East Carolina will encounter a pair of road games that are tougher than they appear on paper — at Central Florida and Southern Miss.  It’s not an easy stretch by any means, but it pales in comparison to the task this team has already accomplished.

In dismantling a team (West Virginia) expected to win the Big East title, the Pirates looked overpowering, particularly on defense in the 24-3 win.  ECU hounded Mountaineers quarterback Pat White all day Saturday, limiting him to a lackluster 72 yards passing and 97 yards rushing.  More importantly, White failed to reach the end zone a single time.  That’s a downright awful day for a Heisman favorite.

Now things turn interesting for East Carolina.  With the two heavyweights on the schedule already out of the way, how will ECU respond?  In a lot of ways, this ECU team is resembling the 2001 Fresno State team led by David Carr that looked hell bent on reaching not only a BCS bowl, but the national championship game.  That Bulldogs team began the ’01 season by beating three consecutive ranked teams (Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin) and was already up to #8 in the Associated Press poll in early October.  That’s when everything went thud.

A young upstart team named Boise State was about to storm onto the national scene in its first season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference.  The Broncos busted the Bulldogs’ chops 35-30, and Fresno State would not only lose its unbeaten season but would fall again the following week at Hawaii 38-34.  It was demoralizing for a team that began the year so impressively, including that road win over the eventual Big 12 champion Buffaloes.

East Carolina needs to be careful not to get caught up in the press clippings or to start believing the hype — yet.  No team — especially one of the non-BCS variety — can overlook anyone anymore.  Ohio State fans know this as well as anyone after last weekend.

And while ECU needs to stop believing the hype, so does the mainstream media.  The ESPN analysts were falling all over themselves after the Pirates’ victory over West Virginia.  ECU was unbeatable, they said.  ECU will roll through the season unbeaten because no remaining opponent is as good as Virginia Tech or West Virginia, they said.  Wait a second.  When you’re talking about mostly 18- to 22-year-olds, anything can happen.  A bad referee’s call here, a botched snap there, a disastrous fumble at the goal line… ECU’s magical season could come to a screeching halt at any moment.  (See Stanford winning at USC last year, for example.)

The bullseye is now squarely on East Carolina.  Suddenly a win over the Pirates becomes a big deal to every opponent on the slate.  And you know one of those ACC teams wants to end the run of the C-USA upstart.

For Pirates fans, college football fans in general, and fans of non-BCS teams in particular, enjoy this ride.  It’s much more of a rarity than the norm.  ECU could go all the way… or not.  And the way things are going this season, there are a few other teams like BYU, Fresno State, Boise State and Utah from non-BCS conferences waiting in the wings to pick up the flag for the Little Guys of the World if East Carolina should fall.

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