2006 Bowl Game Predictions (Beer bong! Woo!)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m on a roll, so here’s a quick rundown of the upcoming Major New Years Day (post New Years this year sadly) Bowl games and my predictions. I guess watching those Michigan vs. Nebraska and Northwestern vs. UCLA games got me in the mood.

Monday, Jan. 2
**The Cotton Bowl
TEXAS TECH 4 Alabama **
Bama is crumbling from where they were at the start of the season. In bowl games, teams that can’t score can’t win. It’s almost the exact opposite of the NFL where everything revolves around the defense. I just don’t think the Tide’s defense can withstand the Raiders offense and consistent bad field position.

The Pick: Red Raiders

**The Outback Bowl
FLORIDA 1½ Iowa **
I like this matchup and it will be one of the more entertaining games to watch. Both QBs are stellar and both coaches prepare well for postseason games. Both teams have played quality competition and there’s very little reason to think either team will get blown out. Florida has more team speed and their defense has been a bit more stout, but Iowa is balanced and consistent offensively. My Big Ten roots want me to back Iowa here, but I think Florida has played a tougher schedule. It’s interesting how much I hate the Iowas and Michigans of the world for 364 days a year, but come bowl time I want the Big Ten to stand tall. Strange. One thing that scares me is how Florida has struggled on the road and in close games. Iowa and Ferentz always play tough in January and I’m going to weakly pick them in this close one.

The Pick: Hawkeyes

**The Gator Bowl
VIRGINIA TECH 8 Louisville **
With Brohm out I can’t see any way that Dumervil can keep the Cards in this one. Tech’s defense will be able to key on Bush and limit him, though not stop him. There’s potential for a Hokie letdown making this game closer than it should be, but I wouldn’t wager on it. This is the same Louisville team that squeaked by UConn 30-20 without Brohm,

The Pick: Hokies

**The Capital One Bowl
AUBURN 10½ Wisconsin **
I’m picking the upset here. Maybe it’s more Big Ten homerism (though I can’t stand those fucking cheeseheads) but I’m putting a lot of stock in the Barry Alvarez going away party. You know those kids will be playing like madmen for him, and that type of energy will have the Wisconsin running game going wild. It’s also the type of engery that can make the so-so Badger defense step up and contain a stoppable Auburn attack. The SEC wasn’t the uber-conference this season and that lofty 9-2 record for the Tigers isn’t quite as impressive as it otherwise might be.

The Pick: Badgers

**The Fiesta Bowl
OHIO STATE 4½ Notre Dame **
This is one of those cool old-timey matchups. I’d love to see these guys suit up in leather helmets. There’ll be plenty of fireworks and alumni coming out of the woodwork for both schools. Both these teams took a Rose Bowl contender to the very edge and didn’t flinch. Stylistically this is a game I’m going to love. Plenty of hitting, some big plays from the kicking game and solid fundamentals with awesome athletes to make it all go. I expect it to be a relatively mistake free game. I think I like Notre Dame to get it done. Ohio State has more speed and better athletes all around. Their linebacking core could probably start for some NFL teams. Still, Charlie Weis given more than 2 weeks to prepare for anyone is reason for confidence. Whatever the case, as much as the Irish irritate me it’ll be nice to see them in the conversation again and taking the spotlight off the Florida programs.

The Pick: Fighting Irish

**The Sugar Bowl
GEORGIA 6½ West Virginia **
Really, this game just sucks. It’s the red-headed stepchild of BCS games. Neither team has much national interest nor is the matchup a compelling one. As a result I can’t claim to know either team that well. Let me put it this way, I hope West Virginia wins. Just because I get tired of the SEC fetishism and I think the conference got fat on a bunch of crappy teams this season. I think it’s a fair assessment that Georgia is a little overrated after seeing how South Carolina came out today.

The Pick: Mountaineers

Tuesday, Jan. 3
The Orange Bowl
PENN STATE 9½ Florida State
Much like OSU/ND this game is a fun match up. Joe Pa against Bobby. They should just have them come out an arm wrestle, or better yet, Greco-Roman wrestle for the game. At least for the coin flip anyways. My money is on Joe Pa, he’s feisty. FSU just doesn’t belong in the BCS this season, and it’s more than a little annoying that they get to play in their own backyard against PSU. I sincerely hope Penn State rolls over them, just to shut the good ole boys up. The match up favors them heavily and FSU is going to have a difficult time going anything offensively. FSU can’t rush the ball and the Lion front four are going to pin their ears back and go looking for dinner on every third and long. It could get messy.

The Pick: Nittany Lions

Wednesday, Jan. 4
The Rose Bowl
USC 7 Texas
Buckle up kids. This will be a fun one. I’m sick and tired of all the USC hype, but nothing irks me more than Texas bravado. So, for the good of the country lets hope USC gets the job done this week. Still, I don’t think USC has a prayer of stopping Vince Young. USC hasn’t played a team with a dominant rushing QB, especially one bigger then most of their defensive players. The question isn’t going to be who can stop the other team, it’s if USC will be able to outscore Vince Young. With so many weapons I think they can. This game could be a O/U of about 80. I think USC wins a close one….but a close one means that Texas covers the spread.

The Pick: Texas

2

I’ll play:

Texas Tech vs. Alabama:
As a world-class ‘Bama hater, I’ll be rooting for TT. If I had to place a bet, I’d put my money on the Cringin’ Tide. Good defense does win games, and they’ve got too much pride in Tuscaloosa to end up the season on a three game losing streak. Alabama in a squeaker

Florida vs Iowa
I don’t know much about Iowa, except that they were something of a disappointment this year. Florida’s been erratic, but they did beat Georgia and FSU. Waller-Gaters win one for the Tampa crowd.

Va. Tech vs. Louisville
Hokies got too many good players for Cardinals to handle.

Auburn vs. Wisconsin
“the stoppable Auburn offense” ??? The Auburn offense was stopped in the season opener by Georgia Tech, when Auburn’s new QB had a learning experience. Nobody stopped them since. 457 total yards in the loss to LSU didn’t consist of “stopped”. 28 points in the first half against Alabama’s tough defense wasn’t much stopping either. Auburn led the SEC in both total offense and scoring offense.
Wisconsin’s defense, on the other hand, is one of the Big Ten’s worst. Auburn scores on Wisconsin until Tommy Tuberville lets the air out, which he always does with a safe lead when his defense is playing well.
Motivation? If Auburn wins this game, the seniors will go out as the winning-est class in Auburn history. This is something they want badly.
Auburn by ten or more, without any trouble.

Notre Dame vs Ohio State
I only saw each of these teams twice, but OSU looks better to me. Bad day for leprechauns

Georgia vs. West Virginia:"I think it’s a fair assessment that Georgia is a little overrated after seeing how South Carolina came out today. " And what do you think now, after seeing what LSU did to Miami? :slight_smile:
You can hardly hold South Carolina up as an example of SEC power. They lost to Alabama 37-14 and to Auburn 48-7. SC’s only claim to fame is beating Florida on SC’s home field. Unless, of course, you want to count their win over 5-6 Tennessee, a team which also lost to Vanderbilt.
This one’s a mis-match. Georgia’s good defense can stuff the running of WV’s quarterback, and after that, the Mountaineers got nothin’. Georgia by about as much as they want.

FSU vs. Penn State: Penn State has a very good team while FSU is only average this year. Joe Pa wins the Geezer Bowl over Bobby Bowden

Texas vs. USC
If USC’s defense can hold Texas under 35 points, USC can win, but I don’t see that happening. Texas is good enough on “D” to slow down USC a little, and truthfully, USC’s defense hasn’t slowed anybody down. I don’t like either school, but I think the Horns Hook 'Em.

You wrote:*" I think USC wins a close one….but a close one means that Texas covers the spread.

The Pick: Texas"*

What does this mean? I’m picking my winners without regard to any spread. Are you picking vs the spread? If you’re picking winners, who do you think wins the Texas/USC game?

I’ve got it that we agree on the outcome of two games, disagree on five, and one’s (Texas/USC) undetermined. See ya’ on Jan. 5th!

3

Texas Tech vs Alabama. I haven’t followed either team too much. I"ll give a slight edge to TT simply because they’re local. Weather won’t be a factor this year. Dallas has been gorgeous the past few days.

Florida vs. Iowa. Again, I’ll go with Florida. They embarassed Florida State. Also, playing close to home is an advantage in these types of games.
Va. Tech vs Louisville. Va. Tech in a romp.

Auburn vs Wisconsin. I"m also going with the Badgers. I think it will be the Alvarez factor as well.

Ohio State vs Notre Dame. Second best matchup. I’ll take Ohio State, but they have been very inconsistent. They’ve been to the Fiesta Bowl 3 of the past 4 years. OSU has also won their past 3 bowl games.

Georgia vs. West Virgina. I could care less

Penn St. vs Florida State I went to Fl. State, so this is hard. I’m going with Penn State since FSU has just been too inconsistant this year.

USC vs Texas. USC is playing in its own back yard with two Heisman winners. Still, Texas went into Columbus and beat Ohio State. I"ll take USC.

4

I just want to know where the Northwestern alums are now! My Bruins … um … won. We showed those Big 10 schools how we execute onside kick coverage on the West Coast.

5

**Auburn 34 Wisc 17 ** Sorry, but if anyone’s gonna pick 'em it would be me. I don’t think the UW running game will be working much, and our D is really weak. Barry does get these guys up for bowl gmes, no doubt, and it is his last one, but I don’t think they’ll win. I hope I’m wrong though.

**USC 34 Texas 17 ** take this for what it’s worth, since I have yet to see Texas play and only saw an incomplete game of USC. But USC has so many weapons it’s scary. If George is still looking for WMD, they’re in Southern California.(Hey, I like that line!)

OSU 34 Notre Dame 17 OSU is a tough team, and I don’t think ND can keep up with them. ND is good, but not in the OSU class yet.

**Penn State 34 FSU 17 ** The defense of PSU is freakin’ crazy. I think unlike most Big 10/11 teams, they’re fast enough and good enough to stop and keep up with a Florida team. Can’t remember his name, but they have a DE that stopped the Badgers single-handed, the guy was unstoppable.

6

I’ve heard it said that consistency is the mark of greatness. Are you a really great guy, or just hung up on the numbers 34 and 17? :smiley:

7

Yeah, I said stoppable.

That Georgia’s D certainly was a thing of beauty wasn’t it?

Did anyone catch the Iowa/Florida game? Jesus the refs rat0fucked Iowa in that one. Rarely do I complain about officiating, but between this game and the Michigan/Nebraska game the Bowl officials should be jailed. The UM/NU game just made the refs look incompetent. The UF/Iowa game made them look corrupt. I’d be pissed if I were a Big Ten board member.

8

Well, I was hoping to be wrong, and I’d say I was way off. If I had known Auburn was sending their JV squad, I’d have reconsidered. That was the best game Wis played all year except maybe beating Mich. The 100th rated defense made Auburn look like they had nothing, and I really don’t see where Auburn has any offense at all. Indiana would have beat Auburn yesterday. Stocco did have a great game, which made it easier for Calhoun. And Colorado wanted to make him a reciever?

Alvarez says this is the 5th best Bowl game, 5th highest in $$$ too. Then why did ABC the send the 43rd best announcing crew to this? That play-by-play guy was a total incompetent. Davie…never thought I’d say this, but stick to coaching.

Well, I was a little closer here. OSU might be #1 next year.

Iowa was robbed, I don’t have cable, but saw a replay this morning. I don’t think Mich was robbed, if there are offsetting penalties, which is what it should have been, the game is over. I can see why the other team would go onto the field, but their own players should have at least had the sense to stay off.

9

Unfortunately, OSU loses about half of their defense to graduation. Fortunately, almost the entire offense comes back. Santonio Holmes is a Junior, but might go in the draft. Their offense will be great next year either way, but they won’t be as formidable on D.

10

I’d just like to know that I was damn glad I stayed up for all of the WVU-Georgia game last night. A bunch of people thought it would be a Georgia blowout going in and probably didn’t watch, and I’m sure a bunch of people went to bed after West Virginia went up 28-0. And in the end, this became a great game, more entertaining than the ND-OSU game IMO, and probably better than what we’ll get tonight in the Orange Bowl. A great win for West Virginia, especially since it was basically a road game. Slaton and White were just fun to watch, and this team should have a top 10 ranking going into next season, if not higher.

11

Keep in mind that when I say those tams got jobbed by the refs, it isn’t just on the basis of one play. The onside kick in the Iowa game was about as egregious as it gets, but there were a series of awful calls along the way all of which went against Iowa. It was so bad that the announcers who usually try to avoid critisim of the refs were at a loss for words after viewing a few of the “penaltys” on replay. Just a brutal game. Same story in the Michigan game, while they totally ratfucked the final play they were put in that position by a number of bad calls, 2 of which occured on the previously final possession. In this game they blew calls going both ways showing their total incompetence, but it certainly felt like in the 4th quater the biggest gaffes hurt Michigan.

12

Here is Ohio State’s schedule next year. It works in their favor, with Penn State and Michigan at home. There is that trip to Texas which will be interesting. I imagine it will be a night game, but if it is in the day, it will likely be brutally hot.

13

Uh, look, Sparky: According to my count, I went 4-2 with my predictions yesterday while you did a 3-3. Before you go dissin’ somebody else’s picks, perhaps you should sit down and eat a piece of humble pie?
I still don’t see who you are picking to win the Rose Bowl. Your only chance to draw even with me is to pick USC. Better step up to the plate. Or do you want to wait until the end of the game, then make your pick? :stuck_out_tongue:

I quit checking on the Florida/Iowa game when the score got to 31-7 for Florida. I can’t claim to have watched the game, but I’ve never seen refs be able to influence one to *that * degree. Maybe Iowa just got whupped?

According to one of the local sportscasters; “Auburn forgot to get off the bus.” That’s pretty much what it looked like, plus Wisconsin played a great game.
Georgia started off the same way Auburn did, but it appears the Georgia coaches remembered to bring the N0-Doze tablets with them. Georgia at least looked something like Georgia after they got behind 28-0.

14

Just screwin’ with ya. Note that I picked all the games versus the spread while you only picked them straight up, apples to oranges and all. Though I think it’s fair to say that you disagreed with me most emphatically on the two games I flat out nailed.

If you take another look I picked Texas (+7) in that game, but picked USC straight up. Officially that’s a Texas pick based my history of doing NFL pickem threads and gambling irresponisbly so that’s what I’m going with.

15

Man JoePa is really coaching not to lose. You’ve always got to attack on offense. Very Schottenheimer-esque effort by the old man. We’ll see if it comes back to haunt him.

16

Well, if it was some team other than Michigan, I might be more bothered. (I apoligize if you went to Mich.)

Man, I’d hate to be that sideline judge next to Joe Pa. I fell asleep last night in the 3rd quarter, then woke up in the 2nd OT I think. Heard the end on radio. Too bad such a good game was on so late. I guess there’s something to be said for having all the game on Jan 1 like they used to. How about starting these things earlier? Have the boring pregame on at 6:30 CST, start the game at 6:50, or 7pmCST. And cut that boring halftime show down, does it really have to be that long? The game was almost 5 hrs long!
And by the way, the radio announcers did such a better job of telling you what was happening and why, why can’t they put them on tv??

And can they hype tonight’s game anymore?? I hope they show us what kind of underpants Pete Carroll is wearing, because that’s the only thing they haven’t gone over yet. Enough already!

17

Whoa! By your reckoning (spread) you get three out of seven picks right and return to brag about two of them? Dude’s got some BALLS!

For your bowl game picks, it looks like you filled out a “wish list” and made a few comments to attempt to justify your selections. I hope for your sake you either pay more attention to NFL games or else are a very light bettor. :smiley:

Now, about that allegedly awesome Penn State team: Talk about your basic overrated! It took everything the refs and Penn State could do to whip five-time loser FSU in three overtimes. Even though the Big Ten was a bust in the bowls, finishing with a losing mark, I did think their champion could make a little better showing against a one dimensional and crippled opponent. Teach me to think!

Looks like dalej42 is going to be the SDMB college football guru. I still don’t know how to count his declining to vote on Georgia/ WV, but that aside he’s only missed one so far.

later…

18

Nah, I went to Illinois so the fact that I’m siding with Michigan ought to add even more weight to my assessment. Muck Fichigan!

19

Huh? Let’s see here…

#3 Penn State 26 - #22 Florida State 23
#4 Ohio State 34 - #5 Notre Dame 20
#21 Wisconsin 24 - #7 Auburn 10
#16 Florida 31 - #25 Iowa 24
#17 UCLA 50 - Northwestern 38
Nebraska 32 - #20 Michigan 28
Virginia 34 - Minnesota 31

A bust, really? Winning 3 of 7 games. Winning 2 BCS games. Only getting upset once, a minor upset at that, and never once getting blown out. Not the greatest bowl season ever, but that’s along way from a bust. I’ll trade Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Capital One Bowl wins over some of the most storied programs ever, you can have your Cotton Bowl, Outback Bowl and Peach Bowl.

20

OK, that was pretty awesome game to watch. I’m glad it came close to living up to the hype. Don’t think I wasn’t rooting for overtime.

Here’s the big calls as I see them:

Reggie Bush attempting that boneheaded lateral. I like the idea of trying to make a play, but in that situation you didn’t need the help. D-U-M, dumb!

The referee’s non-review of the Vince Young lateral. Pretty major gaffe considering how readily they reviewed plays over the span of the rest of the game.

The very close non-fumble call on the Texas catch in the third quarter. I thought it was a catch and a fumble personally, but it was far too close to get upset about.

Pete Carroll going for it on 4th down in the first half by sneaking Matt Leinart with an empty backfield. I like the call to go for it on that part of the field, but when you have 2 stud RBs and a immoble QB that was a awful play call.

Pete Carroll going for it on 4th down in the 4th quarter. Great decision again, it was the right call. I don’t think there’s much difference between giving Vince Young the ball on the 20 vs. the 33. Plus it could have been blocked. They called LenDale Whites number this time which was a good call, Texas just made an excellent play.

The USC offense being unable to get a quick snap off following the 1st half Texas INT at the goalline. They had plenty of time to snap the ball before the review overturned the call and gave the ball to Texas, but confusion cost them the chance.

Pete Carroll wasting a timeout in the 3rd quarter as the play clock ran down on 2nd down and long. Bad call, take the penalty and just get the extra 5 yards. They weren’t stopping you anyways.

Pete Carroll wasting his final timeout before the 2-point conversion. Monumentally stupid. In the postgame he seemed that he called it because he was caught off guard by the choice to go for 2. Duh! A PAT would have been meaningless, you should have been ready for the 2-pt play. There’s no excuse for not being ready for that, and even if you weren;t ready you save that timeout with 20 second left down 3!!!

It’s the last one that is the most damning IMHO. Being a “great coach” and being confused and unprepared in that situation? It’s not like you couldn;t see it coming. Had they kept that final TO, does anyone think that UCS couldn’t have gotten into field goal range? Reggie Bush could have cut that last shovel pass back to teh middle and gotten an extra 10 yards at least. If not, on the next play Leinart could have used the whole field and called a TO before kicking a FG.

IMHO, Pete Carroll lost this game. Not for going for it on 4th down, but for wasting TOs and not using his talent. Reggie Bush made a really dumb play, but I’ll allow a 20 year old kid some slack when trying to make something happen. Pete Carroll is making huge coin and is expected to be prepared in for contingencies. God he choked. Thats why he doesn’t belong in the NFL.