Friday, December 16, 2011

Bowl Preview & Picks, pt.2

Austin Davis of Southern Miss
7. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Nevada (7-5, 5-2 WAC) vs. Southern Miss (11-2, 6-2 C-USA)
This will mark the final time Southern Miss will be led by Larry Fedora as he is moving on to North Carolina.  The Golden Eagle offense led by Austin Davis will go up against the #2 defense in the WAC.  Advantage goes to the defense facing a team dealing with the disappointment of losing their coach and not receiving a Liberty Bowl invite.  Nevada Wolfpack wins 34-17.

8. AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
Missouri (7-5, 5-4 Big 12) vs. North Carolina (7-5, 3-5 ACC)
Missouri visits SEC country for their last bowl game as a member of the Big 12 Conference.  Neither of these teams is especially exciting, but I'll go with the team that has the more stable situation.  Mizzou wins 24-10.

9. Little Caesar's Bowl
Western Michigan (7-5, 5-3 MAC) vs. Purdue (6-6, 4-4 Big Ten)
The Boilermakers completely turned their season around to make it to a bowl game.  The Broncos have one of the most exciting offenses in the country but they have struggled against Big 10 teams in the past, losing six straight including at Michigan and Illinois this season.  I'll go with the Big 10 team.  Purdue wins 41-28.

Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater
10. Belk Bowl
Louisville (7-5, 5-2 Big East) vs. NC State (7-5, 4-4 ACC)
The Cardinals are a young team that has overcome a 2-4 start to make the Belk Bowl to face the Wolfpack of NC State.  Charlie Strong's bunch seem to be getting better and better each week and I'd look for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to have a big game.  Cardinals win 31-20.

11. Military Bowl
Toledo (8-4, 7-1 MAC) vs. Air Force (7-5, 3-4 MWC)
Over the past month nobody has been scoring more than the Toledo Rockets and they've been doing it both rushing and passing.  The Falcons have been putting up points recently but it's because of their option attack which averages 320 yards per game.  The Rockets lost their head coach to Illinois but promoted offensive coordinator Matt Campbell to head coach.  Falcons won't be able to stop the Rockets.  Toledo wins 48-24.

12. Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
California (7-5, 4-5 Pac-12) vs. Texas (7-5, 4-5 Big 12)

The Bears offense has really come on strong lately and Texas has really shown no reason for someone to believe in them.  That being said the Longhorns have won seven of their last nine postseason games and I'm going to take them again.  Texas wins 24-20.

Bowl Preview & Picks, pt. 1

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