This will take on the usual format of my weekly picks. There will be three posts each dealing with a set of games. There are nine in this first one. Next post in this series will be December 27. Each BCS Game will get its own preview.
Odds are according to Station Casinos in Las Vegas on Friday, December 17 at 4PM PT. Games are listed in order of when they occur instead of the normal order of importance.
Results
Last Week (Championship Saturday) Straight Up: 7-3, Against the Spread: 4-6
Season: 96-49, Against the Spread: 73-67-5
Final season results will be tabulated after the bowl games
New Mexico Bowl, Albuquerque, New Mexico – BYU (-12) vs UTEP, 11AM PT Saturday, ESPN
This is a true dog of a game, but its better than what fans in Albuquerque have been seeing all season long (that would be New Mexico whose problems are well-documented on this blog). UTEP feasted on nobody of consequence this season holding what might be the worst collection of six wins of any eligible team this bowl season. BYU on the other hand, while not at its usual level, has been starting to round into form since a 2-5 start and this game isn't so long after the season that rust will be a factor. Cougars win, big.
BYU 37, UTEP 17
Humanitarian Bowl, Boise, Idaho – Northern Illinois (-1) vs Fresno St., 230PM PT Saturday, ESPN
These teams area about even but they both have issues to overcome. For Northern Illinois, do they want to be here and play for an interim coach after Jerry Kill left for Minnesota. For Fresno St., can they get over the mental issues playing on the blue turf seems to cause them. Last time: Boise St. 51, Fresno St. 0. Neither team will play well. Fresno will win at the end because they want the win more.
Fresno St. 24, Northern Illinois 20
New Orleans Bowl, New Orleans, Louisiana – Ohio vs Troy (-2.5), 6PM PT Saturday, ESPN
Ohio seemed to win all season in the MAC with smoke and mirrors until the final game when they really needed it and laid an egg at Kent St. I expect them to show up embarrassed from that awful performance and lay the wood to the worst Troy team in quite some time.
Ohio 34, Troy 14
St. Petersburg Bowl, St. Petersburg, Florida – Southern Miss vs Louisville (-3), 5PM PT Tuesday, ESPN
Southern Miss has no defense. Louisville has no offense. Meanwhile, Southern Miss has an offense and Louisville has a defense. In this scenario with extra preparation time, go with the defense, especially if the head coach is a defensive minded guy like Charlie Strong.
Louisville 27, Southern Miss 21
Las Vegas Bowl, Las Vegas, Nevada – Utah vs Boise St. (-17), 5PM PT Wednesday, ESPN
If Boise St. really wants to be here, they will eviscerate the Utes and send them on to the Pac-12 quite unhappily. They won't be super motivated, but neither will Utah who joins the AQ ranks next season. The Utes will play like an uninterested AQ here.
Boise St. 41, Utah 14
Poinsettia Bowl, San Diego, CA – Navy vs San Diego St. (-4.5), 5PM PT Thursday, ESPN
I've already seen this before. This game in on the Aztecs home field and they have already beaten a triple-option team at home and that team (Air Force) beat this triple-option team. Also, the option can be shut down with extra time to prepare.
San Diego St. 34, Navy 20
Hawaii Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii – Hawaii (-10) vs Tulsa, 5PM PT Christmas Eve Friday, ESPN
The scoreboard operator is about to get a workout. Hawaii has a very good offense and Tulsa has a great offense with no defense to speak of. I'm going with the home team because I think the teams are about even, but it will be a shootout either way.
Hawaii 51, Tulsa 45
Motor City Bowl (I refuse to use bad corporate names unless there is no choice), Detroit, Michigan – Florida International vs Toledo (-1.5), 530 PM PT Sunday Dec. 26, ESPN
What did the Panthers do to Santa Claus? It's one thing for Midwestern Rust Belt teams like Toledo to end up in this game, but its another entirely for a bunch of Florida kids to shipped to Detroit for Christmas. Add to that that Toledo has a better team and this likely won't end well.
Toledo 28, Florida International 14
Independence Bowl, Shreveport, Louisiana – Air Force (-3) vs Georgia Tech, 2PM PT Monday Dec. 27, ESPN2
This game will be short and too the point. Triple-option against triple-option with no passes necessary. Both teams should be well-versed defensively just like the Air Force-Navy slugfest earlier this season. When that happens, the team that can actually threaten to throw wins and that is Air Force, especially with Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua Nesbitt still out with the broken arm suffered in November.
Air Force 20, Georgia Tech 14 and the game will be played in under 3 hours.
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