Who's Gonna Win? PENN STATE!

and some other teams...

Year old hat tip to EDSBS - Bowl Predictions based solely on personal bias. Last year my grudges/leanings/basically unsubstantiated hatred earned a 61% average - not too bad.

This year we've got 32 Bowl games - hosting nearly half of the college football pool - making it necessary to learn some new mascots, etc.

College Football on Fox? Non-BCS games after New Year’s? Are they going to make the kids play on a soccer pitch in Toronto?

Many questions eminate from this year’s games - Let’s take a look...


POINSETTIA BOWL
San Diego - Dec. 19, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
TCU (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5) - Horned Frogs vs Huskies. One of many illitrative match ups. As we all know, the horned frog shoots a red colored substance from it’s eyes when attacked; that’s pretty wicked. Plus they wear purple. So, I’m going with TCU.

LAS VEGAS BOWL Las Vegas Dec. 21, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon (7-5) - Cougars vs Ducks. BYU has a nice record - and Oregon suffered the most egregious not nice thing by college football officials this year - but... I really hate Oregon’s uniforms, but... My final choice is Oregon

NEW ORLEANS BOWL-
New Orleans Dec. 22, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Troy (7-5) v. Rice (7-5) Trojans vs Owls. Troy - they like to slip-n-slide together - not too cool. At Rice they have a pithy little Owl cartoon that disses upcoming opponents. Let's go Owls! Rice.

PAPAJOHN'S.COM BOWL
Birmingham, Ala. Dec. 23, 1 p.m. (ESPN2)
South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5) - Bulls vs Pirates. Pizza on the internet - that makes me think of football. Pirates are very "in" this year - but I can't muster the energy to root for Easy U - so I'll say South Florida.

NEW MEXICO BOWL
Albuquerque, N.M. Dec. 23, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4) Lobos vs Spartans - How unfair is this? New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl. And how sad will it be if they lose? And I think they will lose - a friend of mine used to live near San Jose- so that's good enough to me.

ARMED FORCES BOWL
Fort Worth, Texas Dec. 23, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5) - Golden Hurricane vs Utes. We don’t ask for experience; we give it. You can’t read it in a book; you live it! I gotta say, not a big fan of the mental image that a “golden hurricane” congers - but in support of our troops, I’m going to go with Tulsa.

HAWAII BOWL
Honolulu Dec. 24, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3) - The rainbow warriors now just call themselves the Warriors (bor-ring) - Warriors vs Sun Devils - With all of these sprirtual images in play, at the very least they’re gonna make it rain, or volcanos errupt - or something. I’m thinking that Hawaii will be best suited to weather the elements. With that and home team advantage, I'm picking: Hawaii.

MOTOR CITY BOWL
Detroit Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee State (7-5) - Chippewa vs Blue Raiders. Middle Tennesse State? who? whaa? Central Michigan had a pretty good season - I see them winning over the MTS Raiders. C Mich.

EMERALD BOWL
San Francisco Dec. 27, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5) - seminoles vs Bruins. ahh how the mighty have fallen - gotta give props to the Bruins for making 2006 yet another year of controversy - I’m looking for UCLA to crush the seminoles. UCLA

INDEPENDENCE BOWL
Shreveport, La. Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6) - Cowboys vs Crimson Tide. Bama's getting a new coach next year - asserting their Independence from the Shula era, I say "Roll Tide." Bama

HOLIDAY BOWL
San Diego Dec. 28, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Cal (9-3) vs. Texas A&M (9-3) - Golden Bears and the Aggies. Cal was way overrated at the beginning of the season - the Aggies pulled off an improbable upset late in the season. Oh this is another horrible choice. but - Aggies?

TEXAS BOWL
Houston Dec. 28, 8 p.m. (NFL)
Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5) - Scarlet Knights vs Wildcats The NFL network? Maybe Schiano will jump straight to the pros and faagetabbout college ball - Steelers? Anyway, I’ll be rooting for the Scarlet Knights - Rutgers

MUSIC CITY BOWL
Nashville Dec. 29, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5) - Tigers vs Wildcats - Any year in which CU defeats fsu, and in which they are paired up with a team I care nothing about, they get my vote for the bowl game. Tigers

SUN BOWL
El Paso, Texas Dec. 29, 2 p.m. (CBS)
Missouri (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-4) - Tigers vs Beavers. More Tigers? I gotta say, I'm very disappointed with the match ups for Oregon State and South Carolina this year - they could have been much more entertaining - they could have played each other (snicker) - Regardless, OSU is up against Mizzou this year - OSU beat USC (the other one) - which was huge - but Missouri had a fine season. Any Bias against the pac ten is easily negated by anti big 12 sentiment. hmmm - eenie meenie - Mizzou!

LIBERTY BOWL
Memphis, Tenn. Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3) Gamecocks vs Cougars. Again with this Houston team - and again with Coach Spurrier (hate him) - but, I have to thank SOS for not changing jobs and going to another team this year - I'd hate to see a team that I dislike, get a decent coach, and I'd really hate to see a team that I somewhat like get him as coach - since I don't give a rat's backside about USC - I'm going to say "thank you" to Coach Spurrier and say that the Gamecocks are gonna win (just watch for the blocked kicks). South Carolina.

INSIGHT BOWL
Tempe, Ariz. Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m. (NFL)
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5) - Golden Gophers vs Red Raiders. It ain’t gonna happen, but I’ll go with Minne.

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
Orlando, Fla. Dec. 29, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Maryland (8-4) vs. Purdue (8-5) - Turtles and Boilermakers. Go Home Maryland, Go Home! I have no reason other than conference loyalty and the "we beat them" factor - but I say Purr - Do!

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL
Charlotte, N.C. Dec. 30, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
Navy (9-3) vs. Boston College (9-3) - Midshippmen vs Eagles. Navy's done well this year and heck, support our troops!- Navy

ALAMO BOWL
San Antonio Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Iowa (6-6) vs. Texas (9-3) - Hawkeyes vs Longhorns. Oh this has the potential to be very, very bad. So very bad. Texas

CHICK-FIL-A BOWL
Atlanta Dec. 30, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Virginia Tech (10-2) vs. Georgia (8-4) - Hokies vs Bulldogs. Georgia had 2 unbelievable losses this season - and I have a long lived distain for the Hokies - this is a really tough one. VA Tech.

MPC COMPUTERS BOWL
Boise, Idaho Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6) - wolf pack vs hurricanes on the Smurf Turf - Gotta go against Miami - Nevada

New Year’s Day Games - “Let’s syncronize our watches”

OUTBACK BOWL
Tampa, Fla. Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (ESPN)
Penn State (8-4) vs. Tennessee (9-3) Nittany Lions vs Volunteers

Penn State forever, moldy old men. Penn State

COTTON BOWL
Dallas Jan. 1, 11:30 a.m. (Fox)
Auburn (10-2) vs. Nebraska (9-4) - Tigers v Cornhuskers. Both teams have had, for them, disappointing seasons. Many folks listed Auburn as their National Championship team, but the Tigers failed to produce. I say they rebound in the bowl game. Auburn.

CAPITAL ONE BOWL
Orlando, Fla.Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (ABC)
Wisconsin (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-3) - Badgers vs Razorbacks. Should go with conference loyalty, but wisky broke our coach this year. And Houston Nutt is one of the all time greatest names in football, ever. I hate the idea of pulling for an SEC team, again (and again) - but I'm going with Arkansas - I hope they kick out of bounds 14x in a row. Arkansas.

GATOR BOWL
Jacksonville, Fla. Jan. 1, 1 p.m. (CBS)
Georgia Tech (9-4) vs. West Virginia (10-2) - Yellow Jackets and Mountaineers - Tech showed some brilliance this year - but if their qb gets rattled - it all unravels - The Mighty Mountaineers (with hairs in their ears) - have speed, and Pat White does a mean (spirited) pitt panther imitation - so I think I'll give the BE the advantage on this one - WVU

VINEGAR BOWL (FKA the ROSE BOWL)
Pasadena, Calif. Jan. 1, 5 p.m. (ABC)
USC (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1) - Trojans and Wolverines. I hate it when they make me do this - It really depends on whether both teams actually show up for this one - I think they will - but it's still gotta sting. As much as I hate the idea - I'll be rooting for (the other) blue. um

FIESTA BOWL
Glendale, Ariz. Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Boise State (12-0) vs. Oklahoma (11-2) broncos v sooners. As a PSU fan, I have a certain connection to undefeated/unheralded teams - But the Sooners are tough - This is Boise State's chance to make a name for themselves apart from the blue turf - I still think they fall a little short - Oklahoma -

ORANGE BOWL
Miami Jan. 2, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Wake Forest (11-2) vs. Louisville (11-1) - Demon Deacons vs Cardinals - Again with the spiritual symbolism. Wake isn't being given much of a chance in this one - for that reason, I'd like to see 'em win. WF.

SUGAR BOWL
New Orleans Jan. 3, 8 p.m. (Fox)
LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2) Tigers and Irish - In the Big Easy. If LSU is on this will be an unlucky day for the Irish. That’s what I’m hoping for. Hate notre dame. LSU

INTERNATIONAL BOWL
Toronto Jan. 6, Noon (ESPN2)
Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4) Bearcats - Broncos. Toronto, eh? On Epiphany no less - those wacky canadians - My understanding is that they will be playing the game on an American football sized field - but there will be beer tents. Cinci is losing their coach - I know little to nothing about the broncos of western Michigan - I'll go for the city team rather than the directional team - Cincinnati.

GMAC BOWL
Moble, Ala. Jan. 7, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Southern Miss (8-5) vs. Ohio (9-4) Golden Eagles v Cougars. Really nothing to say about this one, except I'm going to extend my dislike for the land mass west of PA and go for So Miss.

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Glendale, Ariz. Jan. 8, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1) - buckeyes and Gators. This is the big one - the National Championship. The BCS is taking a lot of heat for this pairing - and as a big fan of all things anti-BCS, I'm almost tempted to root against the gators. But my heart is with the underdog - but are they really the underdog - UF won the basketball national championship last March (i was totally rooting for them then - Yea Noah!) - they don't deserve another championship (they'll never shut up about that) - but tosu won the NC in 2002 - that's too soon and they're just so slimy - and I really don't want Evil Sweatervest McCheatypants to win - he's just not that good (they'll never shut up about that) - So it's a horribly difficult choice, based mostly on not-nice vibes - but my pick is Florida - now go out and disappoint me, guys, I know you can.