We start on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern. At one of my favorite stadiums where I have seen a game live, the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. We have Miami, which our ACC fans will know had a turbulent season in which they fired their coach. They ended the year on a hot streak, however, and their quaterback Brad Kaaya has improved.
I told you we would start with a pirate in my first blog of the season and here he is. Head Coach Mike Leach was famous for his swashbuckling ways at Texas Tech. With his noted interest in all things pirate, he got the nickname aforementioned. How did the guy who likes to hang out in Key West, Florida, wind up in Pullman, Washington? I have no idea. I do know he runs a pass happy attack. This year's version is run by quarterback Luke Falk. Can Miami stop this offense? We will see. They will have to do it with one of their starting safeties suspended. Washington State is a 2.5 point favorite in Vegas.
Next will be the 3:30 p.m. Eastern tilt in the Bronx at Yankee Stadium. We are going to play mediocre college football in a baseball stadium featuring schools known for their basketball teams. Unlike the snobs in the press who cannot stand these gimmicks, I love it! What else does my middle class ass have to do on the Saturday after Christmas? Nothing. Bring on meaningless bowl games. I'll make it meaningful by gambling on it.
Quarterback Nate Sudfield leads the Hoosiers to their first bowl game since 2007 and their second since 1993. Duke is in their fourth straight bowl game (you read that correctly). Defense is not supposed to be a premium here so look for lots of passing. Unlike Bobby Knight and Coach K, the coaches for these football teams are offense minded. Indiana is the 3 point favorite in Vegas.
At 5:45 p.m. Eastern, the Independence Bowl will be played in beautiful Shreveport, Louisiana. Tulsa has lost their offensive coordinator and offensive line coach to Texas (good lord I hope they are good), so I will be interested in seeing how well the Golden Hurricane perform against the last Frank Beamer defense. Virginia Tech's coach is retiring after a great career, so you would expect the Hokies to be motivated to see him off with a win. (By the way, Golden Hurricane? In Tulsa, Oklahoma? Never mind.) On most lines, Virginia Tech is a two touchdown favorite.
Tulsa has a receiver named Keyarris Garrett. If he goes off, that could be difficult for the Hokies. The Hokies will look to pound it down the Golden Hurricanes' throats with a tough running game and a stout defense.
At 9:15 p.m. Eastern we will switch to the Bay Area to watch the Foster Farms Bowl. We will watch a 5 and 7 Nebraska team (that's right they have a losing record; there were not enough 6 win teams for bowls this year) face off against the disappointing UCLA Bruins. Nebraska had one big upset against Michigan State, so they are capable. UCLA has a freshman quarterback in Josh Rosen that has been rather prolific this year. UCLA is therefore a 6.5 point favorite. Nebraska lost four games in the last 10 seconds of their games. UCLA has the Pac-12's leading rusher in Paul Perkins.
Alert here: RC Smith is the only competitor to pick Nebraska. Big game for the original commissioner.
Should be fun people. Let's get this party started!!! See you at Buffalo Wild Wings.
No comments:
Post a Comment