The Final Day

Well, I believe we will go down to the end as usual. Should there be a tie, I will contact the contestants and they will pick the winning team of the National Championship game and the total points to be scored. Should it go to points, the picker that gets closest to the final score will win.

Here are the final bowl game previews.

Seventeenth Bowl: Outback Bowl
Teams: Mississippi State v. Iowa
Sponsor: Outback Steakhouse
Setting: Tampa Bay, Florida
Consensus Vegas Line: Mississippi St. -7; Over/Under 40.5

Iowa is always in this game. They had a solid season like they always do in the Big Ten. Their stars are on defense. Mississippi State also had a solid year, especially with their wins against Auburn and their rivals Ole Miss. They have a running quarterback in Nick Fitzgerald that Iowa will have to contain with their linebackers.

Outback steaks stink. They are dry. Go to a local steakhouse and stay out of this awful chain.

Eighteenth Bowl: Citrus Bowl

Teams: Kentucky v. Penn State

Sponsor: VRBO

Setting: Orlando, Florida

Consensus Vegas Line: Penn State -6.5; Over/Under 47

Both these teams had nine wins but could not win games against powerhouses in their conferences. Penn State especially was embarrassed in big games. Kentucky features running back Benny Snell; Penn State features quarterback Trace McSorley. The team who gets a better performance from their defensive line should win.

We talked Orlando food already. Enjoy Disney.

Nineteenth Bowl: Fiesta Bowl

Teams: Central Florida v. LSU

Sponsor: PlayStation (Sony)

Setting: Phoenix, Arizona

Consensus Vegas Line: LSU -7.5; Over/Under 58

I would hate to be LSU here. Central Florida has not lost in two years, but because they don't play in a power five conference they are being portrayed as underdogs. LSU is known for defense and a rushing offense. Central Florida just wins. They changed quarterbacks in the middle of the year and still just win. 

If you go to the Phoenix area find a hole in the wall or food truck that serves a Navajo Taco. I once found a place in Tempe that has since disappeared that served the fry bread wonder tacos that are straight from heaven. 

Twentieth Bowl: Rose Bowl

Teams: Washington v. Ohio State

Sponsor: Northwestern Mutual

Setting: Pasadena, California

Consensus Vegas Line: Ohio State -6.5; Over/Under 57.5

The Pac-12 had a down year. Washington limped to the Pac-12 title with a final win over in state rivals Washington State and a victory in the Pac-12 title game against Utah. If the Huskies are to challenge, running back Myles Gaskin will have to find some running room. Ohio State lost only once but everyone hates them because of head coach Urban Myer. This will be his last game and quarterback Dwayne Haskins should dominate.

Interesting fun fact: during the depression my grandfather left north Texas and traveled to southern California. He worked at a Van De Kamps restaurant. I don't know if the one pictured was the one he worked at, but maybe it was. I wonder if they served beanie weenies?

Twenty-first Bowl: Sugar Bowl

Teams: Texas v. Georgia

Sponsor: Allstate

Setting: New Orleans, Louisiana

Consensus Vegas Line: Georgia -12.5; Over/Under 58.5

Georgia should kill us. (I say "us" because I graduated from Texas in 1991.) We had a decent season. We beat Oklahoma during the regular season. We finished second in the Big 12, but we lost to West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and embarrassingly Maryland for the second time in two seasons. So we have no business being in this game. Georgia has lost some players to NFL draft preparation, but quarterback Jake Fromm has plenty of weapons to use. Georgia had the athletes to stay with Alabama in the SEC championship and arguably should have won. They should have won the NCAA Title Game last year in this blogger's opinion. If Texas has a strength it is their wide receiver corps. Lil' Jordan (yes, that's his name and his mother is a great Twitter follow @queenchevy) Humphrey and Calvin Johnson are just fun to watch when they are involved in the offense sufficiently. Quarterback Sam Ehlinger went to my high school, Austin Westlake, but he is no Drew Brees or Nick Foles as of yet. Texas has some defensive talent but their are some injuries that will hurt us. Word is we are undersized and Georgia may run over us. It may be painful, and by the end of the night I may be watching Office reruns on Netflix. 

If you can't find good food in New Orleans you are not trying. I once went for the Final Four and ate alligator stew at a hole in the wall. It was pretty darn good. But whatever you have in the evening, do yourself a favor and wake up early and get some beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Get some of their coffee too. And then bring them to me.