New Year's Eve Bowls

 Forgive me but I've got things to do today so the previews will be short. Matthew leads overall by one game over Monique. Recent champions are doing well this year. Us perennial losers are, well, losing again. 

Reliaquest Bowl - Alabama v. Michigan. Lots of players going to the NFL will be sitting out this one. Michigan struggled this year after their championship and so did Bama with their new coach. Alabama is the 11.5 point favorite. Matt has Bama and Monique has Michigan. The rest of us are pretty much split. Folks near the top include Margaret who picked Alabama, Kathy who picked Michigan, and Joe who picked Michigan.

Sun Bowl - Louisville v. Washington. Louisville ended the year with two victories and is the 5 point favorite. Washington may have trouble scoring. Matt and Monique have Washington. Kathy and Joe have Washington. Margaret has Louisville. The west coaster may know something.

Citrus Bowl - South Carolina v. Illinois. South Carolina ended the year hot. Illinois only had three losses. While on paper this looks close, Vegas has South Carolina as an 11.5 favorite. Joe, Kathy and Margaret have South Carolina, Monique and Matt have Illinois.

Texas Bowl - Baylor v. LSU. LSU is the 3 point favorite, but after looking dead in the beginning of the year the Bears ran off six wins to end the season. Matt, Monique and Joe root for LSU. Kathy and Margaret picked Baylor.

Four bowl games and the leaders have interesting picks. We will see who is ahead going into our last two contests. By the way, if there is a tie, the commissioner will contact those tied and ask for picks for the Championship game with points scored. 

Music City Bowl

 

The Music City Bowl is this afternoon in beautiful Nashville, Tennessee. This could be called the Sit Out Bowl as most of Iowa's offense is sitting out the game or in the transfer portal. Missouri has folks missing as well. Missouri is the 2.5 point favorite, so really this is a toss-up. The Big 10 has won this game four years in a row. So, who knows what will happen? We think we know. Missouri Fans: Kirsten, Will, Joseph, Analicia, Tim, Monique, Alex, and Moriah. Iowa fans: Chris, Patricia, Kathy, Margaret, and Matthew.

Matthew, after a monster Saturday, now leads the pool by two games. But plenty of pickers, including the defending champ Margaret are close behind. 

Eight Games

 Hi folks. I’m on the road and with family so I won’t have time to preview the eight games today. I’ll try to update the standings though as we go along. Be safe and enjoy your Saturday.

December 27th Games

 

Wow! Five bowl games today. Therefore, previews will be short and sweet. I hope you are enjoying your holiday season. We are in for a drive today so I will miss most of these games.

Oklahoma and Navy face off first. Oklahoma has a stout run defense and that should spell doom for Navy. But, it is the Armed Forces Bowl and OU players may not care a whole lot. Oklahoma is only a 2.5 favorite. We are split on this game. OU: Chris, Patricia, Will, Ana, Moriah, and Matthew. Navy: Margaret, Alex, Monique, Tim, Kathy, Joseph, and Kirsten.

Georgia Tech is the 3 point favorite against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Vanderbilt's quarterback is from Albuquerque, New Mexico - Diego Pavia. Georgia Tech features a strong rushing attack. A nice ACC v. SEC match-up. GT: Chris, Kirsten, Ana, Kathy, Tim, Alex, and Margaret. Vandy: Will, Patricia, Matthew, Moriah, Monique, and Joseph.

Texas Tech is the 1.5 point favorite against the Arkansas Razorbacks in this Big 12 v SEC match-up. The big question is whether Tahj Brooks the stud running back from Tech will play or not. Look for a lot of points in this one. TT: Chris, Kirsten, Joseph, and Moriah. ARK: Mathhew, Margaret, Alex, Monique, Tim, Kathy, Patricia, Will, and Ana.

Usually, the Holiday Bowl gives us a great game. This year it is Syracuse versus Washington State. Syracuse is the whopping 17 point favorite. There should be a lot of passing in this game. But there is some question as to whether the Syracuse starting QB will play or not. Syracuse fans: Joseph, Ana, Margaret, and Matthew. WS: Chris, Patricia, Will, Tim, Kathy, Monique, Alex, Moriah, and Kirsten.

USC plays Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl. I think we should all go to the Las Vegas Bowl next year. Just thinking gamblers should visit Mecca once in their lives. The Aggies are 4 point favorites. They have a decent ground game led by Amari Daniels. USC is led by Coach Lincoln Riley who left OU for the left coast. Could he be regretting his decision? Word is he is on the hot seat. USC: Chris, Patricia, Joseph, Kathy, Tim, Alex, Moriah, and Matthew. A&M: Will? (Really?), Kirsten, Analicia, Monique, and Margaret.

That's a ton of college football. I hope you enjoy it.

Bowl Peviews for December 26th

 Three bowls on December 26th. Here is the preview:

GameAbove Sports Bowl is played in Detroit, Michigan, at the Ford Field Dome where the Detroit Lions play. This game will feature the ACC's Pitt Panthers versus the Toledo Rockets. Both teams are 7-5 and the Panthers are 6.5 point favorites. Pitt has a stout defense, but has all sorts of questions at quarterback. Toledo has underperformed this year and struggles on offense. This could be a slogfest. Pitt supporters include: Chris, Will, Kirsten, Analicia, Kathy, Tim, Margaret, Moriah and Matthew. Toledo supporters include: Patricia, Joseph, Monique and Alex. We will lose two undefeateds after this game.

The Rate Bowl is played in Phoenix, Arizona, at Chase Field. Kansas State is the 6.5 point favorite over Rutgers. Both teams are run first offenses. The Kansas State quarterback is prone to the interception. Rutgers improved as the season wore on and played in the more powerful Big 10 Conference. But, the Wildcats are still the favorites. Kansas State supporters: Chris, Will, Patricia, Joseph, Matthew, Monique, Moriah, Kirsten, Margaret, and Kathy. Rutgers Supporters: Analicia, Tim, and Alex.

68 Ventures Bowl. 68 Ventures is a Gulf Coast Development corporation based in Alabama. This bowl is being played in Mobile, Alabama, and features the Arkansas State Red Wolves versus the Bowling Green Falcons. Both teams are 7-5 and Bowling Green is the 7.5 point favorites. Bowling Green is fighting the injury/portal bug. They have a great tight end who will play in the game named Harold Fannin. Yes, I said there is a great tight end named Harold. Arkansas State supporters: Chris, Analicia, Moriah, and Matthew. Bowling Green fans: Will, Patricia, Joseph, Kathy, Tim, Monique, Alex, Margaret, and Kirsten.

I hope your Christmas is full of joy. I know things in our country are weird right now. Don't forget we are a family though. Let's make sure we take care of each other. 

2024-25 Bowl Pool is Here!

 Well, it's time for us to engage in the 24-25 Bowl Pool. We have already had four games as the "tournament" for the national championship has started. As you know, if you have read this blog for any amount of time, I hate the college football playoff. I prefer the old, old bowl system: the system where every good team plays in a bowl game on New Year's Day and then the press through the AP and the coaches through something that was called the UPI decide who is the national champion. But that is a column you don't want to read. We have what we have and what we have now is a 12 team playoff. But! We also have a ton of other bowl games because there are so many teams in college football, and we have a lot of chambers of commerce who love to throw bowl games to show off their towns during the holidays to drum up business. So, I've put together a slate of games and because you love this forty year-old tradition, you keep playing. Thank you. 

Last year's champion is Margaret AKA Candace Key. She is a steam roller of picking power who finishes in the top every year. She has started 4-0 this year and is currently tied for the lead. I will put the current standings to the side and I will also let you know who has picked who as we go along. 

Here is what has happened so far. Notre Dame killed Indiana. I was surprised by this as Indiana did very well in the Big 10 this year and Notre Dame played cupcakes and lost to Northern Illinois. But they dominated the Hoosiers and advanced to the next round. Penn State demolished an overmatched SMU. SMU surprised everyone this year but ran out of gas at the end losing to Clemson and now Penn State in successive games. SMU will be a power in future years. Now that they can pay for players legitimately, the wealth of SMU will restore their greatness in recruiting. The Dallas metroplex area is rich in football talent. Mark my words, SMU will be on our bowl pool forms for many years. Texas, my Texas, beat Clemson in the most competitive game of the first four. Texas will advance to play my son's Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. I'm looking forward to the divided house that day. By the way, my wife has already announced she will be rooting for her son's Arizona State in that game. I know where I stand in the family. Lastly, Ohio State killed Tennessee. Also surprising to me given the fact that the Buckeyes got beat by Michigan at home at the end of the year. However, Ohio State may have the most talent in the country. Ohio State versus Oregon may be the most competitive game next round. The Big 10 proved to be the most dominant conference this year. 

Anyway we are off and the next post will have previews for the December 26th bowl games.

Standings Updated and Champion Crowned

 Well, my period of mourning is over. As we stated earlier, Margaret just demolished us this year with a sterling 17 and 7 record. Unbelievable quality from this powerhouse picker from San Rafael, California. When you consider only one of us had a losing record in the pool, it is amazing that Margaret was able to win this contest going away. It may be the best season any of us has ever had. So, congratulations Margaret. Please go to Vegas and make the family a bunch of money.

Congratulations Margaret

 Hey folks. Margaret won the bowl pool. Congratulations go to her as she just wiped the rest of us out. As you can imagine, I'm pretty devastated right now so I won't say a lot. I'll update the final standings later.