Foss' Football Forecast College Bowls

With the Holidays just around the corner, it also means it's college bowl time again. The 32-bowl games kicks off Tuesday, December 19th in San Diego for the 2nd Annual Poinettia Bowl. I'm sure most people have not heard of this bowl, but with the weather nice in San Diego even in December, the city now hosts two bowl games, along with the more familiar Holiday Bowl on December 28th. There are three completely new bowl games this year with Albuquerque, New Mexico (New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 23), Birmingham, Alabama (Papa John's.com Bowl, Dec. 23) and Toronto, Ontario, Canada (International Bowl, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007). The one in Canada will be the first bowl game played outside the United States since the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Cuba. The GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama isn't scheduled until Sunday, January 7, 2007 to fill the gap until Monday, January 8th BCS Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona when #2 Florida (12-1) will play #1 Ohio State (12-0) in the first bowl game at the new Arizona Cardinals Stadium. This is the first year the BCS has its own bowl game and is not rotated between the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar or Orange Bowl.

I remember when New Year's Day was the culmination of bowl season with the biggest games played on New Year's Day the most historic being the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, Orange Bowl in Miami, Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. It will be nice to see the Sugar Bowl return to the Super Dome in New Orleans this season after it was forced to play in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta due to Hurricane Katrina. The first bowl to be played this year in New Orleans is the apt named New Orleans Bowl on December 22nd.

I thought about breaking down all 32-bowl games, but that would take up a lot of space and you probably just want to see my picks. I did my research on Yahoo Sports. So I will recommend everyone see their excellent preview of each game with historic comments on the team's bowl history and tendencies. See http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/scoreboard.

I will comment on some of the college's that made it to bowl games and ended long droughts, or don't have much bowl experience. One of the best stories is the Rice Owls (7-5) who will be playing in their first bowl game in 45 years, the New Orleans Bowl and it should be an interesting matchup against the University of Troy Trojans, also 7-5, who will be in only their second bowl game since moving up to Division 1A football in 2002. Middle Tennessee State (7-5) Blue Raiders are in their first bowl game, the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, since moving up to Division 1A in 1999. The University of South Florida Bulls (8-4) are playing in their second consecutive bowl game, the inaugural Papa John's.com Bowl in Birmingham on December 23rd, after not making one in their first four seasons in Division 1A. The University of Kentucky Wildcats (7-5) proved they are not just a basketball school anymore as Coach Rich Brooks led the football team to its first bowl game, the Music City Bowl, Dec. 29th, since 1999. Oregon State (9-4) is playing in its first Sun Bowl in El Paso and finished the regular season ranked 24th in the nation.

My Oregon Ducks (7-5) will get to spend the Holidays at home as they are in the second bowl game the Las Vegas Bowl on Thursday, December 21st. It should be an interesting matchup against #19 Brigham Young University (BYU 10-2), the former school of Duck offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, who coached BYU from 2001-04. BYU has won nine-games in a row, but their only impressive win was against #25 Texas Christian (TCU). The Cougars 10-2 record should not intimidate the Ducks and I will go against the spread and predict the Ducks will win by at least three points.

Well onto the picks:

Tuesday, December 19, 2006
1. Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego
#25 TCU (10-2) by 14 over Northern Illinois (7-5)

Thursday, December 21, 2006
2. Las Vegas Bowl in Nevada
Oregon (7-5) by 3 over #19 BYU (10-2)

Friday, December 22, 2006
3. New Orleans Bowl in Louisiana
Rice (7-5) by 7 over Troy (7-5)

Saturday, December 23, 2006
4. Papa John's.com Bowl in Birmingham, AL (inaugural)
South Florida (8-4) by 7 over East Carolina (7-5)

5. New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque (inaugural)
San Jose State (8-4) by 3 over New Mexico (6-6)

6. Armed Forces Bowl (inaugural, formerly Fort Worth Bowl)
in Fort Worth, Texas
Utah (7-5) by 3 over Tulsa (8-4)

Sunday, December 24, 2006
7. Hawaii Bowl in Hololulu
Hawaii (10-3) by 10 over Arizona State (7-5)

Tuesday, December 26, 2006
8. Motor City Bowl in Detroit
Central Michigan (9-4) by 10 over Middle Tennessee State (7-5)

Wednesday, December 27, 2006
9. Emerald Bowl in San Francisco
UCLA (7-5) by 3 over Florida State (6-6)

Thursday, December 28, 2006
10. Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana
Alabama (6-6) by 3 over Oklahoma State (6-6)

11. Texas Bowl (inaugural, formerly Houston Bowl)
in Houston
#16 Rutgers (10-2) by 10 over Kansas State (7-5)

12. Holiday Bowl in San Diego
#20 California (9-3) by 7 over #21 Texas A&M (9-3)

Friday, December 29, 2006
13. Music City Bowl in Nashville
Kentucky (7-5) by 3 over Clemson (8-4)

14. Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
#24 Oregon State (9-4) by 3 over Missouri (8-4)

15. Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee
South Carolina (7-5) by 7 over Houston (10-3)

16. Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona
Texas Tech (7-5) by 10 over Minnesota (6-6)

17. Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando
Purdue (8-5) by 3 over Maryland (8-4)

Saturday, December 30, 2006
18. Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina
#23 Boston College (9-3) by 3 over Navy (9-3)

19. Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas
#18 Texas (9-3) by 10 over Iowa (6-6)

20. Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta
#14 Virginia Tech (10-2) by 3 over Georgia

Sunday, December 31, 2006
21. MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho
Nevada (8-4) by 3 over Miami, Fla. (6-6)

Monday, January 1, 2007
22. Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
#17 Tennessee (9-3) by 7 over Penn State (8-4)

23. Cotton Bowl in Dallas
#10 Auburn (10-2) by 7 over #22 Nebraska (9-4)

24. Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
#6 Wisconsin (11-1) by 3 over #12 Arkansas (10-3)

25. Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
#13 West Virginia (10-2) by 10 over Georgia Tech (9-4)

26. Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Ca.
#8 USC (10-2) by 7 over #3 Michigan (11-1)

27. Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona
#9 Boise State (12-0) by 3 over #7 Oklahoma (11-2)

Tuesday, January 2, 2007
28. Orange Bowl in Miami
#5 Louisville (11-1) by 10 over #15 Wake Forest (11-2)

Wednesday, January 3, 2007
29. Sugar Bowl in New Orleans
#4 Louisiana State (10-2) by 7 over #11 Notre Dame (10-2)

Saturday, January 6, 2007
30. International Bowl (inaugural in Toronto, ON, Canada)
Cincinnati (7-5) by 3 over Western Michigan (8-4)

Sunday, January 7, 2007
31. GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama
Southern Mississippi (8-5) by 7 over Ohio (9-4)

Monday, January 8, 2007
32. BCS Championship Game
#1 Ohio State (12-0) by 10 over #2 Florida (12-1)

Well there you have it, enjoy all the Holiday bowl games, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Peace on Earth, good will to all humanity.

Let's not forget our troops overseas who won't be able to be home for the Holidays, but can get a piece of Americana through the bowl games!