Let’s take a look at games you should be looking forward to throughout the next four weeks.
34. R&L Carriers New Orleans – Southern Miss v. Middle Tennessee State – Sunday, Dec. 20 at 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Really? Sunday Night College Football in a four-fifths empty Superdome?
PREDICTION: Southern Miss 30, MTSU 20
33. GMAC – Central Michigan v. Troy – Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Example 43,215 why there are too many bowl games.
PREDICTION: Central Michigan 24, Troy 20
32. International – South Florida v. Northern Illinois – Saturday, Jan. 2 at noon (ESPN2)
THOUGHTS: The highly unsual Tampa TO Toronto trip for New Year’s.
PREDICTION: South Florida 31, NIU 13
31. Little Caesar’s – Marshall v. Ohio – Saturday, Dec. 26 at 1 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Aren’t these two schools the same team? Ugh. Still, after two straight days with family, you’ll look forward to at least having a game on to watch.
PREDICTION: Marshall 16, OU 7
30. EagleBank – UCLA v. Temple – Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Temple plays football? Would make a better second-round college basketball tournament game.
PREDICTION: Temple 61, UCLA 58
29. Roady’s Humanitarian – Bowling Green v. Idaho – Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Roady’s sounds like Broady’s and Broady is a funny name.
PREDICTION: Idaho 45, Bowling Green 37
28. Sheraton Hawaii – Nevada v. SMU – Thursday, Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: After a one-year hiatus, Notre Dame will return to this bowl game in 2010.
PREDICTION: Nevada 49, SMU 28
27. New Mexico – Fresno State v. Wyoming – Saturday, Dec. 19 at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: First bowl game of the year (bonus) and we get to see Wyoming’s hideous home uniforms.
PREDICTION: Fresno State 35, Wyoming 13
26. St. Petersburg presented by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (seriously) – UCF v. Rutgers – Saturday, Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: The game destined to be on the television at Christmas parties around the country at places where they don’t get the NFL Network.
PREDICTION: Rutgers 30, UCF 28
25. Papajohns.com – South Carolina v. UCONN – Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Papa John’s pizza is kind of like these two teams. Never the first option but doable in a pinch.
PREDICTION: South Carolina 20, UCONN 17
24. Insight – Minnesota v. Iowa State – Thursday, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. (NFL Network)
THOUGHTS: If you like maroon and gold, wow, you have found your game! Cheers!
PREDICTION: Iowa State 24, Minnesota 20
23. AutoZone Liberty – Arkansas v. East Carolina – Saturday, Jan. 2 at 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Fine, I’ll admit it. I like those AutoZone commercials where they implore you to get in the zone. I’m a slow white guy who struggled with man-to-man defenses, you see, so getting into the zone always fit my skill level more better and such.
PREDICTION: Arkansas 38, East Carolina 28
22. Texas – Missouri v. Navy – Thursday, Dec. 31 at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: I don’t know. Do you really want me to like break down this game that you’ll have on as you start to get ready for the evening?
PREDICTION: Navy 23, Missouri 20
21. S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia – Utah v. Cal -Â Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: OK. When Christmas falls on a Friday or Saturday, it really ticks me off. It blows the entire weekend. This game marks the game on television when you’re most likely to be drinking with friends at a bar.
PREDICTION: Utah 40, Cal 21
20. Alamo – Michigan State v. Texas Tech – Saturday, Jan. 2 at 9 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: The Big 10 ends its long-standing partnership with the Alamo Bowl. How could anyone forgot any of those classics of years past like the … uh … well … hmm … that one … ummm …
PREDICTION: Pain. (I waited this long to use that. Give me some credit!) Texas Tech 27, Michigan State 14
19. Tostitos Fiesta – Boise State v. TCU – Monday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. (FOX)
THOUGHTS: It’s OK to admit it. You actually could care less about this game matching teams that you don’t hate.
PREDICTION: Boise State 17, TCU 16
18. Outback – Northwestern v. Auburn – Friday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: I went to the Outback Bowl in 2002 and yep, 11 a.m. is way too early to start a game the day after New Year’s Eve or any of the other 364 days.
PREDICTION: Auburn 23, Northwestern 7
17. Gaylord Hotels Music City – Kentucky v. Clemson – Sunday, Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Insert joke about Dabo Sweeney’s name. Dude kinda looks like D.B. Sweeney though.
PREDICTION: Clemson 31, Kentucky 27
16. Meineke Car Care – Pitt v. North Carolina – Saturday, Dec. 26 at 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: You cannot convince me that these two teams haven’t played against each other in this bowl game for the past 10 seasons.
PREDICTION: Pitt 28, North Carolina 24
15. Emerald – Boston College v. USC – Saturday, Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: One of my favorite bowl games just because they play the game in some sort of weird baseball stadium situation.
PREDICTION: USC 17, Boston College 10
14. AdvoCare V100 Independence (seriously) – Texas A&M v. Georgia – Monday, Dec. 28 at 5 p.m. (ESPN2)
THOUGHTS: Two fan bases with an over-exxagerrated sense of importance playing on a Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. SIGN ME UP.
PREDICTION: Georgia 34, Texas A&M 20
13. AT&T Cotton – Oklahoma State v. Ole Miss – Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. (FOX)
THOUGHTS: Ole Miss has a crazy hot cheerleader by the name of Katie Manor. Google her.
PREDICTION: Ole Miss 41, Oklahoma State 28
12. MAACO Las Vegas – Oregon State v. BYU – Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: I mean, not that it really matters in the greater scheme but business owners/casino interests in Sin City cannot be happy when they learn BYU is coming to town.
PREDICTION: BYU 31, Oregon State 30
11. Champs Sports – Miami v. Wisconsin – Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Typical Miami in a rout or Wisconsin in a close one. Is that even a sentence?
PREDICTION: Miami 40, Wisconsin 14
10. FedEx Orange – Iowa v. Georgia Tech – Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. (FOX)
THOUGHTS: Can we go back to having more bowl games on Jan. 1 with the title game on Jan. 2? Please?
PREDICTION: Iowa 20, Georgia Tech 17
9. Chick-fil-A – Virginia Tech v. Tennessee – Thursday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Should be entertaining as you scan the crowd and check out chicks you won’t be hooking up with come midnight.
PREDICTION: Tennessee 34, Virginia Tech 28
8. Brut Sun – Oklahoma v. Stanford – Thursday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. (CBS)
THOUGHTS: Toby Gerhart probably was the bigger kid in Little League who hit a lot of home runs.
PREDICTION: Stanford 35, Oklahoma 16
7. Konica Minolta Gator – Florida State v. West Virginia – Friday, Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. (CBS)
THOUGHTS: I wonder when Bobby Bowden really did coach his last game. 1997?
PREDICTION: Florida State 20, West Virginia 13
6. Pacific Life Holiday Bowl – Arizona v. Nebraska – Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: No girl with the first name of “Sue” has been hot since 1973. No girl with the first name “Suh” ever has been born.
PREDICTION: Nebraska 30, Arizona 27
5. Capital One – Penn State v. LSU – Friday, Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. (ABC)
THOUGHTS: Battle of two clueless coaches will help you feel better about yourself while you nurse a hangover.
PREDICTION: LSU 19, Penn State 13
4. Allstate Sugar – Florida v. Cincinnati – Friday, Jan. 1 at 8:30 p.m. (FOX)
THOUGHTS: Florida A&M could put up 25 points on the Bearcats.
PREDICTION: Florida 38, Cincinnati 21
3. Bell Helicoptor Armed Forces – Houston v. Air Force – Thursday, Dec. 31 at noon (ESPN)
THOUGHTS: Heard it here first. Will be an instant classic. I guess hearing it here “first” isn’t that big of a deal because that’s probably the first and only time you’ll read anything about this game or read for that matter.
PREDICTION: Houston 51, Air Force 42
2. Rose – Ohio State v. Oregon – Friday, Jan. 1 at 4:50 p.m. (ABC)
THOUGHTS: If Ohio State doesn’t turn the ball over, they don’t lose.
PREDICTION: Ohio State 27, Oregon 17
1. BCS National Championship – Texas v. Alabama – Thursday, Jan. 7 at 8 p.m. (ABC)
THOUGHTS: Hey, at least it’s not Florida.
PREDICTION: Texas 24, Alabama 23