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College Football – Write up
NCAAF
Write-up
Friday, January 2
Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Texas Tech won four of last five bowls, with its last three all decided by 3 points-- only loss was 13-10 vs Alabama in this game three years ago. Red Raiders are 11-1, losing only to Oklahoma; senior QB Harrell has a lot to prove in his 39th and last start, after being shunned in the Heisman voting. Experienced Tech team, with 18 starters back from LY's 9-4 club that nipped Virginia 31-28 in Gator Bowl. This season, Tech scored 35+ points in every game but the Oklahoma loss; they're 3-3-1 as a favorite.
Ole Miss is only team to beat Florida (won 31-30, after being down 10 at half); they lost the next two games after that, then won five in row at end of season (4-1 vs spread); they covered their last seven tries as an underdog (4-0 this season). Rebels picked off nine passes in their last four games, but lets face it, no one in SEC throws ball the way Raiders do. Ole Miss QB Snead is a Texan who transferred from Texas; Rebels' four losses this season are by 2-4-6-7 points- they always play tough.
Rebels are playing in first bowl since Eli Manning's senior season in '03, when they beat Oklahoma State 31-28 in this game. Houston Nutt won both his Cotton Bowl appearances, but is just 3-4 overall in bowl games. Have to respect Ole Miss' 7-0 streak as underdog, but Harrell is senior QB with a lot to prove, and if Tech gets its offense rolling, they're not averse to running up a big score. This is the most fun matchup of all 34 bowls. Big 12 teams lost four of last five Cotton Bowls (Missouri won LY), with average total in last four, 36. Great game to sit back and enjoy.
Liberty Bowl, Memphis
Kentucky is trying to win bowl for third straight year, having won last two Music City Bowls, over Clemson, Florida State; Wildcats' offense isn't good; their leading receiver didn't play in team's last six games- for a while, the QB (who moved from WR) was the leading receiver. Wildcats lost last three games, allowing 42-31-28 points, losing to Tennessee and Vandy, not exactly SEC's finest- they trailed their last six games at half. Question for UK is where mobile QB Cobb (knee) will play here-- their offense was better when he took over from less mobile Hartline.
East Carolina started season 3-0, beating Va Tech, West Va back/back, then lost next three games, giving up 35.3 pog, before rallying to go 5-1 in its last six games, losing only 21-3 at Southern Miss. Pirates are 6-1 in games decided by five or less points- they forced seven turnovers in last game of regular season, 27-24 win at Tulsa in C-USA title game-- they scored 40+ points in three of last four bowl appearances. East Carolina has 32 takeaways this season, T4th in country- they need them to win.
Underdog covered three of last four Liberty Bowls; dogs covered four of East Carolina's last five bowl appearances, with Pirates 0-2 as a favorite. C-USA teams are 2-4 in their last six appearances in this game. ECU has inferiority complex snce being left out of Big East a few years back; any game they play against a BCS school is a crusade. Can't see an SEC team getting overly fired up to play a C-USA Squad. Kentucky has QB issues and a weak offense. Would lean to Skip Holtz' Pirates as right side here.
Sugar Bowl, New Orleans
Alabama lost its best player, Outland Trophy winner OT Smith because of agent-related issues, which is huge loss for a young team whose only loss was hard-fought setback to Florida in SEC title game. If you take away the LSU/Florida games (14-14, 10-17 at half), Tide outscored their foes 220-39 in first half, thats how good they are, but young team losing its best player is an issue. Bama is 7-3 vs spread as a favorite this year, 4-3 when laying double digits. Wilson is senior QB making his 39th and final career start- they've had two less weeks to prepare/get stale. .
Utah is 12-0, but won four games by three or less points- they won at Michigan 25-23, won 30-23 at Air Force, needed late FGs to beat both Oregon State, TCU at home, but also struggled in 13-10 win at less-than stellar New Mexico. Utes also won their last five bowls, scoring average of 33.3 ppg in last four, but they were favored in four of those five tilts, upsetting Georgia Tech 38-10 (+9) in Emerald Bowl three years ago. In short, Utah is really good team that flies under radar because their games are on Versus and only NHL fans know how to find that channel.
This is Alabama's first trip to Sugar Bowl in 16 years; safe to say they'll have a huge crowd advantage in SEC country, against a Mountain West team playing in just its second BCS bowl (beat Pitt 35-7 in Fiesta Bowl). Alabama's last five bowls were decided by six or less points-- I changed my mind on this game after reading about Smith's suspension-- think Utah can keep this game close against mighty Tide. I think Utes are the right side, with the under probably worth a look, too.
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NCAAF
Write-up
Friday, January 2
Cotton Bowl, Dallas
Texas Tech won four of last five bowls, with its last three all decided by 3 points-- only loss was 13-10 vs Alabama in this game three years ago. Red Raiders are 11-1, losing only to Oklahoma; senior QB Harrell has a lot to prove in his 39th and last start, after being shunned in the Heisman voting. Experienced Tech team, with 18 starters back from LY's 9-4 club that nipped Virginia 31-28 in Gator Bowl. This season, Tech scored 35+ points in every game but the Oklahoma loss; they're 3-3-1 as a favorite.
Ole Miss is only team to beat Florida (won 31-30, after being down 10 at half); they lost the next two games after that, then won five in row at end of season (4-1 vs spread); they covered their last seven tries as an underdog (4-0 this season). Rebels picked off nine passes in their last four games, but lets face it, no one in SEC throws ball the way Raiders do. Ole Miss QB Snead is a Texan who transferred from Texas; Rebels' four losses this season are by 2-4-6-7 points- they always play tough.
Rebels are playing in first bowl since Eli Manning's senior season in '03, when they beat Oklahoma State 31-28 in this game. Houston Nutt won both his Cotton Bowl appearances, but is just 3-4 overall in bowl games. Have to respect Ole Miss' 7-0 streak as underdog, but Harrell is senior QB with a lot to prove, and if Tech gets its offense rolling, they're not averse to running up a big score. This is the most fun matchup of all 34 bowls. Big 12 teams lost four of last five Cotton Bowls (Missouri won LY), with average total in last four, 36. Great game to sit back and enjoy.
Liberty Bowl, Memphis
Kentucky is trying to win bowl for third straight year, having won last two Music City Bowls, over Clemson, Florida State; Wildcats' offense isn't good; their leading receiver didn't play in team's last six games- for a while, the QB (who moved from WR) was the leading receiver. Wildcats lost last three games, allowing 42-31-28 points, losing to Tennessee and Vandy, not exactly SEC's finest- they trailed their last six games at half. Question for UK is where mobile QB Cobb (knee) will play here-- their offense was better when he took over from less mobile Hartline.
East Carolina started season 3-0, beating Va Tech, West Va back/back, then lost next three games, giving up 35.3 pog, before rallying to go 5-1 in its last six games, losing only 21-3 at Southern Miss. Pirates are 6-1 in games decided by five or less points- they forced seven turnovers in last game of regular season, 27-24 win at Tulsa in C-USA title game-- they scored 40+ points in three of last four bowl appearances. East Carolina has 32 takeaways this season, T4th in country- they need them to win.
Underdog covered three of last four Liberty Bowls; dogs covered four of East Carolina's last five bowl appearances, with Pirates 0-2 as a favorite. C-USA teams are 2-4 in their last six appearances in this game. ECU has inferiority complex snce being left out of Big East a few years back; any game they play against a BCS school is a crusade. Can't see an SEC team getting overly fired up to play a C-USA Squad. Kentucky has QB issues and a weak offense. Would lean to Skip Holtz' Pirates as right side here.
Sugar Bowl, New Orleans
Alabama lost its best player, Outland Trophy winner OT Smith because of agent-related issues, which is huge loss for a young team whose only loss was hard-fought setback to Florida in SEC title game. If you take away the LSU/Florida games (14-14, 10-17 at half), Tide outscored their foes 220-39 in first half, thats how good they are, but young team losing its best player is an issue. Bama is 7-3 vs spread as a favorite this year, 4-3 when laying double digits. Wilson is senior QB making his 39th and final career start- they've had two less weeks to prepare/get stale. .
Utah is 12-0, but won four games by three or less points- they won at Michigan 25-23, won 30-23 at Air Force, needed late FGs to beat both Oregon State, TCU at home, but also struggled in 13-10 win at less-than stellar New Mexico. Utes also won their last five bowls, scoring average of 33.3 ppg in last four, but they were favored in four of those five tilts, upsetting Georgia Tech 38-10 (+9) in Emerald Bowl three years ago. In short, Utah is really good team that flies under radar because their games are on Versus and only NHL fans know how to find that channel.
This is Alabama's first trip to Sugar Bowl in 16 years; safe to say they'll have a huge crowd advantage in SEC country, against a Mountain West team playing in just its second BCS bowl (beat Pitt 35-7 in Fiesta Bowl). Alabama's last five bowls were decided by six or less points-- I changed my mind on this game after reading about Smith's suspension-- think Utah can keep this game close against mighty Tide. I think Utes are the right side, with the under probably worth a look, too.
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