New Year's Day is one of my favorite days of the year, with the Rose Bowl being my absolute favorite bowl year after year. Let's take a quick look at what's going on tomorrow, and who my picks are.
Ticket City Bowl
12PM EST
Texas Tech (7-5) vs.Northwestern (7-5)
Take the over when it comes to this game, but even then, this would be far from a favorite game of mine, and this would be one of the 14 bowls that I would cut from the lineup. It's the first ever date for this bowl, and both teams struggled off and on all season.
Northwestern struggled at the end of the season, as they lost 3 of their final 4 games if the year. QB Dan Persa is always dangerous as he passed for 258 yards per game in 2010. He passed for 15 TDs and ran for 9 more. Jeremy Ebert will be his number one target.
Tech won 3 of their last 4 games in 2010 and scored 99 points in their final 2 games. Taylor Potts passes for just under 280 yards per game and has tossed 31 TDs against just 9 picks.
I Pick: Texas Tech...Tech is on a better run than the Wildcats, and this will basically be a Tech heavy crowd.
Outback Bowl
1PM EST
Penn State (7-5) vs. Florida (7-5)
I am still trying to figure out exactly why these two teams are playing on NYD while Florida State and South Carolina were playing on NYE. That being said, I obviously don't believe that either one of these teams deserve this game. Strange to that this will be Urban Meyer's swan song, while Figurehead Paterno will be back next season at 84. Of course we all know that Joe has not coached this team in years.
I Pick: Florida...Urban will not lose his finale in what will be a virtual Gator home game.
Capital One Bowl
1PM EST
Alabama (9-3) vs. Michigan State (11-1)
This will be a terrific bowl game, and will be one of my most anticipated games of the season. Everytime Nick Saban takes a team onto the field, you know that you are in line to see the best that the Crimson Tide has to offer. Bama had a disappointing season coming off of the 2009 title, but they are stilla force to be reckoned with.
The Spartans are the feel good story of the 2010 season. Coach Mark Dantonio suffered a heart attack early in the season, and he has come back at full health. His team played for him every single week, and gave every game their all, so a NYD game is well deserved by the Spartans. Don Treadwell, who was the interim HC while Dantonio was out, was just named the new HC at Miami (Ohio) today, so this will be a great opportunity for an awesome send off.
I Pick: Michigan State...They are playing their best football in years, and even though these two teams are similar in almost every way, MSU will have an emotional edge.
Gator Bowl
1:30PM EST
Michigan (7-5) vs. Mississippi State (8-4)
Would have saved this bowl for more deserving teams with better records, but it's intriguing anyway. One Coach has his job secured (Dan Mullen) while the other is sitting on pins and needles (Rich Rodriguez). Denard Robinson had better be healthy, because backup Tate Forcier has been ruled academically ineligible and was sent back to Ann Arbor. Mississippi State will play ground control football with big back Vic Ballard, while Robinson will try to spread the field for Michigan.
I Pick: Mississippi State...just a gut feeling on this one.
Rose Bowl
5PM EST
TCU (12-0) vs. Wisconsin (11-1)
This will be a true war in Pasadena. My favorite bowl game pretty much got it right this season with this matchup. TCU is looking to settle in as a national power, while Wisconsin is a national power looking to knock the pesky non-AQ team off of their perch. Here is the kicker...TCU is the favorite. Gotta love what this game represents.
I Pick: TCU...More to prove and will be playing with a chip on their shoulder after losing the Fiesta Bowl last season. The Frog defense is one of the best that I have ever seen.
Fiesta Bowl
8:30PM EST
Connecticut (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (11-2)
Not much to say about this one, as I don't see any way for the Huskies to pull this one out. Oklahoma is already a 17 point favorite, and I think that that's a gift. I am very fond of the UConn program, but this one's a bit out of their league, and nobody in Hartford believes in all reality that they can win here, so ticket sales were horrid. You can get a ticket to this BCS game for around $25 right now.
I Pick: Oklahoma...and it won't be close.
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