College bowls aren't selfish

People who think there are too many bowl games, that the BCS is rigged, that college football deserves better than the teams, conferences and institutions that surround them are selfish. These people, wherever they find themselves are self-centered.

These people want the self satisfaction of an enjoyable, resolved 10 or so games that will crown a sole team the best in the nation.

Without the first two rounds of the NCAA college basketball tournament it would just be called “March”, because there is no real madness from the Sweet-16 on in. The Super Bowl should lack the prescribed title if they pitted the two best regular season teams together in a single game in mid-February.

These games matter, not to the fans that remain ignorant about what IUPUI means as an acronym or as a university, but to the players. For most of these players this is an experience they will tell their grandkids about.

These student-athletes, as some uncommonly refer to themselves as, will not cherish this moment. They will enjoy the ride and take for granted what it truly means. But there will be more than a few that take this in and see that they are no bigger than the game but it is a privilege to be taking part in it. These are the players that need 

these ‘irrelevant games’.

So while rude fans can sit at home flipping the channel past the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl or the Beef’o’Brady Bowl St. Petersburg this is where the real magic of the bowl season happens. The players earned this so relish it all fellas.

College Bowl Predictions; 2011-2012

This is starting to feel a lot like a tradition. For the third straight year I will be laying down the law, writing the prescribed amount and, hopefully, correctly picking the winners in each of the 35 college bowl games that get underway today. 

1. Wyoming over Temple. The Pokes can’t let their basketball team outshine them, thus they’ll take down the Owls.

2. Utah State beats Ohio. The Idaho Potato Bowl mashes two of the better, traditionally, lower tiered conference teams together. But “I Believe that… Utah State will win.”

3. San Diego State will beat LA-Lafayette. I watched the movie, ‘Anchorman’ yesterday. So that’s got to be a sign, right?

4. Marshall over Florida International. I’m taking a shot on the Thundering Herd. I learned two years ago that the team that is closest to their home usually does worse. So seeing the Beef’o’Brady St. Petersburg Bowl is next door to FIU then I’m going with Marshall.

5. TCU easy win over Louisiana Tech. Simple as that.

6. Boise State over Arizona State. Kellen Moore deserved to be a Heisman Finalist, Chris Peterson deserves a ton of respect as a coach, and the Broncos will easily cover the nearly two touchdown spread to beat the Sun Devils. ASU has been reeling the last half of the season with their last win coming against Colorado in October.

7. Southern Mississippi beats Nevada. The Golden Eagles unseated Houston in the Conference USA title game, we can just hope the beautiful Hawaii scenery doesn’t distract them.

8. Missouri over North Carolina. Gary Pinkel and the Tigers find a way to get it done, although this game will remain tight throughout.

9. Purdue beats Western Michigan.

10. Louisville beats North Carolina State. These last two have been educated guesses.

11. Air Force over Toledo. You just don’t bet against the Armed Forces in a bowl game, you just don’t do it. These kids deserve a spot in a bowl game every year, even if their record doesn’t reflect it, and they’ll earn it.

12. Texas gets past California. Colt McCoy won his first ever bowl game appearance as a freshman in 2006 in the Alamo Bowl, and Case McCoy will do the same in his first bowl game too. The Longhorns have been hit or miss this year, but they beat the Golden Bears in the Holiday Bowl.

13. Florida beats Notre Dame. This game may be a tossup, but when in doubt choose speed at the college level.

14. Baylor beats Washington. This could be one of the better bowl games out there. Griffin is surging coming over the school’s first ever Heisman so a lot of eyes will be on him. But Washington is sneaky good, 4 of their 5 losses have come to Nebraska, Stanford, Oregon and USC. Watch out for the Huskies who will happily spoil the Bears bowl season.

15. Tulsa beats BYU. I do not like the fact that the Cougars are an independent, and they had their choice of scheduling this year. In three good matchups BYU found itself on the losing end. Tulsa will take it.

16. Rutgers beats Iowa State. The Cyclones played their best game of the year to beat Oklahoma State. But they won’t be able to rekindle the those old feelings against the Scarlet Knights.

17. Mississippi State over Wake Forest. SEC v ACC, then this sounds like a sure-fire pick.

18. Iowa beats Oklahoma. If Ryan Broyles were in the game then this would be an easy pick. But the Sooners losing to Iowa will just prove, once more, how crucial Broyles is to this team.

19. Texas A&M rolls past Northwester. The Wildcats haven’t won a bowl game since 1948 and I think the jump to the SEC for the Aggies will help carry them. The drought will thus continue for Northwestern.

20. Georgia Tech beats Utah. The option offense will be too much to handle, although the Utes front-seven is really good.

21. Vanderbilt beats Cincinnati. To go against what I just practically said, this will be only the second bowl since 1982 for the Commodores and they get it done. They won their final game to get eligibility and James Franklin will carry them to the top.

22. Illinois beats UCLA. Upheaval, and a losing record does not bode well for the Bruins. The Fighting Illini cruise past UCLA.

23. Auburn over Virginia. War Eagle is in transition mode, only returning 6 starters from the National Championship a year ago. It should be seen as a feat rather than a failure when Gene Chizik wins a second straight bowl game.

24. Houston beats Penn State. It is really hard to figure out this game. The Nittany Lions will be surrounded by a media circus which could make it hard to focus on football or give them a much needed kick in the rear to push them to victory. Case Keenum will win his final game amid a trying game for both sides.

25. Michigan State beats Georgia. Although the Bulldogs looked good against LSU the Big 10 is gaining in stature. The Spartans lost in the inaugural championship game and have something to prove this game. Kirk Cousins solidifies his case to be drafted into the NFL.

26. Nebraska over South Carolina. For the first time in a long time the Gamecocks are definitely the second-best team in the great state of South Carolina. The ol’ ball coach may try trickery but Nebraska wins easily.

27. Ohio State beats Florida. The new Florida Gators versus the old Florida Gators. The Bowl Selection Committee probably gets a chuckle out of pitting these two teams against each other. Urban Meyer will take his talents to Columbus next year and this game is likely to be a dogfight down to the wire.

28. Oregon beats Wisconsin. The Ducks, just ahead of the Trojans, were the most impressive team I saw in person this year. They were classy, they clicked and they did nothing to embarrass the Buffs except play their game the right way and win big. Chip Kelly has something in Eugene that is truly special.

29. Oklahoma State beats Stanford. The Cowboys did not deserve to be in the BCS National Title Game, as echoed by Mike Gundy. But once the ‘Pokes’ win, and a possible LSU loss, the debate about the best team in America continues on. (BCS Gods will be smiling.)

30. Michigan beats Virginia Tech. In a game that should be taking place on Christmas Eve rather than January 3^rd the Wolverines will win. VT looked bad against Clemson, and Denard Robinson steals the show.

31. Clemson cruises past West Virginia. Dabo Sweeney does everything right for one more game in Miami. How can the Tigers not win at a place called the ‘Orange Bowl’?

32. Kansas State beats Arkansas. Bill Snyder is one of the best coaches ever in college football.

33. Pittsburgh over SMU. June Jones was reported to be leaving, then he wasn’t, then, well who knows. A solid program may be able to handle that kind of strife but I don’t think SMU will have enough.

34. Arkansas State beats Northern Illinois. Why is this bowl game played on this date? I almost just left it off my ballot I’m so disturbed by it.

35. LSU will beat Alabama for the second time this year for the BCS National Championship. ‘Bama had their chance; in Tuscaloosa, missing four field goals and one of the best interceptions of the season on the goal line. They had their chance and now the steamroller that is LSU and Les Miles will easily take it. ‘The Honey-Badger don’t care’, and LSU goes undefeated.

We’ll how beat up these predictions get over the course of the bowl season.

College Bowl Pick'em ROUND 2

A year ago TODAY I predicted the outcomes of all 34 college bowl games. And how did it turn out you may ask… um…. eh…. not so well in fact.

I was 15-19, very un-‘Swami’-like.

But I feel I have learned from my mistakes and have vowed to do better. In the 10 games I was most unsure about I went 2-8; I gotta do better in the close games to be successful. And venue has no barring, last year I focused on that too much; this year I will look at it as if every game is being played on the moon.

So here we go… ALL 35 GAMES… 35 being the most confident and 1 the most unsure.

35. I put Fresno State in this spot last year, but this year they don’t fail me.

34. Hawai’i wins the Hawai’I Bowl. They are unreal offensively, and have only lost to USC, Boise State and Colorado. Makes sense to me.

33. Southern Miss has scored 30+ points every game this year except 2. But Louisville has potential, they are 6-6 by winning their last game of the year. Could be a trap game.

32. Nevada has no problem with Boston College. BC started the season 2-5 before winning 5 straight over 5 weeks to end the season HOT. The layoff hurts them and hopefully the Wolfpack doesn’t get complacent thinking they could be the in Title game if they had only beaten Hawai’i.

31. Navy controls the clock and takes down San Diego St. It has been a Cinderella year for the Aztecs, but the Mids won’t mind ringing their bell, both literally and figuratively.

30. Toledo blasts Florida International. It’s FIU’s first ever bowl game, and the big stage slows them down.

29. Boise State beats Utah. Kellen Moore and the rest of the Broncos once again come out fired up think they deserve respect… may hang close to 50 on the Utes.

28. Nebraska has no problem with Washington. The Huskers already beat the Huskies this year… oh the score was 56-21.

27. UTEP beats BYU. I don’t know why people are favoring the Cougars so much. Their last 4 wins have come against CSU, WYO, UNLV and UNM. Some may its risky, but I have a soft spot for the Miners from West Texas.

26. West Virginia rolls past NC St. Both are good teams with near misses several times. WV is just too tough when they play Mountaineer football like Bill Stewart has them playing.

25. Fear the Turtle. Maryland over ECU

24. The Golden Domers could be real good the next couple of years with Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist, and this bowl game could spring them back into form.

23. Pitt past Kentucky. Dave Wannstedt is out, but the Panthers rally to find a way to win.

22. Oklahoma almost stumbles on UCONN. Everyone thinks this one won’t be a contest, I think it will. Oklahoma will obviously win, but not as wide a margin as everyone is thinking.

21. Baylor beats Illinois. Robert Griffin III will use his dual threat to torch the Red Raiders in a shootout in Texas.

20. Northwestern break the 72 year drought by beating Texas Tech. They’re due.

19. SMU is back and beats Army. June Jones has awakened a beast in the Mustang program, and he leads the team to a 2^nd bowl victory in 2 years.

18. You don’t give Denard Robinson 3 weeks off and live to tell about it. Mississippi State is good but remember the first 5 weeks of season, we’ll see Robinson as that player once again.

17. South Carolina easily thumps Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles. The Gamecocks were in the SEC title game and are yet to get respect. Alshon Jeffery is a hidden star, and Marcus Lattimore will run wide.

16. Miami (OH) has no trouble with MTU. Middle Tennessee always finds a way to jump up and bight me, not this year though.

15. Clemson is inept on offense but the Bulls will give up a few big plays that cost them the game.

14. Missouri too good for Iowa. This will be Ricky Stanzi’s last game as a Hawkeye, but the emotions and Tigers will be too much to overcome one last time. Although it will be close, the only way Stanzi know how to play college football.

13. Air Force will have its hands full with Georgia Tech, but many bruises later comes out victorious.

12. Stanford only lost to Oregon in Eugene.

11. Oklahoma State beats Arizona. Mike Gundy and Mike Stoops will be in constant death glare across the field. But Stoops will blink first as the Cowboys prevail.

10. Ohio State whoops Arkansas. Last year’s Rose Bowl may have secretly jumpstarted a long trend of bowl wins for the Buckeyes. But Ryan Mallett has to play well to keep the NFL scouts hungry.

9. Alabama is just good enough to get past Michigan State. People say the Tide are the most talented team in the nation, and have yet to prove it. Once again they squeak by with a win.

8. North Carolina beats Tennessee. The Tar Heels are no longer just a basketball school.

7. Kansas State bashes Syracuse. Syracuse has had one of their best years since the McNabb era. But KSU is a little better.

6. Troy is victorious against Ohio. I don’t know why but this just feels right.

5. Auburn and Cam Newton beat Oregon. Chip Kelly just has too many youngsters and the lights will be just a little bright. Like Texas in 2005-06, Auburn just seems to be the destined team carried by a superstar.

4. Georgia is better than their record and beats UCF. Mark Richt and the Bulldogs have had an awful year. But 6 wins later and a new UGA the Dawgs will still get it done.

3. Florida wins in Urban Meyers last game, this year. The Gators will come out ready to play, this could be a tough couple weeks of practice in Gainesville.

2. Wisconsin beats TCU. The Horned Frogs looked star struck a year ago, I don’t think Andy Dalton will make the same mistakes. But the Badgers score more on the gridiron than on the hardwood and won’t be slowed down now.

1. LSU slides by Texas A&M. Jerrod Johnson who?