It's time to make some first-impression bowl picks and love every second of it. It's the most ... wonderful time ... of the year ... Stay tuned here for more college football news and coverage.
Dec 6, 2011 - A disclaimer: I love bowl games. Love them. I want more of them. If college football passed a ruling saying 5-7 teams were eligible for bowls, I would watch 5-7 Syracuse play 5-7 UTEP. I am very much for an expanded college football playoff, be it four teams or 16, but said playoff will not get my support if bowls are eliminated. In an oligarchy like college football, I love the socialist twinges of bowls. Only the ruling class can win the titles, but anybody can get to 6-6.
I am not bragging about this, mind you. Half-empty bowl stadiums should be seen only as half-depressing, and I am pretty sure that if I ever met a member of a bowl committee (especially for, say, the Sugar or Orange Bowls), I would want to swear off of college football entirely. I hate that 6-7 UCLA was granted a bowl waiver in this case (simply because they stole a spot from a Western Kentucky team that is a much better story), and I hate that we don't use the BCS standings to select the ten teams that will go to BCS bowls (instead of giving the committee a larger pool with which they can screw over teams like Boise State and Kansas State). I am not showing strength of character in loving bowls. But I love them anyway. I can't help it.
I love that UL-Lafayette had something to play for and celebrate.
I love that Western Michigan is (indirectly) representing Little Caesar's Pizza! Pizza!
I love, love, that Northern Illinois and Arkansas State are playing each other (even if ASU coach Hugh Freeze may be gone, and even if I have to wait until the day before the national championship to watch it).
I love Stanford-Oklahoma State. I love Baylor-Washington. I love Penn State-Houston. I love Florida State-Notre Dame.
I love that there are still over 100 hours of football to watch in the 2011 season. I love that, according to my picks below, I think almost every game will be tight and competitive, even though there's no way in hell that's actually the case.
With that in mind, here are some early bowl picks, both from the F/+ ratings and my own brain. The numbers will remain the same moving forward, but I reserve the right to change my own mind at least 15 or 16 times.
| Date | Bowl | Time | TV | Team | Team | My Pick |
F/+ Pick |
| 17-Dec | New Mexico | 2:00 PM | ESPN | Wyoming | Temple | Temple by 3 | Temple by 19.2 |
| 17-Dec | Idaho Potato | 5:30 PM | ESPN | Ohio | Utah State | Utah State by 3 | Ohio by 4.5 |
| 17-Dec | New Orleans | 9:00 PM | ESPN | San Diego State | UL-Lafayette | SDSU by 10 | SDSU by 3.3 |
| 20-Dec | Beef 'O' Brady's | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Florida International | Marshall | FIU by 7 | FIU by 10.7 |
| 21-Dec | Poinsettia | 8:00 PM | ESPN | TCU | Louisiana Tech | TCU by 14 | TCU by 7.9 |
| 22-Dec | Las Vegas | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Boise State | Arizona State | BSU by 13 | BSU by 16.6 |
| 24-Dec | Hawai'i | 8:00 PM | ESPN | Southern Miss | Nevada | USM by 6 | USM by 11.4 |
| 26-Dec | Independence | 5:00 PM | ESPN | North Carolina | Missouri | Mizzou by 3 | Mizzou by 1.4 |
| 27-Dec | Little Caesars Pizza | 4:30 PM | ESPN | Purdue | Western Michigan | Purdue by 1 | WMU by 8.6 |
| 27-Dec | Belk | 8:00 PM | ESPN | N.C. State | Louisville | Louisville by 10 | Louisville by 6.8 |
| 28-Dec | Military | 4:30 PM | ESPN | Toledo | Air Force | Toledo by 10 | Toledo by 12.8 |
| 28-Dec | Holiday | 8:00 PM | ESPN | California | Texas | Texas by 14 | Texas by 5.3 |
| 29-Dec | Champs Sports | 5:30 PM | ESPN | Florida State | Notre Dame | FSU by 7 | FSU by 3.1 |
| 29-Dec | Alamo | 9:00 PM | ESPN | Baylor | Washington | Baylor by 10 | Baylor by 6.9 |
| 30-Dec | Armed Forces | 12:00 PM | ESPN | BYU | Tulsa | BYU by 6 | Tulsa by 1.4 |
| 30-Dec | Pinstripe | 3:20 PM | ESPN | Iowa State | Rutgers | Rutgers by 1 | Rutgers by 10.6 |
| 30-Dec | Music City | 6:40 PM | ESPN | Wake Forest | Mississippi State | MSU by 14 | MSU by 4.2 |
| 30-Dec | Insight | 10:00 PM | ESPN | Iowa | Oklahoma | OU by 3 | OU by 10.1 |
| 31-Dec | Meineke of Texas | 12:00 PM | ESPN | Northwestern | Texas A&M | A&M by 4 | A&M by 9.6 |
| 31-Dec | Sun | 2:00 PM | CBS | Georgia Tech | Utah | GT by 3 | GT by 3.7 |
| 31-Dec | Liberty | 3:30 PM | ABC | Cincinnati | Vanderbilt | Vandy by 3 | Cincy by 4.3 |
| 31-Dec | Hunger | 3:30 PM | ESPN | Illinois | UCLA | UCLA by 3 | Illinois by 6.9 |
| 31-Dec | Chick-fil-A | 7:30 PM | ESPN | Virginia | Auburn | Auburn by 7 | Virginia by 0.6 |
| 2-Jan | TicketCity | 12:00 PM | ESPNU | Penn State | Houston | PSU by 7 | Houston by 0.7 |
| 2-Jan | Outback | 1:00 PM | ABC | Michigan State | Georgia | UGa by 6 | State by 2.8 |
| 2-Jan | Capital One | 1:00 PM | ESPN | Nebraska | S. Carolina | S.C. by 2 | Nebraska by 3.7 |
| 2-Jan | Gator | 1:00 PM | ESPN2 | Ohio State | Florida | Ohio St. by 6 | Ohio St. by 0.7 |
| 6-Jan | Cotton | 8:00 PM | Fox | Kansas State | Arkansas | Hogs by 3 | Hogs by 4.7 |
| 7-Jan | BBVA Compass | 1:00 PM | ESPN | Pittsburgh | SMU | SMU by 3 | Pitt by 7.8 |
| 8-Jan | GoDaddy.com | 9:00 PM | ESPN | Northern Illinois | Arkansas State | NIU by 7 | NIU by 0.1 |
| 2-Jan | Rose | 5:00 PM | ESPN | Wisconsin | Oregon | Oregon by 3 | Wiscy by 0.5 |
| 2-Jan | Fiesta | 8:30 PM | ESPN | Oklahoma State | Stanford | OSU by 10 | OSU by 7.4 |
| 3-Jan | Sugar | 8:30 PM | ESPN | Michigan | Virginia Tech | Va. Tech by 7 | Michigan by 3.6 |
| 4-Jan | Orange | 8:30 PM | ESPN | Clemson | West Virginia | WVU by 3 | Clemson by 0.6 |
| 9-Jan | BCS Championship | 8:30 PM | ESPN | LSU | Alabama | Bama by 7 | LSU by 6.4 |
6 comments
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Comments
Too bad F rankings can't measure motivation
In most of the non-BCS bowls, that’s really the diffence between winning/losing. Some teams really want to be there, other just show up for the free stuff.
BTW, was this done last year? What was your record?
Don't pay attention to anything I just wrote. It's total bullshit.
by Slum C on Dec 6, 2011 11:56 AM EST reply actions
I think it was a bit fluky...
…but F/+ KILLED the bowls last year. There was nothing about it on SBN, but over at Outsiders you can find the archive here.
http://footballoutsiders.com/7th-day-adventure?page=1
Something in the neighborhood of 60-65%, I believe. While F/+ cannot account for motivation, the long bowl break does get rid of the momentum factor, which kind of holds F/+ back during the season.
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by Bill Connelly on Dec 6, 2011 4:25 PM EST up reply actions
Why are we rewarding 6-6 teams
with bowl games? How many 6-6 (6-7) teams fired their head coach and are in a Bowl Game? If 6-6 isn’t good enough to keep your coach then it shouldn’t be good enough to get a post-season reward!
There are 35 bowl games but only 52 teams with a better than 6-6 record (counting Southern Cal and all others that may be under a “post season ban”). Clearly they need to eliminate some bowl games and teams playing in bowls
"I solemnly swear to tell the truth as I know it, the whole truth as I believe it to be, and nothing but what I think you need to know."
by TX_HogFan on Dec 6, 2011 3:33 PM EST reply actions
I agree with every word you say.
And I’m still going to watch every single game. Again, this is not a point of pride, more like the first of 12 steps toward recovery.
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by Bill Connelly on Dec 6, 2011 4:22 PM EST up reply actions
It's an exhibition...
It’s free football to take or leave as you will. I mean, I didn’t even know that there is an Idaho Potato Bowl. But god bless every spud.
I have never been able to wrap my head around this particular objection to bowl games.
Post season practice reps are soooo critical for developing young players. In that sense, if nothing else, there should be more teams declared bowl eligible—not fewer.
The only people—and I mean only—who are possibly worse off for the sheer number of bowls are fans of daytime soaps that are pre-empted. (Sorry mom!)
As an NFL fan, I love the idea of getting a look at lots of guys whose names I’ll hear recited in April on days 2 and 3 of the draft.
Honestly, what is the downside?
"Those who fear disorder more than injustice inevitably produce more of both." -- Rev. William Coffin
by dcrockett17 on Dec 7, 2011 4:25 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Because for some teams
6-6 is a hell of an accomplishment, and gives them something to play for.
I know this seems foreign to Texans or Arkansas fans, but not all teams are at that caliber.
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by CyHawk on Dec 9, 2011 3:07 PM EST up reply actions
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