College Football Recap

Observations on the 2009-2010 season:

My college football bowl picks ended up at 15-17, just under .500. Not bad considering my lack of research on some of the games and my weakness for having faith in the Big 12 Conference.

Oklahoma State finished at 9-4 for the second straight season and participated in their fourth straight bowl appearance, a school record. I'm happy that the Pokes are consistently bowl eligible under coach Gundy but I'm a little weary at their inability to win "the big game." Next year is a rebuilding season but I think the defense will continue to get better under coordinator Bill Young and maybe the Cowboys will be a little more balanced between offense and defense.

The Oklahoma Sooners chocked most of the season finishing at 8-5. Who cares right? They had a lot of injuries and played with an inexperienced offensive line. The experience the younger players gained this season will help them tremendously next year. If moustache (Landry Jones) can continue to develop his skills at the quarterback position, there's no reason the Sooners won't be in the hunt for the Big 12 South.

I've got to give it up to the SEC Conference. For the most part they looked good during the bowl season. Alabama and Florida are the best teams in the nation, in my opinion. Too bad the real National Championship Game was really the SEC Championship Game.

The Big 10 was also really impressive in bowl games. I could be mistaken but I think they had the best record of any conference. I've also heard the talking heads mention that Ohio State may be the favorite for the preseason number one next season.

Farewell to the 2009-2010 season, it was a lot of fun! College basketball season kicks into high gear this weekend, for the teams I favor anyways. Big 12 Conference play starts this weekend. Go Pokes!

BCS Bowl Picks

Here's my picks for the last five games of the college football year. I'll write a recap after the season has concluded on January 7th.

January 1st: Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Pick: Oregon
Comments: Should be an interesting match up. Going with the Ducks, I like their uniforms better.

January 1st: Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Cincinnati
Pick: Florida
Comments: It pains me to pick Florida but it won't break my heart if they lose. I wouldn't mind to see Tim Teabag cry one more time.

January 4th: Fiesta Bowl: Boise State vs. TCU
Pick: TCU
Comments: Picking and rooting for the Horney Frogs.

January 5th: Orange Bowl: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech
Pick: Iowa
Comments: Yawn. The least intriguing BCS bowl. I really don't care who wins, though I'm picking Iowa since I know more about their team.

January 7th: BCS Championship Game: Alabama vs. Texas
Pick: Texas
Comments: This pick is tough! I kind of expect Alabama to win but I've got to root for the Big 12 team. Texas pretty much walked all over everyone this year with the exception of Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game. I think the game will be close and will come down to a fantastic finish.

That's it. It's a great time of year for college sports, second only the the NCAA Basketball Tourney.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think.

College Football Bowl Picks Week 3

I did a little better on picks for week 2 but still not great. Here are the rest of my bowl picks. I'm saving the BCS Bowl games for a separate post in a day or two.

December 31st: Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Air Force
Pick: Houston
Comments: Houston will have too much offense for Air Force to handle.

December 31st: Sun Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Stanford
Pick: OU
Comments: I'm probably going to regret this pick but I'm going with the dreaded Swooners of Oklahoma. They've had a lot of injuries this year; however, all of their loses have been close. Brut sponsers the Sun Bowl? That's kind of funny.

December 31st: Texas Bowl: Navy vs. Missouri
Pick: MIZZOU
Comments: Missouri rebounds from a disappointing season with a bowl win.

December 31st: Insight Bowl: Minnesota v. Iowa State
Pick: Iowa State
Comments: Sticking with the Big 12 on this one.

December 31st: Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee
Pick: Virginia Tech
Comments: Easy pick. I saw Alabama and Tennessee play in the Peach Bowl a million years ago.

January 1st: Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Auburn
Pick: Auburn
Comments: Should be an easy win for Auburn.

January 1st: Capital One Bowl: Penn St. vs. LSU
Pick: LSU
Comments: I hate to pick Les Miles' team, he's such a d-bag.

January 1st: Gator Bowl: Florida St. vs. West Virginia
Pick: West Virginia
Comments: Florida St. has had a terrible year. Adios Bowden, you won't be missed.

January 2nd: Internation Bowl: South Florida vs. Northern Illinois
Pick: South Florida
Comments: Really? A bowl game in Canada? That's kind of cool.

January 2nd: Papajohns.com Bowl: Connecticut vs. South Carolina
Pick: South Carolina
Comments: Going with the Gamecocks... He he, I said cock.

January 2nd: Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Mississippi
Pick: OSU
Comments: Obviously the game I'm most excited about being a Cowboy's fan. Most of the "experts" are picking Ole Miss. They can suck it. The Pokes will avenge their 2004 Cotton Bowl loss to Ole Miss and give Oklahoma State a rare 10 win season. I hope.

January 2nd: Liberty Bowl: East Carolina vs. Arkansas
Pick: Arkansas
Comments: I don't know a lot about East Carolina and I kind of like Arkansas.

January 2nd: Alamo Bowl: Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Pick: Tech
Comments: I'm going with Tech's high powered offense even though it looks like they'll be without the evil genius for the game, head coach Mike Leach.

January 6th: GMAC Bowl: Troy vs. Central Michigan
Pick: Central Michigan
Comments: Going with the experts on this one. Why is this bowl played so late in the season?

Current record 6-9 (I should work for ESPN)
Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think.

College Football Bowl Picks Week 2

I got absolutely raped by last week's picks! Here we go, hopefully my predictions will fare a little better this round.

December 26th: Littel Caesars Pizza Bowl: Marshall vs. Ohio
Pick: Ohio
Comments: No real reason, I'm sure that will screw me over! The loss of the Thundering Herd's coach probably doesn't do Marshall any favors either.

December 26th: Meineke Car Care Bowl: North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh
Pick: Pittsburgh
Comments: Pitt has had the better season and ranking.

December 26th: Emerald Bowl: Boston College vs. USC
Pick: Boston College
Comments: After last week the PAC-10 is dead to me! Oh and is there not a web site for this bowl?

December 27th: Music City Bowl: Clemson vs. Kentucky
Pick: Clemson
Comments: Take this one to the bank.

December 28th: Independence Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Georgia
Pick: Texas A&M
Comments: I have great respect for Georgia's program but we all know they're a little down this year. I expect A&M to pull out the win but they are an extremely young football team.

December 29th: Eaglebank Bowl: Temple vs. UCLA
Pick: UCLA
Comments: I hate to pick UCLA but I can't in good conscience go with Temple.

December 29th: Champs Sports Bowl: Miami vs. Wisconsin
Pick: Miami
Comments: Should be a good game, edge goes to Miami.

December 30th: Humanitarian Bowl: Idaho vs. Bowling Green
Pick: Idaho
Comments: Only picking Idaho since the game is near their neck of the woods.

December 30th: Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. Arizona
Pick: Nebraska
Comments: The Huskers great defense will be too much for Arizona. Should be another great game though.

Current record 1-5 (nice huh?)

Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think.
I'll be back next Thursday for my next round of picks. Happy Holidays!

College Football Bowl Picks Week 1

I won't be blogging about the Top Chef: Las Vegas reunion show last night as I missed it and may or may not catch it on rerun. Instead, for the next few Thursdays I'll be making my college football bowl predictions. Feel free to join in and make your predictions as well.

December 19th: New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State vs. Wyoming
Pick: Fresno State
Comments: If I remember correctly Fresno State has a decent offense and they beat a talented Houston team this year. I'm just making these predictions on the fly so my memory may fail me, fair warning.

December 19th: St. Petersburg Bowl: Rutgers vs. UCF
Pick: Rutgers
Comments: Some of these picks are going to be tough since I know little about some of the teams in the smaller bowl games. I'm going with the east coast biased and picking Rutgers.

December 20th: New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi vs. Middle Tennessee
Pick: Southern Mississippi
Comments: I know nothing about Middle Tennessee.

December 22nd: Macco Bowl: BYU vs. Oregon State
Pick: Oregon State
Comments: I nearly picked BYU based on their win against the hated and dreaded Swooners of Oklahoma earlier in the year, but I remembered the Swooners suck! Best game of the week, I think. Both teams are ranked at or near the same in the polls. I went with OSU since they play in a better conference.

December 23rd: Poinsettia Bowl: Utah vs. California
Pick: California
Comments: Another toss up. Once again I'm going with the PAC-10. What's wrong with me?

December 24th: Hawaii Bowl: SMU vs. Nevada
Pick: Nevada
Comments: Rooting against the Methodists! This is probably the best location for a bowl game.

Current record 0-0

Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think.

Cotton Pickin' Cowboys

College football bowl season is upon us. Later next week I'll be making my predictions for every bowl game. It will give me something new to blog about on Thursday's since Top Chef: Las Vegas is coming to an end for another season. Here is a list of this year's bowl schedule.

Obviously the bowl I'm most excited about is the Cotton Bowl. It features a rematch of the 2004 Cotton Bowl between Oklahoma State and Ole Miss (damn you Eli Manning!!). I expect a Cowboys win but they did struggle their last game of the year against the dreaded and most hated Oklahoma Swooners. We'll see how long they carry that loss with them.