The best two weeks of football in the year are almost among us: Bowl Mania. From the New Orleans to the GoDaddy and then of course the National Championship, the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015 are jam packed with great inter-conference matchups against some of the best teams in the country. Here are the picks for the first set of games this bowl season, starting on December 20th and going through December 26th.
(All times PST; Writer's Pick in Italics)
Saturday, December 20
8am- New Orleans Bowl: Nevada (7-5) vs. UL Lafayette (8-4)
Two of the most under-rated QB's in the nation go head to head with Cody Fajardo and the Wolfpack traveling to Cajun country to take on Terrence Broadway and the rest of the Ragin Cajun's. Nevada's pistol and improved D should be enough to get passed Lafayette, but how much will home field advantage come into play?
11:20am- New Mexico Bowl: Utah State (9-4)vs. UTEP (7-5)
Utah State has a balanced offense and the best defense in the mountain west, while UTEP has a great sophomore RB in Aaron Jones who rushed for 1,233 yards and 11 TD's. Look for this to be a low scoring, physical game.
12:30pm- Las Vegas Bowl: 22 Utah (8-4) vs. Colorado State (10-2)
Utah was one of the big surprises this season, competing week in and week out in the loaded Pac-12, while the CSU Rams got stuck in the top heavy Mountain division in the Mountain West. Utah should have more size and speed than any team CSU has faced this season. Look out for the Rams wideout Rashad Higgins (89 rec, 1,640 yards, 17 TD's), who was a top WR finalist this season.
2:45pm- Potato Bowl: Western Michigan (8-4) vs. Air Force (9-3)
After a tough 1-11 season for the Broncos, they shocked the MAC conference by going 8-4. Air Force has already beaten one Broncos team (#20 Boise) and looks to beat another on the blue turf in Boise (which they will blend in with nicely if they wear their blue uniforms).
6:15pm- Camellia Bowl: South Alabama (6-6) vs. Bowling Green (7-6)
You can call this the we shouldn't be in the postseason bowl. South Alabama does not have much going for them except that their playing at home. BG will try to bounce back after losing three straight in the MAC. BG QB James Knapke should throw for a ton of yards against this Sun Belt D.
Monday, Dec. 22
11am- Miami Beach Bowl: Memphis (9-3) vs. BYU (8-4)
This new and oddly early bowl game boasts two very evenly matched teams. Something's gotta give with Memphis great offense lead by stud Sophomore QB Paxton Lynch (Over 3,000 total yards and only 6 INT's) going against the cougars stout defense. Calling it right now... Memphis will go to the New Years Six next year.
Tuesday, Dec. 23
3pm- Boca Raton Bowl: Marshall (12-1) vs. Northern Illinois (11-2)
Another new Bowl game and one of the best non-New Years matchups. NIU comes into this game red-hot, while Marshall may be a little bummed their not playing on New Years. Look for NIU's Jordan Lynch understudy, Drew Hare (25 total TD's, only two picks), to have a coming out party on the big stage. But don't look past Marshall's Rahkeem Cato (3,622 pass yards and 37 TD's) for some great QB play. Who ever plays better doesn't really matter because there will be points galore non-the-less.
6:30pm- Poinsettia Bowl: San Diego State (7-5) vs. Navy (7-5)
This is the most San Diego-y this game could be. Look for two of the best running teams in the country, lead by two incredible runners- SDSU's RB Donnel Pumphrey (1,755 rushing yards and 19 TDs) and Navy QB Keenan Reynolds (21 rushing TDs) to pile up the yards.
Wednesday, Dec. 24
9am- Bahamas Bowl- Central Michigan (7-5) vs. Western Kentucky (7-5)
5pm- Hawaii Bowl- Fresno State (6-7) vs. Rice (7-5)
The destination's are better than the games here on Christmas Eve, but their are still QB's to look here. WKU's high powered O, led by Senior QB Brandon Doughty (4,344 yards, 44 TDs, 10 INTs), beat Marshall when they were 11-0 and should do the same to CMU. Fresno State is only in a Bowl game because Nevada fell asleep in the second half of their game against the dogs. The Bulldogs QB, Brian Burrell, has either been really good or really bad this year. They'll beat Rice either way.
Friday, Dec. 26
10am- Heart of Dallas Bowl: Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-5)
Blah, sleep in instead of seeing what's in the Heart of Dallas.
1:30pm- Quick Lane Bowl: Rutgers (7-5) vs. North Carolina (6-6)
5pm- St. Petersburg Bowl: NC State (7-5) vs. Central Florida (9-3)
The rest of the day boasts both North Carolina ACC teams in matchups against Knights. Even though NC State beat North Carolina this year, UNC has an incredible offense, so if they get any defense, they should beat the Scarlet Knight's. On the other hand the NC St Wolfpack are probably the worst 7-5 team in the country and are only in a bowl because they played a cream puff- filled schedule. If there's a Bowl day to miss, it's this one... go see Interstellar again instead.