Category: 
Here are my bowl picks, against the spread:
Oregon State (-2.5) vs. BYU–I think the Rodgers brothers are too much for the Cougars to handle and the Beavers cover.
Oregon State 34, BYU 24
Utah (+3) vs. Cal–I think the Utes are going to be too physical for Cal and will pull the mild upset.
Utah 27, Cal 23
Nevada (-13.5) vs. SMU–I don’t like SMU’s chances of stopping the streamroller-like Nevada running attack.
Nevada 45, SMU 28
Pittsburgh (-2.5) vs. North Carolina–The Stull and Lewis show rides the Panthers to the win.
Pitt 20, North Carolina 17
Boston College (+7.5) vs. USC–The Trojans don’t want to be in this game and the Eagles have something to prove. Not sure if the upset happens, but I at least like the Eagles to cover.
USC 24, Boston College 20
Kentucky (+7) vs. Clemson–Kentucky, being from the SEC, has more speed than Clemson, which is from the ACC, you see. Okay, there’s my in-depth ESPN-style analysis of this game.
Clemson 31, Kentucky 30
Texas A&M (+7) vs. Georgia–A&M gives the Bulldogs a scare but I don’t think the Aggies are ready to win the close ones just yet.
Georgia 38, Texas A&M 35
UCLA (-5) vs. Temple–The Bruin defense stifles the Temple run game and UCLA wins this one in a yawner.
UCLA 21, Temple 3
Miami (-3.5) vs. Wisconsin–If the Canes can stop John Clay, they stop the Badgers. Jacory Harris has a big game here.
Miami 28, Wisconsin 17
Arizona (-1.5) vs. Nebraska (under 40)–This one is basically a pickem. I think Arizona will be able to manufacture just enough points in a defensive battle. I also like the under.
Arizona 16, Nebraska 13
Navy (+6.5) vs. Missouri–I’m not very confident in Missouri’s defense, especially against Navy’s option scheme. Too much Alexander and Gabbert in the end, though.
Missouri 42, Navy 37
Houston (-4) vs. Air Force–Case Keenum probably sets some bowl records in a Cougar win here.
Houston 45, Air Force 31
Oklahoma (-7.5) vs. Stanford–A hard task here for the Cardinal without Andrew Luck. Landy Jones goes off.
Oklahoma 31, Stanford 21
Virginia Tech (-4.5) vs. Tennessee–I think the Hokies win this one going away as Crompton reverts to old form.
Virginia Tech 31, Tennesee 10
Auburn (-7) vs. Northwestern–I think Malzahn’s offense will be really sharp after a full month to prepare. Too much talent for NW to overcome.
Auburn 31, Northwestern 17
West Virginia (-2.5) vs. Florida State–Bobby Bowden goes out with a loss against his former team as his FG kicker misses wide right.
West Virginia 24, Florida State 21
Penn State (-2.5) vs. LSU–If LSU is the third best team in the SEC, color me unimpressed. I like Penn State here comfortably.
Penn State 24, LSU 13
Oregon (-3.5) vs. Ohio State–I like Oregon to win this going away. Back to the drawing board for Tressel.
Oregon 41, Ohio State 20
Cincinnati (+11.5) vs. Florida–Both teams are deflated, but Cincy has a lot of weapons and a lot to prove. Tebow pulls it out in the end, though.
Florida 28, Cincinnati 21
Connecticut (+4.5) vs. South Carolina–Conecticut covers–nay, wins–here despite playing against a team from the SEC with all its speed.
UConn 23, South Carolina 20
Ole Miss (-3.5) vs. Oklahoma State–I like the Rebs in a blowout. I think OSU is headed for major rebuilding.
Ole Miss 34, Oklahoma State 7
Arkansas (-7.5) vs. East Carolina–Heckuva bowl matchup here. Razorbacks tune up for big 2010 with blowout win.
Arkansas 42, ECU 14
Texas Tech (-8) vs. Michigan State–Tech is always an exotic team to prepare for and you need to have a deep secondary to handle that attack. Not sure the Spartans will be ready.
TTU 35, Michigan State 17
TCU (-7) vs. Boise State–I think the TCU defense will slow down Boise’s potent attack. Kellen Moore throws some uncharacteristic picks.
TCU 38, Boise State 21
Georgia Tech (-4) vs. Iowa–Don’t think the Hawkeyes can keep up with the tempo and complexity of the Tech offense.
Georgia Tech 31, Iowa 14
Texas (+4.5) vs. Alabama–To me, this game will be decided by Greg McElroy’s arm. If Texas shuts him down, the Longhorns win, but if he’s effective, the Tide wins. Nebraska provided a blueprint for stopping Texas, but I think there may be some new wrinkles in the Longhorn offense this time. McCoy will have to scramble more than usual and I think that keeps Texas in this one. It’ll be a tightly-contested game but I think the Tide have a couple more weapons at their disposal and they eke it out.
Alabama 23, Texas 21
Comments
This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Weekly Picks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
“complexity of the Tech offense”??? It’s the simplicity that is its greatest asset and the reason that Tech will run over Iowa.
It’s actually very complex. What looks like the same play can be a completely different blocking scheme. That’s why you can’t listen to the announcers and play ‘assignment football.’ Those are the teams that get smoked.
HP, Nevada will be without their top 2 RBs. I believe Lippencott is hurt and Tua is ineligible (I’m pretty sure I spelled both of those wrong). Still like them that big?
Oregon State 34, BYU 24
Good call. Great showing for that tough PAC 10 tonight.
Oh, and what was your call? Did you write it down anywhere? Didn’t think so.
No. 14 beat No. 18. Why does that shock you?
Yet again, another piece with needless comments attacking the SEC. Man, you’re incorrigible. Just write about football and leave the defensiveness of the PAC 10 and the bitterness against the SEC and the press coverage the SEC gets at home (this from a guy whose conference gets the benefit of the TOTALLY overhyped Rose Bowl…”Grand-daddy of the all”). You’re like the boy who cried wolf…you’ve lost all credibility when it comes to analyzing conference strength because of your amazing ability to insert a slight at the SEC or the press coverage of the SEC into almost any piece of football commentary – this piece has both, and as far as I can tell not another conference get’s anywhere near the same negative treatment (and I’m not talking about predicting Ws and Ls, I’m talking about comments like those about LSU, Kentucky, and Arkansas vs ECU.
You’re better than that HP! You have a good football mind, but need a little more journalistic integrity…of course I keep saying that and you keep crying about the PAC 10.
Pac 10 0-2 thus far in bowl game play. This coming from a frustrated big ten buckeye. Also I think Oh State vs Or State gonna be a little closer than the experts think. The key will be to shut down Masoli and James, or it’ll be a long day.
Pac 10 1-3 in bowl games.
I’m sorry pac 10 is 2-3 in bowl games. Boy Air Force is giving it to Houston.
How bout them badgers.
Pac 10 = 2-5 in bowls, with wins over Boston College and Temple. With USC’s looming hammering by the NCAA, things don’t look to be improving much anytime soon.
Big 10 is better than people thought, and the sec is worse than people thought. (not including Florida and Alabama)
I am surprised by the pac 10′s performance this year in the bowls.
Bucknut, you might be surprised about the Pac 10′s faceplant in the bowls only if you had been reading HP’s blog entries and posts. Signals the beginning of a downward cycle for the conference, imo, which will certainly be harder to overcome with the University of Smug Cheater’s rightful hammering by the NCAA…..
Yes it could be. But I don’t honestly see the Pac 10 staying in that downward cycle. Course I did hear HP say the Big 10 was slow and physical and that proved to be wrong in the bowls.