What in the name of Beano Cook is going on?  I take a short month long nap following our conquest of the Weasels and what to my wondering eyes????……… We have Boise State, Wake Forest, Louisville cluttering up BCS bowl games??  Everyone but Lee Corso has turned down the Alabama coaching job.  Guys from West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers have declined the Miami job.  Wait a minute….what is that strange noise I keep hearing; sort of a high pitched whining.  Oh, never mind, its just Lloyd backing up all the way to Pasadena. 

 

                        Here is my Christmas wish list:

 

Charlie Weiss – an ego more closely matching his coaching prowess instead of his waist line.

 

Jimmy Clausen – a conversation with Ron Powlus  on the perils of being awarded multiple Heismans prior to taking your snap.

 

Univ of Alabama – an ounce of common sense.  The decision to fire Mike Shula was marginal at best, but without having a big name successor locked up and ready to go it was absurd.  The Bama, grits-for-brains administration better come up with something.

 

Darren McFadden – a QB who can get some of the defense’s attention off him so he has a chance and an injury free,  Heisman-winning 2007.  That guy is good!

 

Arizona State  – Probation – The Sun Devils must want it too because they hired Dennis Erickson and NCAA trouble follows that guy like Rosie O’Donnel follows a doughnut truck.

 

Brady Quinn – anything which will keep him from being drafted by the Lions or Raiders.  Sell some drugs Brady, or run naked through South Bend, just  do something so that these two loser franchises will pass him up.  I say this as a life-long Lions fan. It will cost him a few bucks but will be well worth it in the long run.

 

Bobby Bowden – a QB who can play and a grandson he can hire as OC

 

Univ of Miami  - A clue.  Way to go Donna Shalala.  Nice hire, with Randy Shannon.  Yeah, things are going so well in Coral Gables that it makes perfect sense to hire from within.  That is how you ended up with Larry Coker in the first place….and things were going well at that time.

 

Lloyd Carr – A loss in the Rose Bowl and a well deserved contract extension. 

 

Mike Hart – a decision to leave school early then getting drafted by Detroit or Oakland

 

Greg Schiano  and Rich Rodriguez – continued success at Rutgers and WVU for ignoring the big bucks of Miami and Bama.

 

Ohio State – a new univ president who “gets it”.

 

Dave Wanstadt – a job he can handle.  When are people going to learn that he is not a head coach.  He screwed up the Bears, Dolphins and now Pitt.  Same thing for Walt Harris and  Norb Turner.  Not all great coordinators make good head coaches. 

 

Below are my bowl picks and accompanying comments.  If you gamble you might want to consider contrarian logic.

 

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl 
San Diego, CA
December 19, 2006, ESPN2
Mountain West vs. at-large
Bowl Matchup: TCU vs. Northern Illinois  Gotta go with the Horned Frogs

Las Vegas Bowl 
Las Vegas, NV
December 21, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 No. 4 vs. Mountain West No. 1
Bowl Matchup: Oregon vs. BYU  Who do you think will be having more fun in Vegas….Oregon or BYU.  That makes BYU and easy pick.

New Orleans Bowl 
New Orleans, LA
December 22, 2006, ESPN
Sun Belt vs. Conference USA
Bowl Matchup: Troy vs. Rice  Brown rice, dirty rice red beans and rice….Cajun cooks have too many ways to cook rice.  Troy is the winner

New Mexico Bowl 
Albuquerque, NM
December 23, 2006, ESPN
Mountain West vs. WAC
Bowl Matchup: New Mexico vs. San Jose State I really have no idea, but will take NM.

Papajohns.com Bowl 
Birmingham, AL
December 23, 2006, ESPN2
Conference USA vs. Big East or MAC
Bowl Matchup: East Carolina vs. South Florida  Two mid major, directional schools battle it out for pepperoni in Birmingham.  This is so sad.  South Florida because they probably had some SEC speed that was left over.

Armed Forces Bowl 
Fort Worth, TX
December 23, 2006, ESPN
Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Bowl Matchup: Utah vs. Tulsa  Tulsa because Craig Kragthorpe, on his way  to a major college job somewhere very soon, is a really good coach.

 

 

Hawaii Bowl 
Honolulu, HI
December 24, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 vs. WAC
Bowl Matchup: Arizona State vs. Hawaii  Hawaii due to Colt Brennan and the home field

Motor City Bowl 
Detroit, MI
December 26, 2006, ESPN
MAC vs. Big Ten No. 7 
Bowl Matchup: Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee  Another stellar match-up  with no one but player’s parents watching. With my eyes closed I’ll take Central thinking that they probably have some players Lloyd should have recruited.

Emerald Bowl 
San Francisco, CA
December 27, 2006, ESPN
ACC No. 7 vs. Pac 10 No. 5
Bowl Matchup: Florida State vs. UCLA    UCLA because they are less embarrassed to be here.

Independence Bowl 
Shreveport, LA
December 27, 2006, ESPN
Big 12 No. 7 vs. SEC No. 8
Bowl Matchup: Oklahoma State vs. Alabama  Oklahoma State, see above and they still have a coach.

Holiday Bowl 
San Diego, CA
December 28, 2006, ESPN
Pac 10 No. 2 vs. Big 12 No. 3
Bowl Matchup: California vs. Texas A&M  Aggies win.  Why do we keep hearing that Cal is an elite program when the next good team they beat will be the first.

Texas Bowl 
Houston, TX
December 28, 2006, NFL Network
Big 12 vs. Big East
Bowl Matchup: Kansas State vs. Rutgers  Rutgers wins despite the BCS disappointment.  More wood to chop for Coach Greg and the boys.

Champs Sports Bowl 
Orlando, FL
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Big Ten No. 4 or 5 vs. ACC No. 4
Bowl Matchup: Purdue vs. Maryland Much as I would like to pick the Big Ten, Purdue has stunk all season and the Terps only stunk most of the season.

Music City Bowl 
Nashville, TN
December 29, 2006, ESPN
SEC vs. ACC No. 5
Bowl Matchup: Kentucky vs. Clemson  This would be a big win for the Wildcats, but too bad.  Clemson is too talented and some Bowden has to win a bowl.

Sun Bowl 
El Paso, TX
December 29, 2006, CBS
Big 12 or Big East vs. Pac 10 No. 3
Bowl Matchup:  Missouri vs. Oregon State   Tough to call, but I think Mizzu can gitRdone.

Insight Bowl 
Phoenix, AZ
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Big Ten No. 6  vs. Big 12 No. 6
Bowl Matchup: Minnesota vs. Texas Tech  This is a perfect match up.  Glenn Mason who loves to run vs Mike (throw-only)Leach who will be pissed off that he was passed(no pun intended) over for Miami, Alabama, and Michigan State and Arizona State.  The Big Ten has to win something besides the championship game.

Liberty Bowl 
Memphis, TN
December 29, 2006, ESPN
Conference USA No. 1 vs. SEC No. 6
Bowl Matchup: Houston vs. South Carolina  The Old Ball coach, plus SEC speed gets the Gamecocks a win

Alamo Bowl 
San Antonio, TX
December 30, 2006, ESPN
Big 12 No. 4 vs. Big Ten No. 4 or 5
Bowl Matchup: Texas vs. Iowa:  Another bad match-up for the Big Ten.  The Horns are way too talented for this under-achieving group of Hawks.  Though the coaching match-up favors Iowa, the talent gap is too wide for Coach Ferentz to overcome.

MPC Computers Bowl 
Boise, ID
December 30, 2006, ESPN
WAC vs. ACC No. 8
Bowl Matchup: Nevada vs. Miami: 
The Canes have too much SEC speed and new coach Shannon will want to show the world that the Canes are back.   He’ll have to do more than win this game to prove that point.

Meineke Car Care Bowl 
Charlotte, NC
December 30, 2006, ESPN2
ACC No. 6 vs. Big East or Navy
Bowl Matchup: Boston College vs. Navy  I like the Midshipmen to pull the upset now that BC has lost their coach to NC State.

Chick-fil-A Bowl 
Atlanta, GA
December 30, 2006, ESPN
ACC No. 2 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia  The Hokies put one on poor Uga.  Georgia does not appear to have their share of SEC speed this year and Coach Mark Richt is proving to be a disappointment.

Gator Bowl 
Jacksonville, FL
January 1, 2007, CBS
ACC No. 3 vs. Big 12 or Big East
Bowl Matchup: Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia   Gotta like the Neers. Tech has, in Calvin Johnson, the best wide receiver this side of the NFL, but they don’t like to let him play with the ball much.  As a result  they get to try to defense Slayton and White and they get to lose.  

Cotton Bowl 
Dallas, TX
January 1, 2007, Fox
Big 12 No. 2 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Nebraska vs. Auburn  Nebraska is not quite there yet.  Auburn actually does have too much SEC speed. The Tigers will shut down the Husker attack and stumble upon enough points to win.

Outback Bowl 
Tampa, FL
January 1, 2007, ESPN
Big Ten No. 3 vs. SEC
Bowl Matchup: Penn State vs. Tennessee  Ouch this one hurts, but Tennesse is almost good and PSU is almost bad.  Two good defenses, but the Vols have an offense with a healthy Eric Ainge and that will be the difference.  You gotta like the coaching contrast here with a classic old school legend versus a fat crook.  Crime pays.

Capital One Bowl 
Orlando, FL
January 1, 2007, ABC
Bowl Matchup: Arkansas vs. Wisconsin  Wow it appears that I hate the Big Ten, but I think the Hogs have too much firepower with McFadden and Felix Jones.  Who needs a QB.  I know Arkansas has internal strife, but I think Coach Nutt will get their minds right.

International Bowl 
Toronto, Canada
January 6, 2007, ESPN
MAC vs. Big East No. 4 or 5
Bowl Matchup: Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati Cincy lost their head coach and a good part of their staff to Michigan State, which opens the door for WMU.

GMAC Bowl 
Mobile, AL
January 7, 2007, ESPN
Conference USA No. 2 vs. MAC
Bowl Matchup: Southern Miss vs. Ohio  Southern Miss for no particular reason.

BCS GAMES

Rose Bowl 
Pasadena, CA
January 1, 2007, ABC
BCS vs. BCS (Big 10 vs. Pac 10 if available)
Bowl Matchup: Michigan vs. USC  Which ever teams gets their collective heads out of their collective rear ends wins.  Thus,  I pick the Men of Troy.  Pete Carroll has something to prove and he gets to coach against Lloyd.  Merry Christmas Petey.

Fiesta Bowl 
Glendale, AZ
January 1, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (Big 12 Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Oklahoma vs. Boise State The return and Adrian Peterson.  Nuff said the Sooners, spoil the Bosie dream. Boise vs OU is more like Boyz to Men. 

Orange Bowl 
Miami, FL
January 2, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (ACC Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Wake Forest vs. Louisville  Louisville  in a rout.  Are you kidding me?  The Cardinals may well be the second best team in the land.  Oh shut up, Lloyd!

Sugar Bowl 
New Orleans, LA
January 3, 2007, Fox
BCS vs. BCS (SEC Champion to play here if available)
Bowl Matchup: Notre Dame vs. LSU  Too much SEC speed in a game where too much MAC speed could torch the Irish.  Charley is a few bricks shy of a load this year and I don’t think any amount of coaching genius can overcome the talent gap in this one.

BCS Championship Game 
Glendale, AZ
January 8, 2007, Fox
BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2
Bowl Matchup: Ohio State vs. Florida  You know who I going to pick and next week I’ll tell you why.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bowl predictions

POINSETTIA – TCU

Las Vegas – BYU

New Orleans – Troy

Papa John’s .com bowl – South Florida vs East Carolina I cant take it, 2 directional schools

Hawaii – Hawaii – Colt Brennan and the home field

Emerald – UCLA is less embarrassed to be in this bowl than FSU

Independence – Oklahoma State see previous entry

Holiday – Texas A&M I am sick of Cal thinking they are a big time program and never beating anyone

Texas – Rutgers

Music City – Clemson

Sun – Missouri

Liberty – South Carolina

Insight – Minnesota

Champs Sports – Maryland

Meineke – Navy

Alamo -  Texasonly because they are not playing the team from Mexico

Chick FilAbowl – Va Tech

MPC computers – Miami

Outback – Tennessee

Cotton – Auburn

Gator – WVU

Capital One – Wisconsin

Rose -  USC

Fiesta – OU

Orange – Louisville

Sugar – LSU

International – W. Mich

GMAC – Southern Miss