The first week in a long offseason
We’re back to 0 with the start of the postseason so anyone can get the title for best bowl picks this year. Best of luck to everyone going into the bowl season.
Bowl Season starts at 9 pm Saturday, try to have your picks in before then.
Scheduling during bowl season will be pretty wonky. This article will cover games through next Thursday December 20th. Another article will be out early next week which should cover games through January 4th. Another set of articles will address the remaining playoff games in the new year. Scoring will not be complete until at least the new year due to the overlap.
Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK
I gave a summary of last week in the Army v Navy pick article, so I won’t say much here. Bowl season snuck up early, as it often does. Most people are playing down bowl season, especially now that we have a 12 team playoff, but these games still mean plenty to the teams playing in them.
We have a pretty good line up this year with some underrated teams. Frankly I’m just looking forward to some more football. Let’s get to it.
picks:
IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl
Played in the Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL:
South Alabama Jaguars (-8.5) v Western Michigan Mustangs
Logan: Weird to me that the Salute to Veterans Bowl is played on the same day as Army v Navy. South Alabama scores, and they score a lot. When games become a shootout Western Michigan tends to lose big. The one good thing for Western Michigan is that most of South Alabama’s offense runs through receiver Jamaal Pritchett, so if the Mustangs can shut down Pritchett they may have a chance. I still think the Jaguars run away with this one, especially since this is basically a home game for them.
Logan’s pick: South Alabama
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
Played in the Toyota Bowl, Frisco, TX:
#25 Memphis Tigers (-2.5) v West Virginia Mountaineers
Logan: Memphis ended the season on a hell of a run. Memphis is currently in the top 25 for passing yards, rushing yards, points per game, and many other impressive offensive feats. West Viginia has a good offense, so they will need to make this game a shootout to keep things close as their defense is currently outside the top 100 in terms of points given up per game. I think Memphis will win this one, in what could be an explosive offensive game.
Logan’s pick: Memphis
Boca Raton Bowl
Played in FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL:
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers v James Madison Dukes (-7.0)
Logan: Both of these teams finished the season on a downward slide. Statistically both teams are pretty similar, although WKU has more to prove based on how the season ended with a blow out in the conference championship. I think that, if nothing else the Hilltoppers will show up and make this a close game.
Logan’s pick: WKU
Art of Sport LA Bowl
Played in the SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA:
Cal Bears (-4.0) v #24 UNLV Rebels
Logan: Cal was a pretty good team this year. Their only bad losses were arguably NC State and (inexplicably) FSU. UNLV has been a darling this year after a fantastic run in the Mountain West, with their only losses being to Syracuse and Boise State (twice). The issue for UNLV is that head coach Barry Odom has already left for another job, so do we trust the Rebels to pull out a win under an interim coach with less talent than Cal? I have a soft sport for 10 win G5 teams, so I’ll choose to believe in UNLV.
Logan’s pick: UNLV
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Played in the Caesars Super Dome, New Orleans, LA:
Georgia Southern Eagles (-5.5) v Sam Houston Bearkats
Logan: This one should be fun. Georgia Souther has a great offense, Sam Houston has a great defense. Both teams are fairly evenly matched. Georgia Southern seems to have a slightly better QB, but this Sam Houston is great at pressuring QBs and getting them to make turnovers. I’m not entirely sure which way to go here, but I’ll take Sam Houston because I like that they spell Bearkats with a K.
Logan’s pick: Sam Houston
StaffDNA Cure Bowl
Played in Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL:
Ohio Bobcats (-1.5) v Jacksonville State Gamecocks
Logan: I’m taking Ohio in this one, purely based around the fact that I love Ohio. The Bobcats overcame the adversity of losing half their team to transfers last year and went on the win the MAC. Jacksonville State is a great team too, but I think Ohio takes this one.
Logan’s pick: Ohio
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Played in Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL:
Tulane Green Wave v Florida Gators (-13.0)
Logan: I don’t know what is going on with Tulane right now. They look like a totally different team to end the season than they did to start the season. The way Memphis and Army took down Tulane I’m not sure if the Green Wave will be ready for this game at all. Based on the spread Vegas feels the same way. I’ll agree with them and take Florida.
Logan’s pick: Florida
CFP Playoff 1st Round:
#10 Indiana Hoosiers @ #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-7.5)
Logan: I am expecting some upsets in the CFP, but based on how Indiana played against Ohio State I don’t expect an upset here.
Logan’s pick: Notre Dame
CFP Playoff 1st Round:
#11 SMU Mustangs @ #6 Penn State Nittany Lions (-9.0)
Logan: This is dumb, but I think I’m going to ride my ACC bias here. Despite losing SMU pulled a crazy come back last week and showed they are able to play with the big dogs. Penn State should be glad they get this one at home because they have struggled in a bad way when on the road. SMU will likely struggle with the cold and the stadium noise, but I do think they should be able to at least cover the spread here.
Logan’s pick: SMU
CFP Playoff 1st Round:
#12 Clemson Tigers @ #5 Texas Longhorns (-11.0)
Logan: Alright, I’ll just say it, I have not been impressed by Texas at all this year. They had a pretty easy schedule and they seemed to struggle whenever they played the one talented opponent they ran up against. In particular the Texas O-line needs a lot of work, and the Clemson D-Line is pretty darn good at breaking through opposing O-lines. The Longhorns also couldn’t stop a uga offense stuck with its second-string QB from scoring. If Klubnik can score I think Clemson straight up wins this game.
Logan’s pick: Clemson
CFP Playoff 1st Round:
#9 Tennessee Volunteers @ #8 Ohio State Buckeyes (-7.5)
Logan: Ohio State has lost a lot of faith in Ryan Day. This will be there most important game of the year at home, and if the Buckeyes don’t get out to a good start I think the fans may start turning on their own team. Tennessee by contrast doesn’t have much pressure at all on them. I’m not sure who will win, but I think the Vols keep it closer than a touchdown.
Logan’s pick: Tennessee
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Played in Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC:
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers v UTSA Road Runners (-6.5)
Logan: This is technically a “Neutral Site” game, but it is played at the home field of the Chanticleers. At least it should be good for turnout. I think it says something that UTSA is favored by a touchdown even when playing at Coastal Carolina. I think Coastal Carolina should still be able to cover a touchdown, but I wouldn’t be shocked if UTSA ran away with this one.
Logan’s pick: Coastal Carolina
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Played in Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID:
Northern Illinois Huskies (-2.5) v Fresno State Bulldogs
Logan: Fresno State’s offense has great success when they aren’t turning the ball over. That’s the coinflip, will Fresno State avoid turnovers… I guess I’ll take the Bulldogs with the expectation that they hold onto the ball.
Logan’s pick: Fresno State
Hawaii Bowl
Played in Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Honolulu, HI:
South Florida Bulls v San Jose State Spartans (-3.0)
Logan: I think its unfair that warm weather teams get to have a bowl game in Honolulu. I get that its a lower tier bowl, but I feel like cold weather teams would appreciate it more. Anyway, I think San Jose wins this game. I just don’t think South Florida played well most of the year.
Logan’s pick: San Jose State
GameAbove Sports Bowl
Played in Ford Field, Detroit, MI:
Pitt Panthers (-9.0) v Toledo Rockets
Logan: I’m running out of steam and I still have a few more of these articles to prep for next week. I’m just going to speed run this one. Pitt seems like the type of team to go on tilt for no reason and blow a lead. Toledo covers.
Logan’s pick: Toledo
Rate Bowl
Played in Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ:
Rutgers Scarlet Knights v Kansas State Wildcats (-7.0)
Logan: Rutgers has been on a tear to end the season. Rutgers covers.
Logan’s pick: Rutgers
68 Ventures Bowl
Played in Hancock Whitner Stadium, Montgomery, AL:
Arkansas State Red Wolves v Bowling Green Falcons (-6.5)
Logan: No defense in this game. Bowling Green wins a shootout.
Logan’s pick: Bowling Green