[NU Sports] PIGSKIN PICKS - Bowl Pool

Mon Dec 10 00:59:42 CST 2007

OK, one last chance to get your name in the record
books for the 2007-08 season! Everyone's 0-0 and we
start fresh with the annual Pigskin Picks Bowl Pool.

As we did last year, there are just too many of these
frickin' games (and not enough good matchups anymore),
so we've trimmed the holiday pigskin slate to a lean,
mean 20 games with all 8 Big Ten contests and the best
of the rest.

Things kick off for us the day after Christmas with
the Motor City Bowl in Motown. All picks are due by
then. If any major events happen (suspensions,
ineligibility, etc.), I'll send out a chance to change
picks, but otherwise all picks are locked when things
kick off in Ford Field. As always, just pick
straight-up winners with a score for the title game as
a tiebreak.

Thanks for another fun year and best of luck making it
through the minefield of matchups this year!:)

PIGSKIN PICKS - Bowl Pool
#########################
Name: 

BIG TEN
=======
MOTOR CITY BOWL: Central Michigan vs. Purdue
WINNER: 

CHAMPS BOWL: Boston College vs. Michigan State
WINNER: 

ALAMO BOWL: Penn State vs. Texas A&M
WINNER: 

INSIGHT BOWL: Indiana vs. Oklahoma State
WINNER: 

OUTBACK BOWL: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin
WINNER: 

CITRUS BOWL: Florida vs. Michigan
WINNER: 

ROSE BOWL: Illinois vs. Southern Cal
WINNER: 

BCS TITLE BOWL: Louisiana St. vs. Ohio State
WINNER: 

NATIONAL
========
HOLIDAY BOWL: Arizona St. vs. Texas
WINNER: 

EMERALD BOWL: Maryland vs. Oregon St.
WINNER: 

LIBERTY BOWL: Central Florida vs. Mississippi St.
WINNER: 

INDEPENDENCE BOWL: Alabama vs. Colorado
WINNER: 

SUN BOWL: Oregon vs. South Florida
WINNER: 

MUSIC CITY BOWL: Florida St. vs. Kentucky
WINNER: 

PEACH BOWL: Auburn vs. Clemson
WINNER: 

COTTON BOWL: Arkansas vs. Missouri
WINNER: 

GATOR BOWL: Texas Tech vs. Virginia
WINNER: 

SUGAR BOWL: Georgia vs. Hawaii
WINNER: 

FIESTA BOWL: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
WINNER: 

ORANGE BOWL: Kansas vs. Virginia Tech
WINNER: 

MY PICKS
========
* PURDUE 45, Central Michigan 27 - Didn't we already
see this game? Yawn.

* MICHIGAN STATE 38, Boston College 31 - Could be one
of the better games of the season as Sparty showed me
something by not quitting in November - if they get
the attitude to go with the talent, they could be
dangerous

* PENN STATE 27, Texas A&M 17 - Yeah, it's a home game
for the Aggies, but it's tough to beat JoePa when he
has time to prepare and A&M's in a coaching change

* INDIANA 48, Oklahoma State 42 - Another exciting
Insight Bowl, and this time the Big Ten wins the
shootout with the Hoosiers making the most of their
chance ... this would also be a fun basketball game

* WISCONSIN 21, Tennessee 17 - I go back and forth
here as the Vols came alive late this year ... still,
the Badgers so pretty well in bowls, the Vols aren't
happy about a return to Tampa and it may be the only
chance for the Big Ten to beat the SEC this year

* FLORIDA 56, Michigan 10 - Not a nice sendoff for
poor Lloyd ... having to play the Gators in their
backyard, with a Heisman winner who runs the spread
attack that's given them so many problems. Ouch!

* USC 48, Illinois 17 - Another ouch game for the Big
Ten ... but also another game that's virtually on the
opponent's home field. The brash Illini will hang in
there for a quarter or two, but USC was #1 preseason
for a reason and now that they're healthy, they're
probably the best team playing right now.

* OHIO STATE 24, Louisiana State 17 - Yeah, call me
crazy here. It's a home game for LSU, with all the SEC
speed and they're getting healthy. They'll be mad over
hearing all month how they shouldn't be there, too.
But I smell an upset here. Last year may have been the
first time ever that Tressel wasn't ready for a big
game. That will change this year. Last year was an
offensive team, but this year's Bucks are more to
Tressel's liking with the tough D and running game. I
think the Bucks keep it close and hang on sloopy at
the end. And if they don't, just look at the
sophomores and juniors on their roster and save a spot
for them in Miami next year.

* TEXAS 35, Arizona State 21 - Good matchup on paper
in San Diego, but a healthy Texas jumps out early and
the Devils can't come back.

* OREGON STATE 31, Maryland 20 - The Beavers have
quietly surged toward the end of the year and probably
deserved a better bowl than this.

* CENTRAL FLORIDA 38, Mississippi State 17 - Yup, the
Knights roll. Take that SEC!

* COLORADO 42, Alabama 38 - Yup, another SEC loss.
(Overrated!) These two were headed in opposite
directions for the last month of the year.

* SOUTH FLORIDA 27, Oregon 10 - The Ducks make it
respectable for most of the game, but let's face it,
without Dixon they're toast. USF is still overrated,
but they're getting an easy win here.

* FLORIDA STATE 37, Kentucky 31 - Another SEC slip up
here as the Noles are tough with time to prepare as
well.

* AUBURN 19, Clemson 17 - Finally the SEC wins one
here as the Chickens-Can't-Spell Bowl could be a
dandy.

* MISSOURI 41, Arkansas 31 - A good game for offensive
star power as the BCS-snubbed Tigers (who beat
Illinois and Kansas) get angry and get the win.

* TEXAS TECH 42, Virginia 13 - How in the heck did
these two get on New Year's Day? Well, it won't be
pretty as the living-by-luck Cavs don't have the
firepower to keep up with the high-flying Red Raiders.

* GEORGIA 49, Hawaii 27 - I'd love to see the upset
here, but the Dawgs are steaming that they're not
playing a week later in the Superdome and all Coach
Richt has to do is show them last year's Fiesta Bowl
tape to get them to not underestimate the Warriors.

* OKLAHOMA 42, West Virginia 24 - Speaking of that
Fiesta Bowl tape, Coach Stoopps will show it as well
to get his Sooners fired up and the team that looked a
lot more impressive than anyone else on the last
Saturday of the season rolls up a win here.

* VIRGINIA TECH 34, Kansas 21 - Another BCS yawner
here with the Jayhawks not ready for prime time yet
and the Hokies making their case along with UGa and
Oklahoma for being #1 should LSU win unimpressively.

Picks in by kickoff in Detroit on the 26th.
Go Big Ten!
GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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