[NU Sports] PIGSKIN PICKS - Bowl Pool

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

It's getting tough to find 20 semi-respectable games, but that should make the pickin' more interesting.

Our first game is next Wednesday - Dec. 22 - in Vegas - so get ALL picks in by that date and we'll allow repicks if something major happens in between next Wednesday and the bowl (such as the NCAA finally realizing that if Cam Newton's dad wanted $100,000 from Miss State, he probably wouldn't have let his kid go to Auburn for free!).

Picks in by DEC. 22!

PIGSKIN PICKS – BOWL POOL
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Name: 

BIG TEN
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GAME  1: Wisconsin vs. Texas Christian (Rose Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  2: Ohio State vs. Arkansas (Sugar Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  3: Michigan State vs. Alabama (Citrus Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  4: Penn State vs. Florida (Outback Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  5: Michigan vs. Mississippi State (Gator Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  6: Iowa vs. Missouri (Insight Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  7: Illinois vs. Baylor (Texas Bowl)

NATIONAL
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GAME 8: Auburn vs. Oregon (BCS Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME  9: Stanford vs. Virginia Tech (Orange Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 10: Connecticut vs. Oklahoma (Fiesta Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 11: Louisiana State vs. Texas A&M (Cotton Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 12: Boise State vs. Utah (Vegas Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 13: Arizona vs. Oklahoma State (Alamo Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 14: Nebraska vs. Washington (Holiday Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 15: Miami vs. Notre Dame (Sun Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 16: Florida State vs. South Carolina (Peach Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 17: Central Florida vs. Georgia (Liberty Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 18: Boston College vs. Nevada (San Francisco Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 19: North Carolina vs. Tennessee (Music City Bowl)
WINNER: 

GAME 20: NC State vs. West Virginia (Champs Bowl)
WINNER: 

MY PICKS
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ROSE BOWL: Wisconsin 42, TCU 24
- I think this one’s close for a half, but the Badgers wear the Frogs down and show both why they probably should be in a plus-one playoff right now and why no team from outside of the Big Ten or Pac 10 should be in Pasadena.

SUGAR BOWL: Ohio State 27, Arkansas 17
- Petrino’s Piggies struggle against a decent defense and Pryor turns on the bowl magic again to lead the Buckeyes to a comfortable victory here.

CITRUS BOWL: Alabama 35, Michigan State 10
- The Saban Bowl is a snoozer, as the Tide underperformed this year and should be playing for a title again – with a month to prepare, they crush Sparty.

OUTBACK BOWL: Florida 26, Penn State 23
- Could be one of the better bowl games, as JoePa does well in bowls and against the SEC, plus his young Lions could position themselves as a preseason top 10 team next year … but then there’s Brett Favre, er, Urban Meyer’s latest diva attention grabber, er, retirement. The Gators steal one.

GATOR BOWL: Michigan 38, Mississippi State 30
- RichRod has the Maize and Blue back in a bowl and Robinson steals the spotlight on New Year’s Day with a big game … because really, who has Miss State beaten this year?

INSIGHT BOWL: Missouri 41, Iowa 21
- Yet again, this game depends on which version of the Big Ten team shows up. If preseason top 10 Iowa shows up, we could be in for a dandy … but if Iowa takes after Minnesota’s recent trips and mopes into Phoenix, they’ll be run out of the stadium by Mizzou.

TEXAS BOWL: Illinois 31, Baylor 24
- Speaking of which team shows up, the Zookers are the Big Ten’s Jeckyl/Hyde team. If they come ready to run the ball, they win big. If they come with butterfingers and give the game away, it could be ugly.

BCS BOWL: Oregon 93, Auburn 91 (7OT)
- Neither team has a defense, but hopefully the Ducks win to shut up the SEC fans and to save us from a future vacated title.

ORANGE BOWL: Stanford 30, Virginia Tech 10
- Hokie fans should outnumber Tree fans 10-to-1 (literally, no fractions or percentages), but Stanford puts the nation to sleep early on Jan. 3 with a snoozer.

FIESTA BOWL: Oklahoma 56, Connecticut 7
- Stoops remembers Boise State. Stoops remembers West Virginia. Stoops remembers the Fiesta Bowl. And once fans remember that UConn was crushed by Temple and Louisville this year, not to mention Michigan, they will demand their money back from this New Year’s Day nightcap clunker.

COTTON BOWL: Texas A&M 19, Louisiana State 9
- The Hat’s luck doesn’t carry over into the new year as the Aggies finish the year on a roll.

VEGAS BOWL: Boise State 37, Utah 24
- Could be a fun game, but Utah can’t keep up late.

ALAMO BOWL: Oklahoma State 59, Arizona 38
- Another game with two teams who have no defense. Another blowout. The bowl lineup really sucks this year.

HOLIDAY BOWL: Nebraska 42, Washington 7
- A repeat and just as uninteresting as the first game. Zzzzzz.

SUN BOWL: Notre Dame 28, Miami 23
- I think more fans would play for a flag football game with the 1987 players than this retro snoozer, and even worse, with Miami in disarray, we get to hear about the return of the Irish when they sneak up a win. Preseason #1, here they come!

PEACH BOWL: South Carolina 27, Florida State 24
- Could be a good game, and Spurrier will find out it’s just not as much fun beating the Noles without Bobby saying “dag gummit” when his kicks sail wide right.

LIBERTY BOWL: Georgia 33, Central Florida 28
- When in doubt, go with the SEC.

SAN FRANCISCO BOWL: Nevada 34, Boston College 17
- Another minor bowl I will see only in channel surfing blips.

MUSIC CITY BOWL: Tennessee 17, North Carolina 14
- Again, go with the SEC.

CHAMPS BOWL: West Virginia 28, NC State 27
- Honestly, flip a friggin’ coin

And off the board …

DALLAS BOWL: Northwestern 41, Texas Tech 37
- It’s a tough call here as with time to prepare, hopefully the kid will be able to keep scoring with the Red Raiders since our D has forgotten how to tackle. We’ve made ‘em close under Fitz and we’re due for a win! Start the NU year off right, Cats!

Remember, picks due by kickoff Wednesday in Vegas!
GO CATS!!!
-SjT


* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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