NCAA Bowl Games

Four Bowl Day/Night

Thursday’s (Friday Australian time) College football Bowl games feature the Armed Forces Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl, the Music City Bowl and the Holiday Bowl.

This years Armed Forces Bowl pits Army (6-6) against SMU (7-6) in a game that will be essentially a home game for SMU as it will be played on their Dallas campus. SMU comes into the game as the runner up in Conference USA after losing the conference championship game to Central Florida. Army, an independent is bowl eligible for the first time since 1996. The Black Knights finished the season with losses to Notre Dame and Navy.

The first incarnation of the Pinstripe Bowl in New York’s Yankee Stadium will see Syracuse (7-5) take on Kansas State (7-5). Syracuse limped through the final weeks of the season losing three of their last four games while Kansas State also finished poorly after a fast start.

Nashville’s Music City Bowl, known for upsets in the past features Tennessee (6-6) and North Carolina (7-5) in this season’s game. NCAA investigation wrecked havoc on what was predicted to be a boom season for North Carolina. The Tarheels feel from the Top 25 early in the season and had indifferent results throughout. Tennessee has not had a loss since October 30, winning their final four games of the season.

The Holiday Bowl in San Diego sees Washington (6-6) get a chance to avenge an early season drubbing from Nebraska (10-3). The Huskies suffered an embarrassing 56-21 loss to the Cornhuskers in the third game of their season. Nebraska narrowly lost the Big 12 championship game to Oklahoma 23-20 to finish their regular season.

The predictions:

Armed Forces Bowl

Army vs. SMU

SMU gets by at home 27-17.

Pinstripe Bowl

Kansas State vs. Syracuse

Kansas State 34-24.

Music City Bowl

North Carolina vs. Tennessee

Carolina 30-17.

Holiday Bowl

Nebraska (17) vs. Washington

Nebraska 47-24.

College Bowl Games

Three Bowl Night

Wednesday’s college football action sees East Carolina (6-6) meeting Maryland (8-4) in the Military Bowl at 1430 (0530 Thursday AEST), Illinois (6-6) matching up against Baylor (7-5) in the Texas Bowl at 1800 (0900 Thursday AEST) and Oklahoma State (10-2) playing Arizona (7-5) in the Alamo Bowl at 2115 (1215 Thursday AEST).

The Maryland-East Carolina will feature two high powered teams and the loser may score well into the 30’s. Baylor returns to the bowl scene against a Big 10 foe and are hungry for a victory. Oklahoma State comes in looking for a win to cap a season that was marred by loses to Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Military Bowl

East Carolina vs. Maryland

I will go with the Terps here, Maryland 40-30.

Texas Bowl

Illinois vs. Baylor

Baylor by 31-20.

Alamo Bowl

Oklahoma State (16) vs. Arizona

Oklahoma State 38-21.

There will be more over the next few days as we head into the BCS Bowls.

More Bowl Games...

Champs Sports and Insight Bowls

Next on the NCAA Bowl menu we have the Champs Sports Bowl matching North Carolina State against West Virginia and the Insight Bowl pitting Missouri against Iowa.

West Virginia, 9-3, rides the crest of a four game win streak into the game against the ACC’s N.C. State team that comes into the game after a somewhat disappointing 8-4 season. Missouri recovered from back to back losses to Nebraska and Texas Tech to finish with a 10-2 record while Iowa fell from lofty ranking during the season to finish a disappointing 7-5 after losing four of their last six games.

Here go the picks:

Champs Sports Bowl

West Virginia (22) vs. N.C. State

Russell Wilson may be making his final NCAA appearance and look for him to lead State to a minor upset 27-22.

Insight Bowl

Missouri finishes on a strong note with a 34-24 win.

College Bowl Games

The Independence Bowl

NCAA Bowling continues with the Independence Bowl on Monday night US time (0800 Tuesday AEST). The Air Force Academy Falcons will pit their option attack against a similar attack from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Fans of the passing game will not be appeased with this one with a combined 25-30 passing attempts being a reach. Three of the four Falcons losses were to ranked teams Oklahoma, TCU and Utah with their other loss being to bowl team San Diego State. Georgia Tech finished a disappointing 6-6 on the season.

Independence Bowl

Air Force vs. Georgia Tech

The Falcons have been solid this season and should remained disciplined enough in their attack to get this one 38-20.

Little Caesars Bowl next up...

Little Caesars Bowl next on Agenda

The College Football bowl season is back after a day off for Christmas when Florida International makes their first post season appearance in Detroit’s Little Caesars Bowl game. The Panthers will meet the Toledo Rockets in a game pitting a Sun Belt Conference team against a Mid-American Conference foe.

Little Caesars Bowl

Florida International vs. Toledo

FIU comes in with a strong defensive unit and look to impress in their first bowl game while three of Toledo’s four losses were to bowl participants Boise State, Northern Illinois and Arizona.

For this one I’ll say Toledo 27-FIU 14.

NFL Continued

Week 16 – Crunch Time continued

The NFL season heads for home this week with a few key games that have major playoff ramifications. The week started with Pittsburgh getting a fairly easy win over Carolina. So here we go with the rest of the picks.

Dallas @ Arizona

Both teams just playing out the schedule….will take Dallas by 33-20.

Tennessee @ Kansas City

C’mon Titans…do the Chargers a favour by 24-21!!

Baltimore @ Cleveland

Ravens get back to form with a 27-22 win.

New England @ Buffalo

Pats tune up with 38-17 win.

San Francisco @ St. Louis

Rams get closer to playoffs after 30-28 win.

Detroit @ Miami

Dolphins have been horrible at home so going with the Lions by 27-21.

Washington @ Jacksonville

Jags 34-24.

NY Jets @ Chicago

Big late season match up, both are already in playoffs, will take the Bears by 24-17.

Houston @ Denver

Texans 28-24.

Indianapolis @ Oakland

Danger trip for Colts…Raiders 34-31 winners.

San Diego @ Cincinnati

Chargers win and wait for help. Bolts 38-17.

Seattle @ Tampa Bay

Bucs take the Seahawks by 30-28.

NY Giants @ Green Bay

Essentially a playoff game, loser goes home, Packers 24-20.

Minnesota @ Philadelphia

Eagles by 30-14.

New Orleans @ Atlanta

These two could meet again real soon….will take the Falcons by 35-30 for this one.

Merry Christmas all…..enjoy the weekend’s action.

Hawaii Bowl

Christmas Eve in Hawaii

Continuing on through the College Football Bowl season we have the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve (11:00am AEST Christmas Day).

The game features the potent Hawaii Warriors against one of this seasons surprise teams, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. The Tulsa crew ride in on the crest of a six game win streak that includes a win ov3er Notre Dame at South Bend.

Hawaii finished the season strong winning nine from their last ten with the only blemish being a loss to Boise State.

Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii vs. Tulsa

The Warriors high octane offense may be too strong for Tulsa. Hawaii to win 42-24.

Holiday Football!!!

More NCAA Bowls, NFL Week 16

Next on the Gridiron Agenda this week we have the Poinsettia Bowl in the college game and Week 16 of NFL action.

Firstly in San Diego, we have this years Poinsettia Bowl featuring the local San Diego State Aztecs against the Midshipmen of Navy who will have a huge following in the Naval Base city.

On the NFL front we a woeful Carolina team travelling to Pittsburgh.

Here we go pick wise:

Poinsettia Bowl

Navy vs. San Diego State

The Midshipmen come in riding a four game win streak but will face a solid San Diego State squad that has three losses to AP Top 25 teams among its four total losses for the year.

This one will be close but I will pick San Diego State to get by 34-32.

NFL Week 16

Only a so-so 9-7 week, I am at 133-84 for the year predicting the good old NFL…kicking off this week:

Carolina @ Pittsburgh

Steelers rebound from loss to Jets with a 31-10 win.

Merry Christmas to all……

College Bowl Games

The Bowling continues

The NCAA college football bowl season continues with the MAACO Bowl on Wednesday night (11:00 am Thursday AEST).

So far we have seen BYU, Troy, Northern Illinois and Louisville garner wins in the first four games.

Here we go for the Wednesday game, the first of the Bowl Season featuring ranked teams.

MAACO Bowl

Utah (20) vs. Boise State (10)

A few weeks ago this could have been a major BCS match but is now relegated to a very good early bowl game.

Boise State 34-23.

Back with more in the next day or so….Happy Holidays!!

NFL Continued

NFL Week 15…the Rest

After my correct pick of the Mighty Chargers for Thursday night’s game, here are my remaining NFL picks for the week.

Kansas City @ St. Louis

Not as publicised as the Ohio battle, this Missouri showdown has post season ramifications for both teams.

Rams in a minor upset 24-20.

Arizona @ Carolina

Cardinals by 34-17.

Philadelphia @ NY Giants

Eagles remain on track with 27-17 win.

Detroit @ Tampa Bay

Bucs 34-24.

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

Browns in a close one 21-17.

Buffalo @ Miami

Dolphins get by Bills 28-20.

Washington @ Dallas

Cowboys take the rivalry match 30-20…have the ‘Skins really won 5 games this season??

Jacksonville @ Indianapolis

Colts take a close one 31-30.

New Orleans @ Baltimore

Saints continue to quietly roll with a 28-17 win.

Houston @ Tennessee

Titans finally get one 31-14.

Atlanta @ Seattle

Falcons 24-10.

NY Jets @ Pittsburgh

Jets continue to slide with another loss by say 27-14 this week.

Denver @ Oakland

Raiders 33-30.

Green Bay @ New England

Packers are shaky going into this one…..come out with a loss 30-21.

Chicago @ Minnesota

Bears 24-13.

Two weeks to go after this one….getting interesting…..

College Bowl Games

Let’s Go Bowling!!!

It is that time of year where we have a plethora of college bowl games, some not so mouth watering but hopefully evenly matched in the first few days. As most college fans would prefer, me included, a playoff system would be great. Come on BCS/NCAA it is time.

Here we go for the first week of action:

New Mexico Bowl

BYU vs. UTEP

Both teams come in at 6-6, BYU is always looking to put up big numbers and UTEP is happy to be here. BYU 42-31.

Humanitarian Bowl

Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State

Fresno State rallied for a couple of wins after being destroyed by Boise State while Northern Illinois finished with a disappointing loss in the MAC title game. Northern Illinois 34-10.

New Orleans Bowl

Ohio vs. Troy

Troy 27-22.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl (Tuesday)

Southern Miss vs. Louisville

Former Metro Conference foes meet again with Southern Miss taking a 40-20 win.

More picks later in the week.

NFL Picks...

NFL Reaches Week 15

I stand at 124-77 in picking the NFL this season and look to finish the last few weeks strongly as I hop my favs, the San Diego Chargers do!!

Speaking of, we have the Chargers first up this week hosting the San Francisco 49ers so here we go pick wise:

San Francisco @ San Diego

The 49ers come in off of a big win but so do the Chargers. San Diego takes this one and hopes for help from the Rams beating KC.

Chargers 30-17.

More NFL Picks on the way later…..

NFL Picks...

NFL Week 14 Continued

Well I am off to a 0-1 start this week in NFL picks. The action gets interesting now as the season enters the final four weeks with teams jockeying for playoff spots.

Here we go!!!

Tampa Bay @ Washington

Bucs are still in playoff hunt, ‘Skins need a win to stay in. Going against gut instinct and picking Washington 24-20.

Cleveland @ Buffalo

Quite an even match actually so I will go with the home team. Bills 28-20.

Green Bay @ Detroit

Packers 38-17.

Oakland @ Jacksonville

Jags 31-21.

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh

Steelers 30-14.

Atlanta @ Carolina

Falcons romp 38-13.

Seattle @ San Francisco

49ers get this one at home 24-21.

St. Louis @ New Orleans

Saints 40-20.

New England @ Chicago

Bears pull the upset 23-21.

Denver @ Arizona

Cardinals 27-20.

Miami @ NY Jets

Jets back on track after 24-10 win.

Kansas City @ San Diego

The Bolts avenge season opening loss 35-17.

Philadelphia @ Dallas

The “Vick Show” plays Dallas to rave reviews, Eagles win 21-13.

NY Giants @ Minnesota

Giants 27-21.

Baltimore @ Houston

Ravens “D” gets them by in this one 20-10.

‘Til next week, enjoy the action!!!!

NCAA Week....

Calm Before Storm in NCAA Football

With the Bowl season fast approaching, there are only a few games of not this weekend, mainly in the FCS playoffs and the traditional Army-Navy battle.

I finished 14-5 last week so here goes my short list for this wee.

Army vs. Navy

Navy has the advantage again this year but in a close one 27-22.

FCS Games

Delaware advanced on Friday night with a 16-3 win over New Hampshire.

Villanova @ Appalachian State

Battle of recent champions here, App St. 30-20 at home.

Georgia Southern @ Wofford

Rematch between these Southern Conference foes, Wofford wins again by 24-20 this time.

North Dakota State @ Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington 34-17.

Alabama State vs. Texas Southern

This one is for the SWAC championship and not part of the FCS playoffs…Texas Southern wins the rematch 24-10.

Time for bowl picks next week…..going into deep thought!! LOL!!

High School Football....

Championship Saturday for VHSL Football Season

Well after my semi final picks last week where I went 4-8, I will now gaze into my crystal ball for championship game picks in the Virginia High school League. Each division will have a championship doubleheader with the AAA finals at Scott Stadium on the campus of the University of Virginia, the AA deciders will be held at Liberty University’s William Stadium and the A finals will be at Salem City Stadium.

Here are my picks.

AAA

Division 6

Battlefield vs. Hermitage

I will go with the undefeated Hermitage to win by 10.

Division 5

Phoebus vs. Stone Bridge

Stone Bridge by 4.

AA

Division 4

Harrisonburg vs. Briar Woods

Harrisonburg escaped in a 2OT thriller last week but look for BW to grab the crown by 8.

Division 3

Poquoson vs. Richlands

Poquoson by 3 in a thriller.

A

Division 2

Gretna vs. Gate City

Way back in my younger days….Gate City was a AA power…..wonder if they still blow train whistle after scoring??? But Gretna should win this one by 14.

Division 1

Eastern Montgomery vs. Riverheads

Eastern Montgomery caps perfect season with a win by 16 in title game.

Congrats to all on fine seasons and thanks to Friday Football Extra and WDBJ 7 for providing a glimpse of the action back home all the way to Australia.

NFL Picks...

NFL Week 14

Last weeks 11-5 effort puts me up to 113-72 for the season in my NFL picks. The action starts early this week with Indianapolis visiting Tennessee. So, here we go.

Indianapolis @ Tennessee

The Colts wobble into Tennessee looking to get their season back onto the right track. It is about time for the Titans to turn things around too….Tennessee 27-24.

More picks on the way in the next day or so.

NFL Continued

Week 13 NFL Picks continued

After the Eagles win Thursday night, I am 102-67 for the season NFL wise with the season ploughing through the holiday season. Here are the rest of my NFL picks for the week.

Cleveland @ Miami

The Browns may just get this one on the road by say a hair 27-24.

San Francisco @ Green Bay

Packers get back to winning with a 34-10 victory.

Denver @ Kansas City

Chiefs get a scare but hang on 24-20.

Buffalo @ Minnesota

Is honeymoon over for Vikings new coach?? Not this week….Vikings 28-20.

Chicago @ Detroit

Bears 30-14.

Jacksonville @ Tennessee

Titans 28-17.

Washington @ NY Giants

Giants start playoff jostle with a 30-20 win.

New Orleans @ Cincinnati

Bengals continue to disappoint after 30-13 loss.

Oakland @ San Diego

It’s that time of the year….Chargers 34-13.

Atlanta @ Tampa Bay

Bucs in an upset of sorts 21-17.

Carolina @ Seattle

Seahawks 30-10.

St. Louis @ Arizona

Rams get one on the road 34-31.

Dallas @ Indianapolis

Indy sputters but wins 24-23.

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore

Ravens win the divisional battle 27-17.

NY Jets @ New England

Another biggie….Pats pull this one out 27-21.

There, I’m done for this week…..looking to see my results …..enjoy the games.

Conference Championship Saturday

NCAA Regular Season Final Weekend

After a 14-10 week, I limp into the final regular season weekend in NCAA football. They are some juicy matches to be looked at so here we go.

Oregon (1) @ Oregon State

Anything goes in this one but the Ducks may sneak by 26-13.

Auburn (2) vs. South Carolina (18)

It was a barn burner last time…this time The Gamecocks pull it off 28-24.

Utah State @ Boise State (9)

Broncos playing for decent bowl spot in this one…..win big 54-7.

Oklahoma (10) vs. Nebraska (13)

Sooners send ‘Huskers out of the Big 12 with a loss…..Sooners 34-23.

Va Tech (12) vs. Florida State (20)

Tech takes ACC crown with a 31-20 victory.

Nevada (14) @ La Tech

Wolfpack finishes strong with a 38-10 win.

Rutgers @ West Virginia (23)

Mountaineers win 40-17.

UNLV @ Hawaii (25)

Hawaii goes bowling after 38-20 win.

SMU @ Central Florida

UCF wins Conference USA crown with 23-14 victory.

UConn @ South Florida

USF gets Big East win 27-22.

USC @ UCLA

Trojans win the rivalry match 34-10.

FCS Playoffs:

Westerm Illinois (24) @ Appalachian State (3)

App St. 3020.

Wofford (6) @ Jacksonville St. (9)

Jacksonville State marches on 24-21.

Lehigh (18) @ Delaware (5)

Blue Hens by 34-17.

New Hampshire (10) @ Bethune Cookman (13)

This one will be a burner…New Hampshire escapes 20-17.

Ga Southern (22) @ William & Mary (4)

William & Mary wins a tough one 27-17.

North Dakota St. (21) @ Montana St. (7)

Big battle out west….Montana St wins 33-30.

Villanova (11) @ S.F. Austin (2)

‘Nova gets a tough one on the road 14-10.

SE Missouri St. (8) @ Eastern Washington (1)

East Wash 22-7.

The Bowl picture will be clear after the weekend and I will post my picks shortly……happy viewing.

VHSL Playoffs

State Semi final time back in Virginia

The VHSL playoffs are down to the semi final stage this weekend so I’ll take a shot at predicting the lot!!!

First up the AAA semis

Division 6

Hermitage vs. Bayside

Battle of unbeatens here….Bayside by 8.

Battlefield vs. Lake Braddock

At least I have memories of Lake Braddock being a good consistent programme; I think I’ll pick them by 4.

Division 5

Stone Bridge vs. Osbourn

Osbourn by 10.

Phoebus vs. Dinwiddie

Dinwiddie by 6.

AA Semis

Division 4

Courtland vs. Briar Woods

Wonder if the Jerry Carter at Briar Woods is the same as the former Laurel Park coach?? Going on that hunch and picking Briar Woods by 12.

Harrisonburg @ Christiansburg

In what could have easily been the championship match, C’Burg gets by at home by 4.

Division 3

Handley vs. Poquoson

Poquoson by 7.

Richlands vs. Brookville

Brookville ends the Richlands run by 12.

A Semis

Division 2

King William vs. Gretna

Gretna by 18.

Gate City vs. Radford

Radford by 2.

Division 1

Riverheads vs. Franklin

Franklin by 3.

Eastern Montgomery vs. Clintwood

Eastern Montgomery by 13.

Good luck to all and congrats to Magna Vista for a fine season this year….get ‘em next season.

NFL Thursday Night!!!

NFL Week 13

Week 13 kicks off on Thursday with Houston visiting Philadelphia. Last week, I went 10-6 including an exact 20-17 score pick in the Atlanta/Green Bay matchup.

Ok to start the week:

Houston @ Philadelphia

Eagles bounce back at home with a big win on Thursday night 31-14.

The rest of my picks will be posted over the next day or so….stay tuned.