Weekly Picks of the Week - Bowl Games Part One

Picks in Bold

Rankings based on BCS Standings
All lines provided by Sportsbook.ag

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas
Washington Huskies (+5) v. #19 Boise St. Broncos
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas

Sat. Dec. 22
3:30
ESPN

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl
Baylor Bears v. #17 UCLA Bruins (Pick)

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Thurs. Dec. 27
9:45
ESPN

Russell Athletic Bowl
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (+2.5) v. Virginia Tech Hokies

Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Fri. Dec. 28
5:30
ESPN

Valero Alamo Bowl
#23 Texas Longhorns v. #13 Oregon State Beavers (-2)

Alamodome, San Antonio
Sat. Dec. 29
6:45
ESPN

Hyundai Sun Bowl
USC Trojans v. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (+10)

Sun Bowl, El Paso
Mon. Dec. 31
2:00
CBS

Chick-fil-a Bowl
#8 LSU Tigers (-4) v. #14 Clemson Tigers

Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Mon. Dec. 31
7:30

-Alright, it's Bowl Season and there is only one thing I have to say about that - Boring.  I think I have discussed this before (I looked it up and I have), but it bears repeating, bowl games are nothing but glorified exhibition games and the outcome of those games give no real representation of the level of play of the represented teams......other than in the one game that matters - the National Championship Game and that isn't even technically a bowl game.  If you watch a bowl game, you see a game where generally one team cares to be there and competes and another team that is there because the players get a free gift card to Best Buy and could care less about playing.  How else do you explain Boise State beating Oklahoma in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl?  Because Boise State was actually better than the Sooners?  Laughable.  It was because Boise State was pumped to be playing in their first (stupid) BCS Bowl and Oklahoma couldn't care less that they were playing in another (stupid) BCS Bowl against an inferior opponent.  It's the same reasoning as to why I wouldn't be surprised if Northern Illinois upsets Florida State in the Orange Bowl or Louisville upsets Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

Also, why in the hell are there so many bowl games anyways?  We currently have 35 bowls.  That means that 70 of the 124 FBS teams play in the "post-season".  So, how exactly can you say that playing in a bowl game means anything when nearly two-thirds of the FBS is in the "post-season"?  In fact, there have been 19 new bowl games created in the past two decades meaning that the number of teams that play in the "post-season" has more than doubled since Encino Man came out.  Does a team truly feel special when they play in a bowl game after going 6-6 (or 6-7 in Georgia Tech's case)?  Basically, college football has figured out a way of awarding Participation Medals to its teams.  You know, kind of like how parents give trophies to all of their kids whether they are actually good or if they are crappy and unalthletic just so the crappy kids don't get their feelings hurt.  Come on, that's pathetic.  The solution is to either cut the number of bowl games in half so that they mean something again or finally admit that bowls are pointless money grabs for a handful of old white guys.

-Lastly, I finished the season with a losing week (2-4) and it was because the underdogs covered in all but one of the Conference Championship Games and obviously my picks were for the favorites.  In any case, my bowl picks are going to be independent of my regular season picks because bowl games are such a crap shoot and picking which team is actually going to show up to compete is harder than Jerry Sandusky at a children's Christmas pageant (I had to get one more Jerry Sandusky joke in before the end of the season).  Anyways, I finished the season with an overall winning record, so I have that going for me.

The Funniest College GameDay Sign From Last Weekend Said:

(Okay, I know that that isn't a sign from the most recent College Gameday, but you have to admit that picture is glorious.  However, I did see a sign that made me laugh, it said "Go Dwags!".)

Last Week's Results: 2-4
Season Results: 49-38