Bowl season has just gotten underway, and already I am off to an 0-1 start in my postseason picks. Surely, I shouldn’t even need to tell you at this point, but I will, anyway: Don’t Bet On It!
Here is the next round of bowl forecasts:
Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green Falcons v. Idaho Vandals (Dec. 30): Oh, you have to be kidding me! I’m diving headfirst back into bowl season, and you’re giving me Bowling Green versus Idaho on the blue field in Boise? For crying out loud, this is a game so lame even I may not watch it! If I declared a national bowl of disinterest, this would be it. Eenie meenie minie . . . Bowling Green. Moving right along now. . . .
Holiday Bowl: Arizona Wildcats v. Nebraska Cornhuskers (Dec. 30): There was some good thinking going on there. Here we have a bowl game with a long history of being one of the most exciting postseason tilts around, played in scenic San Diego, all of which adds up to one of the most watchable bowls on the slate, and some nimrod at Pacific Life decides to invite Mike Stoops and Bo Pelini, the two finalists for the AFCA’s Wayne Woodrow Hayes Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the head coach voted most likely to blow a head gasket and completely flip out on the sideline. Watching this bowl game will be like watching a hockey game . . . you’ll just be hanging around waiting for the fight to start. The ‘Cats are happy to be there and the ‘Huskers are miffed about coming within one second of winning the Big 12, so I’m going with Arizona.
Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force Falcons v. Houston Cougars (Dec. 31): I’m glad the House Committee on Un-American Activities isn’t still in existence, because I’m afraid I might be investigated for picking against a service academy in the Armed Forces Bowl. Nevertheless, the Cougs have done what putative "BCS busters" did perennially prior to the Utah Utes’ breakthrough season in 2004, winning their marquee non-conference contests while stumbling against league foes in head-scratching losses. Inasmuch as this game qualifies as a marquee non-conference contest (and is being played in the Lone Star State), I’m thinking Houston should have no problem.
Sun Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners v. Stanford Cardinal (Dec. 31): If I’d told you four months ago that Oklahoma and Stanford would be meeting in a bowl game this season, you’d have told me either that I was crazy or that my prediction was a sign of the apocalypse. Well, you may want to have your Bible open to the Book of Revelation on New Year’s Eve, because I’m picking the Cardinal to win in spite of the numerical advantage the Sooners enjoy by virtue of having pluralized their mascot.
If my math is correct (and there’s a very good chance it isn’t), I’m halfway through the bowl season, so stick around for the bowls you actually care about rest of my prognostications, but, in the meantime, don’t forget my regular disclaimer: Don’t Bet On It!
Go ‘Dawgs!