Kansas State Wildcats VS Arkansas Razorbacks Cotton Bowl Free Pick

Kansas State Wildcats VS Arkansas Razorbacks Cotton Bowl Free Pick: The Kansas State Wildcats were magicians this season. With a roster not close to matching the talent of big time programs, they managed a 10-2 record and an 8th overall ranking by season’s end. They didn’t just feed on the weak, either. The only losses the Wildcats came across were to Oklahoma (in a game that got out of hand in the 2nd half) and a touchdown loss to the possible co-National Champion, Oklahoma State. They Beat Miami, upset Baylor, took down Missouri, beat Texas A&M in 4 overtimes, and upset Texas. Just about every game was close, and they never wavered.

Collin Klein was a surprising offensive dynamo for the Wildcats. Not only did he throw key touchdowns during his first year on the job, but he also led the team in rushing with over 1000 yards on the ground and a Cam Newton-esque 26 rushing touchdowns. And it’s not like he broke a lot of big ones – he was a workhorse in the backfield, carrying the ball 100+ more times than any other player. Needless to say, if the Razorbacks can stop Klein, they should walk away with this Bowl victory.

But I don’t think they can stop Klein. Arkansas hasn’t been very good at stopping the run all year long, and I don’t know why a month between games (usually means bad tackling) would change any of that.

There’s certainly something to be said for #6 Arkansas, however. They also finished the season 10-2, and their only losses came to the teams playing in the BCS National Championship – LSU and Alabama (not in that order). The only difference is they were slaughtered in both of those games. LSU took them down 41-17 while Alabama beat them 38-14. Wins over Texas A&M, Auburn, and South Carolina were all good ones – but I think Kansas State is good enough to give them a run.

Getting 7.5 points, you would almost have to take K-State against anyone. They aren’t as talented a bunch, but they seem to get it done.

Kansas State (+7.5) VS Arkansas

Michigan Wolverines VS Virginia Tech Hokies Sugar Bowl Free Pick

Michigan Wolverines VS Virginia Tech Hokies Sugar Bowl Free Pick: I’d probably be reaching too far if I said I was taking the Hokies because the Big 10 continues to prove it’s ineptitude amongst the big-wigs in college football and thus the Wolverines are probably not as good as people think. But then again, they are going against the ACC which isn’t much better. In fact, they are worse. So it’s not that, I’m taking the Hokies for reasons outside of conference strength – even though the Big 10 has lost all but one bowl game so far this year.

I’m taking the Hokies because I think their team speed (defensively) will have a great impact on slowing the Wolverines run-heavy attack. In the Big 10 I don’t think the Wolverines play many defenses like the one the Hokies will put on the field on Tuesday Night.

Michigan was just 2-2 on the road this season, while they were 8-0 at home. Denard Robinson was a statistical anomale once again this season, even though he didn’t produce quite like he did last year. He’ll be a tough one for the Hokies to stop, but I think they can do it.

Virginia Tech has a little bit more of a power rushing attack, one they’ll be able to lean on throughout the Sugar Bowl. Running back, David Wilson was the ACC’s player of the year, and a 1st Round talent going into 2012’s NFL Draft.

Nobody from Virginia Tech played well in their last game, so if you’re looking for momentum to carry on from their last game – the right pick would be Michigan. The Wolverines finished the season well. I just think Tech is the better team.

Michigan Wolverines VS Virginia Tech Hokies (+3)

BCS Bowls Free College Football Picks

BCS BOWLS

Rose Bowl
Wisconsin Badgers (+5.5) VS Oregon Ducks

The Rose Bowl should be a fun one. These are probably the two most explosive offenses from their respective conferences and I think that will make for one heck of a fun battle. Not quite what Washington and Baylor put together a few days ago, but something similar to that. I know that Oregon has a ton of team speed, and that could very well be the undoing of Wisconsin, but I like the Badgers’ chances better if they fall behind. I think they have the offense that can come back. This is a real tough one for me, but I’m going against Oregon.

Fiesta Bowl
Stanford VS Oklahoma State (-3.5)

Stanford has played a few close games this year, and while they are an efficient beast offensively, they are kind to opponents on the other side of the ball. Oklahoma State is so explosive that I think they end up on top in this one. I know the Pac 12 has struggled significantly so far in the Bowl season. I expect this to be a little bit closer, but in the end, Oklahoma State’s touchdown power will give them the cover.

Free College Football Picks for December 31, 2011 New Years Eve Bowl Games

Well it’s always nice when the team you pick to win by two touchdowns (Oklahoma) gets off to a 21-0 lead. Then it sucks terribly when they piss away a couple scores in the 4th quarter and are up just 21-14. Then, of course, it’s awesome that they score 10 points in the last 2 minutes of the game to once again cover up the spread. All that to split Friday’s Bowl games with a 2-2 record. Hopefully Saturday puts me back in the green.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
Texas A&M (-10) VS Northwestern
I’ve thought a lot of Texas A&M all season long. I can’t believe they got their coach fired because of being on the wrong side of some very close games against very good teams – but oh well. They are a still a big favorite in this game, and I like them. Northwestern isn’t a very good team – the Aggies are. That’s good enough for me.

Hyundai Sun Bowl
Georgia Tech (-2.5) VS Utah
The Utes were pretty up and down this year, starting off very slow in the Pac 12 then picking it up as their season came to a close. Predictably, the Yellow Jackets were up and down as well, they started well, got shut down here and there, but still won some big games. I think their rushing attack is too tough for Utah, and that will be the difference.

Liberty Bowl
Cincinnati (+1.5) VS Vanderbilt
I think the SEC is very good, but they aren’t as deep as people think. Outside of their big bad group atop the heap, the SEC isn’t quite as powerful as people give credit. Despite flying form the Big East, I think Cincinnati proves on Saturday that the SEC isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Illinois (-2.5) VS UCLA
The Bruins are 6-7. Give me a break. Illinois isn’t that great, either, but the Bruins don’t do anything well.

Chick-fil-A Bowl
Virginia (+3) VS Auburn
Auburn seems to be a tough team for me to pick, for or against, but Virginia is a good squad, and I think they are just more consistent. The Cavaliers have a more balanced offensive attack, even if the Tigers get more respect because of what running back Michael Dyer can do. But Dyer isn’t playing in this game, and even though Onterio McCalebb (his back-up) can certainly do good things with the ball, that absence is a big one for the Tigers. Auburn still has no idea what they are doing at quarterback, and I don’t think 4 weeks off will clear things up. I expect Virginia’s consistency to win this game.

Free College Football Picks for December 30 2011 – NCAA Bowl Game Picks

After both Thursday Night games looked scary for most of the night, in the end I pulled out two wins with Florida covering by a point and Baylor getting a late breakaway touchdown run to cover by a pair. Close but wins nonetheless – keep it going with 4 games tonight!

Armed Forces Bowl
BYU VS Tulsa (-1)
When it comes right down to it, I just don’t think much of BYU. They haven’t done dooty against any good team this year – they’ve played a couple close games, but Tulsa is a solid club and I think they are out to prove more in this contest. Sure, Tulsa got slapped around by Houston in the last game of their pre-bowl season, but they have an explosive offense that might just be too powerful for the Cougars to keep up.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Rutgers VS Iowa State (+1.5)
I’m not super impressed with either of these teams, but Iowa State is the much better team from the much better conferences. The cyclones may be just 6-6 on the season, but take a moment to recognize that 5 of their 6 losses came against ranked foes. The Scarlet Knights lost to West Virginia (#25) by 10 – their only game against a top 25 opponent. The Knights were brutal against Connecticut to end the season, turning the ball over a ton and barely showing up defensively. Big moments, big let down – I expect an easy win for the Cyclones.

Music City Bowl
Mississippi State VS Wake Forest (+6.5)
The Bulldogs were 2-6 in SEC play. The Demon Deacons used their weak conference match-ups to build themselves up to 6 wins. Neither of these teams had impressive seasons. The Bulldogs boast a better defense, but Wake Forest seemed to figure it out later in the year, plus they are getting enough points to make them my pick.

Insight Bowl
Iowa VS Oklahoma (-13.5)
I’m usually and Iowa fan, and Oklahoma really struggled over the 2nd half of the season, not looking at all like the team that was supposed to contend for a National Championship. With their star receiver’s knee, so went their swagger, and it’s showed. Still, they are too talented, and I’m thinking a month of practice got them to realize it.

Washington Huskies @ Baylor Bears Valero Alamo Bowl Free Pick

Washington Huskies @ Baylor Bears Valero Alamo Bowl Free College Football Pick: I like a lot of what the Huskies bring to the table, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a run at the Baylor Bears. I know that Baylor can’t play defense worth a lick and the Huskies offensive attack, when healthy, is a tough unit to slow down and they can beat you both through the air with quarterback Keith Price and on the ground with the very underrated Chris Polk.

But it’s my belief that the Baylor Bears will just be too much for the Huskies. Anybody watching the Dawgs this year will know that they struggle mightily on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the secondary. Heisman winner, Robert Griffin III has made it his duty to torch all types of secondaries, regardless of scheme or talent. I feel like this game will be interesting and full of big plays, but the Huskies just don’t have the consistency offensively that Baylor does, and since neither defense is in the business of stopping talented offensive opponents, it will come down to consistency on O.

I give that nod to the Bears who have a very solid rushing attack of their own. Senior running back Terrance Ganaway rushed for 1,347 yards and 17 total touchdowns to form a nice pass/throw combination for the Bears.

Washington Huskies @ Baylor Bears (-9)

Florida State Seminoles VS Notre Dame Fighting Irish Champs Sports Bowl

Florida State Seminoles VS Notre Dame Fighting Irish Champs Sports Bowl Free Pick: I just happen to think the Florida State Seminoles are a very good football team – a team that probably played below what they should have done because they were slowed in the beginning of the year with injuries to their leader and quarterback, E.J. Manuel. When it comes right down to it, FSU finished the season 6-1 over their last 7 games, beating bowlers Florida and North Carolina State. While neither team is a dominant squad, the fact is that FSU played well in just about every game they played all year long. There were no stinkers. They lost by a point to Virginia late in the year, and they didn’t play well that game, but it was hardly a stinker. Losses to Oklahoma, Clemson, and Wake Forest were by 10, 5, and 5 respectively. They were in every game down to the last quarter.

The Irish finished the year with 8 wins in their last 10 games, beating 4 bowl teams in the process including Michigan State. They even played alright against Stanford, though they struggled to score against a Cardinal defense that had given up lots of points.

FSU’s very athletic defense should give the Irish trouble, and since Notre Dame comes in with a question as to which quarterback will get which snaps (Hendrix or Rees) I just don’t see siding with Notre Dame in a close game. I’ll take the Seminoles.

Florida State Seminoles (-3) VS. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

California Golden Bears @ Texas Longhorns Holiday Bowl Pick

California Golden Bears @ Texas Longhorns Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl Free Pick: The Golden California Bears have played some very good football over the last few weeks, using a heavy dose of their rushing attack to put a foot on the throats of Pac-10 cannon fodder Washington State and Oregon State, barely falling by three to Stanford, then beating Arizona State by 9 to end their regular season. It wasn’t a great season for the Bears at 7-5, but it was certainly a good finish after starting the Pac-10 season with three straight losses and a 31-14 beating at the hands of UCLA at the end of October.

Texas is floundering in the other direction as their solid 4-0 start didn’t end well as they won just three of their last 8 games behind struggling youth at quarterback and a handful of defensive mistakes.

With one team heading in the right direction toward season’s end (CAL) and one team slipping down the hill (Texas) it makes my decision interesting. I’m going with Texas here, mainly because of the yardage differentials they put up in losses ot Kansas State and Baylor. They heavily outgained K-State in their 13-17 loss and outgained the powerful Baylor offense despite losing 24-48 against the Bears. The bottom line here is that they can put up some impressive numbers, and I don’t see them struggling to run the ball against the Bears. Neither team has done much heavy lifting in terms of big wins, but I like Texas better – I think they are a lot more talented and that should show after about a month of preparation.

California Golden Bears @ Texas Longhorns (-3.5)

Toledo Rockets VS Air Force Black Knights Military Bowl Pick

Toledo Rockets VS Air Force Black Knights Military Bowl Pick: Toledo boasts one heck of an offense, there’s no doubt about that as they put up points on everyone all season long, making them a Top 10 offense with over 40 points per game. Air Force has also been able to put points on the board, scoring just under 7 touchdowns (and extra points) per contest.

The Rockets lost their head coach to the same position at Illinois as Tim Beckman cashed in on his ability to turn perennially poor Toledo into winning program (21-16 over his three season at the helm for the Rockets) and a powerful offense.

I don’t think this Toledo team will lose everything they learned from Beckman, as they’ll continue to gash their opponents for big chunks of yardage on Wednesday. When it comes right down to it, the Black Knights just aren’t good enough at stopping the run and Toledo isn’t terrible in that regards (they aren’t good, but dang near 100 places better than Air Force in terms of giving up yards on the ground.

Where Toledo has been terrible is in the secondary, and Air Force doesn’t have an offensive attack that can take full advantage of that weakness. Toledo will win their 4th game in as many tries with a win over Air Force on Wednesday. The Rockets should cover the small spread, wake up to that!

Toledo Rockets (-3) VS. Air Force Black Knights

Part 2 NCAA 2011 Bowl Week 1 Free College Football Picks

As promised here is part 2 of my NCAA Bowl Week 1 college football free picks…

12/20/2011 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl
Both teams finished strong to get into this spot, but FLINT has been the better and more consistent team. When Marshall plays poorly, they get hammered. They are actually -8 per game this season, which is amazing for a .500 football team. Florida International is +7, in comparison. Wesley Carroll has manned the QB position well for the Golden Panthers, throwing 14 touchdowns to just 4 interceptions. His squad measures out better in every aspect of the game, yardage, points, defensive stats – and I think they win the Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl. Good lord, Bowl names are stupid.

Florida International (-4) VS Marshall

12/21/2011 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsetta Bowl

Louisiana Tech is obviously the unknown of these two programs. TCU has done great things over the years, and are one of only two teams that have knocked off the Boise State Broncos over the past 4 years. This is a very good football team with a very good coach. They have picked it up down the stretch and could beat up on the Bulldogs if things get out of hand quick. But, with all the Tebow stuff going on, it’s hard not to look at the Bulldogs change of fortune since Colby Cameron took over at quarterback. The Junior is undefeated as a starter this season, and the team hasn’t lost a game that he’s played in, reeling off 7 straight after a 1-4 start. There are some good wins in there, as well, not just softies. If a guy can get his team to believe and play better in the NFL, he can certainly do it in college. I’m taking La-Tech based on the new Tebow-rule.

TCU VS Louisiana Tech (+10.5)

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