College Football Bowl Picks 2015: Predictions for Most Underrated Games on Slate
College football bowl season is like a symphony to the sport's aficionados.
It gets you interested with a few choice notes in the beginning, and then the music builds until it hits a stunning crescendo that brings the audience to its feet.
In college football bowl season, the games at the start may not have the appeal of the championship matchups to come later on, but there are still some choice games that will undoubtedly present stellar play and wonderful moments to the players, coaches and fans.
In this piece, we look at some of the underrated games on the bowl schedule. In our view, there are several interesting games prior to Dec. 31 when the big boys start slugging it out.
We will offer a concise look at three of those games, as well as picks on the 22 games between Dec. 22 and Dec. 30.
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Dec. 22 | Akron vs. Utah State | Utah State -6.5 | Utah State |
| Boca Raton Bowl | Dec. 22 | Toledo vs. Temple | Temple -2.5 | Toledo |
| Poinsettia Bowl | Dec. 23 | Boise State vs. Northern Illinois | Boise State -8 | Boise State |
| GoDaddy Bowl | Dec. 23 | Georgia Southern vs. Bowling Green | Bowling Green -7.5 | Georgia Southern |
| Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Dec. 24 | Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan | Western Michigan -4.5 | Western Michigan |
| Hawai'i Bowl | Dec. 24 | San Diego State vs. Cincinnati | Cincinnati -1.5 | San Diego State |
| St. Petersburg Bowl | Dec. 26 | Connecticut vs. Marshall | Marshall -4.5 | Marshall |
| Sun Bowl | Dec. 26 | Miami vs. Washington State | Washington State -2.5 | Washington State |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl | Dec. 26 | Washington vs. Southern Miss | Washington -8.5 | Southern Miss |
| Pinstripe Bowl | Dec. 26 | Indiana vs. Duke | Indiana -2 | Duke |
| Independence Bowl | Dec. 26 | Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech -14 | Tulsa |
| Foster Farms Bowl | Dec. 26 | UCLA vs. Nebraska | UCLA -6.5 | UCLA |
| Military Bowl | Dec. 28 | Pitt vs. Navy | Navy -3 | Navy |
| Quick Lane Bowl | Dec. 28 | Central Michigan vs. Minnesota | Minnesota -6 | Minnesota |
| Armed Forces Bowl | Dec. 29 | Air Force vs. California | California -7 | Air Force |
| Russell Athletic Bowl | Dec. 29 | North Carolina vs. Baylor | North Carolina -1 | North Carolina |
| Arizona Bowl | Dec. 29 | Nevada vs. Colorado State | Colorado State -3 | Colorado State |
| Texas Bowl | Dec. 29 | LSU vs. Texas Tech | LSU -7 | LSU |
| Birmingham Bowl | Dec. 30 | Auburn vs. Memphis | Auburn -2.5 | Memphis |
| Belk Bowl | Dec. 30 | NC State vs. Mississippi State | Mississippi State -5.5 | North Carolina State |
| Music City Bowl | Dec. 30 | Texas A&M vs. Louisville | Texas A&M -5 | Louisville |
| Holiday Bowl | Dec. 30 | USC vs. Wisconsin | USC -3 | USC |
Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 23
Boise State vs. Northern Illinois
Boise State (8-4) is led by freshman quarterback Brett Rypien. He completed nearly 63 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,976 yards and compiling a 17-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Northern Illinois (8-5) will attempt to counter behind junior quarterback Drew Hare, who has thrown for 1,962 yards and tossed 14 touchdown passes while allowing just four interceptions.
Both the Broncos and the Huskies have been much better than this in recent years, and they have set the bar in impressive fashion for how teams that aren't from the elite conferences can conduct their programs.
Don't be surprised if both schools use this game as a jumping-off point to get back to their previous levels. Boise State and Northern Illinois should be fully motivated to put on an impressive show in San Diego.
The Broncos will lean on running back Jeremy Nichols to get their ground game going. He carried 221 times for 1,244 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 5.6 yards per carry.
Junior Thomas Sperbeck is Boise State's best wide receiver. He caught 82 passes for 1,334 yards with eight touchdowns.
Northern Illinois has a powerful ground game that is led by Joel Bouagnon, who rushed for 1,269 yards and an eye-catching 18 touchdowns. Junior wideout Kenny Golladay does a good job at making the difficult catch. He has caught 71 passes for 1,122 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Prediction: Boise State 35, Northern Illinois 31
Foster Farms Bowl, Dec. 26
UCLA vs. Nebraska
UCLA and Nebraska represent two of the bigger names from the elite conferences, and both teams are coming off disappointing seasons. However, there may be more than meets the eye with both of these teams.
UCLA (8-4) started the season with four consecutive wins, and when it beat No. 19 Brigham Young and No. 16 Arizona in late September, it looked like the Bruins would be a legitimate contender for the Pac-12 title.
However, the early success was not realistic, and the Bruins lacked the consistency once September was over.
Nebraska (5-7) may not belong in a bowl game, but there is a lot to explain about its season. Its first five losses were all late and close, and the Huskers did not lose any of them by more than five points. They could have won all five, and they reasonably could have pulled out victories in three of those games.
But while the Cornhuskers' season is all about what might have been, there was one beautiful moment. They defeated Michigan State 39-38 in early November, and they gave the Big Ten champion and national semifinalists its only loss of the season.
UCLA is led by freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, who completed 267 of 447 passes for 3,351 yards with 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Thomas Duarte caught 10 TD passes, but Jordan Payton was the Bruins' leading receiver with 75 catches for 1,069 yards and four touchdowns.
Nebraska depends on quarterback Tommy Armstrong to trigger its attack. Armstrong completed 210 of 383 passes for 2,856 yards with a 21-16 TD-to-interception ratio. Jordan Westerkamp led the way for the Cornhuskers with 63 receptions for 874 yards and seven touchdowns.
Prediction: UCLA 45, Nebraska 38
Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30
USC vs. Wisconsin
USC (8-5) was in deep trouble early in the season after Steve Sarkisian was fired, but Clay Helton proved to be a solid replacement coach, as he got his team focused on the task of winning football games, and the Trojans responded well.
Paul Chryst put his signature on Wisconsin (9-3) during his first season, and the Badgers gave him a solid season. If the Badgers had not lost a shocking 13-7 decision to Northwestern late in the season, they would almost certainly be competing in a New Year's Day bowl game.
Helton, who was eventually named the Trojans' permanent head coach, can lead his program into the offseason on a positive note if it can win the Holiday Bowl for the second consecutive season. While USC lost the Pac-12 Championship Game to Stanford, the Trojans defeated archrival UCLA in the regular-season finale.
USC quarterback Cody Kessler has a big-time arm, as he threw for 3,315 yards while averaging 8.01 yards per attempt. Kessler threw 28 TD passes and just six interceptions.
His best receiver is JuJu Smith-Schuster, who caught 85-1,389-10 this season. Running back Ronald Jones II ran for 940 yards and eight touchdowns.
If the Badgers are going to win this game, their defense is going to have to slow Kessler down. Badgers quarterback Joel Stave simply is not the dominating passer that Kessler is, and he relies more on ball possession and accurate short- and medium-range passes than the big play.
Stave completed 207 of 343 passes for 2,470 yards with a 10-11 TD-to-interception ratio. Senior wideout Alex Erickson is his best receiver, and he caught 72 passes for 924 yards with three touchdowns.
The ground attack suffered this season without Melvin Gordon, as expected. Junior running back Dare Ogunbowale ran for 769 yards on 181 carries this year, but he is coming off a season-best 155-yard effort against Minnesota.
Prediction: USC 28, Wisconsin 27
