I took a look at the Bowl Projections on CBS Sports’ website, and they have made a number of assumptions that were just picked at random, which will make their job much harder since they didn’t think the unthinkable.

Without a Cornhusker upset, the picture is clear for the BCS Bowls.  Alabama will play Texas in the National Championship, TCU will play the winner of the ACC Championship, Boise plays Iowa, Cincy faces against Florida in the Sugar, and the Ducks take on the Buckeyes.     

 

Music City Bowl (No. 6-7 SEC v No. 5-7 ACC) – Dec. 27, Nashville, TN

The Tar Heels dropped to 8-4 last week after falling to their in-state rival N.C. State in a 28-27 thriller.  But North Carolina has accomplished many things this season—beating the Hokies of Virginia Tech, taking the Hurricanes of Miami (FL) for a spin, blowing out Boston College on the road, and beating Connecticut in a narrow, defensive slugfest. 

Kentucky started the season off with a couple of wins over cupcake teams, but were ripped apart by Florida, washed away against the Tide, and lost in heartbreaking fashion to South Carolina. 

But Kentucky has won three of their last five games, beating Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Eastern Kentucky.  But when it came down to crunch time, they couldn’t hold on, losing to Mississippi State and Tennessee in overtime.   

Kentucky is a pretty solid team, but North Carolina has performed on a different level than the Wildcats, and the notion will prove itself in this game.  North Carolina wins, 30-21.

 

Chick-fil-A Bowl (No. 5 SEC v No. 2 ACC) – Dec. 31, Atlanta, GA

Clemson is a very good team, and they shouldn’t be written off because they lost a tough one in South Carolina.  The Gamecocks also created havoc for Florida, played tough against Alabama, and knocked off Mississippi, when they were among the elite.  Clemson still averages over 12 points of margin of victory this season and played the Yellow Jackets and Texas Lizards of TCU down to the wire.

The Georgia Bulldogs are ranked fifth in the SEC.  They’re a very good team that got stuck in the middle of the conference because they fell to the Gators when they were on the rebound, lost to LSU in a very close game, and fell to Tennessee. 

But Georgia took down Arkansas and South Carolina in shootout fashion, survived Auburn and the Sun Devils, and knocked off their arch rival Georgia Tech from the ACC last week. 

But Clemson has arguably the most explosive back and returner in College Football and will come away with the victory, 31-27.

 

Outback Bowl (No. 3 Big Ten v No. 3-4 SEC) - Jan. 1, Tampa, FL

A redo became necessary for this match-up.  It was previously the Mississippi Rebels and Northwestern Wildcats, but recent changes hindered the match-up.  Instead, it will be the fearless Volunteers of Tennessee taking on the ‘Cats from N’western.

Northwestern is on a three-game winning streak and stole another big victory out of the Badgers’ hands two weeks ago.  Northwestern has proven they can hang with the pack, and they’ve had quite a few comeback victories this season. 

After Tennessee’s first five games, they were 2-3, having blemishes to UCLA, Florida, and Auburn by a combined 18 points.  Tennessee went on to win three of their next five games, beating Georgia, South Carolina, and Memphis to a pulp. 

But they were blown apart by the Rebels in a game that Tennessee was actually favored in and lost in heart-breaking fashion to Alabama 12-10 by a blocked field goal.   But Tennessee has won two straight and look to give Northwestern all they can handle.

In thrilling fashion, the Wildcats get the victory, 27-24.

 

Sugar Bowl (SEC Champ v BCS) – Jan. 1, New Orleans, LA

“East Carolina is Sugar Bowl bound.”  CBS made that statement twice today, but it was later corrected.  Cincinnati won the Big East Championship in thrilling fashion over Pitt, 45-44.  Florida is undoubtedly a great team, but Alabama is the SEC Champion and it was clear as day.

Cincinnati is clearly a fighter.  They fight to the end every week, which is why they’ll play the Gators tougher than most people think.  The unblemished Bearcats beat out Connecticut in thrilling fashion, gave Rutgers a beat down, overcame a 20-point deficit against Pitt, and survived the Mountaineers and the Fighting Illini.

But concerns lie ahead for Cincinnati because they have yet to play a premier team, such as Florida.  There are many scenarios to this game since there are no common opponents and resilience will be on the Gator’s mind, while an undefeated season is on the Bearcats’.

Florida wins a good one, 34-24.

 

Cotton Bowl (No. 3-4 SEC v No. 2 BIG XII) – Jan. 2, Dallas, TX

Somehow this year’s Cotton Bowl will be a match-up between Mississippi and Oklahoma State.  But if Nebraska upsets Texas, the Longhorns would be the No. 2 Big XII team—but they’ll go to the Holiday Bowl instead?  The Holiday Bowl is supposed to have the No. 2 Pac-10 team and the No. 2 Big XII team.

Ole Miss has a great defense, allowing less than 19 points per game against many talented offensive powerhouses with Arkansas, Auburn, and LSU.  The Rebels won last year’s Cotton Bowl in a wild thriller over the seventh ranked Red Raiders.   Ole Miss was a huge underdog, at least on paper.

Oklahoma State was inevitably a pretender.  Their two solid victories this season were against Texas Tech and Georgia, and neither team is ranked in the Top 25.  The Cowboys blew a gasket against Texas, fell to pieces against the Sooners in shutout fashion, and lost fell to Houston.  Mississippi wins, 30-20.

 

PapaJohns.com Bowl (No. 9 SEC v No. 4 BIG EAST) – Jan. 2, Birmingham, AL

Auburn started the season undefeated with a 5-0 record and looked like a true contender.  But that notion was quickly erased, having three consecutive losses to Kentucky and LSU and Arkansas in blowout fashion. 

Auburn went on to beat the Rebels, created havoc for the Tide, blew out Furman, and lost a close one to Georgia.  Auburn’s offense has been top notch this season, but their defense has been just short of lackluster. 

The Tigers will catch a break in the Bowl playing Rutgers who is very good on defense, but not as productive on the offensive side of the ball.  Rutgers fell short earlier today against the Mountaineers. This is more good news for Auburn, because they beat West Virginia earlier in the season. 

But Rutgers will play their hearts out and this game will go down to the wire.  Rutgers pulls the upset, 30-24.

 

Liberty Bowl (No. 6-7 SEC v C-USA Champ) – Jan. 2, Memphis, TN

I love it when Team A beats Team B, and Team C beats Team D, and then Team A plays Team C to see who can handle the pressure in a bowl game.  This is the case between Arkansas and East Carolina. 

East Carolina looked like a fierce team against Houston, winning in shootout fashion 38-32.  My mouth dropped when I heard Chase Keenum was forced to throw 56 completions today and still came up short.  Houston’s premier quarterback threw a grand total of 75 attempts in the game.  His arm is still trying to recover. 

East Carolina is obviously a pretty good team, but they’re not even in the same area code as Arkansas.  The Razorback tore Texas A&M apart, ripped the Gamecocks, shut down Auburn, and put Mississippi State out to dry.  They also played LSU down to the wire in overtime and had Florida beat until the referees drew the game away.  Arkansas won’t have much trouble giving the Pirates a beat down, 42-24.

 

BCS National Championship (No. 1 BCS v No. 2 BCS) – Jan. 7, Pasadena, CA

With a glitch in the system, Nebraska will take down Texas, leaving a spot for the Horned Frogs to have their chance to shine.

The CBS Sports Bowl Prediction had Texas playing in the National Championship against Florida.  I’d say they got a bit of a wake-up call this week.  For those of you who thought I was crazy and overly biased for having Alabama in the top spot in my rankings the last few weeks, take a look at the score and understand there was a logical explanation behind the decision.

The top two defenses will meet in Pasadena to prove they’re the best in the country.  I hate the BCS system, but I think they got it right this season.  There wasn’t a chance Florida and Alabama could have a rematch because it was a steamroll.

Cincinnati and Boise State played phenomenal all season, and they’ll have a chance to prove they can compete in their Bowls.  If either team ends up with a win in their BCS Bowl, there should be a major consideration for a playoff system next season. 

The Texas Lizards survived Air Force and Clemson on the road, had a comfortable win over Virginia, and took down Brigham Young and Utah.  Both games against Brigham Young and Utah were voted as the Game of the Week and both games ended in blowout fashion.

Texas Christian has been noted this season for having a sensational defense, but their high-power offense puts up more than 40 points per game.  But with that said, the top team in the country is Alabama.   

Alabama had some trouble against their arch rivals Auburn and Tennessee, but they kicked off their ranked opponents Virginia Tech and LSU.  Alabama steamrolled Arkansas, Mississippi State, and the previously top ranked Gators.  The Tide also washed away Mississippi, South Carolina, and Kentucky.  

A defensive slugfest may be the perception for this game, but with both teams putting up a ton of points every week, this game will have its fair share of precision offense and exceptional defense.  In thrilling fashion, Alabama wins it close, 30-23.

 

The Capital One and Independence Bowl predictions can be found in the ACC and Big XII editions, listed below.

Be sure to check out our other predictions on the other top conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big East, and Pac-10...with more to come!