College Bowl Picks: Oregon Ducks and Teams Ready to Make Humongous Statement

There are a few teams that have been chomping at the bit to make a statement in the college football landscape. After waiting a month to play a football game, these are teams that will unleash their fury on their opponent in a big way.

It’s statement time.

Oregon Ducks

Chip Kelly and his Oregon Ducks are ready to make a big-time statement against Big 10 powerhouse Wisconsin on Monday at the Rose Bowl.

For years, we have been hearing about how slow Big 10 football can be. It's going to happen once again. Wisconsin is going to be surprised about how fast Oregon is offensively.

LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner have totaled 2,552 yards this season on 367 attempts. The team has rushed for 3,844 yards on a 6.5 average. They showcase their speed every game, and teams continue to struggle with it.  

They hold the fifth-best rushing attack in college football, connecting on 295.7 yards per game. With one of the best rushing attacks in America, Oregon is scoring at a 46.2 points per game clip.

It’s going to be difficult for a team like Wisconsin to keep up the pace, which is going to be the only way they will find success. In their two losses this season, it was defense that couldn’t carry the load. They allowed 37 points to Michigan State and 33 to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 75^th in the nation in points scored and Sparty is 37^th.

The Ducks will make those two offenses look like garbage. 

Oregon should be able to dictate tempo throughout the course of the game.

Prediction: Oregon 41, Wisconsin 31

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State plays Stanford at the Fiesta Bowl on Monday. They are still pretty angry about being snubbed out of the 2012 BCS National Championship game.

Do you blame them? Alabama lost to LSU at home. You can make a valid argument against the Crimson Tide being in the game.

The Cowboys feature one of the best offenses in the country. Brandon Weeden has thrown for 4,328 yards and 34 touchdowns. His favorite target, Justin Blackmon, has caught 113 passes for 1,336 yards and 15 touchdowns.

They have the best quarterback-wide receiver combination in the country.

A player that hasn’t been getting the love that he deserves is Joseph Randle. He has rushed for 1,193 yards and 23 touchdowns on six yards per attempt.

Oklahoma State’s ability to score the ball with relative ease (49.3 points per game) will force Andrew Luck to match Weeden touchdown for touchdown. He’ll be able to do it for a while, but the lack of weapons on the perimeter will come back to bite a Stanford team that was better collectively a season ago. Griff Whalen is the leading receiver on the team, and he only has 49 receptions for 664 yards and four touchdowns.

Not good enough to keep pace with the Cowboys. 

Oklahoma State makes a statement mostly because of their snub, but a lot of it has to do with them having the better football team.

Prediction: Oklahoma State 44, Stanford 37

Clemson

The Clemson Tigers haven’t exactly finished the 2011 campaign on a high note. After winning eight games in a row, they have now lost three of five.

But that’s about to change when they play West Virginia in the Orange Bowl.

Tajh Boyd has been great this season, posting 31 touchdowns to only 10 interceptions. He has really shown great strides in his development as a quarterback. He has seven games where he tossed at least three touchdown passes.

Freshman wide receiver Sammy Watkins has really been the go-to target for Boyd this season. He has recorded 77 receptions for 1,153 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season, and his all-around ability will pay dividends against the 63^rd-best defense in terms of points allowed.

Stopping Geno Smith is going to be a key concern for the Tigers. If they can’t slow down the quarterback who has tossed for 25 touchdowns on the season, it’s going to be a long night.

But they will be able to contain the quarterback enough to limit his overall productivity.

The Big East is the worst conference in college football, and that has been the case for a few years now. Just about every team was in the chase at the end of the season. That sounds great and all, but when half of the conference is .500 or worse, we have problems.

Clemson’s offense has a big day.

Prediction: Clemson 37, West Virginia 24