College Bowl Picks: Projecting Postseason's Biggest Winners

College football's bowl season will kick off on Dec. 21 with four games and continue for more than two weeks before concluding with the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 6.

With a seemingly endless amount of matchups for fans to enjoy, there are sure to be plenty of breakout performers and surprises along the way.

Here's an early look at my picks for every bowl game this winter as well as three notable teams poised to emerge victorious.

Bowl	Teams	Date	Time (ET)	TV	Pick
Gildan New Mexico	Washington St. vs. Colorado St.	Dec. 21	2 p.m.	ESPN	Colorado St.
Royal Purple Las Vegas	Fresno State vs. USC	Dec. 21	3:30 p.m.	ABC	Fresno State
Famous Idaho Potato	Buffalo vs. San Diego St.	Dec. 21	5:30 p.m.	ESPN	San Diego St.
R+L Carriers New Orleans	Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette	Dec. 21	9 p.m.	ESPN	Louisiana-Lafayette
Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg	East Carolina vs. Ohio	Dec. 23	2 p.m.	ESPN	East Carolina
Sheraton Hawaii	Boise St. vs. Oregon St.	Dec. 24	8 p.m.	ESPN	Boise St.
Little Caesars Pizza	Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green	Dec. 26	6 p.m.	ESPN	Bowling Green
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia	Utah St. vs. Northern Illinois	Dec. 26	9:30 p.m.	ESPN	Northern Illinois
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman	Marshall vs. Maryland	Dec. 27	2:30 p.m.	ESPN	Maryland
Texas	Syracuse vs. Minnesota	Dec. 27	6 p.m.	ESPN	Minnesota
Fight Hunger	BYU vs. Washington	Dec. 27	9:30 p.m.	ESPN	Washington
New Era Pinstripe	Rutgers vs. Notre Dame	Dec. 28	Noon	ESPN	Notre Dame
Belk	Cincinnati vs. North Carolina	Dec. 28	3:20 p.m.	ESPN	North Carolina
Russell Athletic	Louisville vs. Miami	Dec. 28	6:45 p.m.	ESPN	Louisville
Buffalo Wild Wings	Kansas St. vs. Michigan	Dec. 28	10:15 p.m.	ESPN	Michigan
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Middle Tennessee vs. Navy	Dec. 30	11:45 a.m.	ESPN	Navy
Franklin American Mortgage Music City	Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech	Dec. 30	3:15 p.m.	ESPN	Ole Miss
Valero Alamo	Texas vs. Oregon	Dec. 30	6:45 p.m.	ESPN	Oregon
National University Holiday	Texas Tech vs. Arizona St.	Dec. 30	10:15 p.m.	ESPN	Arizona State
AdvoCare V100	Boston College vs. Arizona	Dec. 31	12:30 p.m.	ESPN	Arizona
Hyundai Sun	Virginia Tech vs. UCLA	Dec. 31	2 p.m.	CBS	UCLA
AutoZone Liberty	Rice vs. Mississippi St.	Dec. 31	4 p.m.	ESPN	Mississippi State
Chick-fil-A	Duke vs. Texas A&M	Dec. 31	8 p.m.	ESPN	Texas A&M
TaxSlayer.com Gator	Georgia vs. Nebraska	Jan. 1	Noon	ESPN2	Georgia
Heart of Dallas	North Texas vs. UNLV	Jan. 1	Noon	ESPNU	UNLV
Capital One	Wisconsin vs. South Carolina	Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ABC	South Carolina
Outback	LSU vs. Iowa	Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ESPN	LSU
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO	Michigan St. vs. Stanford	Jan. 1	5 p.m.	ESPN	Stanford
Tostitos Fiesta	Baylor vs. UCF	Jan. 1	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Baylor
Allstate Sugar	Alabama vs. Oklahoma	Jan. 2	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Alabama
Discover Orange	Clemson vs. Ohio St.	Jan. 3	TBD	ESPN	Ohio State
AT&T Cotton	Missouri vs. Oklahoma St.	Jan. 3	7:30 p.m.	FOX	Missouri
BBVA Compass	Houston vs. Vanderbilt	Jan. 4	1 p.m.	ESPN	Vanderbilt
GoDaddy	Arkansas St. vs. Ball St.	Jan. 5	9 p.m.	ESPN	Ball St.
VIZIO BCS National Championship	Florida St. vs. Auburn	Jan. 6	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Florida St.

Texas A&M Aggies

Texas A&M's season began with high hopes but wound up ending in disappointing fashion as the Aggies closed out the year with back-to-back losses at LSU and Missouri. Fortunately, Johnny Manziel and company will get one last opportunity to shine in the Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. Duke.

The Blue Devils are coming off a 38-point loss to Florida State in the ACC Championship Game and will struggle mightily to keep pace with A&M's explosive offense.

Keep in mind that the Aggies rank fourth in the country in total yards per game and sixth in scoring offense, averaging more than 538 yards and nearly 44 points per game. Plus, Manziel is one of only nine quarterbacks in the FBS averaging more than 300 passing yards per game in 2013.

Seeing as Florida State was able to rack up 569 total yards and 45 points against this Duke defense, the Blue Devils don't stand much of a chance against the high-powered Aggies in Atlanta on New Year's Eve.

Baylor Bears

Prior to Oklahoma's wild upset win over Oklahoma State in Bedlam, Baylor was poised to miss out on the BCS again. But thanks to the Sooners, and the Bears' season-ending win over Texas, Baylor is headed to the Fiesta Bowl (its first-ever BCS bowl) as the Big 12 champion.

Art Briles' squad will be a heavy favorite against American Conference champion Central Florida in Glendale, Ariz., and for good reason.

While the Bears and Knights both finished the regular season with identical 11-1 records, it's Baylor that sports the nation's most explosive offense in 2013. Ranking first in total offense and scoring offense this season, the Bryce Petty-led unit is averaging 623.8 yards and 53.3 points per game.

Therefore, don't be surprised if Baylor scores 60 or more points for the seventh time this season en route to a blowout win in the desert. 

Florida State Seminoles

Jameis Winston and undefeated Florida State will play for the BCS National Championship on Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl. And although their opponent, SEC champion Auburn, is no joke, you'd be hard-pressed to bet against the mighty 'Noles.

Sure, both teams boast prolific offenses that rank toward the top of FBS in terms of yards and points. But the difference is on defense, where championships are won.

While the Seminoles rank third in the nation in total defense and tops in scoring defense, the Tigers rank 90th and 38th, respectively. Remember, Auburn surrendered 42 points its last time out against Missouri. Florida State has allowed just 34 total over its past five games.

Of course, this game is sure to feature plenty of offense. But at some point, someone's going to have to earn a stop, and Florida State is clearly better suited to stand up tall on defense. 

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