Bowl Game Schedule 2014-15: Predictions for Underrated Matchups
The brand-new College Football Playoff offers some amazing matchups, but there are still loads of bowls to play before those games even get underway.
Although casual fans may tune out the also-ran bowls unless they attended the schools involved, several showdowns in late December are worth watching during the holiday season.
Some involve ranked teams eager to end their years with a bang, while other programs will attempt to make the most of their time in the national spotlight. Three contests stand out as particularly noteworthy prior to the playoff commencement on New Year's Day.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
After surveying the complete 2014-15 bowl game schedule, read on for analysis and predictions on some of the more underrated bowls on the slate.
Note: Statistics courtesy of NCAA.com.
Predictions For Underrated Matchups
Sun Bowl: Duke vs. No. 15 Arizona State
| R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Nevada vs. Louisiana-Lafayette | 11 a.m. | ESPN |
| Gildan New Mexico Bowl | UTEP vs. Utah State | 2:20 p.m. | ESPN |
| Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl | Colorado State vs. No. 22 Utah | 3:30 p.m. | ABC |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Western Michigan vs. Air Force | 5:45 p.m. | ESPN |
| Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | South Alabama vs. Bowling Green | 9:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| Miami Beach Bowl | BYU vs. Memphis | 2 p.m. | ESPN |
| Boca Raton Bowl | Marshall vs. Northern Illinois | 6 p.m. | ESPN |
| San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl | San Diego State vs. Navy | 9:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Popeyes Bahamas Bowl | Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan | Noon | ESPN |
| Hawai'i Bowl | Rice vs. Fresno State | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl | Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech | 1 p.m. | ESPN |
| Quick Lane Bowl | Rutgers vs. North Carolina | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| BITCOIN St. Petersburg Bowl | NC State vs. UCF | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| Military Bowl presented By Northrop Grumman | Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati | 1 p.m. | ESPN |
| Hyundai Sun Bowl | Duke vs. No. 15 Arizona State | 2 p.m. | CBS |
| Duck Commander Independence Bowl | Miami (Florida) vs. South Carolina | 3:30 p.m. | ABC |
| New Era Pinstripe Bowl | Boston College vs. Penn State | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| National University Holiday Bowl | Nebraska vs. No. 24 USC | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| AutoZone Liberty Bowl | West Virginia vs. Texas A&M | 2 p.m. | ESPN |
| Russell Athletic Bowl | No. 17 Clemson vs. Oklahoma | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl | Texas vs. Arkansas | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | Notre Dame vs. No. 23 LSU | 3 p.m. | ESPN |
| Belk Bowl | No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 13 Georgia | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Foster Farms Bowl | Maryland vs. Stanford | 10 p.m. | ESPN |
| Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | No. 6 TCU vs. No. 9 Ole Miss | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| VIZIO Fiesta Bowl | No. 10 Arizona vs. No. 20 Boise State | 4 p.m. | ESPN |
| Capital One Orange Bowl | No. 7 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| Outback Bowl | No. 18 Wisconsin vs. No. 19 Auburn | Noon | ESPN |
| Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 8 Michigan State | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl | No. 25 Minnesota vs. No. 16 Missouri | 1 p.m. | ABC |
| Rose Bowl | No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State | 5 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sugar Bowl | No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Ohio State | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Pittsburgh vs. Houston | Noon | ESPN |
| TaxSlayer Bowl | Iowa vs. Tennessee | 3:20 p.m. | ESPN |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 14 UCLA | 6:45 p.m. | ESPN |
| TicketCity Cactus Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN |
| Birmingham Bowl | Florida vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m. | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| GoDaddy Bowl | Toledo vs. Arkansas State | 9 p.m. | ESPN |
| National Championship Bowl | TBD vs. TBD | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
The Blue Devils are one of the better teams in the country not able to crack the selection committee's Top 25. They should pose a considerable challenge to the favored Sun Devils.
Thanks mostly to the presence of Blue Devils go-to receiver Jamison Crowder, Arizona State's 75th-ranked scoring defense will help Duke keep the game close. Taylor Kelly is a seasoned veteran under center for the Sun Devils, but he was benched in the regular-season finale loss to Arizona.
As shaky as Anthony Boone is as a pocket passer for the Blue Devils, Kelly doesn't give ASU as big of an edge at the most important position on the field as might be expected. Duke coach David Cutcliffe summarized the game well:
Sun Devils star Jaelen Strong is a superior No. 1 pass-catching target to Crowder, with a bigger frame and more explosive ability to put points on the board in a hurry. Whether it's Kelly or Mike Bercovici throwing the ball, Strong figures to have a big game.
Both teams thrive on making fewer mistakes than their opponents, though. ASU is plus-12 and Duke is plus-8 in turnover margin. Whoever wins that battle has a great shot at claiming victory in this one.
Also worth keeping in mind is that the Blue Devils haven't beaten a team with a winning record all year other than Georgia Tech, per ESPN.com's Andrea Adelson and Ted Miller.
Based on the fact that the Sun Devils have superior offensive firepower, have played better competition in the Pac-12 this year than Duke has faced and have two capable QBs in Kelly and Bercovici, the Sun Devils get the edge.
Prediction: Arizona State 35, Duke 27
Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. No. 24 USC
The Trojans have perhaps the most unheralded star QB in the country in Cody Kessler. He's had such a strong junior campaign that he could even bolster his NFL draft stock in this one.
David Lombardi of ESPN.com notes just how proficient Kessler has been this year:
No more than a decade or so ago, USC was taking over as the most prominent college football program in the country, but Nebraska preceded the Trojans with that gaudy label. A brief gap transpired when the Miami Hurricanes put together some loaded teams near the turn of the millennium.
Ryan Abraham of USCFootball.com notes how history is on USC's side:
The Cornhuskers are in a bit of disarray. Their former coach, Bo Pelini, was fired on November 30 with a bowl game still to play. Running back Ameer Abdullah has the skills to will Nebraska to an upset over the Trojans, but USC ball-carrier Javorius Allen has run for over 1,300 yards of his own and is no slouch.
The combination in the passing game of Nelson Agholor and Kessler, combined with Allen's ability to pound the rock, will help the Trojans emerge with a hard-fought win.
Prediction: USC 41, Nebraska 38
Liberty Bowl: West Virginia vs. Texas A&M
This should be an epic shootout between two uptempo spread offenses, and the game will be headlined by a potential future NFL star in Mountaineers receiver Kevin White.
One pro scout even compared White to Arizona Cardinals Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald.
"He's more of a (Larry) Fitzgerald type receiver in that he doesn't have great speed," said the scout, per the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Bob McGinn (h/t NFL.com's Chase Goodbread). "I never see him beat people deep. But (if) he is even with them he's going to get the ball. Very good player."
The Aggies' air-raid offense has experienced turbulence this year. Past Heisman winner Johnny Manziel appeared to be a system quarterback for a minute until his successor Kenny Hill struggled and was eventually benched for hotshot freshman Kyle Allen.
Allen has dealt with some growing pains that have raised questions as to whether Hill, a two-game suspension demerit aside, was unseated too soon. Texas A&M has plenty of weapons, however, in the receiving corps and the backfield to help the young signal-caller.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen recently tweeted Aggies offensive coordinator Jake Spavital, who served on Holgorsen's staff as quarterbacks coach from 2011 to 2012, saying that he "taught [Spavital] all of his signals."
Dynamic slot wideout Mario Alford is overshadowed by White, but he is a playmaker in his own right and has 10 touchdown catches in 2014 to White's nine. This game should come down to who has the ball last.
Given Allen's lack of explosiveness with 6.55 yards per pass attempt and how well Skyler Howard has entered the starting QB role for West Virginia with five touchdown tosses in six quarters, expect the Mountaineers to pull this one out.
Prediction: West Virginia 51, Texas A&M 49
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
