Bowl Game Predictions 2015: Schedule and Picks for Remaining Postseason Clashes
Congratulations, you are almost there.
You’ve almost made it through all the terrible defenses, kicking miscues and inexplicable penalties of the early bowl games and reached the exciting ones. Fairly soon, you will be watching the New Year’s Six bowls and the initial College Football Playoff showdowns, and all will be right with the world.
Here is a look at the schedule and some predictions for the rest of the college football bowl clashes before digging into an under-the-radar showdown to watch in the midst of the playoff action.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | Notre Dame vs. No. 23 LSU | 3 p.m. | ESPN | LSU |
| Belk Bowl | No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 13 Georgia | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN | Georgia |
| Foster Farms Bowl | Maryland vs. Stanford | 10 p.m. | ESPN | Stanford |
| Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | No. 6 TCU vs. No. 9 Ole Miss | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN | TCU |
| VIZIO Fiesta Bowl | No. 10 Arizona vs. No. 20 Boise State | 4 p.m. | ESPN | Arizona |
| Capital One Orange Bowl | No. 7 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech | 8 p.m. | ESPN | Georgia Tech |
| Outback Bowl | No. 18 Wisconsin vs. No. 19 Auburn | Noon | ESPN | Auburn |
| Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 8 Michigan State | 12:30 p.m. | ESPN | Michigan State |
| Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl | No. 25 Minnesota vs. No. 16 Missouri | 1 p.m. | ABC | Minnesota |
| Rose Bowl | No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 Florida State | 5 p.m. | ESPN | Oregon |
| Sugar Bowl | No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Ohio State | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | Alabama |
| Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Pittsburgh vs. Houston | Noon | ESPN | Houston |
| TaxSlayer Bowl | Iowa vs. Tennessee | 3:20 p.m. | ESPN | Iowa |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | No. 11 Kansas State vs. No. 14 UCLA | 6:45 p.m. | ESPN | Kansas State |
| TicketCity Cactus Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Washington | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN | Washington |
| Birmingham Bowl | Florida vs. East Carolina | 1 p.m. | ESPN or ESPN2 | East Carolina |
| GoDaddy Bowl | Toledo vs. Arkansas State | 9 p.m. | ESPN | Toledo |
| National Championship Bowl | TBD vs. TBD | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | Alabama |
Game to Watch: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Auburn and Wisconsin will face off Thursday in the Outback Bowl in one of just two bowl games outside of the New Year’s Six matchups that pit two teams in the Top 20 against each other.
Both the Tigers and Badgers are fresh off disappointing finishes to the season, although only Wisconsin completely embarrassed itself in a 59-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. Auburn actually impressed in a close 55-44 loss to arguably the nation’s best team in Alabama.
Whichever team can shake that disappointment off quicker could ultimately emerge victorious.
Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated broke down one of the more intriguing storylines in this one as Wisconsin’s offense goes for the record books:
"The Big Ten title game loss was striking both for the Badgers’ 59 points surrendered to Ohio State and their zero points produced. Gordon’s 76 yards represented his second-worst output of the season, and a veteran offensive line seemed out of whack once veteran center Dan Voltz left the game four snaps in with an ankle injury. Gordon needs 293 yards to break Sanders’ all-time record of 2,628 yards in a season. The junior is unlikely to hit that mark, even with Auburn happy to get into a shootout. But a fifth 200-yard game is not out of the question, so will the Badgers line be healthy enough to get Gordon close?
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Melvin Gordon turned in arguably the best season for a running back since Barry Sanders was making defenses miss at Oklahoma State. Gordon racked up 2,336 yards, 26 touchdowns and a 7.56-yards-per-carry average on the ground this season and was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.
Wisconsin athletic director and interim coach for the bowl game Barry Alvarez discussed Gordon’s overall excellence, via Joey Johnston of The Tampa Tribune:
“He’s big and strong, he has sprinter’s speed, he can run around you, he can run through you. We’ve had a lot of great running backs at Wisconsin, but Melvin Gordon is the best one. He truly has everything you’d want.”
If Auburn is going to win, it will have to at least contain Gordon. The Tigers were actually 45th against the run, which isn’t stellar but is also better than some would expect considering they allowed more than 30 points in six SEC games and more than 40 twice.
Teams hurt Auburn with the pass more so than the run. Alabama in particular was able to exploit the papier-mache-soft secondary that Auburn brings to the table with Amari Cooper on a number of deep routes.
The Badgers aren’t exactly built to take advantage of teams through the air (118th in the country in passing yards per game), but Auburn will be forced to stack the box to stop Gordon and the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation. That will open things up for Joel Stave and the Wisconsin passing game against a terrible secondary.
On the other side, the Tigers will counter with a group of playmakers, including quarterback Nick Marshall, running back Cameron Artis-Payne and wide receiver Sammie Coates.
Coates may be a walking highlight reel, but D’haquille Williams was Auburn’s best wide receiver this season with 730 receiving yards and five touchdown catches. The problem for Auburn is that Williams is suspended for the Outback Bowl.
His absence will be felt in this one, especially because Wisconsin will be able to devote more attention toward Coates. It cuts Auburn’s elite receiving options in half, which is a boost for a Wisconsin defense that is likely reeling in the confidence department.
On paper, Wisconsin finished 15th in the nation in scoring defense, fifth in passing defense and 16th in rushing defense, but the lasting impression the nation has of the Badgers is Ohio State’s 59-0 demolition of the secondary. Are the Badgers really that good on defense, or were their impressive numbers a result of a relatively weak schedule that featured only two top-50 scoring offenses?
You would be hard-pressed to find more dangerous attacks in the country than Auburn’s up-tempo, high-octane offense.
It finished 12th in the nation in rushing yards per game and 24th in scoring and was never more impressive this season than when it scored 44 points against Alabama’s stout defense. Stopping that is a tall order for the Badgers.
Still, Wisconsin’s defense will limit Auburn’s explosiveness simply because Williams will not be in the lineup. That will allow the Badgers the freedom to commit more defenders to the box to slow down the rushing combination of quarterback Marshall and running back Artis-Payne.
Wisconsin’s defense doesn’t have to pitch a shutout either. The Badgers will ride Gordon against Auburn’s vulnerable defensive group and then take advantage of open holes downfield in the second half.
The result will be a critical bowl victory for the Big Ten.
Prediction: Wisconsin 27, Auburn 21
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