Bowl Games 2010: Picking the Winners of Each Game on the Bowl Schedule

Bowl Games 2010 are sure to be on everyone’s mind after the official schedule was released over the weekend. Here are picks for every game on the 2010-2011 Bowl Schedule. 

New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 18, 2 p.m.

Albuquerque, NM

Pick: BYU 

Prior bowl-game success figures into my pick. Expect 6-6 BYU to upend former WAC rival UTEP to kick off bowl season. 

Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 18, 5:30 p.m.

Boise, ID              

Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State

PICK: Northern Illinois 

Heading into their third straight bowl game, the NIU Huskies are primed to finish with 11 wins for the first time in school history. 

New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 18, 9 p.m.

New Orleans, LA 

Troy vs. Ohio

Pick: Troy 

Troy is making its third trip to the New Orleans Bowl in five seasons, and comfort is everything when it comes to bowl season. 

St. Petersburg Bowl, Dec. 21, 8 p.m.

St. Petersburg, FL

Louisville vs. Southern Mississippi

Pick: Southern Miss

They say defense wins championships, but offense can sure win this bowl game between one of the nation’s best offenses (Southern Miss) and the 11th-ranked defense of Louisville. With the Conference-USA deep this season, Southern Miss has the resume to defeat a former conference rival. 

Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 22, 8 p.m.                

Last Vegas, NV   

Utah vs. Boise State

Pick: Boise State 

An injury to Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn is too much for the Utes to overcome. Boise, of course, has plenty of fire having dropped from BCS contention late in the season. 

Poinsettia Bowl, Dec. 23, 8 p.m.

San Diego, CA     

San Diego State vs. Navy

Pick: San Diego State 

Playing the likes of BCS-bound TCU and Utah, San Diego has the grit to get it done, especially in what amounts to a home game. 

Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24, 8 p.m.

Honolulu, HI       

Hawaii vs. Tulsa

Pick: Hawaii 

Hawaii is home and is the stronger team. Tulsa will surely enjoy a few days on the beach, though.

Little Caesars Bowl, Dec. 26, 8:30 p.m.

Detroit, MI           

Toledo vs. Florida International

Pick: Toledo 

Toledo gets it done in a game featuring two programs enjoying success in the early part of respective rebuilding processes. 

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl,  Dec. 27, 5 p.m.         

Shreveport, LA    

Air Force vs. Georgia Tech

Pick: Georgia Tech

The rugged ACC schedule the Yellow Jackets played this season is the difference maker in this ground-attack game. 

Champs Sports Bowl, Dec. 28, 6:30 p.m.

Orlando, FL         

N.C. State vs. West Virginia

Pick: West Virginia 

Fresh off a loss in the Big East Championship game, the Mountaineers will take it to North Carolina State.

Insight Bowl, Dec. 28, 10 p.m.

Tempe, AZ           

Missouri vs. Iowa

Pick: Missouri 

Missouri is riding a three-game winning streak and will hope to stretch it to four against the reeling Hawkeyes. 

EagleBank Bowl, Dec. 29, 2:30 p.m.              

Washington, D.C.

Maryland vs. East Carolina

Pick: East Carolina 

Quarterback Dominique Davis is the difference maker in the Pirates’ win over Maryland. 

Texas Bowl, Dec. 29, 6 p.m.

Houston, TX        

Illinois vs. Baylor

Pick: Baylor 

Home crowd, tougher schedule and a better record to show for it. Baylor in a rout. 

Alamo Bowl, Dec. 29, 9:15 p.m.       

San Antonio, TX 

Arizona vs. Oklahoma State

Pick: Oklahoma State 

As intriguing as this game is, you can’t bet against 4,000-yard passer Brandon Weeden. 

Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 30, 12 p.m.

Dallas, TX            

SMU vs. Army

Pick: SMU 

The Conference USA was tough this year, and Kyle Padron was one of the better passers in the league. 

New Era Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 30, 3:20 p.m.

Bronx, NY

Syracuse vs. Kansas State

Pick: Syracuse 

Back in a bowl for the first time since 2004, the Orange takes down a familiar bowl foe, in Yankee Stadium.

Music City Bowl, Dec. 30, 6:40 p.m.

Nashville, TN         

North Carolina vs. Tennessee

Pick: North Carolina 

Quarterback T.J. Yates is enough to push the Tar Heels ahead of the Vols in this competitive bowl game. 

Holiday Bowl, Dec. 30, 10 p.m.

San Diego, CA     

Washington vs. Nebraska

Pick: Nebraska 

If history has taught us anything, it’s that you shouldn’t bet against a team that already beat its opponent. And the ‘Huskers embarrassed Washington earlier this season. 

Meineke Car Care Bowl, Dec. 31, 12 p.m.

Charlotte, NC      

Clemson vs. South Florida

Pick: Clemson 

Being played somewhat close to Clemson, the home crowd does it for the Tigers in this defensive-minded battle. 

Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m.

Memphis, TN

Central Florida vs. Georgia

Pick: Central Florida 

UCF is the better team and the better pick here. Champions of a tough C-USA, the Knights finish a solid season with a bowl win. 

Chick-Fil-A Bowl, Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.

Atlanta, GA         

Florida State vs. South Carolina

Pick: Florida State 

This is a true flip-of-the-coin bowl game, sure to be one of the most competitive. Two of the nation’s best defenses will be on display. 

Hyundai Sun Bowl, Dec. 31, 2 p.m.

El Paso, Texas

Miami vs. Notre Dame

Pick: Miami 

Notre Dame persevered through some tough times, but Miami is the stronger team. 

Ticket City Bowl, Jan. 1, noon

Dallas, Texas

Northwestern vs. Texas Tech

Pick: Texas Tech 

The loss of quarterback Dan Persa is too tough for Northwestern to come back from against Texas Tech, which relies heavily on its signal caller, Taylor Potts. 

Outback Bowl, Jan. 1, 1 p.m.

Tampa, FL

Penn State vs. Florida

Pick: Florida 

Gators quarterback John Brantley is enough to separate these two evenly-matched opponents with plenty of lessons learned in their respective losses this season. 

Capital One Bowl, Jan. 1, 1 p.m.

Orlando, FL

Michigan State vs. Alabama

Pick: Michigan State

Running back Edwin Baker gained 1,187 yards and scored 13 times this season. He’ll add to that in being the difference maker between two tough teams in a well-matched Capital One Bowl. 

Gator Bowl, Jan. 1, 1:30 p.m.

Jacksonville, FL  

Michigan vs. Mississippi State

Pick: Michigan 

Going 8-4 in the SEC is more impressive than going 7-5 in the Big Ten, but Mississippi State does not have Denard Robinson. 

Rose Bowl Bowl, Jan. 1

Pasadena, CA

Wisconsin vs. TCU

Pick: TCU 

TCU is favored by three points, and I don’t think these two teams are separated by much more than three points, either way. Still, TCU’s stout defense and ability to score makes me think the Horned Frogs will win outright by at least one full possession. 

Fiesta Bowl Bowl, Jan. 1

Glendale, Ariz.

Oklahoma vs. UConn

Pick: Oklahoma

The Sooners are favored by 17 points. To put it clearly, there is absolutely no way Oklahoma loses to UConn in the Fiesta Bowl.

Orange Bowl, Jan. 3

Miami, Fla.

Virginia Tech vs. Stanford

Pick: Stanford 

With Stanford boasting quarterback Andrew Luck and having handled all that the Pac-10 has to offer this season aside from Oregon, a three-point spread is just a blip on the radar.

Sugar Bowl, Jan. 4

New Orleans, La.

Arkansas vs. Ohio State

Pick: Ohio State 

Despite the Buckeyes’ trouble against SEC teams in bowl games, I like Ohio State. Terrelle Pryor gets back on the national map in an outright win over the Razorbacks. 

GoDaddy.com Bowl, Jan. 6, 8 p.m.           

Mobile, AL           

Miami (Ohio) vs. Middle Tennessee

Pick: Miami 

Quarterback Zac Dysert leads Miami as it completes what has already been an impressive turnaround. 

AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 7, 8 p.m.

Arlington, Texas

Texas A&M vs. LSU

Pick: LSU 

A resume that includes six wins in the SEC provides the Tigers with plenty of confidence. A stout defense doesn’t hurt, either.

Birmingham Bowl, Jan. 8, 12 p.m.           

Birmingham, AL 

Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky

Pick: Kentucky 

With nearly 6,000 career yards, including 3,178 and 23 touchdowns this year, NFL-bound quarterback Mike Hartline ends his prolific career with a win. 

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, Jan. 9, 9 p.m.

San Francisco, CA              

Nevada vs. Boston College

Pick: Nevada 

After knocking Boise State from BCS contention, Nevada ends an otherwise stellar season on a high note with a win over the ACC. 

National Championship Game, Jan. 10

Glendale, Ariz.

Auburn vs. Oregon

Pick: Oregon 

More than a month away, we haven’t heard the last of the Cecil Newton saga. That’s sure to weigh on Cam Newton some and be a deciding factor in his play. With these two teams as even as any title contenders we’ve seen in recent years, that’s enough for me to rule Oregon and the Ducks’ dominating defense the outright winners.