College Football: Predicting the BCS Bowls

When it comes to sports, none come close to the passion and the pure pageantry of college football. As the season nears you can imagine how giddy football fans all over the country are getting.

I too am guilty of being giddy, and I’m also guilty of laying out predictions that are basically next to impossible to predict. But bare with me, I’m doing these to simply hype up the season, and I don’t expect to get all of these correct.

Due to the BCS, the college football season is the most important regular season in all of sports, and because of that teams have had their seasons ruined due to one or two slip-ups.

It’s a long and winding road, and it’s full of both heartache and triumphant victories. These are the teams that will experience more of the latter and will play in BCS bowls at the end of the season.

Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Stanford

Preview:  The fans and the media seem to be sold on Florida State this preseason and with good reason. The Seminoles have eight returning starters on offense and eight returning on defense as well.

Florida State may have lost Christian Ponder last year, but E.J. Manuel is poised to pick up where Ponder left off. He’ll have a great supporting cast around him with star wide receiver Bert Reed being on the receiving end of multiple touchdowns for the Seminoles this year.

The Seminoles will have a great secondary, good linebacker core led by Nigel Bradham and will have a good rotation at running back to make that ground game run smoothly.

While fans are sold on Florida State, the same really can’t be said about Stanford because there are many people out there that are saying that Stanford is overrated. That might be true, but they still have the best player in college football throwing the ball for them in Andrew Luck.

Football is a team game, but having a great quarterback will help you compete against all the great teams in conference. Even though they have questions on the offensive line and wide receiver position, Andrew Luck and company will squeeze a couple of tough games out to get to the Orange Bowl for the second year in a row.

Records:  Florida State will come in as a heavy favorite boasting an impressive 12-1 record with their only loss coming against Oklahoma, while Stanford will host a 9-3 record with losses coming against Arizona, USC and Oregon.

Winner:  Luck will have those NFL scouts drooling in another brilliant bowl game performance, but it won’t be enough against a fierce Seminoles squad. Florida State wins this one 34-24.

Tostitos Bowl: West Virginia vs. Texas A&M

Preview:  West Virginia lost its head coach Bill Stewart during the offseason, so they’ll have to overcome some adversity to make a BCS bowl.

Junior quarterback Geno Smith and the Mountaineers are up to the task, and they’ll meet the Texas A&M Aggies in the Tostitos Bowl on January 4.

Mike Sherman has something cooking down at College Station with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, running back Cyrus Gray and wide receiver Jeff Fuller.

The Aggies won’t be able to knock off the Sooners, but they’ll squeeze a couple games out against Oklahoma State and Missouri.

Records:  The Mountaineers will march in with a 10-2 record with losses to LSU and Cincinnati, while the Aggies will bring their high-powered offense to the dance hosting a 10-2 record as well with their only losses coming against Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Winner:  When these two teams meet, the Aggies will have the advantage of being battle tested. There are some quality teams in the Big East, but the Mountaineers won’t be playing Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. The Aggies win this one big by a score of 38-17.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Nebraska

Preview:  Halfway through the season last year, the media was campaigning Taylor Martinez as a true Heisman candidate. After a few losses here and there, you hear absolutely nothing about the guy.

Is Taylor Martinez even on the 2011 squad? Is Nebraska  going to compete in the Big Ten this year?

I’m just asking because I’ve heard no hype about Nebraska or Martinez this entire offseason. If I were a Cornhusker fan, I would be pleased because you know this has to fire up Bo Pelini and the team. Alabama’s preseason hype has been the polar opposite.

Everyone is jumping on the Tide’s bandwagon even though they lost their quarterback. Alabama will have the nation’s best secondary and possibly the nation’s best linebacker core with guys like Dont’a Hightower, C.J. Moseley and Courtney Upshaw holding down the middle.

If this game does indeed occur, you can expect hats to be flying all over the place in what would be a gritty, hard-fought contest.

Records:  Nebraska will enter this contest with a record of 11-2 with both of their losses coming against Michigan State and Wisconsin, while Alabama will have two losses marked on their record coming against Arkansas and Mississippi State.

Winner:  This will be a war of attrition between two physical teams, but Alabama will be the only team to walk out of New Orleans as Sugar Bowl Champions. The Tide win this one 27-21.

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Wisconsin

Preview:  Wisconsin won the Russell Wilson sweepstakes this offseason and brought in a great quarterback that will bring in a new element to this already dangerous ball club.

It’s no secret that Wisconsin loves to run the ball and they’ll do so with James White, but having Wilson on the team can keep defenses from stacking the box.

Oregon has a daunting schedule placed in front of them with their first game being a top five matchup against LSU. The Ducks return the dangerous duo of Darron Thomas and LaMichael James and will conquer the Pac-12 this season.

Records:  Neither team will come into this game unscathed as Wisconsin will be 12-1 with its only loss coming against Michigan State, and Oregon will be 12-1 with its only loss of the year coming against LSU.

Winner:  Wisconsin is on the losing end of this one and lose their second straight Rose Bowl game. The Ducks defeat the Badgers by a score of 41-28.

BCS Championship Game: Oklahoma vs. LSU

Preview:  It’s the rematch from the 2003 Sugar Bowl, and the Oklahoma faithful have been anxiously awaiting another shot at becoming national champions.

Since then, LSU has won another national championship and Oklahoma has lost another national championship, so expect a lot of emotions to be running high early. Oklahoma is the most complete team in all of college football, so it’s no wonder why the media is predicting them to play in the national championship.

Led by quarterback Landry Jones and wide receiver Ryan Broyles on offense, and linebacker Travis Lewis and cornerback Jamell Fleming on defense, this Sooner club is going to be a handful for anyone.

LSU might not be as well-rounded with its question mark at quarterback—especially after the bar fight incident—but they have enough talent to defeat any team on any given day. From running back Spencer Ware, wide receiver Rueben Randle and a stellar offensive line, this offense will produce with or without a great quarterback.

On the defensive side, the Tigers will have the second best secondary in the nation behind Alabama and will definitely be the strong point of this team.

Records:  Oklahoma will enter this game unscathed, while LSU will come in with only one loss against Alabama. LSU gets into the national championship game because they are the SEC champions, and the SEC Champion gets the nod over the Pac-12 Champion.

Winner:  I went back and forth on my decision here, but I think I’m going to have to go with the Sooners on this one. The Sooners are just too well-rounded and have so many ways to beat teams. LSU puts up a good fight but falters 28-24.