2011 Bowl Projections: Predicting Matchups for 2011-12

What a college football season we just had. It was filled with scandals, great games between top opponents, injuries, major upsets and of course controversy. Never a college football season without that.

But that was just the regular season. Now is when it gets good as the conference championships take place this weekend and then the bowl schedule is announced on Sunday.

If you're like me, you absolutely love this time of year and can't wait for the bowl schedule to be released. You're like a kid on Christmas morning waiting to see which teams will be paired against one another as you're looking for all of the key matchups.

Football games running for nearly a month? It doesn't get much better than that.

Since I can't wait for Sunday to come around, it's time to predict the matchups for all 35 bowl games.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Florida International vs. San Diego State

Two up and coming programs that feature two great offensive weapons in the Aztecs Ronnie Hillman and the Panthers T.Y. Hilton.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Toledo vs. Utah State

This should be a great offensive game as both teams score a lot of points and play little to no defense.

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Temple vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

Another surprising Sun Belt team in Louisiana-Lafayette against a great defensive team in Temple.

Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl: Tulsa vs. Pittsburgh

Tulsa is another team that struggles to stop the opponent but the Panthers are all banged up.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. Boise State

Worth watching because it's the last time you'll see Kellen Moore and probably the last time Boise will be this relevant because nearly their entire team is leaving. Including head coach Chris Petersen if he gets the right job offer.

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl: Utah vs. TCU

If TCU played the whole season the way they finished, they may have made a BCS Bowl. Instead they have to settle for this.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Illinois vs. Marshall

Illinois looked great in the beginning but lost their last six games. Marshall might actually have a chance in this game.

Advocare V100 Independence Bowl: Wyoming vs. Wake Forest

So much for Wake Forest being one of the most impressive turnaround teams in the country. Wyoming did beat a decent Dan Diego State team and played TCU tough.

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Northwestern

Might not be the sexiest bowl game but these are two teams that fight to the end and are very competitive.

Belk Bowl: NC State vs. Louisville

Both of these teams picked it up at the end of the year. Who knows, you might get a decent game out of these two teams.

Military Bowl: Air Force vs. North Carolina

If Air Force can get that running game going, this game could be over within a hour and a half or so.

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: California vs. Missouri 

Two underrated teams that can put points on the board in a hurry. This could be one of the best bowl matchups.

Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State vs. Notre Dame

Two great programs with a lot of history battling it out. Both of these teams had huge expectations but failed to live up to them. The winner of this game can build on the victory heading into next season.

Valero Alamo Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Washington

Amazing how the Sooners went from National Championship contenders to playing in this bowl game in the matter of a couple of weeks. Ouch.

Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl: SMU vs. BYU

This could be the Cougars last game as an independent.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Rutgers vs. Texas A&M

Rutgers pretty much get a home game as it's held in Yankee Stadium. The Aggies have the better team.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Virginia vs. Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt plays underrated defense, Virginia is just an underrated team overall. I wonder if this is Mike Londons last year at the university.


Insight Bowl: Ohio State vs. Baylor

Robert Griffin going up against a solid Buckeyes defense. Take a good look at Braxton Miller because he should be a completely different player next season in the spread offense.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas: Iowa vs. Texas

This is the last time you'll see Texas participate in a bowl game like this. Majority of their team coming back next year and a solid recruiting class. They'll be real good next season.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: UCLA vs. Nevada

UCLA falls to a bowl they deserve to go to after getting creamed by Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game. This bowl game is forgettable.

Hyundai Sun Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Arizona State

Two teams that failed to live up to expectations. Arizona State's defense defending the Yellow Jackets triple option is worth watching.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Mississippi State

I have no idea what happened to the Bulldogs as they started out the season looking pretty good. Southern Miss gets another shot at adding a impressive win on their resume.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Clemson vs. Florida

A lot of speed on the field for this matchup from Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps to Sammy Watkins and Andre Ellington. Could be a high scoring game if both teams play to their full potential. That is something they haven't done much this year.

TicketCity Bowl: Purdue vs. Iowa State

A inconsistent team in Purdue against a team that had one of the most shocking upsets of the year in Iowa State.

Capital One Bowl: Michigan State vs. Arkansas  

If this matchup happens, Arkansas would have played the top three defenses in the country for total yards allowed. The other teams are LSU and Arkansas. Hopefully the Razorbacks offense plays a lot better than they did against the other two defensive juggernauts.

Gator Bowl: Penn State vs. Auburn

Penn State will likely fall here if they are accepted of course. This game would normally have been a great matchup when you think of these two teams. But this year it looks like it may be very low scoring and sloppy play.

Outback Bowl: Nebraska vs. Georgia

Georgia will fall here unless they end up shocking the college football world and upsetting the LSU Tigers. Two solid programs going at it but Arron Murray against Taylor Martinez isn't exactly an even quarterback matchup.

AT&T Cotton Bowl: Kansas State vs. South Carolina

Two teams that had a better season than many expected. Who would have ever thought that the Gamecocks would drop their starting quarterback and lose their Heisman candidate running back and get better? This should be a great game.

BBVA Compass Bank Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Western Kentucky

The Bearcats are a banged up team especially at the quarterback position but Western Kentucky will need more than that to pull a victory out.

Godaddy.com Bowl: Ohio vs. Arkansas State

Two surprise teams to come out of their respective conferences. Not a lot of star power of course but could be a surprisingly decent game. 

BCS Rose Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Oregon Ducks

Make sure you go to the grocery store, go to the restroom and take care of everything you have to do before this game comes on. If you get up for even a second you may miss something. Seriously, this game will be very high scoring and may break records as far as yards and points are concerned. Offensive lovers, you can wipe your chin now.

BCS Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Stanford Cardinal

A great quarterback dual in this one with Brandon Weeden and Andrew Luck. You also have another top five pick in next years draft with wide receiver Justin Blackmon. I know tons of scouts would show up to this high scoring game. You should too.

BCS Sugar Bowl: Houston Cougars vs. Michigan Wolverines

Michigan is too good of an at-large bid to pass up. Good team with a great tradition and anytime you can put the Wolverines in the spotlight you take advantage of it. And who wouldn't want to see Denard Robinson? I'm interested to see how Case Keenum and company hold up against a good BCS team.

BCS Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech Hokies vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

I have no idea what's going on with the Clemson Tigers right now so I put the Hokies in this spot. As for the Mountaineers some team from the Big East had to make it, right? As for the game this has the potential to be better than most people think as the Mountaineers have a solid offense against an underrated Hokies defense.

BCS National Championship: LSU Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide

I know many people don't like this matchup, again, but can you really make a case for two better teams? They both play fantastic defense, have two of the top coaches in the country and have future NFL players scattered on both sides of the field. You may like your games high scoring but defense wins championships and both of these teams get that concept.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]