The End of Monotony: Week Two Bowl Previews and Predictions

Okay, class, here's a question: How many believe that the bowl season was off to a incredibly mundane start, and that it can only get worse until the big bowls are played? Show of hands, NOW! {Everyone shoots a hand in the air}

Well, you're wrong! Last week was just the warm-up round. So keep spiking that egg nog, because it can only get better (or bumpier from here). With that, here's a quick look at the bowl games of Week Two.

Christmas Eve (December 24th)

Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii Warriors vs. Notre Dame Fightin' (or Slumpin') Irish

The Warriors have had one interesting turnaround this year. Last season, they were the WAC Champions, heading to the BCS, and eyeing a shot at a national championship. Then they played the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl, and like most teams who come into the SEC's own postseason playground, they fell...hard.

After that, Colt Brennan was gone. June Jones left the program. And the Warriors passed the WAC Championship torch back to Boise State. Now they're back in their own bowl game facing a team that is the epitome of mediocre.

What can we say about Notre Dame this season? Uhhh...they stink. They suck. They should have fired Weis! But that's just the opinion of about...90 percent of America! But somehow they got into the college postseason.

Despite finishing 6-6, and despite doing everything necessary to shake the foundations of several huge winning programs in the country, Notre Dame is playing in a bowl game.

Too bad they're going to lose this one, too.

Final Score: Hawaii 27, Notre Dame 13

December 26th

Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic Owls vs. Central Michigan Chippewas

Would anyone be truly, madly, deeply upset if I just skipped this game and went straight to the good ones of Week Two? I didn't think so.

Final Score: Central Michigan 30, Florida Atlantic 10

December 27th (The Good Stuff Begins...I think)

Meineke Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

Who feels bad for Rich Rodriguez in Black Diamond Central? No one. The Mountaineers are back in the postseason without, and this time without Rich-Rod. It may not be the National Championship, but they know that when they hit the field this weekend, their former boss will be home playing on his foosball table.

But they are playing a team that has had enough of being the butt end of the ACC Conference. Butch Davis took a mediocre team and turned it into a contender for the ACC Championship. The Heels finished with an 8-4 mark this season, and it looked as if they could have finished atop the ACC mountain several times this past season.

But instead, these two 8-4 teams will lock horns this weekend. Does Pat White have enough left to decimate one more team before he goes pro, along with the other Colt, Bradford, and possibly Tebow? Or will the Sexton-Nicks connection pull off another upset and leave West Virginia with a taste of its own medicine?

Final Score: North Carolina 30, West Virginia 20

Champs Sports Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers vs. Florida State Seminoles

So, how many people thought that this was the year that Wisconsin would reign as Big Ten Champions? How many thought that Florida State would reclaim its throne back atop the ACC Conference? I guess we were all wrong.

But they will do whatever it takes to give us a huge finish to a good football weekend. While most will be focused on the final stretch of this insane NFL season, the Seminoles and the Badgers will be locked up in an old school Big Ten-ACC showdown. And you don't even have to hear Dick Vitale to enjoy this game!

Now that's Awesome, Baby! Awesome with a capital "A."

The equalizers in this game will be Seminoles' QB Christian Ponder and Badgers RB P.J. Hill. The Seminoles have not had the best season in their program's history. From last season's cheating scandal, to the loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, Florida State will be motivated to win this game. But just because you're motivated doesn't mean you'll win it all.

As for Wisconsin, the Badgers have not been the dominant team that everyone expected them to be. So with two teams coming in looking to finish the season on a positive note, who gets the nod? Well...

Final Score: Florida State 27, Wisconsin 19

Emerald Bowl: Miami Hurricanes vs. Cal Golden Bears

ACC vs. Pac-10. On the West Coast, they say that the Pac-10 is the best conference in the country. On the East Coast, they claim the ACC has the best teams...mainly because of "The U!" I really need a drink just thinking about this one.

So the Miami Hurricanes are back in the postseason. And everyone knows that the Big Three of Florida (Florida, Miami, and Florida State) have fans that don't like each other. So why should this one be any different?

The Canes finished 7-5 this season, and are heading back to the postseason after a one-year break. If it wasn't for their run defense looking like a pee wee team late in the season, they would have been playing for the ACC crown—and possibly the national title.

And now they go against one of the best rushers in the Pac-10, in the form of Jahvid Best. He accounted for almost 1,400 of Cal's offensive yards this season. And he'll be the reason that Cal stuns "The U!" The Bears will win this one, and it will be because of the best that Best will offer on the other side of the Bay Area Bridge.

Final Score: Cal 34, Miami (FL) 21

Coming Up: Bowl Games for December 28th-December 30th