2011 Bowl Predictions: Auburn and More Sure Fire Winners on New Year's Eve

In the past, there were better games on New Year's Eve for the Bowl Championship Series, but this year, there is only one contest featuring a ranked team.

Even so, college football is college football, and there are five games slated for the world's biggest party night.

Here are my predictions for each game. If I'm wrong, hopefully, you'll forget where you got the bad advice from.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Texas A&M vs. Northwestern

Both teams are 6-6 and feature future NFL QB in Ryan Tannehill of the Aggies and Dan Persa of the Wildcats. Texas A& M has underachieved this season. They dropped every big game they played this year, with the exception of the matchup with Baylor. The Aggies were 1-5 versus ranked teams, which is why they finished out of the top 25. Their only loss to a unranked opponent was an OT loss to Missouri.

The Wildcats signature win came against the overrated Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 9. The Wildcats offense can be explosive but they can't compete athletically with Texas A&M. If the Aggies stay away from turnovers, they will win.

Texas A&M 34 Northwestern 20

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Georgia Tech vs. Utah

The key to this game will be how well the Utes can handle the Yellow Jackets' Triple-Option Attack. Georgia Tech's Tevin Washington has run it masterfully this season, and that is one reason why they are the third best rushing team in the country with 317 yards per game.

This is not a slight towards the Utah defense, which is surrendering less than 20 points per game this season. However, Tech has the scheme mismatch advantage, as well as an overall edge in athleticism.

Georgia Tech 24 Utah 13

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Illinois vs. UCLA

Both teams have had their head coaches fired. You could call this the poor man's Rose Bowl, with this Big-Ten and Pac-12 collision.

The Fighting Illini are perhaps one of the 10 most disappointing teams in the nation. They have great talent on defense, with prospects like Whitney Mercilus (one of the best names in all of sports) and finally seem to have sufficient talent at QB with Nathan Scheelhaase.  But they struggled to score through the second half of the season.

They started the season 6-0, now they have lost six in a row, as they fall into this matchup. Ron Zook was fired on November 26, and UCLA fired Rick Neuheisel before the Pac-12 title game the Bruins were given a berth to, due to USC's sanctions.

The Bruins have a solid run game lead by Johnathan Franklin, but they have been plagued by inconsistent QB play from Kevin Prince. Nelson Rosario is a major talent in the passing game, but the Illini defense should be able to take him away as the main air threat. As for the other side of the ball, UCLA puts little to no pressure on the QB. They only have 13 sacks as a team all year.

This is the rare defense and the Illini should be able to score against.

Illinois 17 UCLA 10

AutoZone Liberty Bowl

Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt

The Bearcats hope to have QB Zach Collaros ready for this game. If he isn't prepared, they will go back with Munchie Legaux under center. He was inconsistent in Collaros' stead, but did deliver a strong game in the season finale against UConn.

The Bearcats will need a strong performance from the offensive line and RB Isaiah Pead to compete in this game. Vandy has their own stellar RB in Zac Stacy.  He has already eclipsed the 1100 yard mark in rushing this season and the Commodores defense allowed just 21 points per game. Those numbers have come against far better competition than the Bearcats.

Of Vandy's six losses, only two of them have come against teams, not currently ranked in the top 25, but they are all SEC teams.

Vandy's defense will shut down a shaky Bearcats' attack in this one.

Vanderbilt 29 Cincinnati 13

Chick-Fil-A-Bowl

Virginia vs. Auburn

The Tigers are the only ranked team in action on New Year's Eve. Their season has been a roller coaster ride, but make no mistake, this team is talented. The Tigers are another team who have been beaten up within the tough SEC conference. Auburn's five losses this season have come to LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Clemson. All but one of those teams are in the BCS Bowl games, and Georgia is certainly one of the 10 best teams in the nation.

Virginia has had a promising year, but their recent 38-0 blowout loss at the hands of Virginia Tech shows how this team has performed recently against upper echelon talent.

Auburn 35 Virginia 13