College Football Picks Week 15

With the exception of Army vs. Navy, it’s the last week of the college football season.  This week is a mix of regular season finales, and conference championship games.  It is also the annual week where we pick every college football game.

The bowl picture is also taking shape.  It’s about time to start the hash-tag: #BringBacktheBCS.  If you want to see the latest bowl projections, CLICK HERE.

Last Week:  19-7 (.731)

Overall:  280-78 (.782)

UCF vs. East Carolina

Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green (MAC Championship Game)

#7 Arizona vs. #2 Oregon (Pac-12 Championship Game; This may be a play-in game to the College Football Playoff.)

Louisiana Tech vs. Marshall (Conference USA Championship Game)

Houston vs. Cincinnati

SMU vs. Connecticut (Good luck next year Chad Morris.)

Iowa State vs. #3 TCU

Oklahoma State vs. #20 Oklahoma

#1 Alabama vs. #16 Missouri (SEC Championship Game; It is impressive for Missouri to win the SEC East in its first two seasons in the SEC.)

Temple vs. Tulane

#9 Kansas State vs. #6 Baylor

#4 Florida State vs. #11 Georgia Tech (ACC Championship Game)

#13 Wisconsin vs. #5 Ohio State (Big Ten Championship Game)

Fresno State vs. #22 Boise State (Mountain West Championship Game; All Boise State has to do is win and they are in as the ‘non-power 5’ team in the top bowls.)

College Football Picks Week 4

With a few minor exceptions, this season in providing all of the reasons why you love college football.  So far, many of the close games have been close, and even some of the predicted blow-outs, have been nail-biters.

Last Week:  23-6 (.793)

Overall:  86-12 (.878)

#5 Auburn vs. #20 Kansas State

#22 Clemson vs. #1 Florida State (The Seminoles should be able to weather any sort of storm that comes with QB Jameis Winston being suspended for the first half.)

#2 Oregon vs. Washington State

Florida vs. #3 Alabama

#4 Oklahoma vs. West Virginia

#6 Texas A&M vs. SMU

Mississippi State vs. #8 LSU

Eastern Michigan vs. #11 Michigan State

Troy vs. #13 Georgia

#14 South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt (Gamecock fans might wonder why they are not getting any respect in the polls.  A dominating win over the Commodores rather than a normal game against Vanderbilt would help greatly.)

Indiana vs. #18 Missouri

Bowling Green vs. #19 Wisconsin

Virginia vs. #21 BYU

Miami (FL) vs. #24 Nebraska

Georgia Tech vs. Virginia Tech

Iowa vs. Pittsburgh

Maryland vs. Syracuse

Tulane vs. Duke

Maine vs. Boston College

Louisville vs. FIU

Army vs. Wake Forest

North Carolina vs. East Carolina (It’s hard to believe that East Carolina is favored in this game.)

Presbyterian vs. North Carolina State

Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas (The Razorbacks should win, but if there is a team that needs to be on upset alert, it is Arkansas.)

Updated Bowl Projections: Northern Illinois Returns to BCS

Two weeks left in the season (except for Army-Navy), and there is a major shake-up in the teams making BCS games.

This past week, Northern Illinois jumped Fresno State in the BCS rankings.  With both teams in the top-16 in the BCS rankings, and an automatic-qualifying champion finishing below both teams, one of them is likely to make a BCS game.

The other deciding factor for Northern Illinois to now jump into a BCS game comes down to one game.  Fresno State will finish the season playing only 12 games (including a conference championship game), while Northern Illinois will play 13.  Fresno State was forced to cancel a game due to weather earlier in the season, and could not find an opponent to play a 12th game.

Looking at the other BCS games, many remain the same.  Oregon’s unexpected loss to Arizona knocks them out in favor of Stanford, who will claim the Pac-12’s bid to the Rose Bowl.

With Alabama and Florida State going to the National Championship, the Orange and Sugar Bowls preserve their normal automatic bids and choose Clemson (Orange) and Auburn (Sugar) as replacement teams.  Michigan State picks up the last available spot as an at-large team.

When figuring out the rest of the projections, teams potentially playing in conference championship games run the risk of slipping.  A perfect example of this is South Carolina.  In these projections, Missouri loses allowing the Gamecocks to reach the SEC Championship Game.  If they lose, it is likely they could fall below other teams with the same amount of wins (this would include a loss this week to Clemson).

After this week, several schools should begin to accept bowl bids, allowing the bowl picture to get a little clearer.

BOWL	TEAMS
Gildan New Mexico Bowl	Utah State	Arizona
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl	Fresno State	UCLA
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Buffalo	UNLV
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	North Texas	Louisiana-Lafayette
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl	Middle Tennessee	Southern Methodist
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	East Carolina	Colorado State
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	Bowling Green	Arkansas State
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl	San Diego State	Toledo
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman	Tulane	Pittsburgh
Texas Bowl	Michigan	Texas Tech
Fight Hunger Bowl	Washington	BYU
New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Houston	Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	Louisville	Georgia Tech
Russell Athletic Bowl	Virginia Tech	Cincinnati
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl	Minnesota	Texas
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl	Boise State	Navy
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	Vanderbilt	North Carolina
Valero Alamo Bowl	Oregon	Oklahoma
National University Holiday Bowl	Kansas State	USC
Advocare V100 Bowl	Boston College	Central Michigan
Hyundai Sun Bowl	Miami (FL)	Arizona State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Marshall	Ole Miss
Chick-fil-A Bowl	Duke	South Carolina
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl	Iowa	Georgia
Heart of Dallas Bowl	Ohio	Rice
Capital One Bowl	Wisconsin	Missouri
Outback Bowl	Nebraska	Texas A&M
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO	Stanford	Ohio State
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	Oklahoma State	Northern Illinois
Allstate Sugar Bowl	Auburn	UCF
Discover Orange Bowl	Clemson	Michigan State
AT&T Cotton Bowl	Baylor	LSU
BBVA Compass Bowl	Mississippi State	Rutgers
GoDaddy Bowl	Western Kentucky	Ball State
VIZIO BCS National Championship	Alabama	Florida State

2013-14 College Football Bowl Projections, 5th Edition

With the 2013-14 College Football season winding down, the bowl projections will begin to come weekly.

As usual, the last couple of weeks have huge implications on the BCS and the bowls, in general.  Just about every conference is still up for grabs.  The Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn), will either clear up the picture, or make it even crazier.  There is also a big battle between Fresno State and Northern Illinois, as to who will be ranked higher and perhaps make it into a BCS game as a non-AQ (automatic qualifier).

BOWL	TEAMS
Gildan New Mexico Bowl	Colorado State	Oregon State
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl	San Diego State	UCLA
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Bowling Green	UNLV
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	Tulane	Louisiana-Lafayette
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl	Middle Tennessee	Southern Methodist
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	East Carolina	San Jose State
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	Ball State	Arkansas State
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl	Boise State	Toledo
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman	North Texas	Maryland
Texas Bowl	Iowa	Texas Tech
Fight Hunger Bowl	Washington	BYU
New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Cincinnati	Notre Dame
Belk Bowl	Houston	Georgia Tech
Russell Athletic Bowl	Miami (FL)	Louisville
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl	Michigan	Texas
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl	Utah State	Navy
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	Ole Miss	Syracuse
Valero Alamo Bowl	Stanford	Oklahoma
National University Holiday Bowl	Kansas State	USC
Advocare V100 Bowl	North Carolina	Mississippi State
Hyundai Sun Bowl	Virginia Tech	Arizona State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Marshall	Vanderbilt
Chick-fil-A Bowl	Duke	Missouri
TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl	Minnesota	Georgia
Heart of Dallas Bowl	Buffalo	Rice
Capital One Bowl	Wisconsin	LSU
Outback Bowl	Nebraska	South Carolina
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO	Oregon	Ohio State
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	Oklahoma State	Fresno State
Allstate Sugar Bowl	Auburn	UCF
Discover Orange Bowl	Clemson	Michigan State
AT&T Cotton Bowl	Baylor	Texas A&M
BBVA Compass Bowl	Tennessee	Rutgers
GoDaddy Bowl	Western Kentucky	Northern Illinois
VIZIO BCS National Championship	Alabama	Florida State

Week 12 College Football Picks

With a big battle in the MAC on Wednesday night, this week’s picks are coming a day early.

Keep and eye out later for a new batch of bowl projections, as the final few weeks of the college football season are upon us.

Last Week:  18-6 (.750)

Overall:  242-50 (.829)

Ball State vs. #15 Northern Illinois (Huge game in the MAC with BCS implications as well.)

Georgia Tech vs. #8 Clemson (Could be a trap game for Clemson.)

Washington vs. #13 UCLA

#1 Alabama vs. Mississippi State

Syracuse vs. #2 Florida State

#3 Ohio State vs. Illinois

#4 Stanford vs. USC

Texas Tech vs. #5 Baylor

Utah vs. #6 Oregon

#25 Georgia vs. #7 Auburn

Florida vs. #10 South Carolina

#12 Oklahoma State vs. #24 Texas

#16 Michigan State vs. Nebraska

#17 UCF vs. Temple (Fresno State will keep a close eye on this game.)

Iowa State vs. #18 Oklahoma

Oregon State vs. #19 Arizona State

Houston vs. #20 Louisville

Indiana vs. #22 Wisconsin (Could be a trap game for Wisconsin.)

#23 Miami (FL) vs. Duke (This game could determine who will step up and get a whipping in the ACC Championship Game.)

North Carolina State vs. Boston College

North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh

Maryland vs. Virginia Tech

Troy vs. Ole Miss

Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt