Wow. More than 2 months have passed since I blogged. (Christmas Eve would make it 3.) I have decided that I would like to blog again and renew my committment (as was originally stated when I was picked to be a blogger) to blog once a week.
My first post back will be on College Bowls; I'll be getting these in day-by-day (and will be cramming all of the bowls from the 22nd through the 27th on into one post; I'll be gone all of these days most likely.)
Anyway, let's get started with my bowl picks!
EagleBank Bowl and New Mexico Bowl: These games have already started or have ended, so I will not be analyzing either of them. (I originally picked Navy and Fresno State; they both lost.)
magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl
South Florida (otherwise known as USF) and Memphis square off at Tropicana Field (home of the Tampa Bay Rays) for the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl. USF failed to impress many, including myself. USF had finished 9-4 for the last 2 years and had an impressive team last year, getting as high as #2 in the BCS Rankings. They ended up starting out the season quite hot; they got up into the Top 10 and started out 5-0. However, they lost 5 of their last 7 games, and finished at a final record of 7-5. In Memphis, there is an impressive running back in Chris Steele. Steele had a very impressive year for the Tigers, finishing with over 1,000 yards. I feel this could be a very interesting matchup in St. Petersburg.
My Pick: I feel that this is USF's game. Memphis only beat one bowl team in Southern Miss, while USF beat 3. USF's defense just seems too good for Memphis, and I feel this is a game that Memphis will eventually lose. Also factoring in will be USF's essentially home-field advantage, considering the game is being played about 35 miles away from their home stadium (Raymond James Stadium).
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
The two teams playing in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl are very different. BYU has made its 4th straight trip to Las Vegas for this bowl game, and their 5th bowl this decade. Arizona, meanwhile, has never been to the Las Vegas bowl, and hasn't even BEEN to a bowl in 10 years (the 1998 Holiday Bowl, where they beat Nebraska, 23-20). Max Hall is leading an explosive BYU offense and Willie Tuitama leads an Arizona team at QB. However, Arizona hasn't done well on the road this year and BYU hasn't seemed to show up all that much in big games.
My Pick: I have to go with BYU in this game. They're used to the bowl environment, and they just seem like a better team. Arizona has a good team, but they haven't come up in hostile environments or against good teams (Arizona's losses coming to New Mexico, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, and Stanford; Arizona has only beaten one bowl team in Cal while BYU has beaten 2 bowl teams in Colorado State and Air Force; both of their losses have come on the road against ranked teams- TCU and Utah). I will be watching this game tonight out of the 2 that are left.
Record at end of night: 1-3