2014-01-01 16:13

Sylvester Bowls are over and except one Bowl, all were boring.
But that one Bowl was a thriller.

Let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE BOWL GAMES FOR WAVE 5

Tuesday, December 31, 12:30 PM ET AdvoCare V100 BOWL
Arizona vs. Boston College @ Independence Stadium, SHREVEPORT, LA
First boring one.
The Wildcats did crush the Eagles bigger than expected.
Arizona was able to to almost everything they wanted, with no big resistance from Boston College.
I hope for the PAC 12 that Arizona stays in that form, then next season will be great.
Arizona 42 - Boston College 19 -> Jacks Bowl Score: 12-8

Tuesday, December 31, 2:00 PM ET HYUNDAI SUN BOWL
Virginia Tech vs. #17 UCLA @ Sun Bowl, EL PASO, TX
Next boring game on the way.
UCLA did exactly what was expected, they won big.
Thank you very much for coming.
It will be interesting to see, what Frank Beamer, the HC of VT will do in the off-season.
He did raise the expectations on that program so high, by his own record years over years, that THIS season is a disaster.
UCLA will have to battle a probably resurrected USC next season and hopefully a full strength Arizona AND Arizona State team.
Sound like fun for the fans.
Virginia Tech 12 - UCLA 42 -> Jacks Bowl Score: 13-8

Tuesday, December 31, 4:00 PM ET AutoZone LIBERTY BOWL
Rice vs. Mississippi State @ Liberty Bowl, MEMPHIS, TN
Well, Rice did not win here.
By far.
It looked like Mississippi State did save their best performance for the Bowl, they just stomped on those birds and the Owls were not able to get anything going.
Fans of the Bulldogs will probably expect something big next season.
Rice 7 - Mississippi State 44 -> Jacks Bowl Score: 14-8

Tuesday, December 31, 8:00 PM ET Chick-fil-A BOWL
#24 Duke vs. #21 Texas A&M @ Georgia Dome, ATLANTA, GA
THAT was the best Bowl so far in my book.
We had Duke, which had some sort of Cinderella season, went for the ACC championship game and lost, but still had the most successful season ever.
We had Texas A&M, which were supposed to top Alabama and win the SEC, but did suck on defense a few times too often during the season and did not play as expected.
Still everybody expected Duke to get crushed.
Well, A&M missed a field goal and Duke scored a TD on the next drive. Worried? No.
A&M did hit a field goal, but Duke scored a TD on the next drive. Worried now? No, right?
The Aggies did punt, but Duke blocked it, and scored a TD on the next drive. Worried now? A bit? No? OK, it's still the first half, so. No, right?
A&M scored a TD. Yeah! Duke score also a TD on the next drive ... Booo. I don't care!
The Aggies went down the field and scored a TD! There you have it. Fine, thought Duke and scored also a TD.
And because it was so much fun, why not try an onside-kick, win it, and score another TD? Worried? Yeah ... A bit, right?
38-17 at the half. For DUKE!
Aggies came out of the halftime and scored a TD. Duke missed a FG. Ha!
A&M scored again and Duke did hit a FG. Ha! Only 10 points behind!
Start for the 4th quarter did A&M score another TD, but Duke ... Did score TD the next drive. 10 points behind, and less than 7 minutes to go. Worried?
A&M scored very fast a TD and that was the point were all went to shit for Duke.
The VERY good QB of Duke was intercepted by the so far VERY bad Aggies defense. The Ball was taken to the house and suddenly Duke was behind.
They tried to come back but with about 1:19 left that QB did a very stupid thing on 2nd and 10 and the ball was intercepted, again.
So Manziel got his final win and Duke did not crown their very nice season with a major victory.
Duke 48 - Texas A&M 52 -> Jacks Bowl Score: 15-8

So much for the Sylvester Bowls.
Now comes the New Years Bowls.

Let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE BOWL GAMES FOR WAVE 6

Wednesday, January 1, 12:00 PM ET TAXSLAYER.com GATOR BOWL
Nebraska vs. #22 Georgia @ Everbank Field, JACKSONVILLE, FL
Since 1946 is this Bowl played and is of cause played in Florida.
At the moment it is a SEC vs Big Ten Bowl.
Each team gets around 7.000.000$.
I'm not sure about that matchup.
Nebraska did not challenge Ohio State for the division, instead they fell behind Iowa on 3rd place in the division.
Not an up-year for the Cornhuskers.
Georgia did have a quite similar season. Instead of competing and winning the division (again) they lost to Missouri, Auburn and for the worst, Vanderbilt.
Still they are ranked and I think they are the favorites in this game here.
Both teams had some time for preparation, but the bottom line is, that Nebraska did play too many times like Dr. Jackyl and Mr. Hyde, that i'm picking Georgia.
I'm expecting a close game.

Wednesday, January 1, 12:00 PM ET HEART OF DALLAS BOWL - PRES. BY PLAINSCAPITAL BANK
UNLV vs. North Texas @ Cotton Bowl, DALLAS, TX
This is very new, since 2011 is this Bowl played.
To confuse all it is played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Stadium named after the event (which was moved to another stadium).
It's a Big Ten Bowl facing off against a Big 12 or a C-USA-Team.
And since not enough Big Ten teams were available to fill out all those Bowl game spots, the Bowl had to invite UNLV from the Mountain West.
Each team gets around 1.200.000$.
This makes this one of the most boring matchups in Bowls this season.
For me surprisingly Vegas has UNT as the favorite.
I will UNLV.
Why?
North Texas lost to several teams from different conferences which did not play so well.
On the other hand did UNLV only lose to better teams from their won conference or against way better team.
Means nothing, but my gut says Rebels, not Mean Green.

Wednesday, January 1, 1:00 PM ET OUTBACK BOWL
Iowa vs. #16 LSU @ Raymond James Stadium, TAMPA, FL
This is played since 1986 and is fielded at the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the South Florida Bulls.
Another SEC vs Big Ten Bowl and each team gets around 6.900.000$.
Hand on heart, who does believe Iowa will win this?
Anyone?
Granted, Iowa has a tradition of upsetting and over performing in games, but they also have a tradition of sucking in the other half (or at least that's my feeling).
But LSU did play very good this season and I can't get my head around the idea of them losing against such a team as the Hawkeyes.
IF Iowa brings up their A-game on defense, everything is possible.
But I'm expecting the Tigers to bring up their A-game on both sides of the ball and then it will get hard for Iowa to stay in the game.
LSU wins.

Wednesday, January 1, 1:00 PM ET CAPITAL ONE BOWL
#19 Wisconsin vs. #9 South Carolina @ Florida Citrus Bowl, ORLANDO, FL
Since 1946 played, under different names. Thanks to this sucking sponsor it is no longer the Citrus Bowl.
But is is still played in that stadium in Orlando, Florida.
SEC against Big Ten, again.
Each team gets around 4.550.000$.
Wow, that's a matchup here.
Wisconsin had a good season and they did lose only to good teams.
South Carolina had also a great season and even did win against Missouri.
Now both facing off against each other and it's hard to pick a winner.
I'm leaning towards the Gamecocks, since they did knock away some more teams in a tougher conference.
But this it not written yet and Wisconsin could bring out that nasty Badgers power football and could steamroll those birds.
I just doubt it.
I pick South Carolina in a close game.

Wednesday, January 1, 5:00 PM ET ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO
#5 Stanford vs. #4 Michigan State @ Rose Bowl, PASADENA, CA
The mother of all Bowls is played since ... 1902!
It was permanently installed in 1916 and is played since then.
Normally it is the Big Ten Champion vs the PAC 12 Champion.
Each team gets around 18.000.000$. (it is a BCS game)
The Cardinals were in this game last season and they won it.
This season it's quite likely they will do it again.
But .. Don't count out the Spartans.
I did it several times and I was wrong most of the time.
I have thought about this game a few time and I think Stanford has all the tools to win this, but I still pick Michigan State, because I'm still impressed how they did handle Ohio State in the Big Ten final.
It would be an upset, Vegas and the fans do see the Cardinals in front.
We will see.
I pick MSU.

Wednesday, January 1, 8:30 PM ET TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL
#15 UCF vs. #6 Baylor @ University of Phoenix Stadium, GLENDALE, AZ
The Bowl is played since 1971 and belongs to the BCS-Bowls.
The Big 12 Champ plays a BCS at large opponent.
Each team gets around 17.000.000$.
Who would have thought Baylor would play here?
But they do, as Big 12 Champs.
And they go the American Champions Central Florida, which still feels unreal and like a BCS Buster.
In 100 matchups between those teams, I would pick Baylor every game.
UCF did play great, no question about it, but if you win the Big 12, that's something else.
I'm curious to see, if this will be a blowout or will we be surprised, like the Duke-A&M-game?
I'm hoping for the latter.
Bears win.

‘Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite