2024-12-30 14:34

Now the bowls are getting too much.
There were 8 on one day!
But the good news is, that was the peak.

Some coaches news, with Washington State finally finding their new HC in Jimmy Rogers, now the former HC of South Dakota State, an FCS Team, which had great success in the past few seasons, of which Rodgers were responsible for 2 of them, 2023 with the win of the National Championship and conference title, and 2024 with the conference title and getting the team to the semifinals. He got the South Dakota Job, after the HC before did retire, when he won the National Championship in 2022 and Rodgers was the DC on that team and got promoted.
Several coaches of FCS Level were quite successful in the past few years, so we have to see, how Wazzu will do.

Let's review the last set of bowls.

FOURTH SET OF BOWLs

Saturday, December 28
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
UConn vs North Carolina
UConn came to play, while UNC did not.
A Team like UConn should be at least having problems to move the ball against a power 4 team, but UNC did trail 24:7 at the half, unable to stop the Huskies from scoring and on the other side was the Tar Heels offense bad.
The 2nd half did more or less melted away with not many points, which is why UConn won 27:14.
It came in the news, that the HC of UConn did get an extension to 2028, which is likely a good thing for the team.
Jacks BOWL Score: 11-8

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Boston College vs Nebraska
From here it went downhill with my picks.
The motivated and bold Boston College Team of the last regular season did not show up until late in the 4th quarter.
At that moment, did the team trail 2:20.
Mid of the 4th quarter did BC finally get a deep drive going and scored a TD to get a Comeback going, but the failed 2-pointer did hint already the outcome.
They stopped Nebraska after 3 plays and got the punt blocked for great field position, which led to a TD 1 play later.
Down by 5 and with 4 minutes left to play did Boston College kick the ball to stop them fast with their defense, only to allow 1st down after 1st down, sometimes with penalties, sometime by plays.
Result, Nebraska won 20:15.
THAT Eagles team is doomed next season, but likely that was just the Bowl-Mystic.
Jacks BOWL Score: 11-9

Isleta New Mexico Bowl
TCU vs Louisiana
OK, that went as expected.
TCU was all the time in lead and in charge.
Louisiana did score in the 4th a field goal, that it.
TCU won 34:3 and will hopefully next season get back on track as contender.
Jacks BOWL Score: 12-9

Pop-Tarts Bowl
#18 Iowa State vs #13 Miami
I was happy to hear that the starting QB of Miami, a redshirt senior, likely to declare for the draft, decided to play in the bowl.
But when the game happened, he did only play one half and bailed on 2nd half, letting his team down, which lost to Iowa State 41:42.
At the half it was Miami leading 31:28. The QB had just broken the all-time-college record on TD-passes.
The Canes came out of the locker room and another QB did start the 2nd half and the team lost, when Iowa State took the lead with less than 1 minute to play and the next Miami drive went not very far and ended with an INT on a Hail Mary.
Either play or sit, but do not play half a game.
Jacks BOWL Score: 12-10

Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice
Miami (OH) vs Colorado State
Oh god, Colorado State was so bad.
They had 4 turnovers and all were bad in timing.
Miami did dominate, even they did only lead at the half 9:3.
In the 3rd quarter did the team then turn on the Jets, with help of the Rams, and scored 20 Points, while allowing only 7.
At the end did Miami win 43:17 and my hope for a competitive Colorado State team was shattered and there was also no close game.
Jacks BOWL Score: 12-11

Go Bowling Military Bowl
NC State vs East Carolina
NC State did play full risk, did try a 4th and 1 on the Pirates 24 Yard line on the 1st drive and ... failed.
As if that did take all the Fighting out of the Wolfpack, the Pirates did score and score and kept on in the 1st half.
NC State did manage only to score a TD in the 1st half, the rest was garbage, trailing still only 7:13.
Then came the 3rd quarter, which was all ECU, but it did look like NC State would find a way back into the game, still trailing only 7:20.
And really, in the 4th did NC State get the lead with 2 TDs and East Carolinas Offense a bit limited.
But that lead did not hold for long, ECU did score a TD a bit later and took the lead back.
The Wolfpacks did try on a last drive but were intercepted and the Pirates ran the time out to win, 26:21.
I really wonder, how such teams, both sides, do prepare for such games.
The Pirates did almost everything right, while NC State did a lot of stuff wrong, including figuring out how to stop the opponents offense.
Jacks BOWL Score: 12-12

Valero Alamo Bowl
#23 Colorado vs #17 BYU
I make this one short.
Colorado did show up with their stars and then did suck like they did not play for the BIG12-crown the whole season and did say they deserve a spot on the playoffs.
They did play like shit and lost to BYU 14:36, with those 14 points only in the 2nd half, already trailing by 27 points.
Sure, a bowl is only a fun game, but that was no fun at all.
Jacks BOWL Score: 12-13

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl
#22 Army vs Louisiana Tech
As expected, was LT no opponent for the best unit Army had since a long time.
Army ran for 321 yards on the ground and did score most of their points in the 1st half.
After leading 21:3 the 2nd half did just vanish with no real highlights as Army did at the end win 27:6.
Not sure how look like next year, but this season was a blast.
Jacks BOWL Score: 13-13

That brings us to the next round of bowls, which will include the 1st quarterfinal of the college football playoffs.

The FIFTH SET OF BOWLs is from Monday 30th of December to Tuesday 31st of December.

Monday, December 30
TransPerfect Music City Bowl
Iowa vs #19 Missouri
@Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
This is played in the Tennessee Titans home stadium.
The bowl itself exists since 1998.
It's a ACC vs BIG10 vs SEC game bowl.
The SEC had the most teams send to the bowl so far, with a 9-15 record, including last seasons loss (3 in a row now).
The BIG10 did gain some steam on this bowl the past few seasons, now 6-4 and a 3-game winning streak.
And we have against a BIG10 team against an SEC team.
Iowa (8-4) had a decent, but not very good season. They won some games, but THE crucial one, which would send them to the Championship game, was lost and on top came 2 stupid losses nobody did see coming. Ohio State? OK, they were just better. But Michigan State and UCLA? Those did hurt the program badly in the standings.
Missouri had a better season (9-3) and all 3 losses they had came against teams, which were at the end higher ranked and with the same record as they. So, IF they wanted more, they should have won those, but didn't.
My gut feeling is, Missouri should be favored within a score range or less.
Vegas says Mizzou -2.5, which seems fair, but I think they will outplay that.
Iowa is not as bad on offense as last year, but still in bad shape and Missouri will likely just score too many points.
IF Iowa wants to win here, they need to bring in the best defense AND in best case even score on defense.
Tigers win.

Tuesday, December 31
ReliaQuest Bowl
Michigan vs #11 Alabama
@Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Played in the home stadium of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this bowl exists since 1986. Until 2021 this was known as the Outback Bowl.
It's another BIG10 vs SEC bowl.
The SEC did participate 34 times, and won 20 of those games, including last years win (4 game winning streak), and vacated 1 win (LSU 2013).
The BIG10 had 35 games and won only 13 times and lost the last 4 games.
Michigan had a rough season, 7-5, and did only had really ONE great game, the last one, against Ohio State. They lost to Illinois and Indiana! With history in mind, this can't be a good season. But that win against Ohio State was of course the hit, they did by that kick that hated rival out of the Championship game and made them at least second guess, their playoff chances.
Now Michigan faces Alabama, who had in Tides fans view a bad season. The fans are so over saturated from the past 10+ Seasons with so many Championships, they can't appreciate the change in coaching and still getting a 9-3 season, because the team did lose to Vanderbilt, lost to Tennessee in a rival game and did then also lose to Oklahoma to miss the playoffs.
On paper, the betting line should be 2 scores at least, with that single uncertainty on the Buckeyes game, and Vegas did settle on Alabama -13.5.
Not all 2 scores, but close.
Michigan will have a hard time to win here, need a focused defense and a great offense and I doubt that all will come one the field.
Might be closer, but I expect ...
Crimson Tide win.

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Louisville vs Washington
@Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas
This bowl is established since 1935.
It's an ACC vs PAC-12 game planned, played on the home field of the UTEP Miners.
With the PAC-12 having only 2 teams, it has to be tough to set up all the bowls, right? Well, they got a former PAC-12 team.
The PAC-12 did send so far the most teams here with 34 and has a record of 19-14-1 (in the old days even in bowls tied games were OK), including last years loss, 3 in a row now.
Since it is so old, Indy teams did play 31 times here and have a 18-11-2 record, including last years win, while the ACC won only 6 games out of 17 so far.
With Louisville (8-4) we get a very interesting team, which did have great games (won against GT, against Clemson and against rival Kentucky), but also bad games (losses to Miami and even worse, to Stanford).
They face a Washington Team (6-6), which is in transition from a very successful HC to a new HC this season. The team did lose to rival Wazzu, to Rutgers and against every contender on their schedule. Best wins? Likely Michigan and USC.
Louisville is favored by a small margin of 2.0 points and I'm not sure that is OK.
I think the Huskies are likely not in the shape to really challenge Louisville, but whether this will be a close game or a not so close one, depend on the Huskies.
They did show some good stuff and the prep time should help.
Louisville has the same prep time and a quite explosive offense, so I lean towards the Cardinals to win by a score or more here.
Lucky me, I only pick winners and losers.
Cardinals win.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl
#15 South Carolina vs #20 Illinois
@Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
The Citrus bowl was established in 1947 and does feature a SEC team vs a BIG10 team.
The stadium is only used for Citrus Bowl and this you-name-it-bowl (Pop-Tarts Bowl).
Though the years did the SEC play 40 matches here and won 25, including last year (3 game winning streak). The BIG10 did play 32 games and won 13 but lost the past 3 years.
A very interesting matchup, featuring 2 very interesting teams.
South Carolina (9-3) seems to be on the edge to become a real thread inside the SEC.
They were actually less than a score away from being 11-1 and a trip to the SEC Championship game.
But they lost close games to Alabama and LSU and by that dropped too deep to have a chance in a very challenging SEC.
And Illinois (9-3) did surprise everyone this season and put 4 more wins on their record compared to last year.
They could have been even better; of they would have won against a beatable Minnesota team.
So, two surprising teams, facing off here.
I personally think, South Carolina is tougher build and will prevail here.
They are really good setup and I think Illinois record is a bit misleading on a quite soft schedule season.
Vegas does have the same view and favors South Carolina by whooping 10.0 points.
Gamecocks win.

Kinder's Texas Bowl
Baylor vs LSU
@NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Since 2006 this bowl exists and is played in the home stadium of the Houston Texans.
It's a BIG 12 vs SEC bowl.
The BIG 12 has a 8-6 record, including the 3 wins of the past 3 seasons, while the SEC has officially a 2-6 record (3 losses in the past 3 seasons) by 9 appearances, because the win by LSU in 2015 season was vacated.
Well, LSU (8-4) is back and they are for sure the favorite here on my list, even their season results were mixed and the worst since the new HC took over in 2022.
They started with a loss to USC (who turned out to be NOT competitive) and later lost 3 in a row against Texas A&M, Alabama and Florida.
That were big hits for a program, which is used to win.
Baylor (8-4) on the other hand did play a 1st half of a season, which did automatically question the HC status. At 2-4 the Team did look like shit. But then did the Bears win inside the conference, especially against seemingly better teams (Texas Tech and TCU) and as far as I can see it, the HC is save.
Vegas does give them a lot of credit for that winning streak and actually makes them the favorite by 3.5 points.
As said, I think LSU is the favorite and will win, likely in a close one.
Tigers win.

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff Quarterfinal)
#4 Penn State vs #9 Boise State
@State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
The Bowl exists since 1971 and is played in the home site of the Arizona Cardinals.
This season the bowl was selected to host one of the quarterfinals of the college football playoffs.
The system works that way, that one of the 4 highest ranked conference champs will play here one of the winners of the 1st round.
The winner will advance this season to the Orange Bowl or the Cotton Bowl (the semifinals).
Independent teams had played the most games here, 21, and won 10, but since the conference did rotate and the BCS- and CFP-rules did basically s e l e c t any team from any conference if ranked high enough, every power-5-conference did play here several games and even group-of-5-teams did already play here.
Penn State actually have already 7 games in this bowl, all wins.
And Boise State actually played 3 games so far here, and those were also all wins!
So one streak will take a hit this season.
Penn State did look impressive against SMU, had more or less full control and did score on defense 2 TDs.
Boise States last game was against UNLV for the MWC Championship game and that was not THAT impressive, so no wonder that Penn State is highly favored to win this game here.
The key factors will be on Penn States side to force Boise State into passing, means, controlling the run game.
And Boise State needs to be able to move those Penn State D-liners, if they want their great RB to run wild.
I think Boise will have a hard time to actually take out Penn State and likely the weak spot will be their defense.
Penn State can run and pass, not high scoring top Level, but they can move the ball and I think that Broncos defense will have trouble to control that unit.
The Penn State o-line is huge and the QB capable to throw, so with time, he will find someone. And if needed or wanted, the line can create lanes and the Lions RB will run, likely through and beyond.
Boise State will only win, if they win the fight on the line, both sides.
Penn State is favored by 11.5 points. My gut Feeling says, they will win by more.
Nittany Lions win.

A small sidenote here, the US press decided to abandon the college playoff rankings from season end and did put the bracket places in front of the teams.
That means regarding the game above, that #4 Penn State vs #9 Boise State (according to the rankings) was rebranded to #6 Penn State vs #3 Boise State with Penn State being the 2nd best team behind the 4 seated conference champs and Boise State being the 3rd best conference champ and seated as such. I personally hate that and will not do it that way. I say with the Rankings, because it does reflect the (idea of) strength Level the teams were considered to be.

That's it for the 5th set of Bowl games and the next will be online on New Years day.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite, News