The extravaganza that is college football bowl season is a week away and before the long drawn out month of December ensues I wanted to get my picks down. I filled out my selections on ESPN’s Capital One Bowl Mania page, the entry is free and you might as well join because the prize of $1 million goes to the winner. Why the hell not right? I could find some good uses for a million dollars. ESPN Football Power Index has Mississippi State as the largest favorite at 82% but there are a handful of “pick em” games at 50/50 so picking a perfect 42 bowl games will be damn near impossible.
For all of you complaining about there being too many bowl games, please stop. Who is it hurting? No one. Who cares that a bunch of 6-6 teams are playing for the toilet bowl? It’s not like these teams are going out there claiming to be the best in the nation, it’s a chance for them to play an additional game, in a different venue against an opponent they wouldn’t normally face. I’m fine with the bowl games, the players get some swag from it and the corporations, including the NCAA, fill their greedy pockets.
In the College Football Playoff, I’m going with Alabama and Ohio State. The Tide are the best team in the country and no offense to Washington fans but I think this is going to be a blow out. The Huskies have had a great season, they whipped Stanford when everyone thought the Cardinal were great but other than that what are their quality wins? Washington State? Colorado when their QB was hurt? Their only other top match-up was against USC and the Trojans beat them on their own field. I think Alabama wins by at least two touchdowns, they are 68% win probability according to ESPN FPI.
Similarly I think Ohio State wins comfortably but not necessarily big in the scoring margin. Clemson has the ability to put up a ton of points but they’ve been shaky all year long and I don’t trust them. ESPN FPI favors the Buckeyes at 55%. Ohio State has the nation’s best resume and as the lone representative of the Big Ten, this year’s best conference, the Buckeyes have a lot to prove. If somehow Ohio State falters Penn State and Michigan fans will be there with torches and pitchforks proclaiming how they should’ve been there instead.
Other game’s I’m excited to watch: Louisville vs. LSU, I’d like to see Lamar Jackson go against an SEC defense and let’s see how well the Tigers running game performs. West Virginia vs. Miami, Oklahoma State vs. Colorado and Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas could all be entertaining games. If the good Auburn shows up we might have a fun Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma but we all know how Bob Stoops teams play in December/January. Of course I’ll be tuning into the Rose Bowl to see USC hopefully whip Penn State.
