After some pretty exciting College Football Playoff Semi-final games, we are now relegated to those weird bowls that hang around after New Years Day. It’s like those weird uncles that won’t leave after Christmas. Like, why do we go from the best games to a few 6-6 vs. 7-5 games? I don’t know, but it’s football. Let’s predict this.
Bowls: 22-17 (56.4%)
Regular Season: 96-39 (71.1%)
Overall: 118-56 (67.8%)
1/2
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (11 a.m. ESPN)
Houston vs. Pittsburgh – Wait… Pitt isn’t playing in the Birmingham Bowl. There has to be a mix-up. I thought they had an automatic bid as soon as they hit 6 wins. Well this is going to have them all out of sorts. Houston will win big.
Houston 42, Pittsburgh 13
Houston 35, Pittsburgh 34 – SUCCESS!
TaxSlayer Bowl (2:20 p.m. ESPN)
Iowa vs. Tennessee – Auburn was going to this game. It was almost set in stone. Kinda wish they were now. Iowa doesn’t have a Heisman finalist the last time I checked.
Since the SEC East is the only division in the conference winning anything, they’ll come out on fire and beat down a mediocre Hawkeye bunch.
Tennessee 34, Iowa 17
Tennessee 45, Iowa 28 – SUCCESS!
Valero Alamo Bowl (5:45 p.m. ESPN)
Kansas State vs. UCLA – Well this ain’t a bad game. Auburn beat Kansas State, you know? Remember when that happened? It was a pretty big road win. UCLA has played really well at times this season. I think they were top 5 at one point. Now they aren’t. Kansas State for the win.
Kansas State 28, UCLA 23
UCLA 23, Kansas State 28 – FAILURE
TicketCity Cactus Bowl (9:15 p.m. ESPN)
Washington vs. Oklahoma State – Little known fact: this game is actually played in a desert with the goalposts made of actual cactus. No, not really. But that would be awesome.
Washington has been okay this year. Oklahoma State needed to beat Oklahoma to get bowl eligible. That shows how much they wanted this game. No, it doesn’t. Washington is better. They’ll win.
Washington 31, Oklahoma State 21
Oklahoma State 30, Washington 22 – FAILURE
1/3
Birmingham Bowl (11 a.m. ESPN)
East Carolina vs. Florida – Florida played in some great SEC Championship games in Legion Field back in the day. Yeah… this is WAYYYY different. They have an interim coach and no offense. East Carolina is pretty good and has beaten some decent teams this year. They’ll be much more motivated than a team used to playing in big games that got sent to Birmingham.
East Carolina 24, Florida 14
Florida 28, East Carolina 20 – FAILURE
1/4
GoDaddy Bowl (7 p.m. ESPN)
Toledo vs. Arkansas State – Yay, quite possibly the worst bowl is the last one before the National Championship Game. Arkansas State wasn’t as great as they were that year Gus was there, but they have been a mainstay for the GoDaddy Bowl. They know Mobile. Toledo is new to the area. Arkansas State wins.
Arkansas State 38, Toledo 35
Toledo 63, Arkansas State 44 – FAILURE
1/12
College Football Playoff National Championship Game (7:30 p.m. ESPN)
Ohio State vs. Oregon – Ohio State played their game of the decade to beat Alabama. Oregon steamrolled Florida State. Of course Alabama and Florida State helped them a little bit with multiple turnovers. Oregon looked absolutely dominant and Ohio State may have left it all out on the field at the Superdome. Oregon will finally get their championship after flirting with it for the past few years.
Oregon 42, Ohio State 28
Ohio State 42, Oregon 20 – FAILURE
