Poinsettia Bowl San Diego, California December 20 9:00 PM EST
Utah vs Navy
The first bowl game to kick off and not a bad match-up with the expected opening line of Utah -9 1/2. Both teams enter this game with identical records of 8 – 4. Navy rushes for over 350 yards a game and Utah gives up over 130 rushing yards per game. Seems like a large number considering the success Navy has against the Mountain West Conference as they are 10 – 1 ATS in their L11 against the MWC. Still, we will do our research before making a selection but something tells me we won’t be passing on the first bowl game of the year.
Opening Line: Utah -9 ½
New Orleans Bowl New Orleans, Louisiana December 21, 8:00 PM EST
Florida Atlantic vs Memphis
I hear a lot people complaining about this game how they don’t intend to watch it. Are you kidding me? Most people don’t even know who Florida Atlantic is or how they even got here. How about FAU opening as a 2 ½ favorites? FAU walked into Troy as 15 point underdogs and won SU to get here. As far as Memphis goes, they got off to a slow start but have played extremely well down the stretch winning 3 in row and 5 of their last 6 games. Memphis also covered ATS in 4 of their last 6 games. While most sports writers will tell you this game is not worth watching, for get about it, I’m interested and watching. The average score of the last six games for FAU is 71 total points and the average score for Memphis in their last six games is 70.
Opening Line: FAU -2 ½
Papajohns.com Bowl Birmingham, Alabama Dec 22 1:00 EST 8
Cincinnatti vs Southern Mississippi
9 – 4 Cincinnati has been one of the fun teams to watch this year with big wins over Connecticut, Rutgers and South Florida. The Bearcats have a fast defense and on any given day can shut anyone down. They also have a new coach that is offensive minded and they have picked it up tremendously on that side of the ball. Ben Mauk is great story and all you have to do is look at his throwing arm to see why. He has crazy large scars on his throwing arm and his comeback in nothing less then remarkable. I am not sure S. Miss has the speed to contend in this game and as far as watching this game? You have to at least watch the pre-game to hear about and see the Mauk’s story and his scars.
Opening Line: Cincinnati -11
New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque, N.M. Dec. 22, 4:30 PM EST
New Mexico vs Nevada
December 22nd brings us the first day of multiple bowl games that goes on throughout the day so even if you’re not interested in this game you can always leave the TV on for good background noise and check on the score. Nevada enters this game at 6 – 6 while New Mexico is 8 – 4. New Mexico also went 5 – 1 at home this year with their only loss coming to BYU and a final score of 24 – 31. Considering this game is in the state of New Mexico one might expect a larger opening line. We will do a little more digging in this game and see where it lands.
Opening Line: New Mexico -3 ½
Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas, NV. Dec. 22, 8 PM EST
UCLA vs BYU
Personally the way UCLA played down the stretch I am not sure they deserve to be in a bowl game but that can be said about a lot teams. This is the prime time game for December 22nd and the opening line has already jumped 2 ½ points to BYU -6 ½. These teams played in UCLA on 9/8 and UCLA came out on top 27 – 17. UCLA loss most of their games in the PAC 10 but played well outside of the conference. On paper and looking at the end of the season, BYU looks almost too good and easy. We will let you know.
Opening Line: BYU -4 ½
Hawaii Bowl Honolulu Dec. 23, 8 PM EST
Boise State vs East Carolina
This is kind of a bitch as Boise State has to travel back to play in Hawaii where they loss the conference title to Hawaii but I am sure they and their fans will get over it. This is the only Bowl game being played on the 23rd so it is a must see game anyway. East Carolina works on being a big physical team but one needs to wonder if they have the speed to keep up with Boise state.
Opening Line: Boise State -11