With college football bowl season kicking off this weekend, here are my predictions for all 34 bowl games. (Yes, there are too damned many bowl games. At least a third of these teams don’t deserve to be in bowls!) Last year, I finished with a 19-13 record in correctly picking the winners. Will I better that mark this year, or will college football throw me for a loop?
I’ll update this as the games are played, to list the game’s final score and my record as bowl season progresses.
Disclaimers: First, I do not pretend to be any sort of college football expert, just an avid fan who has watched a number of games over the past season. I'm doing this for fun, no money is involved or wagered by me on the outcomes of these games. And Yours Truly and Rockpage are not responsible for any money, wages, beer, house, car or children lost on wagers based on my predictions. So with that in mind, let 'em rip:
DEC. 20 – EAGLE BANK BOWL, Washington, DC: Navy 23, Wake Forest 21
FINAL SCORE: Wake Forest 29-19 (JP 0-1)
DEC. 20 - NEW MEXICO BOWL, Albuquerque: Fresno State 34, Colorado State 14
FINAL SCORE: Colorado State 40-35 (JP 0-2)
DEC. 20 – ST. PETERSBURG BOWL, St. Petersburg: South Florida 29, Memphis State 16
FINAL SCORE: South Florida 41-14 (JP 1-2)
DEC. 20 – PIONEER LAS VEGAS BOWL, Las Vegas: BYU 27, Arizona 20
FINAL SCORE: Arizona 31-21 (JP 1-3)
DEC. 21 – R&L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL, New Orleans: Troy State 21, Southern Mississippi 20
FINAL SCORE: Southern Mississippi 30-27 OT (JP 1-4)
DEC. 23 – SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL, San Diego: Boise State 31, TCU 24
FINAL SCORE: TCU 17-16 (JP 1-5)
DEC. 24 – SHERATON HAWAII BOWL, Honolulu: Hawaii 23, Notre Dame 21
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 49-21 (JP 1-6)
DEC. 26 – MOTOR CITY BOWL, Detroit: Central Michigan 24, Florida Atlantic 14
FINAL SCORE: Florida Atlantic 24-21 (JP 1-7)
DEC. 27 – MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL, Charlotte: West Virginia 27, North Carolina 23
FINAL SCORE: West Virginia 31-30 (JP 2-7)
DEC. 27 – CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL, Orlando: Florida State 23, Wisconsin 17
FINAL SCORE: Florida State 42-13 (JP 3-7)
DEC. 27 – EMERALD BOWL, San Francisco: California 20, Miami (FL) 16
FINAL SCORE: California 24-17 (JP 4-7)
DEC. 28 – INDEPENDENCE BOWL, Shreveport: Louisiana Tech 27, Northern Illinois 13
FINAL SCORE: Louisiana Tech 17-10 (JP 5-7)
DEC. 29 – PAPA JOHNS.COM BOWL, Birmingham: Rutgers 35, North Carolina State 24
FINAL SCORE: Rutgers 29-23 (JP 6-7)
DEC. 29 – VALERO ALAMO BOWL, San Antonio: Missouri 37, Northwestern 21
FINAL SCORE: Missouri 30-23 OT (JP 7-7)
DEC. 30 – ROADY’S HUMANITARIAN BOWL, Boise: Maryland 24, Nevada 17
FINAL SCORE: Maryland 42-35 (JP 8-7)
DEC. 30 – TEXAS BOWL, Houston: Rice 28, Western Michigan 23
FINAL SCORE: Rice 38-14 (JP 9-7)
DEC. 30 – PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL, San Diego: Oklahoma State 38, Oregon 30
FINAL SCORE: Oregon 42-31 (JP 9-8)
DEC. 31 – BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL, Fort Worth: Air Force 27, Houston 21
FINAL SCORE: Houston 34-28 (JP 9-9)
DEC. 31 – BRUT SUN BOWL, El Paso: Pittsburgh 23, Oregon State 16
FINAL SCORE: Oregon State 3-0 (JP 9-10)
DEC. 31 – GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL, Nashville: Vanderbilt 19, Boston College 10
FINAL SCORE: Vanderbilt 16-14 (JP 10-10)
DEC. 31 – INSIGHT BOWL, Tempe: Kansas 30, Minnesota 20
FINAL SCORE: Kansas 42-21 (JP 11-10)
DEC. 31 – CHICK-FIL-A BOWL, Atlanta: Georgia Tech 33, LSU 21
FINAL SCORE: LSU 38-3 (JP 11-11)
JAN. 1 – OUTBACK BOWL, Tampa: Iowa 28, South Carolina 13
FINAL SCORE: Iowa 31-10 (JP 12-11)
JAN. 1 – CAPITOL ONE BOWL, Orlando: Michigan State 24, Georgia 23
FINAL SCORE: Georgia 24-12 (JP 12-12)
JAN. 1 – KONICA MINOLTA GATOR BOWL, Jacksonville: Clemson 27, Nebraska 14
FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 26-21 (JP 12-13)
JAN. 1 – ROSE BOWL, Pasadena: Penn State 16, USC 13
FINAL SCORE: USC 38-24 (JP 12-14)
JAN. 1 – FEDEX ORANGE, Miami: Cincinnati 24, Virginia Tech 20
FINAL SCORE: Virginia Tech 20-7 (JP 12-15)
JAN. 2 – AT&T COTTON BOWL, Dallas: Texas Tech 41, Mississippi 24
FINAL SCORE: Mississippi 47-34 (JP 12-16)
JAN. 2 – AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL, Memphis: East Carolina 23, Kentucky 17
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 25-19 (JP 12-17)
JAN. 2 – ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL, New Orleans: Alabama 28, Utah 23
FINAL SCORE: Utah 31-17 (JP 12-18)
JAN. 3 – INTERNATIONAL BOWL, Toronto: Buffalo 27, Connecticut 21
FINAL SCORE: Connecticut 38-20 (JP 12-19)
JAN. 5 – TOSTITOS FIESTA, Glendale: Texas 31, Ohio State 24
FINAL SCORE: Texas 24-21 (JP 13-19)
JAN. 6 – GMAC BOWL, Mobile: Tulsa 21, Ball State 17
FINAL SCORE: Tulsa 45-13 (JP 14-19)
JAN. 8 – FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, Miami: Oklahoma 38, Florida 33
FINAL SCORE: Florida 24-14 (JP 14-20)
JP Final Top 10 Rankings
1. Utah
2. Florida
3. USC
4. Texas
5. Oklahoma
6. Penn State
7. Alabama
8. TCU
9. Ohio State
10. Boise State
JP'S FEARLESS COLLEGE BOWL GAME PREDICTIONS
Moderator: Jim Price
