Okay, I’ll do this again.
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 under .500 in correctly picking the winners, but was 19-13 the year before. So I’ll put my prognostication skills to the test again this year, and see where it goes.
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. 19 – NEW MEXICO BOWL, Albuquerque: Fresno State 31, Wyoming 17
FINAL SCORE: Wyoming 35, Fresno State 28 2OT (JP 0-1)
DEC. 19 - ST. PETERSBURG BOWL, St. Petersburg: Rutgers 24, Central Florida 19
FINAL SCORE: Rutgers 45, Central Florida 24 (JP 1-1)
DEC. 20 – R&L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL, New Orleans: Middle Tennessee State 23, Southern Mississippi 13
FINAL SCORE: Middle Tennessee State 42, Southern Mississippi 32 (JP 2-1)
DEC. 22 – MAACO LAS VEGAS BOWL, Las Vegas: BYU 27, Oregon State 20
FINAL SCORE: BYU 44, Oregon State 20 (JP 3-1)
DEC. 23 – SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL, San Diego: Utah 24, California 21
FINAL SCORE: Utah 37, California 27 (JP 4-1)
DEC. 24 – SHERATON HAWAII BOWL, Honolulu: Nevada 28, SMU 23
FINAL SCORE: SMU 45, Nevada 10 (JP 4-2)
DEC. 26 – EMERALD BOWL, San Francisco: USC 27, Boston College 17
FINAL SCORE: USC 24, Boston College 13 (JP 5-2)
DEC. 26 – MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL, Charlotte: North Carolina 28, Pittsburgh 14
FINAL SCORE: Pittsburgh 19, North Carolina 17 (JP 5-3)
DEC. 26 – LITTLE CAESAR’S BOWL, Detroit: Ohio 27, Marshall 24
FINAL SCORE: Marshall 21, Ohio 17 (JP 5-4)
DEC. 27 – GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL, Nashville: Clemson 31, Kentucky 28
FINAL SCORE: Clemson 21, Kentucky 13 (JP 6-4)
DEC. 28 – INDEPENDENCE BOWL, Shreveport: Georgia 23, Texas A&M 20
FINAL SCORE: Georgia 44, Texas A&M 20 (JP 7-4)
DEC. 29 – CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL, Orlando: Miami (FL) 31, Wisconsin 20
FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 20, Miami 14 (JP 7-5)
DEC. 29 – EAGLE BANK BOWL, Washington, DC: UCLA 29, Temple 24
FINAL SCORE: UCLA 30, Temple 21 (JP 8-5)
DEC. 30 – PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL, San Diego: Nebraska 17, Arizona 13
FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 33, Arizona 0 (JP 9-5)
DEC. 30 – ROADY’S HUMANITARIAN BOWL, Boise: Idaho 34, Bowling Green 13
FINAL SCORE: Idaho 43, Bowling Green 42 (JP 10-5)
DEC. 31 – TEXAS BOWL, Houston: Missouri 23, Navy 17
FINAL SCORE: Navy 35, Missouri 13 (JP 10-6)
DEC. 31 – BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL, Fort Worth: Houston 34, Air Force 20
FINAL SCORE: Air Force 47, Houston 20 (JP 10-7)
DEC. 31 – BRUT SUN BOWL, El Paso: Stanford 24, Oklahoma 20
FINAL SCORE: Oklahoma 31, Stanford 27 (JP 10-8)
DEC. 31 – INSIGHT BOWL, Tempe: Iowa State 20, Minnesota 13
FINAL SCORE: Iowa State 14, Minnesota 13 (JP 11-8)
DEC. 31 – CHICK-FIL-A BOWL, Atlanta: Virginia Tech 28, Tennessee 20
FINAL SCORE: Virginia Tech 37, Tennessee 14 (JP 12-8)
JAN. 1 – OUTBACK BOWL, Tampa: Auburn 27, Northwestern 23
FINAL SCORE: Auburn 38, Northwestern 35 OT (JP 13-8)
JAN. 1 – CAPITOL ONE BOWL, Orlando: Penn State 33, LSU 21
FINAL SCORE: Penn State 19, LSU 17 (JP 14-8)
JAN. 1 – KONICA MINOLTA GATOR BOWL, Jacksonville: Florida State 24, West Virginia 21
FINAL SCORE: Florida State 33, West Virginia 21 (JP 15-8)
JAN. 1 – ROSE BOWL, Pasadena: Ohio State 24, Oregon 16
FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 26, Oregon 17 (JP 16-8)
JAN. 1 – ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL, New Orleans: Cincinnati 24, Florida 23
FINAL SCORE: Florida 51, Cincinnati 24 (JP 16-9)
JAN. 2 – AT&T COTTON BOWL, Dallas: Mississippi 38, Oklahoma State 24
FINAL SCORE: Mississippi 21, Oklahoma State 7 (JP 17-9)
JAN. 2 – AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL, Memphis: Arkansas 24, East Carolina 13
FINAL SCORE: Arkansas 20, East Carolina 17 OT (JP 18-9)
JAN. 2 – INTERNATIONAL BOWL, Toronto: South Florida 20, Northern Illinois 7
FINAL SCORE: South Florida 27, Northern Illinois 3 (JP 19-9)
JAN. 2 – PAPAJOHNS BOWL, Birmingham: South Carolina 35, Connecticut 31
FINAL SCORE: Connecticut 20, South Carolina 7 (JP 19-10)
JAN. 2 – VALERO ALAMO, San Antonio: Texas Tech 31, Michigan State 14
FINAL SCORE: Texas Tech 41, Michigan State 31 (JP 20-10)
JAN. 4 – TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL, Glendale: TCU 31, Boise State 28
FINAL SCORE: Boise State 17, TCU 10 (JP 20-11)
JAN. 5 – FEDEX ORANGE, Miami: Georgia Tech 20, Iowa 14
FINAL SCORE: Iowa 24, Georgia Tech 14 (JP 20-12)
JAN. 6 – GMAC BOWL, Mobile: Central Michigan 38, Troy State 17
FINAL SCORE: Central Michigan 44, Troy State 41 2OT (JP 21-12)
JAN. 7 – CITI NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, Pasadena: Alabama 21, Texas 10
FINAL SCORE: Alabama 37, Texas 21 (JP's final bowl pick record: 22-12)
JP'S FEARLESS COLLEGE FOOTBALL BOWL GAME PICKS
Moderator: Jim Price
