 |
| HOME | PRICE GUIDE | STORE | SPORTS | BUSINESS | NEWS/UPDATES | CONTACT | ARCHIVES |
NCAA College Football BCS Bowl Games Jan. 1-7, 2007
|
DTMagazine Home
|
NCAA College Football BCS Bowl Picks 1/1 - 1/7/06
Rick Gagliano | 12/24/06
Jan. 1, 5:00 pm
The two teams are pretty evenly matched, scoring at about 30 points per game and allowing just a shade over 2 TDs per outing (14.6 for Michigan, 14.9 for USC).
With those stats in mind, this game may be used as a measuring stick for the relative strength of the two representative conferences. Neither were very good, ranking behind the SEC, Big 12 and probably the Big East. Though there were only 3 quality teams in the Big 10 (Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin), the PAC-10 may have had only 2 (USC and Oregon State), with the remainder of the conference mired in mediocrity.
Michigan's maturity and the conference comparison gives them a solid edge here.
Prediction: Wolverines 31 Trojans 24
The Sooners were robbed of a win at Oregon on September 16, losing that game 34-33 on a couple of very questionable calls. The 28-10 loss to Texas is without excuse, however. Still, Oklahoma easily handled Nebraska in the Big 12 title game, 21-7, and should be a legitimate 12-1. They'll come to play and have an excellent blend of passing and running and will get a significant boost with the return of Adrian Peterson, who broke his collarbone in October, but has been practicing with the first team.
Peterson was a legitimate Heisman candidate and will prove tough to stop. The Sooners are easily the best team Boise State has met this season.
The 12-0 Broncos are a true powerhouse. They rank 2nd nationally in offense at 39.4 points per game and also have a balanced attack. Running back Ian Johnson toted the ball for 1613 yards this season and QB Jared Zabransky clicked on 66% of his passes. The only close game for the Broncos was at San Jose State, a 23-20 win. All the other wins were by 7 points or more, and Boise scored 36 or more in 10 out of 12 games.
This one should be a barn-burner, a smash-crash-boom-bang bell ringer, a doozy. And it will be close.
Prediction: Oklahoma 30 Boise State 27
The trouble with Wake Forest is that they won the ACC, probably the weakest of the 6 major conferences. Louisville lost only once (28-25 at Rutgers) and has a legitimate argument for playing for the national championship. Only they and Florida won their conference with one loss, but the BCS nodded in the way of the Gators.
11-1 Louisville is at worst the 3rd best team in the country and will completely smother Wake Forest. No upset here. Louisville furthers the argument for a college football playoff system.
Prediction: Cardinals 41 Demon Deacons 17
--- Story continues below ---
The consensus is that LSU is the best team in the country with 2 losses, those having come against Florida and Auburn and both were on the road. The Tigers allow only 238.8 yards and 12.5 points per game and rank higher than the Fighting Irish offensively.
As has been proven repeatedly this season and last, Brady Quinn and the Irish simply cannot compete against top 10 defenses. They themselves have a shoddy secondary and no pass rush. Another crushing blow to the Irish dream.
Prediction: Tigers 38 Fighting Irish 21
8-4 Western Michigan was 6-2 in the Mid-American conference but the best team they played was probably Florida State and the Seminoles beat them 28-20. Cincy should roll over the Broncos.
Prediction: Bearcats 28 Broncos 13
The Mid-America was the better conference, so go with the Bobcats from Ohio.
Prediction: Bobcats 24 Golden Eagles 20
If you've found Rick's insights helpful, enlightening or entertaining over the course of the season, you can show some support.
Sign up for the Back Issue Price Guide newsletter to receive updates and special sale info.
Subscribe by entering your email address:
|
Onsite Sports Links
NFL Schedule
NCAA Football Schedule
MLB Baseball Schedule
NHL Schedule
NBA Schedule
NASCAR Schedule
NCAA Basketball Schedule |
Fearless Rick has been picking pro and college football for 25 years and you can help keep these picks FREE with a small donation (yes I'm talking to you, you cheap loser).
