NCAA College Football Bowl Week 2 Picks - Late Games
NCAA Bowl Week 2 Late Games
All times Eastern
Saturday, December 22
Dollar General Bowl
Buffalo had a similar season, with losses to Army, Ohio, and MAC champion Northern Illinois, 30-29, in the conference title game. The Bulls can move the ball with alacrity. They were 26th in scoring offense, at 34.8 points per contest and the defense was better than average, allowing 24.7 (48th). This is one of the tougher calls to make as the teams are evenly matched. Troy has a bit of a home feel for this game played in Mobile, Alabama, and they've won bowl games the past two seasons, beating North Texas, 50-30, in the New Orleans Bowl last year, and Ohio, 28-23, in the Dollar General, in 2016. The Bulls haven't been to a bowl since 2013, when they lost to San Diego State, 49-24, in the Idaho Potato Bowl. The Bulls want to prove themselves. They get the nod in a close call.
Coin Flip: Buffalo
PREDICTION: Bulls 26 Trojans 23
Louisiana Tech has made a habit of winning bowl games, prevailing in their last four, from 2014-17. The Bulldogs were not special this season, but they did come up big on defense occasionally, ranking 41st in points allowed (23.8), whereas Hawaii was 111th, allowing a whopping 35.4. The Warriors didn't play an imposing schedule the first half of the season, running up a 6-1 record, but they were squashed in four straight games, losing to BYU, Nevada, Fresno State, and Utah State, the last game against the Aggies, a complete drubbing of 56-17. Tech has an edge on defense, but it's mostly the lack of defense by Hawaii that will be the deciding factor.
Coin Flip: Hawaii
PREDICTION: Bulldogs 36 Rainbow Warriors 24
Servpro First Responder Bowl
Boise is just too good a program to lose this game against what appears to be somewhat of a lightweight opponent. The Broncos have a solid history in bowl games and they've won three of their last four while the Eagles have lost three of four.
Coin Flip: Boston College
PREDICTION: Broncos 40 Eagles 23
Georgia Tech's defense is even worse (80th), allowing 28.9, so this may be a good game for the OVER crowd. The Jackets seemed to get their act together in the second half of the season, winning four straight to close out the conference schedule 5-3 before losing to Georgia in their traditional season-ender, 45-21, No shame there; the Bulldogs were exceptional this year. Look for the Yellow Jackets to sting the Gophers here.
Coin Flip: Georgia Tech
PREDICTION: Yellow Jackets 38 Golden Gophers 27
The Horned Frogs were flopping all over the place all season. Hammered by Top 25 teams, they were beaten mercilessly by Ohio State (40-28), Texas (31-16), Oklahoma (52-27), and West Virginia (47-10). They managed to gain bowl eligibility with wins in their last two games, over Baylor and Oklahoma State, two teams that also finished 6-6.
Coin Flip: California
PREDICTION: Golden Bears 21 Horned Frogs 14
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Bowl Week 2 Early Games
7:00 pm Buffalo (10-3) (-1 1/2, 49 1/2) vs. Troy (9-3) - The Trojans were 7-1 in the Sun Belt East division, losing the championship game to Appalachian State, 21-10. Other losses were to Boise State and Liberty. They're a disciplined group with a defense that allowed 21.2 points per game (23rd) and an offense that averaged 29.8. There's nothing that really stands out other than they play hard every down and are seldom out of any game.
Hawaii Bowl
10:30 pm Hawaii (8-5) (-1, 61 1/2) vs. Louisiana Tech (7-5) - Obviously, the Rainbow Warriors have home field advantage as this game is a staple in Honolulu, but Hawaii was blown out their last three appearances (by Georgia, Notre Dame, and Tulsa) before whipping middle Tennessee State here, 52-35, in 2016.
Wednesday, December 26
1:30 pm Boston College (7-5) vs. #25 Boise State (10-3) (-2 1/2, 55 1/2) - Going just 4-4 in the ACC, Boston College had an average year, their main claim to fame being a defense that allowed 25.7 points per game against some pretty heady opposition. The Eagles lost their final three games, to Clemson (27-7), Florida State (22-21), and Syracuse (42-21). That's probably not going to be good enough to hang with the Broncos, who won seven straight to capture the Mountain West Mountain division, only to lost to Fresno State in the conference championship game, 19-16 in overtime.
Quick Lane Bowl
5:15 pm Minnesota (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5) (-5, 57 1/2) - With the leading rushing attack in the country, Georgia Tech would give any team problems, but the Golden Gophers figure to have a very rough time stopping the Yellow Jacket ground game. Minnesota was tied with Tennessee for 75th in point allowed, at 27.9, and they give ground at a rate of 171 yards per game.
Cheez-It Bowl
9:00 pm California (7-5) vs. TCU (6-6) (-2, 39 1/2) - Tough to endorse either team playing the day after Christmas in the Cheez-It Bowl, but Cal appears to be the lesser of two evils, as they did display some fire on defense in the second half of the season, winning a 12-10 decision over a pretty solid Washington team, then falling 19-13 the next week at Washington State. They finished up with a win over Colorado and a 23-13 loss to Stanford, but they were pretty consistent, despite lacking serious play-makers on offense.
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