Bowl-O-Rama: Third Update

Breaking down the right picks so that you can forget them, and the wrong ones so that you can make fun of me. Awesomeness abounds!

Independence Bowl
Prediction: Alabama wins 24-21.
Actual Result: Alabama won 30-24.

John Parker Wilson did play well in this contest. Alabama's rush defense also stepped up in a huge way.

Level of Correctness: They weren't the correct lottery numbers, but college football is every bit as important, damn it!

Armed Forces Bowl
Prediction: Air Force beats Cal, 27-24.
Actual Result: Cal beat Air Force, 42-36.

Cal did a great job at limiting Chad Hall's big plays, and Kevin Riley really stepped up. The Golden Bears also did a fantastic job of running the ball.

Level of Correctness: Wrong winner and wrong score, but it was a close loss.

Humanitarian Bowl
Prediction: Georgia Tech wins 27-21.
Actual Result: Fresno State won 40-28.

Tashard Choice couldn't get anything going for the Yellow Jackets, and they damn sure had a problem stopping the Fresno State rushing attack.

Level of Correctness: Wrong on so many levels.

Sun Bowl
Prediction: USF wins 28-17.
Actual Result: Oregon won 56-21.

Johnathan Stewart shredded the USF defense, and Oregon was anything but a "largely ineffective team".

Level of Correctness: 50 car pile-up on the freeway? That's over in the next lane. This is much, much worse.

Music City Bowl
Prediction: Kentucky wins 35-17.
Actual Result: Kentucky won 35-28.

FSU played well despite missing a lot of players. However, their defense did have trouble stopping Rafael Little and Andre Woodson. Without the Tony Carter INT for a touchdown this one wouldn't have been quite as close.

Level of Correctness: A little closer than anticipated, but still right.

Insight Bowl
Prediction: Oklahoma State wins 34-21.
Actual Result: OSU won 49-33.

Dontrell Savage didn't have that big of a game, but the Cowboys offense was still too much for the Hoosiers. They added some points late to make it respectable but the 25 point lead at halftime was just too much to overcome.

Level of Correctness: You probably won't remember the right ones, but this was pretty close.

Chick fil-A Bowl
Prediction: Auburn wins 27-24.
Actual Result: Auburn won 23-20.

Auburn did it mostly with a rushing by committee attack, and their defense was able to shut down Cullen Harper.

Level of Correctness: Perfect on the winner, and the margin of victory.

Outback Bowl
Prediction: Wisconsin win 31-20.
Actual Result: Tennessee won 21-17.

P.J. Hill racked up yardage, but couldn't get into the end zone. Eric Ainge was forced to do it all, as the Tennessee rushing attack sputtered, and he responded very well.

Level of Correctness: Definitely the wrong choice, but it doesn't sting as much when an SEC team wins.

Cotton Bowl
Prediction: Arkansas wins 38-35.
Actual Result: Missouri won 38-7.

It looked as if the Arkansas rushing defense wasn't packed for this bowl trip. Tony Temple destroyed the Razorbacks, and helped Chase Daniel win this battle of Heisman finalists.

Level of Correctness: Pretty much the Hindenburg of my bowl picks.

Capital One Bowl
Prediction: Florida wins 42-24.
Actual Result: Michigan won 41-35.

Florida's "collection of playmakers" ended up being just two, Tebow and Harvin. Chad Henne passed at will on the Gators' secondary, and Mike Hart finished well despite two fumbles. Florida's defense couldn't stop the Wolverines, and their offensive line couldn't protect Tebow.

Level of Correctness: Getting the pick wrong when it involves your favorite team is the ultimate heartbreaker. Congrats to Coach Carr, though.

Gator Bowl
Prediction: Texas Tech wins 41-24.
Actual Result: Texas Tech won 31-28.

Virginia's rushing attack helped put them up early, but the Texas Tech offense got on track late and got the win.

Level of Correctness: Closer than I would have liked, but still got the win.

Rose Bowl
Prediction: USC wins 31-17.
Actual Result: USC won 49-17.

I thought that the Illinois pass defense would be the bigger culprit here, but their rush defense surrendered 344 yards. USC tallied over 600 net yards, and their defense was able to keep Juice Williams from running downfield much.

Level of Correctness: I got the losing score right, but was just a little low on the winner's.

Sugar Bowl
Prediction: Georgia wins 27-24.
Actual Result: Georgia won 41-10.

I thought that Georgia would limit Hawaii's offensive output, but not to this degree. Colt Brennan was harrassed all night, and was eventually knocked out of the game. Georgia played well in all just about every area.

Level of Correctness: Yep, the winner was correct. Just pay no attention to the score behind the curtain.

Fiesta Bowl
Prediction: Oklahoma wins 35-31.
Actual Result: West Virginia won 48-28.

Yeah, that OU rush defense? Pretty much non-existant. And the attack lead by Sam Bradford? It couldn't give Bradford enough time to take a snap in the shotgun, let alone try to make plays downfield. West Virginia put all of the recent commotion behind them, and handed out an ass whooping. Unfortunately, it appeared that it came one game too late.

Level of Correctness: Hey, at least my prediction wasn't televised.