The Bowl Season continues this morning with another day of four games. First up will be South Florida and Clemson in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, followed by Notre Dame and Miami (Florida) in the Hyundai Sun Bowl. To start out the two afternoon games, Georiga will take on UCF in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. And to finish the long day, South Carolina will face Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Below I will break down each game, and reveal my picks at the end. Along with my picks, I will post the favorite and flip a coin for each game. Whichever method has the most points at the end of Bowl Season, I will use for next year's games.
Meineke Car Care Bowl, South Florida Bulls (7-5, 3-4 in the Big East) vs Clemson Tigers (6-6, 4-4 in the ACC), 9:00 AM on ESPN, from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Why You Should Watch: To see Clemson Defensive End Da'Quan Bowers, who is arguably the nation's best pass rusher.
Breakdown: South Florida beat Clemson 2-1 in my five categories, with the teams being equal on last three games and motivation. The Bulls won out in Turnovers and Penalties, while the Tigers had the better SOS.
I don't know a ton about either team, other than that Skip Holtz is a great caoch, and Da'Quan Bowers is a great Defensive End. I'm going with USF and 16 confidence points, but this one is a toss up.
Sun Bowl, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5) vs Miami (Florida) Hurricanes (7-5, 5-3 in the ACC), 11:00 AM on CBS, from Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso.
Why You Should Watch: To see the Catholics vs Convicts rivalry re-visited. The two teams haven't met since 1990, when the Irish beat Miami 29-20. The Fighting Irish lead the series 15-7-1.
Breakdown: Notre Dame won out in last three games, Turnovers, and Penalties, while Miami won in SOS and motivation. This one will be a close game all the way through, especially considering that this will be Miami head coach Randy Shannon's final game as a 'Cane. I still like Notre Dame though, who come into this game on a three game winning streak.
Liberty and Chick-fil-A Bowl previews after the break
Liberty Bowl, Georgia Bulldogs (6-6, 3-5 in the SEC) vs UCF Knights (10-3, 7-1 in the C-USA), 12:30 PM on ESPN, from Liberty Bowl Memorial Field in Memphis.
Why You Should Watch: To see Georgia Wide Receiver A.J. Green, who will probably leave Georgia after this season for the NFL. Green missed 4 of the Bulldogs' first 5 games, and Georgia lost 4 in a row, including 3 SEC games, and ending with a 29-27 loss in Boulder, against future Pac-12 member Colorado.
Breakdown: The Bulldogs won out in SOS, Turnovers, and Penalties, while UCF had the better record in their last three games. The Conference USA champion Knights not only have won three in a row, they have won 8 of 9, and all their losses were to teams in bowls.
I really like the Dawgs in this one for two closely related reasons. One, Wide Receiver A.J. Green is an absolute boss, the kind of player that can win games for a team almost by himself. The other reason is that Georgia is hot. The Bulldogs have won five out of their last seven, with their two losses coming in Overtime against Florida, and an 18 point loss against 2nd Ranked Auburn.
Chick-fil-A Bowl, South Carolina Gamecocks (9-4, 5-3 in the SEC) vs Florida State Seminoles (9-4, 6-2 in the ACC), 4:30 PM on ESPN, from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Why You Should Watch: To see South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier coach against his old rivals, the Florida State Seminoles. It will als obe the first Top 25 matchup since Boise State-Utah on December 22nd.
Breakdown: South Carolina won out in SOS, Turnovers, and Penalties, while the teams were even in their last three games and motivation. I don't know enough about these teams to deliver any real insight, but I'm taking USC with 18 confidence points. That could come back to hurt me though.
Meineke Car Care Sun Liberty Chick-fil-A Current Total to Date
Odds Clemson Miami (Florida) Georgia South Carolina 10
Coin South Florida Notre Dame UCF South Carolina 11
Connor South Florida (16) Notre Dame (20) Georgia (30) South Carolina (18) 8 (144)