Bowl Prediction: National Championship

Prediction record so far: 5-5

Florida vs. Oklahoma

My experience with college football streaks is that those streaks tend to disappear in bowl games. Oklahoma has scored 60+ points in six straight games to end the season. That won't happen again. While I don't think Florida will shut down Oklahoma completely, I've been impressed by SEC defenses so far this bowl season, particularly Ole Miss' defense. Ole Miss largely shut down another Big 12 offensive juggernaut in Texas Tech.

Even without running back Demarco Murray, Oklahoma has plenty of offensive weapons. Chris Brown ran for over 1,100 yards. Quarterback Sam Bradford passed for 48 TD's and only 6 INT's. Six Oklahoma receivers had over 395 yards.

But Florida has plenty of weapons itself. Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey, Louis Murphy. Oh yeah, and Tim Tebow. Oklahoma has a record-setting offense, but the difference will be Florida's defense. The Gators have more speed than anyone Oklahoma has played so far this year, and this will be defensive coordinator Charlie Strong's stepping stone up to a college head coaching position.

Prediction: Florida 38, Oklahoma 31

Bowl Predictions: January 3

Prediction record so far: 4-4
The New Year's Day bowls went well, but yesterday was full of surprises. With wins over Florida and Texas Tech, Ole Miss has a couple signature wins going forward. And Utah? Wow.

International Bowl: Buffalo vs. Connecticut
Buffalo is on the upswing, but UConn will be too much. Donald Brown is going to get a ton of yards against Buffalo and the Huskies' defense is too strong.
Prediction: UConn 28, Buffalo 13

Army All-American Bowl: East vs. West
I'd like to pick the East because all four Michigan commits (Jeremy Gallon, Justin Turner, Anthony Lalota, Brendan Gibbons) play on that side. But looking at the West roster, it just seems like there's too much talent there, especially at the offensive skill positions. If Tyrik Rollison and the rest of the West quarterbacks can be accurate with the football, that offense should be explosive.
Prediction: West 21, East 14

Bowl Predictions: January 2

Prediction record so far: 4-1

Cotton Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss
The only way Ole Miss will win this game is if Texas Tech has a giant letdown. If the Red Raiders are too worried about how they got dissed from the Big 12 championship game and the national championship, then Ole Miss might be able to stick with them. Texas Tech has a good argument for being in the national championship game; Ole Miss doesn't.
Prediction: Texas Tech 41, Ole Miss 14

Liberty Bowl: Kentucky vs. East Carolina
Kentucky is an up and down team. Much like Maryland, they put up good fights against good teams and then play poorly against bad ones. I think this will be a close game, but the Pirates will pull it out in the end.
Prediction: East Carolina 20, Kentucky 16

Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Utah
Utah's quality wins this year are Oregon State, Air Force, and TCU. They beat Oregon State and TCU by three points each and Air Force by seven. Some people have been touting their signature win as the game against Michigan, but Michigan finished 3-9 and only lost by two points. Meanwhile, Alabama trounced much better teams than those. Utah is a decent team, but once again, they'll need an emotional letdown from Alabama to have a good chance. I don't expect the final score to be competitive.
Prediction: Alabama 30, Utah 10

New Year's Day Bowl Predictions

Outback Bowl: South Carolina vs. Iowa
I've watched South Carolina a few times this year, and I haven't come away impressed. Iowa has Shonne Green, so they should be able to at least do one thing efficiently. I don't think I can say the same thing about South Carolina.
Prediction: Iowa 24, South Carolina 20.

Gator Bowl: Nebraska vs. Clemson
Clemson should win this game. They have more talent, and they have a lot of players who might want to use this opportunity to show off their talents to a large TV audience (and NFL scouts). I think Bo Pelini is an excellent coach and will have his team - especially his defense - ready to play. But it's too much of an uphill battle.
Prediction: Clemson 31, Nebraska 17

Capital One Bowl: Georgia vs. Michigan State
The Big Ten is 0-3 in bowl games so far this season. And even though I predicted an Iowa victory above, I don't see MSU beating Georgia. Matt Stafford is going to have an excellent day throwing the ball; Brian Hoyer won't. Both Javon Ringer and Knowshown Moreno will have good days, so that will be a wash.
Prediction: Georgia 34, Michigan State 24

Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. Southern California
Once again, the Big Ten will fall. USC has clobbered Big Ten opponents in recent years (Michigan and Ohio State included). Southern Cal is basically playing a home game. There's too much talent at USC, especially on defense, where they're averaging only 7.8 points allowed per game. Penn State will score more than that, but not much.
Prediction: USC 42, Penn State 13

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Cincinnati won the Big East, which I generally don't view to be a big deal, unless the Big East's top team is West Virginia. Brian Kelly is an excellent coach, but his team isn't being quarterbacked by Pat White, so I'm going with the Hokies. Virginia Tech has a good freshman running back in Darren Evans and a couple guys in the defensive backfield who will cause some turnovers.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 24, Cincinnati 20