Here we are, at the finish. Its been a long year, and a fun one. Now we must finish it up. If you want to re-read the tie-breaking order, just click here.
So we have 5 bowl games this year, tying the MAC high from 2004, 2008, and 2009. That means there are 25 points to be had. The prize up for grabs? A $50 gift card to Buffalo Wild Wings. The grand unveiling. Its not much, but hell, some good wings in a nice friendly atmosphere FOR FREE if you win.
If you need a quick refresher on the overall standings, they are below. Same thing as last time, no bonus, but discussion is encouraged.
PICKER |
POINTS |
| Brown and Gold | 168 |
| OHBCats | 163 |
| ChippewaBlue | 158 |
| Matt Sussman | 156 |
| HuronBoy | 149 |
| geeves | 147 |
| WMUpilot | 145 |
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17th, 2011
New Mexico Bowl: Wyoming Cowboys (8-4) vs Temple Owls (8-4) - This game is a bit tricky. Wyoming is horrid on defense against the run, and Temple loves to run the ball. Easy pick right? Well here's the thing that I think many people overlook that could come into play: Exams. That's right, the first part of student-athlete. "How so?" you might ask. Temple has their finals the week of the game. Wyoming? They have finals the week before. Think about it, one whole week to focus solely on a game.
That said, the Cowboys rely on forcing turnovers, and Temple has only 11 giveaways this year. I'm going with the Owls to release 2 years of "bowl-ness" and pick up a win.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio Bobcats (9-4) vs Utah State Aggies (7-5) - Another tricky game. This Utah State team almost knocked off Auburn in Week 1, and knocked around the aforementioned Wyoming team to the tune of 63-19. They've had some close losses to some good teams. Both teams love to run, and both teams are good at stopping the run.
I'm going with Ohio for two reasons. One, I think Tyler Tettleton is a good QB and LaVon Brazill will burn the Aggie secondary. Two, I'm forcing OHBCats to either pick against his beloved Bobcats, or concede a game to me, already up by two games (due to me owning the first tiebreaker). Gamesmanship folks
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27th, 2011
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Purdue Boilermakers (6-6) vs Western Michigan Broncos (7-5) - Do you really expect me to pick against Western in this game? Western went 5-0 at home, and with it being Christmas Break, Ford Field will be WMU's second home. 28% of the student population hails from the Metro Detroit area. Throw in some alumni numbers, and travelers like myself, and there should be a huge Bronco swing. Jordan White gets to throw some more padding on his already stellar numbers from the year as WMU torches the Purdue secondary en route to their first bowl win.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28th, 2011
Military Bowl: Air Force Falcons (7-5) vs Toledo Rockets (8-4) - Toledo lost 3 of their 4 games by a combined total of 8 points and one horrible call. The other loss was to Boise State. Air Force beat 2 FCS teams and Navy in OT. As much as you can give Air Force the "military bump in the Military Bowl", Toledo is still by far and large the better team. Easiest pick.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8th, 2012
Godaddy.com Bowl - Arkansas State Red Wolves (10-2) vs Northern Illinois Huskies (10-3) - The last bowl game before the "National Title Game". I guess I'm going to call it the "Mid-Major National Championship". Shut up, don't take this from me. This one is tough, because Arkansas State has won 9 straight and never looked that bad, but has played 8 Sun Belt and 1 FCS team for all 9 of those games. NIU on the other hand has looked both great and shaky this year. Both these teams could be without head coaches after this bowl game (or even before), as Ole Miss has plucked ASU's Hugh Freeze, and Illinois is looking at Dave Doreen from what I hear.
NIU wins because the bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Translation: NIU wins because I know they can win and I have no clue what Arkansas State can do being thrown back into the non-Sun Belt mix.
Total Bowl Points by MAC Schools: 167
*I have bumped this for the last time*