January 1st - 6 games

the Outback Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 11:00am Tampa, Florida
Wisconsin (9-3)_____Big 10____234.68				Tennessee (9-4)_____SEC____349.37
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
11	Michigan	235.72	W, 37-21	6	Georgia	412.72	W, 35-14
5	Michigan State	196.40	W, 37-34	11	Arkansas	294.50	W, 34-13
9	Indiana	133.65	W, 33-3	13	@ Kentucky	208.61	W, 52-50
4	Iowa	72.08	W, 17-13	7	@ Mississippi State	191.93	W, 33-21
1	Washington State	31.17	W, 42-21	9	South Carolina	163.22	W, 27-24
2	@ Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.30	W, 20-13	12	Vanderbilt	81.36	W, 25-24
12	@ Minnesota	-195.44	W, 41-34	2	Southern Mississippi	53.31	W, 39-19
8	Northern Illinois	-277.36	W, 44-3	4	Arkansas State	-63.38	W, 48-27
3	Citadel	-	W, 45-31	10	Louisiana-Lafayette	-210.36	W, 59-7
10	@ Ohio State	403.68	L, 17-38	14	Louisiana State	460.13	L, 14-21
6	@ Illinois	331.14	L, 26-31	3	@ Florida	377.83	L, 20-59
7	@ Penn State	238.54	L, 7-38	8	@ Alabama	183.77	L, 17-41
				1	@ California	87.95	L, 31-45

The Badgers & Vols are pretty evenly matched here. A few solid wins, no real bad losses. If there's an edge, it's to Tennessee.

Tennessee gets the edge in progress too, having been on a solid streak until they barely lost to LSU in the SEC Championship.

The Line: Wisconsin +1.5

The Story: The first of the Big 10 vs SEC matchups - should be a good game.

The Call: Tennessee by 7

The Result: Tennessee 21-17 = The Badgers showed a lot of toughness, bouncing back time and again, but in the end the Vols were just too solid.

the Cotton Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 11:30am Dallas, Texas
Missouri (11-2)_____Big 12____331.01				Arkansas (8-4)_____SEC____294.5
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
1	Illinois	331.14	W, 40-34	13	@ Louisiana State	460.13	W, 50-48
13	Kansas	322.17	W, 36-28	12	Mississippi State	191.93	W, 45-31
8	Texas Tech	195.22	W, 41-10	10	South Carolina	163.22	W, 48-36
11	Texas A&M	130.38	W, 40-26	1	Troy	134.45	W, 46-26
10	@ Colorado	93.37	W, 55-10	8	@ Mississippi	-39.22	W, 44-8
12	@ Kansas State	43.11	W, 49-32	5	North Texas	-309.82	W, 66-7
6	Nebraska	29.14	W, 41-6	9	Florida International	-322.15	W, 58-10
2	@ Mississippi	-39.22	W, 38-25	6	Tennessee-Chattanooga	-	W, 34-15
3	Western Michigan	-65.04	W, 52-24	11	@ Tennessee	349.37	L, 13-34
9	Iowa State	-155.31	W, 42-28	7	Auburn	294.68	L, 7-9
4	Illinois State	-	W, 38-17	4	Kentucky	208.61	L, 29-42
7	@ Oklahoma	409.00	L, 31-41	3	@ Alabama	183.77	L, 38-41
14	Oklahoma	409.00	L, 17-38

Solid schedules for both. Edge to Missouri because they only lost to one team all year and had two great wins over BCS bowl teams.

The Tigers get the edge here too, if only because they've played better most weeks - the Hogs have just been too erratic.

The Line: Arkansas +3.5

The Story: It's all about the D - will the Hogs be able to stop the Tigers' spread attack? Will the Tigers be able to stop McFadden & Jones? Whichever D can contain will win.

The Call: Missouri by 7

The Result: Missouri 38-7 = The Razorbacks couldn't get anything going on the ground except for when they put the ball on it, while the Tigers just ran wild. Great overall season for Missouri.

the Gator Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 12:00pm Jacksonville, Florida
Virginia (9-3)_____ACC____254.75				Texas Tech (8-4)_____Big 12____195.22
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
10	Wake Forest	245.34	W, 17-16	12	Oklahoma	409.00	W, 34-27
7	Connecticut	232.43	W, 17-16	7	Texas A&M	130.38	W, 35-7
4	Georgia Tech	154.13	W, 28-23	2	Texas-El Paso	-110.58	W, 45-31
8	@ Maryland	134.68	W, 18-17	10	@ Baylor	-139.20	W, 38-7
5	Pittsburgh	76.94	W, 44-14	6	Iowa State	-155.31	W, 42-17
11	@ Miami (Florida)	46.59	W, 48-0	3	@ Rice	-221.20	W, 59-24
3	@ North Carolina	7.58	W, 22-20	1	@ Southern Methodist	-292.91	W, 49-9
6	@ Middle Tennessee State	-67.64	W, 23-21	5	Northwestern State	-	W, 75-7
2	Duke	-205.27	W, 24-13	8	@ Missouri	331.01	L, 10-41
13	Virginia Tech	439.86	L, 21-33	11	@ Texas	275.96	L, 43-59
9	@ North Carolina State	34.24	L, 24-29	4	@ Oklahoma State	112.55	L, 45-49
1	@ Wyoming	-10.46	L, 3-23	9	Colorado	93.37	L, 26-31

Huge difference in the strength of teams played. The Cavs faced and beat 7 teams in the blue, while the Red Raiders only beat 2. The worst loss of the bunch is Virginia's opening week loss at Wyoming.

Virginia gets the edge here too, putting together another fine season.

The Line: Virginia +6

The Story: Will the Cavaliers be able to stop the Red Raiders' high-octane offense? This will be the best offense they've faced this year. But if the game's close, they definitely have the advantage. I like their chances.

The Call: Virginia by 3

The Result: Texas Tech 31-28 = What a tough way for the Cavaliers to lose, giving up 17 points in the final 4 minutes. It was still a good season for them, but it's a tough way to go out. The Red Raiders are returning a lot of solid players next year and should be a force in the Big 12.

the Capital One Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 1:00pm Orlando, Florida
Michigan (8-4)_____Big 10____235.72				Florida (9-3)_____SEC____377.83
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
8	@ Illinois	331.14	W, 27-17	3	Tennessee	349.37	W, 59-20
4	Penn State	238.54	W, 14-9	8	@ Kentucky	208.61	W, 45-37
10	@ Michigan State	196.40	W, 28-24	13	Florida State	200.76	W, 45-12
7	Purdue	126.73	W, 48-21	11	@ South Carolina	163.22	W, 51-31
5	@ Northwestern	30.45	W, 28-16	2	Troy	134.45	W, 59-31
6	Eastern Michigan	-130.06	W, 33-22	10	Vanderbilt	81.36	W, 49-22
3	Notre Dame	-135.92	W, 38-0	12	Florida Atlantic	42.86	W, 59-20
9	Minnesota	-195.44	W, 34-10	1	Western Kentucky	11.29	W, 49-3
12	Ohio State	403.68	L, 3-14	4	@ Mississippi	-39.22	W, 30-24
2	Oregon	251.78	L, 7-39	6	@ Louisiana State	460.13	L, 24-28
11	@ Wisconsin	234.68	L, 21-37	9	Georgia	412.72	L, 30-42
1	Appalachian State	-	L, 32-34	5	Auburn	294.68	L, 17-20

Definite edge to the Gators for playing in the SEC. Their non-conference schedule was a joke, but at least they didn't lose their non-conference games like the Wolverines did.

The Wolverines did rebound from a rough start to the season, but the Gators climbed at the end of the year too. They're about even here.

The Line: Michigan +11

The Story: Lloyd Carr's last game should give the Wolverines some extra fight, and I'm sure they have improved against the mobile QB, but they won't be able to stop Tebow.

The Call: Florida by 15

The Result: Michigan 41-35 = Damn, the Wolverines came to play. That's the way people expected them to play all year, and they might have had they been healthy the whole season. Florida had their shots, and Tebow still went for 4 TD's, but they just didn't have the intensity today. Great way for Carr to go out.

the Rose Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 4:30pm Pasadena, California
USC (10-2)_____Pac 10____321.57				Illinois (9-3)_____Big 10____331.14
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
13	@ Arizona State	241.74	W, 44-24	11	@ Ohio State	403.68	W, 28-21
10	Oregon State	209.72	W, 24-3	5	Penn State	238.54	W, 27-20
14	UCLA	117.96	W, 24-7	6	Wisconsin	234.68	W, 31-26
11	@ California	87.95	W, 24-17	4	@ Indiana	133.65	W, 27-14
7	Arizona	69.56	W, 20-13	9	Ball State	70.73	W, 28-17
4	Washington State	31.17	W, 47-14	12	Northwestern	30.45	W, 41-22
3	@ Nebraska	29.14	W, 49-31	3	@ Syracuse	-156.53	W, 41-20
5	@ Washington	-9.10	W, 27-24	10	@ Minnesota	-195.44	W, 44-17
8	@ Notre Dame	-135.92	W, 38-0	2	Western Illinois	-	W, 21-0
1	Idaho	-335.67	W, 38-10	1	Missouri	331.01	L, 34-40
9	@ Oregon	251.78	L, 17-24	8	Michigan	235.72	L, 17-27
6	Stanford	-46.40	L, 23-24	7	@ Iowa	72.08	L, 6-10

Both teams have played so-so schedules this year - they're about even here.

The Trojans have rebounded from their losses and are flying high. But the Illini are on a roll too, not having lost since week 8. Even again.

The Line: Illinois +14

The Story: Nobody is giving Illinois much of a chance in this one, but you can bet they're going to be pumped to play in the Rose Bowl. They'll jump to an early lead but USC will come back in the 2nd half and hang on.

The Call: USC wins, but Illinois covers the spread

The Result: USC 49-17 = That looked like the Trojan teams from a few years ago, forcing turnovers and scoring points off them.

the Sugar Bowl Tuesday, January 1st, 8:30pm New Orleans, Louisiana
Hawaii (12-0)_____WAC____395.58				Georgia (10-2)_____SEC____412.72
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
13	Boise State	229.42	W, 39-27	9	Florida	377.83	W, 42-30
11	Fresno State	151.92	W, 37-30	11	Auburn	294.68	W, 45-20
12	@ Nevada	54.01	W, 28-26	12	Kentucky	208.61	W, 24-13
14	Washington	-9.10	W, 35-28	4	@ Alabama	183.77	W, 26-23
2	@ Louisiana Tech	-48.56	W, 45-44	13	@ Georgia Tech	154.13	W, 31-17
7	@ San Jose State	-53.89	W, 42-35	10	Troy	134.45	W, 44-34
9	New Mexico State	-156.16	W, 50-13	1	Oklahoma State	112.55	W, 35-14
3	@ Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.30	W, 49-14	7	@ Vanderbilt	81.36	W, 20-17
6	Utah State	-209.20	W, 52-37	5	Mississippi	-39.22	W, 45-17
5	@ Idaho	-335.67	W, 48-20	3	Western Carolina	-	W, 45-16
1	Northern Colorado	-	W, 63-6	6	@ Tennessee	349.37	L, 14-35
4	Charleston Southern	-	W, 66-10	2	South Carolina	163.22	L, 12-16

Hawaii is undefeated, but they haven't played anyone reall except for Boise State. Georgia found an identity halfway through the season and has been the team nobody wants to face. This should be a huge clash and a great game.

Georgia gets the nod here, if only because they've beaten better teams on their way up.

The Line: Hawaii +8

The Story: How will the Warriors fare against a legitimate opponent? A convincing win over the Dawgs would give them a huge argument for a piece of the national championship. But to do that they're gonna have to play shut-down D, something they aren't so great at.

The Call: Georgia by 10

The Result: Georgia 41-10 = Another whuppin'. Hawaii couldn't get anything going all night long, and their O-line was just way overmatched against Georgia.