Kansas-Virginia Tech

the Orange Bowl Thursday, January 3rd, 8:00pm Miami, Florida
Kansas (11-1)_____Big 12____322.17				Virginia Tech (11-2)_____ACC____439.86
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
9	@ Texas A&M	130.38	W, 19-11	14	Boston College	313.79	W, 30-16
11	@ Oklahoma State	112.55	W, 43-28	6	@ Clemson	293.25	W, 41-23
8	@ Colorado	93.37	W, 19-14	13	@ Virginia	254.75	W, 33-21
1	Central Michigan	67.05	W, 52-7	11	Florida State	200.76	W, 40-21
6	@ Kansas State	43.11	W, 30-24	10	@ Georgia Tech	154.13	W, 27-3
10	Nebraska	29.14	W, 76-39	1	East Carolina	89.72	W, 17-7
3	Toledo	-104.62	W, 45-13	12	Miami (Florida)	46.59	W, 44-14
7	Baylor	-139.20	W, 58-10	5	North Carolina	7.58	W, 17-10
12	Iowa State	-155.31	W, 45-7	3	Ohio	-44.8	W, 28-7
4	Florida International	-322.15	W, 55-3	7	@ Duke	-205.27	W, 43-14
2	Southeastern Louisiana	-	W, 62-0	4	William & Mary	-	W, 44-3
13	Missouri	331.01	L, 28-36	2	@ Louisiana State	460.13	L, 7-48
9					Boston College	313.79	L, 10-14

Even though it didn't make it to the Big 12 Championship game, the Jayhawks still only have 1 loss on the whole season. The Hokies have bounced back in a big way from their losses on the way to the ACC championship.

Progress favors the Hokies.

The Line: Kansas +3.5

The Story: I think the Jayhawks can hang with the Hokies for most of this one, but Beamer Ball will get them in the end - the boys from Blacksburg are just too good on special teams. Look for their D to score at least once too.

The Call: Virginia Tech by 10

The Result: Kansas 24-21 = 3 interceptions, a defensive TD, a blocked FG, and a fake punt - textbook Beamer Ball. By Kansas. (Did you see how livid the coach was that they were using his playbook against him?) All the credit to the Jayhawks on a fantastic season.

West Virginia-Oklahoma

the Fiesta Bowl Wednesday, January 2nd, 8:00pm Glendale, Arizona
West Virginia (10-2)_____Big East____364.93				Oklahoma (11-2)_____Big 12____409
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
12	@ Cincinnati	298.97	W, 28-23	7	Missouri	331.01	W, 41-31
13	Connecticut	232.43	W, 66-21	14	Missouri	331.01	W, 38-17
8	Mississippi State	191.93	W, 38-13	6	Texas	275.96	W, 28-21
9	@ Rutgers	146.23	W, 31-3	4	@ Tulsa	164.04	W, 62-21
3	@ Maryland	134.68	W, 31-14	10	Texas A&M	130.38	W, 42-14
11	Louisville	106.21	W, 38-31	13	Oklahoma State	112.55	W, 49-17
4	East Carolina	89.72	W, 48-7	2	Miami (Florida)	46.59	W, 51-13
1	Western Michigan	-65.04	W, 62-24	11	Baylor	-139.20	W, 52-21
6	@ Syracuse	-156.53	W, 55-14	8	@ Iowa State	-155.31	W, 17-7
2	@ Marshall	-158.83	W, 48-23	3	Utah State	-209.20	W, 54-3
5	@ South Florida	316.42	L, 13-21	1	North Texas	-309.82	W, 79-10
14	Pittsburgh	76.94	L, 9-13	12	@ Texas Tech	195.22	L, 27-34
				5	@ Colorado	93.37	L, 24-27

Both the Mountaineers and Sooners are about equal here - some so-so losses, some quality wins...

Mostly up for both teams, but West Virginia looked awful in the last week of the season.

The Line: West Virginia +8.5

The Story: Both these teams are going to be dealing with spectres in this game. West Virginia not only lost the cakewalk that would've gotten them to the championship game, but they lost their head coach too. Oklahoma is returning to the place of their defeat at the hands of Boise State in the classic last year. I think this one will be closer than people are making it out to be - the Mountaineers can still play some mean D and you can bet they're going to be itching to put their best foot forward. With that said, I think the Sooners are stronger overall and should be able to hang on at the end.

The Call: Oklahoma by 9

The Result: West Virginia 48-28 = Ladies & Gentlemen, I think the Mountaineers are going to be just fine without Rich Rodriguez. Gutsy performance on all sides of the ball for them, while the Sooners fell in the post season once again, due a lot in part to sloppy play. Bob Stoops is still one of the best coaches in the country, but you gotta wonder about all those BCS bowl losses in the last 5 years.

Hawaii-Georgia

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.

USC-Illinois

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.

December 20th & 21st - 2 Bowls

Finally, the bowls are here! I wish we could say we begin with a bang, but that's not really the case. So be it.

Let me take a quick minute to explain how the bowl posts are going to work. The comparison tables are pretty self-explanatory, detailing each participant's opponents throughout the season, from strongest wins (in blue) to weakest losses (in red) top to bottom. Non-conference games are in bold if they're against BCS teams and italics if they're not. To help see the ebb & flow of the teams' seasons, there's an chart that details their comparative progress week by week.

Instead of presenting all 32 games at once, I'm going to be posting about the games the day of or a day before. That's partly because of the spread and partly because of all the intangibles that might affect my prediction. Let's start!

the Poinsettia Bowl Thursday, December 20th, 9:00pm San Diego, California
Utah (8-4)_____Mtn West____213.09				Navy (8-4)______Indy_____111.26
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
12	New Mexico	154.27	W, 28-10	5	Air Force	233.04	W, 31-20
8	@ Texas Christian	152.78	W, 27-20	7	@ Pittsburgh	76.94	W, 48-45
3	UCLA	117.96	W, 44-6	10	@ Notre Dame	-135.92	W, 46-44
6	@ Louisville	106.21	W, 44-35	1	@ Temple	-154.46	W, 30-19
11	Wyoming	-10.46	W, 50-0	14	@ Army	-176.1	W, 38-3
7	San Diego State	-84.17	W, 23-7	4	Duke	-205.27	W, 46-43
9	@ Colorado State	-109.69	W, 27-3	12	Northern Illinois	-277.36	W, 35-24
5	Utah State	-209.2	W, 34-18	11	@ North Texas	-309.82	W, 74-62
13	@ Brigham Young	341.36	L, 10-17	8	Wake Forest	245.34	L, 24-44
2	Air Force	233.04	L, 12-20	2	@ Rutgers	146.23	L, 24-41
1	@ Oregon State	209.72	L, 7-24	3	Ball State	70.73	L, 31-34
4	@ Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.3	L, 0-27	9	Delaware	-	L, 52-59

Same W-L record for these two, but Utah definitely has the edge from playing (and beating) tougher teams. They only lost one bad one to UNLV, while the only decent team Navy beat was Air Force. Losing to DI-AA Delaware really hurts the Midshipman's case too. To their credit, Navy was able to put lots of points on the board, even in their losses.

Both teams have gone upward in the last half of the season, but the Utes have surged ever since week 4, their only blemish being the loss to BYU in the last week of their season.

Intangibles: Navy's coach is now at Georgia Tech, leaving them interim'd for their bowl - not usually a good thing. Utah know's how to prepare for a bowl too, having beaten Georgia Tech, Pitt, and USC to take their bowl-streak to 6 wins.

The Line: Navy +8

The Story: Navy's Run O vs Utah's D. Can the Utes stop the Midshipmen from running all over the field with their triple-spread option? Probably.

The Call: Utah by 10

The Result: Utah 35-32 = Much more entertaining that anticipated, which hopefully bodes well for the bowl season as a whole.

the New Orleans Bowl Friday, December 21st, 8:00pm New Orleans, Louisiana
Florida Atlantic (7-5)_____Sun Belt____42.86				Memphis (7-5)_____Conf USA____21.53
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
14	@ Troy	134.45	W, 38-32	11	@ Southern Mississippi	53.31	W, 29-26
11	Arkansas State	-63.38	W, 34-31	9	@ Tulane	-144.98	W, 28-27
1	Middle Tennessee State	-67.64	W, 27-14	5	Marshall	-158.83	W, 24-21
3	Minnesota	-195.44	W, 42-39	8	@ Rice	-221.20	W, 38-35
8	@ Louisiana-Lafayette	-210.36	W, 39-32	12	Alabama-Birmingham	-232.53	W, 25-9
4	@ North Texas	-309.82	W, 30-20	13	Southern Methodist	-292.91	W, 55-52
13	@ Florida International	-322.15	W, 55-23	3	Jacksonville State	-	W, 35-14
12	@ Florida	377.83	L, 20-59	4	@ Central Florida	266.42	L, 20-56
6	South Florida	316.42	L, 23-35	10	East Carolina	89.72	L, 40-56
5	@ Kentucky	208.61	L, 17-45	1	Mississippi	-39.22	L, 21-23
2	@ Oklahoma State	112.55	L, 6-42	5	@ Arkansas State	-63.38	L, 31-35
9	Louisiana-Monroe	-29.37	L, 30-33	7	Middle Tennessee State	-67.64	L, 7-21

These are the two weakest teams in the bowls, both of them barely finishing in positive territory. They've had rather similar seasons too - same record, one good win for each, a bad loss or two, up and down the whole year, etc. Looking a bit closer though, 4 of Florida Atlantic's 5 losses were to BCS conference teams, while Memphis had a non-conf slate of mainly cream-puffs. So an edge goes to the Owls for having played in tougher matches.

Memphis, after going downhill the first half of the season, is playing well and has won 5 of 6. Streak edge to the Tigers.

Intangibles: This is Florida Atlantic's first bowl ever, and having to adjust to playing in a bowl might help or hurt the team. Memphis has had a rough season, dealing with the tragic death of teammate Taylor Bradford since the beginning of October.

The Line: Memphis +3

The Story: This is a tough call, partly because the teams are so similar. Gut, what do you have to say?

The Call: Florida Atlantic by 7

The Result: Florida Atlantic 44-27 = Another exciting game. Well done by both teams. Good job to you too, gut.

December 26th & 27th - 2 bowls

the Motor City Bowl Wednesday, December 26th, 7:30pm Detroit, Michigan
Central Michigan (8-5)_____MAC____67.05				Purdue (7-5)_____Big 10____126.73
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
6	@ Ball State	70.73	W, 58-38	8	Iowa	72.08	W, 31-6
14	Miami (Ohio)	-62.84	W, 35-10	3	Central Michigan	67.05	W, 45-22
10	@ Western Michigan	-65.04	W, 34-31	9	Northwestern	30.45	W, 35-17
2	Toledo	-104.62	W, 52-31	1	@ Toledo	-104.62	W, 52-24
13	@ Akron	-140.28	W, 35-32	5	Notre Dame	-135.92	W, 33-19
7	Army	-176.10	W, 47-23	4	@ Minnesota	-195.44	W, 45-31
9	@ Kent	-226.51	W, 41-32	2	Eastern Illinois	-	W, 52-6
5	Northern Illinois	-277.36	W, 35-10	6	Ohio State	403.68	L, 7-23
1	@ Kansas	322.17	L, 7-52	10	@ Penn State	238.54	L, 19-26
8	@ Clemson	293.25	L, 14-70	7	@ Michigan	235.72	L, 21-48
3	@ Purdue	126.73	L, 22-45	11	Michigan State	196.40	L, 31-48
12	Eastern Michigan	-130.06	L, 45-48	12	@ Indiana	133.65	L, 24-27
4	North Dakota State	-	L, 14-44

Basically the same W-L record for these two, and their wins are similarly weak. But Central Michigan has taken some bad losses, losing to Eastern Michigan and getting beaten down by DI-AA North Dakota State. All the teams the Boilermakers lost to were at the top of the Big 10, so they beat and lost to the teams they should have.

Purdue has evened out in the last part of the season, while Central Michigan slowly worked their way back from a rough start.

Intangibles: Eh. (It's not the most glamorous matchup...)

The Line: Central Michigan +8

The Story: Back in September when these two played, the Boilermakers doubled up the Chippewas 45-22, so you can bet the latter are looking for some revenge. Both teams use the spread - which one can defend against it better?

The Call: Purdue by 10

The Result: Purdue 51-48 = That was just a whole lotta offense, jeez. Another exciting game though - a slew of close ones and we're not even 1/4 of the way through the bowls.

the Holiday Bowl Thursday, December 27th, 8:00pm San Diego, California
Arizona State (10-2)_____Pac 10____241.74				Texas (9-3)_____Big 12____275.96
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
4	Oregon State	209.72	W, 44-32	3	@ Central Florida	266.42	W, 35-32
11	@ UCLA	117.96	W, 24-20	11	Texas Tech	195.22	W, 59-43
2	@ Colorado	93.37	W, 33-14	2	Texas Christian	152.78	W, 34-13
9	California	87.95	W, 31-20	10	@ Oklahoma State	112.55	W, 38-35
14	Arizona	69.56	W, 20-17	9	Nebraska	29.14	W, 28-25
6	@ Washington State	31.17	W, 23-20	1	Arkansas State	-63.38	W, 21-13
7	Washington	-9.10	W, 44-20	8	@ Baylor	-139.20	W, 31-10
5	@ Stanford	-46.40	W, 41-3	7	@ Iowa State	-155.31	W, 56-3
1	San Jose State	-53.89	W, 45-3	4	Rice	-221.20	W, 58-14
3	San Diego State	-84.17	W, 34-13	6	Oklahoma	409	L, 21-28
13	Southern California	321.57	L, 24-44	13	@ Texas A&M	130.38	L, 30-38
10	Oregon	251.78	L, 23-35	5	Kansas State	43.11	L, 21-41

This is a great matchup between top-tier teams from the Pac 10 & Big 12. Schedule strength is about even, with both teams beating some solid opponents.

They started out on the same track, then split when Texas lost in week 5, and basically came back together at the end of the season. The Horns are looking up though, while the Sun Devils are trying to get back to their pre-November status.

Intangibles: Arizona State was passed up for a BCS bowl bid - will that fire them up or make them fold?

The Line: Arizona State +2.5

The Story: I don't expect a blowout in this game - both are very capable, but both have some flaws which can really be exploited.

The Call: Texas by 7

The Result: Texas 52-34 = The score doesn't indicate a blowout, but the Sun Devils were overmatched all night.

December 22nd & 23rd - 4 bowls

the Papajohns.com Bowl Saturday, December 22nd, 1:00pm Birmingham, Alabama
Cincinnati (9-3)_____Big East____298.97				Southern Miss (7-5)_____Conf USA____53.31
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
10	@ South Florida	316.42	W, 38-33	3	@ East Carolina	89.72	W, 28-21
11	Connecticut	232.43	W, 27-3	13	Arkansas State	-63.38	W, 16-10
2	Oregon State	209.72	W, 34-3	12	@ Texas-El Paso	-110.58	W, 56-30
6	@ Rutgers	146.23	W, 28-23	8	@ Marshall	-158.83	W, 33-24
3	@ Miami (Ohio)	-62.84	W, 47-10	10	@ Alabama-Birmingham	-232.53	W, 37-7
5	@ San Diego State	-84.17	W, 52-23	7	Southern Methodist	-292.91	W, 28-7
13	@ Syracuse	-156.53	W, 52-31	1	Tennessee-Martin	-	W, 35-13
4	Marshall	-158.83	W, 40-14	2	@ Tennessee	349.37	L, 19-39
1	Southeast Missouri State	-	W, 59-3	9	Central Florida	266.42	L, 17-34
12	West Virginia	364.93	L, 23-28	5	@ Boise State	229.42	L, 16-38
7	Louisville	106.21	L, 24-28	11	Memphis	21.53	L, 26-29
8	@ Pittsburgh	76.94	L, 17-24	6	Rice	-221.20	L, 29-31

The Bearcats have the clear edge in this game - better record, a lot of quality wins, no real bad losses.

Cincinnati had a drop-off in the middle of the season but has since rebounded. Southern Miss has worked their way back up from the red too, but they're much more stop and go.

Intangibles: Southern Miss is the opposite of interim'd for this game - it's Jeff Bower's last one, and you can bet he's going to do everything in his power to show the school's administration what a huge mistake they made in forcing him to resign.

The Line: Southern Miss +11.5

The Story: Cincinnati's skills vs Southern Miss's heart

The Call: Cincinnati wins, but Southern Miss covers the spread

The Result: Cincinnati 31-21 = Right on the money.

the New Mexico Bowl Saturday, December 22nd, 4:30pm Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico (8-4)_____Mtn West____154.27				Nevada (6-6)_____WAC____54.01
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
9	Air Force	233.04	W, 34-31	14	Louisiana Tech	-48.56	W, 49-10
3	@ Arizona	69.56	W, 29-27	10	@ New Mexico State	-156.16	W, 40-38
7	@ Wyoming	-10.46	W, 20-3	5	Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.30	W, 27-20
8	@ San Diego State	-84.17	W, 20-17	8	@ Utah State	-209.20	W, 31-28
11	Colorado State	-109.69	W, 26-23	9	Idaho	-335.67	W, 37-21
2	New Mexico State	-156.16	W, 44-34	3	Nicholls State	-	W, 52-17
13	Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.30	W, 27-6	12	Hawaii	395.58	L, 26-28
4	Sacramento State	-	W, 58-0	7	@ Boise State	229.42	L, 67-69
5	Brigham Young	341.36	L, 24-31	6	Fresno State	151.92	L, 41-49
12	@ Utah	213.09	L, 10-28	2	@ Northwestern	30.45	L, 31-36
10	@ Texas Christian	152.78	L, 0-37	1	@ Nebraska	29.14	L, 10-52
1	@ Texas-El Paso	-110.58	L, 6-10	13	@ San Jose State	-53.89	L, 24-27

New Mexico has the edge in how much they've been tested, winning a good game vs Air Force, while Nevada hasn't beaten anyone of note.

Not too much difference in these teams' seasons - both started with a loss but have pulled themselves back up.

Intangibles: The game is basically a home one for New Mexico, which is good because the Lobos only lost one (to BYU) this season at home.

The Line: Nevada +3

The Story: New Mexico's leading rusher Rodney Ferguson and backup rusher Mike Love are both out for the game, and though coach Rocky Long says that plugging in Paul Baker will work just fine, I don't think it's going to be that simple. It might be just enough though.

The Call: New Mexico by 6

The Result: New Mexico 23-0 = Maybe it was that simple - Paul Baker racked up 167 yards rushing. Who knew? (Besides Coach Long, that is.)

the Las Vegas Bowl Saturday, December 22nd, 8:00pm Las Vegas, Nevada
BYU (10-2)_____Mtn West____341.36				UCLA (6-6)______Pac 10_____117.96
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
4	Air Force	233.04	W, 31-6	2	Brigham Young	341.36	W, 27-17
13	@ Utah	213.09	W, 17-10	13	Oregon	251.78	W, 16-0
5	@ New Mexico	154.27	W, 31-24	5	@ Oregon State	209.72	W, 40-14
11	Texas Christian	152.78	W, 27-22	8	California	87.95	W, 30-21
1	Arizona	69.56	W, 20-7	4	Washington	-9.10	W, 44-31
12	Wyoming	-10.46	W, 35-10	1	@ Stanford	-46.40	W, 45-17
14	San Diego State	-84.17	W, 48-27	14	@ Southern California	321.57	L, 7-24
10	@ Colorado State	-109.69	W, 35-16	11	Arizona State	241.74	L, 20-24
7	@ Nevada-Las Vegas	-178.30	W, 24-14	3	@ Utah	213.09	L, 6-44
8	Eastern Washington	-	W, 42-7	10	@ Arizona	69.56	L, 27-34
3	@ Tulsa	164.04	L, 47-55	9	@ Washington State	31.17	L, 7-27
2	@ UCLA	117.96	L, 17-27	6	Notre Dame	-135.92	L, 6-20

Rematch! The first game went to the Bruins at home in September, which was the best and worst game for each team, respectively. But since then the Cougars have had a bit of a better season. Just a bit.

The chart says it all in terms of seasonal progress.

Intangibles: How will the BYU players and fans react to Vegas? Something's gotta give there...

The Line: UCLA +6

The Story: As is a main storyline for this bowl season, the Bruins are interim'd. Not only that, but the school is still interviewing for a coach, not having already scooped up one for next season as most other schools have. Of course it doesn't just come down to coaches, the Cougar's desire for revenge is big too...

The Call: BYU by 10

The Result: BYU 17-16 = Another solid game. BYU finishes a great season, winning their last 10.

the Hawaii Bowl Sunday, December 23rd, 8:00pm Honolulu, Hawaii
East Carolina (7-5)_____Conf USA____89.72				Boise State (10-2)______WAC_____229.42
Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score	Week	Opponent	oPts	Res, Score
6	Central Florida	266.42	W, 52-38	9	@ Fresno State	151.92	W, 34-21
5	@ Houston	111.86	W, 37-35	7	Nevada	54.01	W, 69-67
10	@ Memphis	21.53	W, 56-40	5	Southern Mississippi	53.31	W, 38-16
2	North Carolina	7.58	W, 34-31	3	Wyoming	-10.46	W, 24-14
7	@ Texas-El Paso	-110.58	W, 45-42	8	@ Louisiana Tech	-48.56	W, 45-31
13	Tulane	-144.98	W, 35-12	10	San Jose State	-53.89	W, 42-7
9	Alabama-Birmingham	-232.53	W, 41-6	6	New Mexico State	-156.16	W, 58-0
1	@ Virginia Tech	439.86	L, 7-17	11	@ Utah State	-209.20	W, 52-0
4	@ West Virginia	364.93	L, 7-48	12	Idaho	-335.67	W, 58-14
3	Southern Mississippi	53.31	L, 21-28	1	Weber State	-	W, 56-7
8	North Carolina State	34.24	L, 20-34	13	@ Hawaii	395.58	L, 27-39
11	@ Marshall	-158.83	L, 7-26	2	@ Washington	-9.10	L, 10-24

Boise State has the lead here, not only having a better record but also having played in Hawaii less than a month ago. The only blemish on the Bronco's record is an somewhat unexplainable loss to Washington in September.

Intangibles: Everyone still remembers what Boise State did to Oklahoma last year in one of the greatest bowl games ever. Will their hearts be in Hawaii this year?

The Line: East Carolina +11

The Story: Can East Carolina score? To have any shot at all they'll need to - their D has given up a ton of points this year.

The Call: Boise State by 14

The Result: East Carolina 41-38 = Well done, Pirates. Boise State's D isn't too shabby, but East Carolina just stepped on the gas from the start.