New Year's Bowl Bonanza

Here are Cooper's Bowl picks for New Year's Day...



*Note* I have been forced to write my picks for Tuesday's bowl games on WordPad. Hopefully this doesn't cause a problem. I have added some links, I hope they work.

It is mid Monday afternoon and it looks like my first pick of the day, Cal over Air Force will come out correct. The other two games being played right now don't look so hot but there is still a lot of time left. On to tomorrow's games. Another 6 games are on the schedule. We are now in the meat of the schedule. Tomorrow is when we get into some of the more high profile bowl games.

The Outback Bowl kicks things of Tuesday morning. This game features the Tennessee Volunteers (9-4), the 1st place team in the SEC East Conference and the 16th ranked team in the nation up against the Wisconsin Badgers (9-3) the 4th place team from the Big 10 and the 18th ranked team in the nation. I would like to pick Wisconsin to win this game because we all know that Volunteers are losers who can't get a job in the real world and hang around food banks. While the Badger is a proud, noble creature - two things that a Volunteer is not. However, Tennessee is the hotter of the two teams coming in and they definitely had the more difficult schedule coming out of the SEC. I predict the Volunteers to win a close one in what should be a great game.

30 minutes after the Outback Bowl kicks the day off, the Cotton Bowl kicks off in Dallas. This year's Cotton Bowl has the Missouri Tigers (11-2), the 2nd place team from the Big 12 and the 7th ranked team nationally up against the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4), the 3rd place team from the SEC west and the 25th ranked team nationally. As you all well know Arkansas has a new coach in former Falcon head coach Bobby Petrino. I do not believe he will play a factor in this game as I believe he is not coaching, but I could be wrong. I refuse to research this. Mizzou should by all rights be playing in the Orange Bowl, however the Orange Bowl committee figured that Mark Mangino and his Kansas Jayhawks would be a better draw. Everyone likes to see a freak of nature I guess. Anyway Mizzou is by far the better team, as well I do believe that a tiger can take easy care of a wild pig. Unless it is like Hogzilla or something similar, which I highly doubt a razorback is. This game also features two favorites for next year's Heisman, Mizzou QB Chase Daniel and Arkansas RB Darren McFadden. Both will be future NFL stars. To get to the matter at hand I predict the Tigers of Mizzou coming out victorious.

Next we have the Capital One Bowl which features the Michigan Wolverines (8-4), the 2nd place team from the Big 12 up against last year's National Champs, the Florida Gators (9-3), the 3rd place team from the SEC east and the 9th ranked team nationally. Florida of course is QB'd by this year's Heisman Trophy winner and apparent successor to Jesus Christ, Tim Tebow. Michigan of course as we all know had that horrific opening day loss to the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. The Tim Tebow factor alone in this one is a huge draw to pick the Gators. The addition of WR Percy Harvin to mix, plus the fact that a Gator can pretty much maul a wolverine makes the Florida Gators the easy pick in this game. On a side note, watch for Michigan RB Mike Hart. He is a sure 1st round pick. A solid back only topped by Darren McFadden in my opinion.

The Gator Bowl is the final game before we get into the Grand-Daddies of the bowl games. The Gator Bowl has the Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4), the the 3rd place team from the Big 12 South up against the Virginia Cavaliers (9-3), the 2nd place team in the ACC coastal division and the 21st ranked team nationally. Texas Tech has an explosive offensive capable of putting up some huge numbers and I look for them to do the same against the Cavaliers. Plus the fan support from this guy alone will give the Red Raiders all the moral support they need to win the game.

At 4:30 eastern time we have the biggest bowl game of them all, the Rose Bowl, live from, the Rose Bowl. This year we have the University of Illinois Fighting Illini (9-3), the 2nd place team from the Big 10 and the 13th ranked team nationally up against the team that was a pre-season favorite to win the national title and was also dubbed "possibly the best college football team of all time" the USC Trojans (10-2), the Pac-10 champs, and the 6th ranked team nationally. USC manhandled most of their opposition this season (ex: Arkansas, Nebraska, Cal, UCLA,) but also lost against a 40 point underdog team in Stanford and had a close loss against Oregon. Common sense tells me to pick USC with their superior talent and depth, however shear hatred for the Trojans is making me pick the underdog in this one and go with "Juice" Williams and the Fighting Illini.

Finally we have the Sugar Bowl rapping things up for us New Years Day. The Hawaii Warriors (12-0), the champions of the WAC and the 10th ranked team nationally are up against the Georgia Bulldogs (10-2), the 1st place team from the SEC east and the 4th ranked team nationally. I can't see Hawaii pulling off a Boise St like upset in this one. Georgia comes from a far superior conference, has a tougher schedule to go through, and has more talent overall. Hawaii breezed to a 12-0 season by having to defeat teams like San Jose State, Northern Colorado, Charleston Southern, Idaho, and Louisiana Tech. Not exactly wins against quality teams. Georgia will win this one by about 20 + I figure.