Discover Orange Bowl — No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State

This is a game that got all of the chatter when the bowl games were first announced. While the University of Oklahoma was all prepared for the financial windfall that is the BCS, Northern Illinois was ranked high enough to make their bid for the BCS pushing the Sooners to maybe the 2^nd best bowl of the season against Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

So the team that lost their first game of the season to a horrible Iowa team is now in the BCS. They did beat the only other BCS conference team on their schedule when they got a seven point victory over 1 – 11 Kansas. They beat the only ranked team they played when they beat the other BCS buster Kent State for the MAC championship but let’s be honest, we don’t know how good they were.

Florida State, if not for a bad half of football against North Carolina State, would have been playing their cross state rival Florida for a shot at the national championship.

Florida State is better than Northern Illinois. It would be hard to find a debate with that. But here is the rub; the Seminoles have displayed a tendency to play down to their competition. Northern Illinois is the kind of team that will build confidence over time if they are allowed to stay in a game. They have a dynamic offense and it will be that offense that will go against the tough and talented Florida State defense. That will be the battle even though FSU defensive coordinator Mark Stoops left to take the Kentucky job.

The Seminoles will win this game but it will be closer than the experts think.

Outback Bowl — No. 10 South Carolina vs. No. 18 Michigan

This is a game between two teams that had the same expectations to start the season. Both teams were hoping to be part of the national championship conversation and neither were successful.

Michigan came into the year ranked 8^th in the country and was blown out in week one by Alabama and meager describes the rest of their season. They beat teams they should beat scraping by the decent ones and lost to every ranked team they played save for #24 Northwestern which they beat in overtime.

South Carolina started the year in the top ten and won every game on the schedule save for the back to back road trips to top 10 teams in LSU and Florida. While they lost their All American running back in Marcus Lattimore they are a more than solid team and still possess one of the best front sevens in the country.

This is a bad matchup on every level for Michigan and I expect South Carolina to dominate defensively and be successful on offense and win this game by double digits.

Chick-fil-A Bowl– No. 8 LSU vs. No. 14 Clemson

Some would say that LSU is better quarterback play in the 2012 season away from being in the national championship discussion with Alabama, Notre Dame, Oregon and Florida. They have a championship caliber defense and the offense, particularly at QB, has gotten better over the course of the season.

Clemson seems to be the classic team that has the groceries and all of the spices and seasonings but can never get the recipe right for a championship meal. This game will be about focus. While the staff is still intact defensive coordinator Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Chad Morris have been linked to coaching searches everywhere during bowl preparation. Morris is a star on the rise and when his offense is clicking it is one of the best in the country. Where will this team be in regards to their mindset? They went into the Orange Bowl last year with this same exact ranking (#14) and lost to West Virginia 70 – 33 and it wasn’t that close.

This is LSU’s game to lose. They laid an egg in the national championship game against Alabama in 2011. For as much as we might not like the inconsistency of the LSU Tigers, the Clemson Tigers are more inconsistent.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl — TCU vs. Michigan State, 12/29 8:15 PM

Who knows what Michigan State team will show up? The Spartans started the 2012 season in the Top 10 and proceeded to lose to every meaningful team on the schedule. They did get an overtime win over Wisconsin but this team is limping into the BWW Bowl.

TCU on the other had made chicken salad out of you know what. The Horned Frogs lost their starting running back and had their honors-candidate quarterback check into rehab during the season. They still played pretty well and even though their conference record (4 – 5) may not reflect it, TCU is a pretty solid football team that got better over the course of the year.

TCU is one dimensional and that will cause some struggles, but I still expect the defense to rule the day and help the Horned Frogs win the game.

Enjoy Scottsdale!

_______________________________________________________________________

Hyundai Sun Bowl — USC vs. Georgia Tech, 12/31 1:00 PM

The Trojans started the year as the top ranked team in the land and ended the season cementing Manti Te’o as a Heisman candidate and out of the rankings. In between, there were issues with taking the air out of balls and an equipment manager being thrown under the bus and enough injuries to fill a mash unit.

Georgia Tech is not a good football team no matter how you look at it. They finished the season 6 – 6 and then lost the ACC Championship game (yes, they played in it at 6 – 6) and had to file a waiver to play in the bowl game with 7 loses.

I guess USC will win and if you are a USC alumnus ‘Fight On’ is always the goal but this game will prove that there is a difference between a good game and a close game. This game will be close but not good. In the end the USC offense will be way too much for the Yellow Jackets.