Thursday, December 14, 2006

Bowl predictions, part 3

Another edition....I'll keep posting these until I spotlight every game.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Utah (7-5) vs. Tulsa (8-4)

Sigh....this is getting bad. I can't wait until I get through the crappy bowl games and I start looking into the BCS games. This whole project of mine is turning into "let's find a whole mess of reasons why this team doesn't deserve a bowl game".

Again, neither team shows me much of anything.

Utah has seven wins. The records of the teams they beat? 6-5. 1-11. 3-9. 2-10. 4-8. 4-8. But they did hand TCU one of their two losses, which I assume is why they're in.

Tulsa was 7-1 at one point. They were probably shopping for a bowl then. But then they had to face the "meat" of their schedule...the mighty teams known as Houston, Rice, and Southern Methodist. Three losses later and they were 7-4. Thank heavens they found a team outside of the state of Texas to beat in their final game....Tulane.

I suppose if you want to see a high-scoring bowl game, this is one you will want to tune in and watch. Both teams throw the ball a lot, with the two starting QBs combining for over 5,000 yards, or roughly one Colt Brennan.

Since the passing games are very closely matched, I'll go with Tulsa for two reasons. Their running game is one. Courtney Tennial has 14 rushing TDs to go with his 800 yards on the ground. Not awesome, but good. The other reason is defense. Tulsa's defense is ranked 19th in the NCAA, while Utah's is ranked 56th.

Both teams will score a lot, but Tulsa's defense will be able to stop Utah at the end of the game, which will spark memories of their loss to BYU, which nobody outside of our least-appreciated state will remember anyway.

Tulsa 41
Utah 37
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Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Hawaii (10-3) vs. Arizona State (7-5)

I cannot wait until this game takes place. Like most of you, I have not had the good fortune to watch Colt Brennan play, and this will be my first opportunity. The game is on Christmas Eve at 8pm, which means your kids will be in bed (awake and anxious, but in bed), so put the TV on while you help Santa get presents under the tree and enjoy this one.

I'm putting absolute faith in the fact that Arizona State has an average defense and Hawaii has a prolific offense.

  • Hawaii QB Colt Brennan threw for 400 yards in a game....eight times.
  • He also threw 4 TDs in a game....nine times.
  • Hawaii scored 40 points in a game.....ten times.
  • Brennan completed more than two-thirds of his passes....twelve times.

Arizona State played three ranked teams, California, Oregon, and USC. They lost all three games, and they allowed over 40 points per game in the three. They also gave up 44 points to Oregon State. Their passing defense is ranked 34th in the NCAA, and they are ranked 68th in scoring defense.

Add this all up, throw in the fact that Brennan is a junior and wants to win a Heisman Trophy next year (and will be on national TV for the first time), and you have the makings of a blowout.

Hawaii 59
Arizona State 21

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