Month: January 2010

No SEC action today, so a quick moment of reflection on this SEC Bowl season.

Yesterday was not a good day for my picks; losses included South Carolina and Arkansas, both of which I said I should not pick. Oh well, live and learn. My sole winner was Ole Miss.

The only pick I have left is for all the marbles. Alabama is the one SEC team that I really do not want to win. Well, actually I did not want Arkansas (their coach is a f’ing wanker), South Carolina (cannot stand the fighting chickens), Florida (ugh!), Tennessee, or Auburn to win, but I digress. I am of the school that you pull for the conference, not the actual teams. A healthy SEC makes Georgia look better; at least in my own little world.

Of course none of this matters for a couple of reasons. First, with the BCS all the other teams and games are relegated to second class citizens. Except for maybe the Rose Bowl; elitists never conform. Second, the Mountain West Conference has kicked the shit out of all takers, winning this year’s Bowl Challenge Cup, with one more game to plan. Then again, it is all comes down to Texas/Alabama, so no one really cares about the MWC’s impressive record.

Regular Season Record: 46-41
SEC Championship: 0-1
SEC Bowl Record: 4-5
Final Record: 50-47
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SEC Bowl Record: 5-4 *Actual, not my predictions

Remember when yesterday, New Year’s Day, was the day for all the major Bowl games? This stringing everything along for an extra week for the sake of TV ratings rather sucks.

Yesterday I went 2-1 against the spread. I knew I should not have picked Auburn to cover; while the Tigers won they almost threw away the Outback Bowl multiple times, finally defeating Northwestern 38-35. WTF happened to LSU? A sloppy Capital One Bowl field neutralized LSU’s superior speed, and thus the SEC’s other Tigers fell to the Nittany Lions 19-17. Lucky I took the points and those 2.5 LSU received from Penn St. put me over the hump. Finally, the Florida Gators were giving up 12.5, but they easily whipped the Cincinnati Bearcats 51-24 last night in the Sugar Bowl.

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina vs. UConn
This one is almost unwatchable. Two run of the mill teams in their respective conferences. The fighting chickens are giving up 4, and while I should not give away that many points, South Carolina is the pick.

Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma St. vs. Ole Miss
Ole Miss should represent the SEC well today. Both teams are entering today’s match up after losing out to their end of year rivals, but I expect Ole Miss to bounce back and cover the 3 they are laying to the Cowboys.

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. East Carolina
The Pirates come into this game on a roll, winning their last four games, while the Razorbacks lost a heart-breaker in OT to LSU. With that, Conference USA gets no respect in this one; Arkansas is giving up 7.5, which to me seems like too damn much, but I have yet to pick against the SEC this Bowl season, so why start now? The hogs cover the 7.5 in a high scoring shootout.

Regular Season Record: 46-41
SEC Championship: 0-1
SEC Bowl Record: 3-3
Final Record: 49-45
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SEC Bowl Record: 3-3 *Actual, not my predictions

Ouch. I was pretty far off on the Chicken Way (as my two year-old calls it) game; I am not going to concede that Va. Tech is all that … nothing like the third best ACC team kicking a mediocre SEC team in the mouth. How is that for being ungracious?

Outback Bowl: Northwestern vs. Auburn
The Tigers are giving up 8 to the purple cats, who just happen to carry in a three game winning streak including wins over (at the time) #4 Iowa and #16 Wisconsin. Auburn is bringing a two game winless streak into the Outback, ending their season with losses at Georgia and to #2 Alabama. No shame in that, but looking deeper, the Tigers have lost five of seven. Auburn is still favored by 8? Something smells with this one. Does the Big 10 really such that bad? This is against my better judgment (the SEC has really been flat this Bowl season); Auburn to cover the 8.

Capital One Bowl: 13 Penn St. vs. 12 LSU
How can the Happy Valley bunch be favored by 2.5 over the Tigers from Death Valley? Penn St. is vastly over rated, playing in a weak Big 10 and against subpar competition. I am taking LSU and the points; easy.

Sugar Bowl: 3 Cincinnati vs. 5 Florida
Gators are 12.5 point favorites in a game that at one point looked pretty promising. That was before all the drama with the coaches. There is no doubt that the Bearcats have had a nice season, but it will come to a crashing conclusion tonight in New Orleans. Can the mighty Gators cover? I have missed all year when I have picked them to cover significant points, so this is another “against my better judgment” pick, but Tebow goes out a big time winner. Gators by 14+ points.

Regular Season Record: 46-41
SEC Championship: 0-1
SEC Bowl Record: 1-2
Final Record: 47-44
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SEC Bowl Record: 1-2 *Actual, not my predictions