O5 Bowl Games Dec 31

 Sun Bowl: Central Michigan 27 Wash St 24.  CMU has Lew Nichols, the leading rusher in the country, but its weak passing D that will be tested by Cougars QB Jayden de Laura.  This is the first meeting between the schools. If my guess is correct, the Pac 12 will go winless this bowl season.

Cotton Bowl: I'm rooting for Cincy big time, but the Crimson Tide D will probably give Ridder he!!

Bama 28  Cincy 20.

I have no idea why ESPN didn't re-slate the Sun Bowl in its Bowl Mania but did adjust the Gator Bowl. Maybe because the Sun Bowl is on CBS?

Jan 1, 2022

CMU 24  WSU 21. Nichols had a solid game, and the CMU D played a good first half. Delaura was benched in the second half and Gabels led WSU to some scores.

Cincy stayed in the game through three quarters, trailing 17-6, but had no answers for Young and Robinson.

Cincy OC Denbrock ,who worked with LSU coach Brian Kelly at Notre Dame (2010-16), will become the LSU OC.

Jan 4, 2022

USF extended most of their head coaches' contracts, including football coach Jeff Scott, men’s basketball coach Brian Gregory, and baseball coach Billy Mohl. Scott is 3-18 in two seasons. Gregory is 62-73 in five seasons. Not sure what all that is about.

Jan 6, 2021

Memphis(AAC) offensive coordinator Kevin Johns is the new OC at Duke. Just a few years ago Memphis was a school that would've been a candidate to go P5.

Jan 9, 2021

Charlie Batch, a former NFL qb, said his employer , GameAbove Capital, would pay Caleb Williams $1 million for one season with Eastern Michigan(MAC). 

Jan 12, 2022

Clayton Tune  and Alton McCaskill are staying at Houston. CBS sports' analysts are slotting Houston as the 2022 preseason favorite in the AAC over Cincinnati.  I'm sticking with the Bearcats as the favorite until I see otherwise. 

ULL(SunBelt ) is getting raided hard. Napier took a lot of coaches to UF and just poached RB, Montrell Johnson, from his old team

O5 bowl games Dec 27-28

Quick Lane Bowl 

Western Michigan 20 vs. Nevada 17.  I'll go with the WMU running backs, Sean Tyler and La'Darius Jefferson slow the game down which will limit Nevada's QB Carson Strong's opportunities.

Military Bowl presented by Peraton 

 East Carolina 30 vs Boston College(ACC) 28 ECU is a hot team, and the BC Eagles have not been soaring. ECU QB Ahlers will be tossing a lot of passes

Tuesday, Dec. 28

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl 

Houston 28 vs. Auburn 27 This is the first matchup of the best of AAC against SEC teams from the state of Alabama this bowl season.  Clayton Tune will out-duel Finley or whoever is playing QB for Auburn

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl 

 Louisville 31 vs Air Force 27   Cards don't see much triple option in ACC play but Malik Cunningham will make some explosive plays for the Cardinals in a nailbiter.

Dec 28, 2021

I was correct on WMU but wrong on a low scoring game. Eleby threw two TD passes and the Tyler /Kincaide backfield rushed for over 250 yards in a 52-24 rout over Nevada.

Military bowl was canceled.-*

Dec 29, 2021

Houston got a late TD and hung on to beat Auburn. SEC is having a bad start (0-4) so far. Two losses to O5, one to Ind, one to P5.

 Air Force had a balanced attacked, and Louisville's speed didn't help  them play defense.

 AFA 31 LOU 28.

Military Bowl was canceled

O5 Bowl games Dec 23-25

 Next set of games features a lot of even matchups.

Thursday, Dec. 23 

Frisco Football Classic:  Miami (Ohio) 34 North Texas 27. I'll ride with M-OH QB Gabbert (2418 YDS, 24 TD, 6 INT)

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl 

UCF 23 vs. Florida 21 Gus Malzahn gets a chance to beat an SEC team that's loss a lot of snap

Friday, Dec. 24

EasyPost Hawai'i Bowl 

Hawai'i 35 Memphis 31 Memphis got lucky against Miss St in September and stumbled like a drunk through the rest of the season. Rainbows win at home 

Saturday, Dec. 25

TaxAct Camellia Bowl

Georgia State 16 vs. Ball State 13 Panthers D has improved enough to beat the erratic Cards

Dec 24, 2021

Today's bowl was canceled. I went 2-0 yesterday.

M-O blanked NT in the second half for a 27-14 win. Sorenson, a 6' 190lb WR, had his usual solid game  (7 rec , 116 yards) for the victors and could be a nice  rd 4 or 5 selection the NFL draft. 

Stats this season: REC 69, YDS 1,290. TD 10 AVG 18.7.

UCF  29 FLA 17.  The Gators new HC needs to recruit a QB.  UCF ran a balanced attack.

Dec 26, 2021

D. Grainger (15-19, 203 YDS, 3 TD) (11 CAR, 122 YDS, 1 TD) did it all for Ga St in a 51-20 romp over Ball St. I picked the game right but am surprised at the Panthers O.

O5 Bowl Games Dec. 20-21, 2021

 Next three bowl games starts with afternoon kickoff on Monday Dec. 20

Myrtle Beach Bowl Presented by TaxAct 

 Tulsa(AAC) 27 vs Old Dominion(CUSA) 23

Both teams had good Novembers , but I'll go with Brin and Brooks respectively, Tulsa's QB and RB, to lead them to victory.

Then two on Tuesday, Dec. 21

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl 

Wyoming(MWC) 20 vs Kent St(MAC) 17

I've been wrong on Kent St often so I'll go with Wyoming who beat Utah St last month.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl 

UTSA(CUSA) 24 vs. San Diego St(MWC) 16

Aztecs have a solid D but not enough O to stay with Roadrunners QB F. Harris(2906 YDS, 25 TD), and RB  Sincere McCormack(298 CAR, 1479 YDS, 15 TD)

Dec 21, 2021

Well, I got Tulsa correct. Brin and Brooks were solid, and J. Johnson(8 rec, 129 yards, and a TD), had a nice game catching passes from Brin.  TuL 30 ODU 17

Dec 22, 2021

I split on Tuesday: I didn't foresee the Aztecs scoring 38 points. SDST 38 UTSA 24.

Wyoming couldn't stop Crum and the Flashes in the first half, but Levi Williams, the Cowboys QB, went wild starting in the second quarter and check out his stat line: 

16 CAR, 200 YDS, 4 TD, 9-11 passes, 127 YDS, 1 TD

WYO 52 Kent St 38

O5 Bowl games Dec 18, 2021

 A long day of games that starts at 11AM EST. My predictions cores

RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl 

Western Kentucky(CUSA) 34 vs. Appalachian State(Sunbelt) 24.

I don't foresee Appy scoring enough to keep up with Zappe, the WKU QB who's tossed 56 TD passes this season.

PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl 

Fresno State(MWC) 27 vs. UTEP(CUSA) 17

Haener will toss two TD passes against the Miners who lost four of their last five regular season games

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl 

BYU 31 vs. UAB(CUSA) 28

These are the two players to watch: UAB: D. McBride(176 CAR, 1188 YDS, 12 TD)

BYU: T. Allgeier (249 CAR, 1414 YDS, 20 TD)

LendingTree Bowl 

Liberty 30 vs. Eastern Michigan(MAC) 20

Has Coach Freeze found some way to ease the pressure on  Liberty's QB Willis? Yep, enough to beat the Eagles.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl pres. by Stifel 

Oregon State(PAC12) 27 vs. Utah State(MWC) 24

This is a tough one. Ags with QB Bonner are hot, but the Beavers have an explosive RB in BJ Baylor (1259 yards and 13 TDS)

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

ULL(SunBelt) 26 vs. Marshall(CUSA) 24

This is basically a home game for the Cajuns. Nip and tuck all the way with Lewis, the ULL QB, finding a way to get them the win

Dec 19, 2021

App got Zapped big time, and WKU cruised in the second half to an easy win

I got the score (31-28) right, but the winner wrong in the UAB win over BYU. Also, both starting RB nearly reached 200 yards each rushing. BTW, UAB has come a long way from almost losing football to  moving to the AAC.

UTEP started off strong but Fresno re-grouped and hung on.

EMU was out of it midway through the second quarter. Willis had another strong game for Liberty but I'm still not sold on him as a QB on Sundays.

Utah St RB, Calvin Tyler Jr, got some revenge on his former team, the Beavers.

Solid day for Lewis in the Cajuns win, and it appears only Ali (160 yards, 3TDs)  showed up for the  Herd.

4-2 for the day. I was wrong on BYU and Oregon St.

Western Kentucky 59, App State 38

Fresno State 31, UTEP 24

UAB 31, BYU 28

Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20

Utah State 24, Oregon State 13

Louisiana 36, Marshall 21

O5 bowl games Dec 17, 2021-more HC hires

 Bahamas Bowl: Middle Tennessee(CUSA) vs. Toledo(MAC). I'm surprised both teams made a bowl game , but the young fellas get a trip to Bahamas. Koback rushed for 1274 yards and 15 TDs and he'll continue to be a beast in a 24-17 Toledo win over MTSU.

Cure Bowl: Northern Illinois(MAC) vs. Coastal Carolina(SunBelt). I've been down on NIU and up on CCU often this season and got burned. Into the fire again.  CCU 28 NIU 27. McCall's arm over NIU's rushing attack.

O5 Coaching hires

Colorado State: Jay Norvell moves from Nevada to another MWC team. I guess this is about $$$

FIU: Mike MacIntyre: He's had a few HC gigs, but last season's stint as Memphis DC wasn't inspiring.

Fresno State: Jeff Tedford returns after a few years away.

ULL: Michael Desormeaux gets a promotion from OC to replace Napier.

Temple:  Texas running backs coach Stan Drayton becomes HC at the Philly school. Lotsa luck!

Dec 18, 2021

I split on the games. Koback had a great day rushing for Toledo, but MTSU had an answer each time in a 31-24 win.

McCall made adjustments on the fly and CCU's D made plays in key moments ,and hung on to a 47-41 win with NIU near the goal line but out of time.

Nevada(MWC) hired Ken Wilson (Oregon ILB coach). His assistant coaching history includes a long stint under Doug Ault at Nevada.

Jan 29, 2022

Buffalo U HC Linguist needed help quickly so he hired Florida's Greg Knox who finished up as Gators HC after Mullen was fired.  He also hired. Texas A&M's Brandon Bailey to the Bulls' staff.

O5 Title games 2021

CUSA: I'm taking the hot team WKU led by Zappe who has tossed 52 TD passes. WKU 37 UTSA 31

MAC:  Kent St has a stellar rushing attack led by Marquez Cooper.  Kent St 26 NIU 19

MWC: Tough one to call, but I'll go with Bonner tossing a few TD passes against a solid Aztecs D for the win. Utah St 27 SDST 22

SunBelt: App St has climbed out of a rough September and finished nicely. ULL lost Coach Napier to FLA. App 23 ULL 22

AAC: Cincy keeps the heat on the CFP voters and squeaks by a solid Houston team. 26-24. Bearcats rushing attack led by Ford will carry the day.

Dec 3, 2021

Wrong on pick 1. UTSA couldn't slow down Zappe who threw for 577 yards and 4 tds, so they outscored WKU 49-41 with a big day from SINCERE MCCORMICK (36 carries for 204 yards and 3 TDs).

Dec 4, 2021

I split on yesterday's games. Correct on Cincy and Utah St. and wrong on App St and Kent St.

Utah St and Bonner pierced the Aztecs D in a 46-13 blowout win.

 Cincy rode the Ford(18 carries, 187 yds, 2 TDs) to a 35-20 victory.

Appy couldn't stop Lewis in the first half and never got its own O into gear. ULL 24 App 16. BTW, Napier coached for ULL yesterday.

NIU blanked Kent St in the first half and won 41-23.

BTW, remember Joe Moorhead who Miss St fired as its HC in 2019 and Oregon made its OC in 2020? He's the new HC at Akron.