Some will be shorter than others as I don’t know a lot about a few of these teams, but enough to make predictions.
Regular season record: 121-40

New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque): BYU (6-6) vs. UTEP (6-6), Saturday, Dec 18, 1 p.m., ESPN: BYU played Utah very close only losing 17-16, and although Utah got blasted by TCU at home, they are a good football team. UTEP plays in Conference USA and hasn’t faced the competition that BYU has faced. I think BYU has played better football this year and has definitely been tested more.

BYU 28, UTEP 20

Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, Idaho): Northern Illinois (10-3) vs. Fresno State (8-4), Saturday, Dec. 18, 4:30 p.m., ESPN: Fresno State is another team that has loaded up on the competition playing the likes of Boise State and Ole Miss. They defeated Illinois and Northern Illinois lost to the Illini. By virtue of that and Fresno State’s battle tested group I like Fresno.

Fresno State 38, Northern Illinois 24

New Orleans Bowl (Sin City) Ohio (8-4) vs. Troy (7-5), Saturday, Dec. 18,  8 p.m., ESPN: Got to go with the home state team. Troy has faced a lot of tough competition this year and I like that a lot. Ohio has done pretty well, but I like Larry Blakeley and Trojans in this one.

Troy 35, Ohio 28

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl (St. Petersburg, Fl) Louisville (6-6) vs. Southern Miss (8-4), Tuesday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m., ESPN: Like Charlie Strong and the Cardinals to get’er done here. Strong is probably going to build a very solid program in Louisville and they’ve played a better schedule than Southern Miss, which has lost to UAB, 50-49. No knock on UAB, but Southern Miss is not very good at stopping anybody.

Louisville 31, Southern Miss 24

Maaco Las Vegas Bowl (Vegas) Utah (10-2) vs. Boise State (11-1), Wednesday, Dec. 22, 7 p.m., ESPN: This is one of the better bowls outside of the BCS games. It’s actually better than the Fiesta Bowl with OU vs. UConn. Boise State was a last second field goal away from playing in the Rose Bowl most likely. It’s a shame, really. Kellen Moore is one of the best quarterbacks in college football. This is an exciting offense to watch. Play pretty decent defense, too. Utah is a team I’ve liked all year even though they got smoked by TCU. They are always excellent on offense and play pretty good defense, similar to Boise. Got to go with the Broncos in this one. They have to be heartbroken they’re not in a BCS Bowl, but Chris Peterson will have them ready for a good test.

Boise State 42, Utah 34

Poinsetta Bowl (San Diego) San Diego State (8-4) vs. Navy (8-3), Thursday, Dec. 23, 7 p.m., ESPN: Good matchup here. Brady Hoke one of the rising stars in the coaching world in college football. Ken Niumatalolo has done a great job at the Naval Academy. I would like to go with the Midshipmen, but I like the speed of San Diego State. They are a pretty good team.

San Diego State 35, Navy 28

Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu) Tulsa (9-3) vs. Hawaii (10-3), Friday, Dec. 24, 7 p.m., ESPN: Don’t know a lot about either team, just think Tulsa might be a little more physical than Hawaii.

Tulsa 38, Hawaii 34

Little Caesars Bowl (Detroit), Toledo (8-4) vs. Fla International (6-6), Sunday, Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m., ESPN: Think Toledo will have that Midwestern toughness advantage over Fla. International.

Toledo 28, Fla. International 17

Independence Bowl (Shreveport) Ga. Tech (6-6) vs. Air Force (8-4), Monday, Dec. 27, 4 p.m., ESPN: Just think Tech may have too much speed for the Falcons. I hate picking against the service academies, but I’ll have to go with Tech. Think Paul Johnson, and Joshua Nesbitt get it done.

Tech 31, Air Force 21

Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando), N.C. State (8-4) vs. West Va. (9-3), Tuesday, Dec. 28, 5:30 p.m., ESPN: Russell Wilson has thrown for 3,288 yards and 26 touchdowns against 14 ints. He’s also run for almost 400 yards and scored nine tds on the ground. Like Wilson to be the difference maker in this game, particularly if he takes care of the ball. Dana Holgorsen (new OC and head coach in 2012) is going to do a  great  job for West Virginia, and the Mountaineers offense will be better in this game because of him and probably do well in this game, but I don’t think WVa defense can stop Wilson and Co.

NC State 38, West Va. 31

Insight Bowl (Tempe, Arizona) Iowa (7-5) vs. Missouri (10-2), Tuesday, Dec. 28, 9 p.m., ESPN: Iowa was expected to be a contender for the Big Ten title and have a shot for the BCS championship game at the beginning of the season, but the loss to Arizona and then the heartbreaking loss to Wisconsin really derailed their season. Still like Iowa to play well in what is a good matchup. Missouri had a fine season, but still think Iowa is a lot better than their record indicates. Ricky Stanzi and company outlast the Tigers in a great game; one you should watch.

Iowa 31, Missouri 28

Military Bowl (Washington D. C.) Maryland (8-4) vs. East Carolina (6-6), Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1:30 p.m., ESPN: Maryland is losing offensive coordinator James Franklin to Vandy. Franklin is the new Vandy head coach. Franklin may take three or four of the Md assistants with him. Not sure yet if they will coach in the bowl game. Still like Maryland to take this one.

Md. 28, ECU 2o

Texas Bowl (Houston) Illinois (6-6) vs. Baylor (7-5) Wednesday, Dec. 29, 5 p.m., ESPN: Illinois has been an erratic team all year. Baylor has a pretty potent offense. Just don’t trust Ron Zook in big games and like Baylor offense.

Baylor 35, Illinois 30

Alamo Bowl (San Antonio) Oklahoma State (10-2) vs. Arizona (7-5), Wednesday, Dec. 29, 8:15 p.m., ESPN: LIke the OSU offense a lot under MIke Gundy. They’re explosive. Arizona had some good wins this year under Mike Stoops and has a pretty good team, but like OSU’s offense to be the difference.

OSU 41, Arizona 34

Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) Army (6-6) vs. SMU (7-6), Thursday, Dec. 30, 11 a.m., ESPN: I’m going with the Cadets in this one. Improved so much this year. SMU is a decent team, but I don’t think they can stop Army. Army will do enough defensively.

Army 31, SMU 28

Pinstripe (Bronx, NY) Kansas State (7-5) vs. Syracuse (7-5) Thursday, Dec. 30, 2:30 p.m., ESPN: Syracuse had a pretty good year. Like Bill Snyder and the Wildcats in this one though. Have a pretty good offense.

Kansas St. 31, the Cuse 27

Music City Bowl (Nashville) Tennessee (6-6) vs. North Carolina (7-5), Thursday, Dec.30, 5:30, ESPN: Derek Dooley did a phenomenal job getting his team to win its last four games. I think they’ll keep the momentum going against a North Carolina team that has been beset by suspensions, expulsions and controversy all season. UT gets it done and starts building for next year behind now freshman quarterback Tyler Bray.

UT 28, UNC 24

Holiday Bowl (San Diego) Nebraska (10-3) vs. Washington (6-6), Thursday, Dec. 30, 9 p.m., ESPN: Nebraska looked like a national championship contender the first month and a half of the season, but fell off after a bad loss to Texas. They’re still a pretty solid football team and if Bo Pelini can keep his emotions in check and not get too many unsportsmanlike penalties, the Cornhuskers should be fine.

Neb. 34, Wash. 17

Meineke Car Car Bowl (Charlotte) Clemson (6-6) vs. South Florida (7-5), Friday, Dec. 31, 11 a.m., ESPN: Clemson is the better team. Had some close games this year they could have won, but Dabo should finish off this season with a win and start getting ready for next year. He needs to have an eight or nine win season next year or he could be in some trouble.

Clemson 34, South Florida 21

Sun Bowl (El Paso) Miami (7-5) vs. Notre Dame (7-5), Friday, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. CBS: Brian Kelly had his Fighting Irish team playing pretty good ball at the end of the season. Al Golden takes over at Miami. Not sure if that’s a great hire. He did pretty well at Temple. Think he’ll get off to a rocky start against Irish.

ND 35, Miami 24

Liberty Bowl (Memphis) Central Florida (10-3) vs. Georgia (6-6), Friday, Dec. 31, 2:30 p.m., ESPN: Mark Richt looks like he survived another season where Georgia couldn’t win the big games. He could be on the hot seat next year, but he has Aaron Murray coming back and Murray could be outstanding. Also running backs should be back though they’ll lose A.J. Green. This is a tune up for next year for the Dawgs. They need to get better in 2011 or Richt could be out of a job.

UGA 31, UCF 17

Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Atlanta) Fla. State (9-4) vs. South Carolina (9-4), Friday, Dec. 31, 6:30 p.m., ESPN: Should be a good game here. Both teams had good seasons. Fla State made it to ACC title game in Jimbo Fisher’s first year, and SC was in SEC title game though they got blasted by Auburn. Like Lattimore, Garcia and Jeffery in this one, but not by much. Hope SC is up for this one after the disappointment the last time they were in the Superdome. Think they will be pretty excited about playing a good team though.

SC 34, FSU 31

TicketCity (Dallas) Northwestern (7-5) vs, Texas Tech (7-5), Saturday, Jan.1, 11 a.m., ESPNU: If Northwestern had quarterback Dan Persa starting I would definitely pick them. Persa was knocked out on the game winning touchdown pass against Iowa suffering an Achilles tendon injury that will sideline him till the Spring maybe later. He is a great player and the Wildcats will miss him. But he’ll be back next year. I can’t figure out Tommy Tuberville coached teams. Sometimes they show up and other times they don’t. Without Persa though, have to go with Tech.

TTU 27, Northwestern 17

Outback Bowl (Tampa) Penn State (7-5) vs. Florida (7-5), Saturday, Jan.1, Noon, ABC: This is a dress rehearsal for Will Muschamp. Maybe he gets this Gator team to play with a little more passion than the overrated, in my opinion, Urban Meyer, did. Meyer was great as long as he had Dan Mullen and Tim Tebow, but once Mullen left (two years ago) and Tebow left last year, Florida hasn’t been the same. Maybe Muschamp can figure out who is the best qb for the Gators, John Brantley or Jordan Reed. I think Florida will do enough as Muschamp tries to clean up this mess of an offense. Their defense is still pretty good though. Not convinced Muschamp can get it done just yet. This may give us a little bit of an indication. I say he passes his first test against a pretty average Penn State team. Joe Paterno has been so great for college football, but he needs to turn over the reins to somebody else. It’s just like Bobby Bowden. Paterno needs to relax and enjoy life a little bit and let a younger man put some energy back into the program.

Florida 31, Penn State 20

Capital One (Orlando) Michigan State (11-1) vs. Alabama ( 9-3), Saturday, Jan. 1, Noon, ESPN: It’s nice to play on New Year’s Day, but this is not the game the Tide wanted to be in. They had high hopes for a repeat, but losing nine starters on defense took its toll and then having Mark Ingram not playing up to last year’s standards, the line not as good as last year, Trent Richardson hurt some, it was just not the year everyone expected and hoped for. But they’re playing a good football team that tied for the Big Ten title with a good quarterback in Kirk Cousins and a slew of playmakers. Should be pretty entertaining. Nick Saban has kept his players from talking to the press ever since the Auburn game. The question is: Will this team be up for another game? Saban is a good motivator, but has had trouble this year at times keeping his team focused. If Tide can get focused, they could win. Think it’ll be a pretty good game, but I’ll give the edge to ‘Bama cause their the home state team and I think they have a better team than the Spartans. Mark Barron out with a torn pectoral muscle. Auburn game may have been his last as a Crimson Tider, but we’ll see. Hurts ‘Bama in the secondary for sure. Robert Lester and whomever else they put back there are going to have to step up. Should be a great game.

Alabama 34, Michigan State 3o

Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) Michigan (7-5) vs. Miss State (8-4), Saturday, Jan. 1, 12:30 p.m., ESPN2: Dan Mullen doing a terrific job at State and it looks like they’ll keep him for at least one more year. Would love to see him stay awhile and get State in upper echelon of SEC. I think he could do it consistently. Think he has another good recruiting class coming in. He plays to his strengths and this year it’s been the running of Vick Ballard and the running and passing of Chris Relf. Defense has been pretty good, too. Rich Rod still fighting for his coaching life. I guess he survived this year. May not be determined until after the bowl game. This may be a must win for Rodriguez. Michigan fans are very restless.

Miss State 28, Michigan 24

Rose Bowl (Pasadena) Wisconsin (11-1) vs. TCU (12-0), Saturday, Jan. 1, 4 p.m., ESPN: This is an excellent matchup between two teams that can play power football, particularly the Badgers. The Badgers come at you with that huge 310 pound on average offensive line and great power and speed in running backs John Clay and James White. They sold me when they beat Ohio State at home and Iowa on the road and then destroyed opponents at the end of the season.I have never been sold that TCU is a great team. They are very good, but I don’t think great. Thought Boise was better. Like Wisconsin’s power to be the difference.

Wisconsin 31, TCU 24

Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Arizona) Connecticut (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (11-2), Saturday, Jan. 1, 7:30 p.m. ESPN: Surely OU is not going to choke this one away as they’ve done in quite a few games under Bob Stoops. OU looked great against Nebraska in the Big 12 title game and sent the Cornhuskers to the Big Ten with an L. Saw UConn play Vanderbilt this year and they were fairly impressive. Jordan Todman, their running back, has run for almost 1.600 yards this year and 14 tds. But I like the OU defense to contain him and OU running and passing game as well. Landry Jones is a pretty good quarterback and he has some good receivers. DeMarco Murray should want to have a big game to impress NFL scouts. Like OU to beat UConn pretty soundly. Hopefully, Stoops doesn’t blow this one.

OU 35, UConn 21

Orange Bowl (Miami) Stanford (11-1) vs Virginia Tech (11-2), Monday, Jan. 3, 7:3o, ESPN: I like this matchup a lot. Jim Harbaugh has worked miracles at Stanford. They are playing as good of football as anybody in the country right now. Andrew Luck is exceptional both through the air and on the ground. Frank Beamer has done an incredible job with his team after a tough loss to Boise to start the season and possibly a season killing loss to James Madison. But Beamer got his team back. They won 11 in a row and won the ACC title game. Tyrod Taylor has been awesome at quarterback for Va. Tech. I watched their freshman quarterback come in for a play against Miami and throw a beautiful pass for a 20 yard gain. He looks like he  has a bright future next year. This should be a good one, but I don’t see anybody stopping Stanford right now. Auburn and possibly Oregon could outscore them, but that’s about it.

Stanford 34, Va. Tech 24

Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) Ohio State (11-1) vs. Arkansas (10-2) Tuesday, Jan. 4, 7:30 p.m., ESPN: Arkansas playing really good football right now. Bobby Petrino has Ryan Mallett playing at an extremely high level and I just say they outscore the Buckeyes. Knile Davis looks like the second coming of Darren McFadden. He’s just a sophomore, too. Terrelle Pryor should have a pretty good night against the Arkansas defense, but I don’t think the Buckeyes can stop the Razorbacks enough to win.

Hogs 31, Ohio State 28

GoDaddy.Com Bowl (Mobile) Mid Tennessee (6-6) vs. Miami (Ohio), Thursday, Jan.6, 7 p.m., ESPN: Not much to analyze here. Both teams are average.

Miami (Ohio) 28, Midd Tenn 24

Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Tx) Texas A&M (9-3) vs. LSU (10-2), Friday, Jan. 7, 7 p.m., FOX: Don’t ever know what you’re going to get with LSU. Texas A&M was impressive with a win over Nebraska late in the season and a victory over Texas in Austin. They’re a pretty good football team. Will the Hatter have his team ready? That’s the question. I think A&M  pulls off the upset here. LSU will be flat.

A&M 28, LSU 24

BBVA Compass Bowl (B’ham) Kentucky (6-6) vs. Pitt (7-5), Saturday, Jan.8, 11 a.m., ESPN: Kentucky lost Mike Hartline for the game due to a DUI and something else illegal. Austin Newton is a pretty good quarterback in my opinion as the Ky backup. I think Ky will win over a Pitt team with a new coach in Michael Haywood from Miami of Ohio. Hopefully, there will be a good crowd at Legion Field for the game. At least over 30,000. It’s fun for the city to have a bowl game. We need to prove that we are a good sports town. You never know what that’ll lead to.

Kentucky 28, Pitt 20

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (San Francisco) Boston College (7-5) vs. Nevada (12-1) Sunday, Jan.9, 8 p.m., ESPN: Nevada is a fine football team as their victory over Boise State attests to. Got a great offense. Just has too much offense for BC.

Nevada 42, Boston College 28

BCS Title Game (Glendale, Arizona) Auburn (13-0) vs. Oregon (12-0), Monday, Jan.10, 7:30 p.m., ESPN: Just too much Cam Newton and the weapons around him for Oregon to keep up with. Auburn is just going to outphysical Oregon on both sides of  the line of scrimmage. Their Oline will dominate a much smaller Oregon line and Nick Fairley will have his way on defense. Auburn just too potent offensively and they can do enough defensively to stop the Ducks. Like AU to win their second national title, their first since 1957. Been a special year for the Tigers and it will culminate with the crystal trophy at the end of the night in Glendale.

Auburn 48, Oregon 34

(Gene Chizik and Cam Newton will be hoisting the crystal trophy on Jan. 10 in Glendale after they defeat Oregon.)

As a Vanderbilt graduate, I must give VU’s side of the story in the Gus Malzahn hiring attempt. The News has lauded Auburn for their efforts in keeping Malzahn, but I want to tell you what Vandy did to try to get the guy.
Vandy offered him 3m a year for seven years; not a bad deal for a career  asst and former high school coach. We weren’t going to sign off on an indoor facility and coach’s offices in a press box in the north end zone of Vanderbilt Stadium just yet. We couldn’t put an 80 to 90 m commitment into writing. We have academics to worry about, too. Some other schools don’t.

But we were going to give Malzahn pretty much everything he wanted. Jimmy Sexton, who usually handles head coaches like Nick Saban, was taking on this assistants’ quest at getting a job and playing hard ball with Vanderbilt. Vandy’s leaders just finally said enough, take it or leave it. Malzahn decided 1.3m was better than 3m at a place where winning is possible. That’s like taking Spam over New York Strip or Roseanne Barr over Eva Longoria. The players at Vanderbilt are great, smart, want to win, and the cupboard is not bare. Far from it. There are a lot of young, good football players on this team; A lot of three-star players on this roster. Stanford has won big with three stars and Boise has two and three-stars all over their roster. Everyone says well they don’t play in the SEC. That’s true, but I think that’s a cop out. Vandy has beaten South Carolina, Georgia, Ole Miss– three out of the last four years–Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn, all in the last six years. We got some pretty decent coaching and some good recruiting from Bobby Johnson and his staff. The talent is there at running back, wide receiver, oline and defense. Vandy needs a few more players at linebacker and a solid quarterback. Jordan Rodgers, Aaron’s little brother, could be good. Aaron is a pretty good player I’d say. Ask the Green Bay Packers. Larry Smith has not been very good in his two years under center, but maybe with some good coaching he could be better. We had some weaknesses in coaching on the offensive side of the ball particularly at qb and wr. But there is talent begging to be coached up.

It can be done at Vanderbilt, but Malzahn didn’t think so. If he wasn’t confident enough to think he could do it, then we didn’t need him. There are some good coaches out there who are chomping at the bit to get a head coaching job. Three guys, Greg Roman off Stanford (oc pretty much), James Franklin of Maryland (OC) and Don Treadwell of Mich State (OC and coach while Dantonio was recovering from heart ailment), wanted the job. I like Roman and Treadwell a lot. I saw Roman in an interview and was very impressed. Treadwell did an outstanding job while Dantonio was convalescing. I know Vandy Vice Chancellor David Williams was high on Franklin as well. The OC at Oklahoma State, Dana Holgorsen, is a dude and an outstanding coach. OSU had one of the best offenses in the country. He looks like a guy the players would like a lot. I think Pitt is about  to hire him though.

So there are choices for Vandy. There is no doubt in my mind Vandy can win and win a lot. VU wants a coach who wants to be at Vanderbilt. Nashville is a great city to live in, fun as well as a great place to raise a family. Going to school is like being in an Ivy League environment. If a player gets a degree from Vandy that is pretty impressive on his or her  resume. Plus it’s a fun school. I really enjoyed my time there and made a lot of lifelong friends who are fun, interesting and serious about their careers and their families and also can cut loose and have a good time. We have at least 12-14 guys in the NFL. The Chicago Bears have six. We have a starting linebacker for the New York Giants, a future impact cornerback for the Tampa Bay Bucs and a defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans. There are others. Four Bears’ starters are former Vandy players. The Bears are 9-4 and have a shot to go deep in the playoffs. Sunday was an aberration against New England. They’ll come back and play well the rest of the season.

We have great kids in the student body and in athletics. The basketball teams and baseball teams are primed to make deep runs in the NCAA’s this season.

I’m perfectly aware of the football history; it’s not good. But you can’t live in the past. I’m tired of getting dogged by these ill-informed sportswriters and sportscasters who don’t know a thing about this football program and how serious our chancellor and vice chancellor are about winning.

The glass is half full in my opinion. You can win at Vandy, go to bowl games and establish an outstanding program that can compete for championships. I truly believe that. Malzahn didn’t have the courage to take that chance. Good riddance.

(Rising juniors Warren Norman (left) and Zac Stacy along with some more running backs are outstanding players.)

He’s the choice for Vandy, now we’ll see if Vandy is Malzahn’s choice. Three million per to coach at a school that has the potential to be a Stanford with good recruiting and coaching. Seems like it would be a good fit for a guy who wants to be a head coach. The only catch for Malzahn is if he wants to see if Petrino or Mullen gets the Florida job creating openings at Arkansas or Miss. State respectively. But really, Vandy can be very competitive with both of those schools on the field. The sky would be the limit for the Commodores with the right coach. It can be done at Vanderbilt, I don’t care what anybody else says. The recruiting has really picked up the last three years and this year the recruiting class looks pretty good. Need to add a couple of linebackers. Recruiting at Vandy is not as difficult as it looks on the surface. There are a lot of quality players out there who want to play in the SEC and want a good education. More and more Vandy players are going on to the NFL. There are five Vandy players on the Chicago Bears roster, three who start and one who is basically a starter. The other is injured right now but has been a starter. It can be done at Vandy. Malzahn is the man to do it, and with a 3m, seven year offer, that’s pretty hard to pass up. But if Malzahn decides to decline there are three other candidates who look very promising: James Franklin (OC, Maryland), Greg Roman (OC, basically, at Stanford) and Don Treadwell (OC, Michigan State). Don’t know a lot about Franklin though I hear he is the second choice after Malzahn. Very impressed with Roman and Treadwell. Heard Roman in an interview and really liked his energy and his passion for the game. Would seem to be a great, young fit at Vandy. Was very impressed with Treadwell when he took over for Mark Dantonio– when Dantonio was ill– as head coach. He calls a great game offensively. Franklin led a highly successful Maryland offense. So all is not lost if Malzahn doesn’t take the job. Malzahn would be special, but I think these three other guys would be, too. Should have a decision by Monday if not sooner, maybe even today.

The Tigers are looking pretty unstoppable after their dismantling of South Carolina to win the SEC title, 52-26. Cam, his “Cammy Cam” Juice (which sounds a little gay), his offensive arsenal and what has become a stellar defense, look primed to win the National Championship on Jan. 10 at Glendale over the Oregon Ducks in a game that kicks off a little after 7:3o p.m. on ESPN.
I tweeted that Auburn would win 48-38 last night, but I think Auburn is going to roll on offense and slow down the Ducks on defense some. I like more of a 48-31 game. The AU defense has become outstanding since the second half of the Alabama game and I know that the Oregon defense is not going to be able to stop this offense.

Cam has accounted for 49 touchdowns, 20 on the ground and 28 through the air and one receiving. There was a fear among the Auburn nation that he might not win the Heisman, let alone play at the end of the season, but that has been resolved for now. It doesn’t look like the NCAA is going to penalize him or Auburn at least in the near future, so both may be in the clear. Cam will take home the trophy Saturday Night in New York. The ceremony starts at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Oregon’s LaMichael James, along with Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Stanford’s Andrew Luck will also be there, but it’s pretty much in the bag for Cam.

The thing that has stood out to me about Cam lately is his passing. He was 13-of-20 against Alabama for 216 yards and three touchdowns in that amazing comeback against the Tide. Auburn had been down 24-0. He was even better throwing the ball against South Carolina, completing 17-of-28 passes for 335 and four tds. It’s a different receiver every week. He’s put on one of the best performances of all time by a college player in one season.

Some players who have really come on lately are T’Sharvin Bell, who had a huge td interception against South Carolina from 10 yards out to put the Tigers up 42-14 and put the game out of reach. Nosa Eguae, the redshirt frosh dend, has been dominating lately. Senior Antoine Carter has been all over the field. What else can you say about Nick Fairley? 21 tackles for loss for -92 yards and 10.5 sacks. Carter has 10.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

A guy who has had a huge year is Onterion McCalebb. He’s run for 763 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. I wonder sometimes why he always cuts it to the outside instead of cutting it up, but I guess he thinks with his speed that is the best way to break loose.

The receivers have been awesome. Adams (48-909, 7 tds including 2 against SC), T Zac (37-557, 4 tds), Emory Blake (29-560, 7 tds) and Phillip Lutzenkirchen (13-137 and five tds) are not only reliable but explosive.

And the offensive line is just dominant. The best in the country. Ryan Pugh, Mike Berry, Lee Ziemba, Byron Isom and Brandon Mosley are awesome. Pugh, Berry and Ziemba’s leadership and ability have been huge this season. When you give Cam plenty of time to throw, he’s going to pick the opponent apart.

So now it’s one more hurdle.

Oregon has one of the best backs in the country in James (1,682 yards, no.1 in the country, 21 tds) and a fine quarterback in Darron Thomas (195-321-7 ints, 2.518 yards and 28 tds), and a very fine receiver in Jeff Maehl (68-943, 12 tds). They are an explosive team.

Probably the most impressive game for the Ducks was their fifth game of the season against a very good Stanford team in which they were down 21-3 in the second quarter and came back and scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to win 52-31. James ran for  257 yards and three tds in that game. He’s just so fast. That’s the main thing that sticks out about this Oregon team is their speed. But Auburn has good speed, too, and can handle them on the line.

Clay Matthews is the leading tackler for Oregon with 73 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss and Brandon Bair had 15.5 tackles for loss. Kenny Rowe has 12.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. Oregon has 31 sacks on the season, Auburn 33.

A couple of stats: Oregon is second in the country in total offense at 537 yards per game. AU is seventh at 497. Oregon is 14th in scoring defense and Auburn is 54th. Oregon is 56th in pass defense and AU is 105. Auburn is 11th in rush defense allowing 111 per game; Oregon is 16th at 117. Oregon is fourth in the country in interceptions with 20. Auburn is 74th with 10. Oregon is led by Cliff Harris and John Boyett with five apiece. Oregon is seventh in turnover margin nationally and Auburn is 33rd.

You would think Oregon would have the edge on defense, but you have to look at the competition. The Pac 10 is not the SEC. Oregon is a very good football team, but they’re not as good as Auburn and Cam Newton. I look for a pretty high scoring affair with the Auburn defense playing better than Oregon’s. I think the AU offensive line will handle the Ducks’ defensive front and Cam will have another huge day. I like 48-31 as posted above. AU takes home its second national title and their first in 53 years (1957). Cam becomes the top draft pick in the NFL and Gus Malzahn may be walking the sidelines as a head coach next year. Maybe, Will be euphoria for Auburn fans on Jan. 10 about 11:30 p.m.

Alabama plays in a great matchup against 11-1 Michigan State in the Capital One bowl on Jan. 1 at noon on ESPN. This is a pretty good football team Tide is playing. Finished ninth in the BCS final standings. Tied for the BIg Ten title with Wisconsin and Ohio State, but Wisconsin, by virtue of the highest BCS ranking (fifth), won the spot in the Rose Bowl to face TCU. Ohio State finished sixth and will play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.

Michigan State had a lot of close wins this year, one on a fake field goal in overtime to beat Notre Dame, and a big comeback against Northwestern. They beat Wisconsin, 34-24 at home, in the middle of the season, but lost to Iowa 37-6 which ruined their BCS title hopes. They’re a good football team though and they should be fired up to play the Tide.

Greg McElroy and Julio Jones have been outstanding all season. Mark Ingram has not been the same player. Just doesn’t seem to have the same passion. Trent Richardson has been hurt some. Marquis Maze has played very well and Darius Hanks has been pretty good. Oline has been decent, but were beaten in the second half by Auburn. In the first half of that game, the Tide could do no wrong, but a couple of missed scoring opportunities (Ingram fumble at 20, Richardson drop of McElroy pass at 3 and McElroy sack and fumble at AU seven) were costly and sealed the Tide’s fate when AU came back in the second half.

But this is good for Alabama as some young players get a lot of reps in practice, the team can get another month of practice working in guys like A.J. McCarron and Phillip Sims for some much needed reps at qb, and keeping the momentum going in recruiting.

This is not what Tide fans wanted at the beginning of the season. Many people, me included, thought the Tide would be playing in Glendale on Jan.10. But the defense lost nine starters off last year’s team, the offensive line wasn’t as good as anticipated and Ingram wasn’t the same player from 2009. McElroy had a great year though. He completed 209-265 passes for 2,767 yards and 19 touchdowns to five ints. Julio caught 75 passes for 1,084 yards and seven tds. Julio along with A.J. Green will be top 10 selections in the draft in April. Hopefully, there will be an NFL season in 2011. Mark Barron led the team in tackles with 75 and Robert Lester had seven interceptions. Alabama’s 21 ints was  third in the country. The defense was good most of the time, just had a couple of breakdowns against SC, LSU and Auburn. This month will prepare the Tide for the future and get guys like Julio, Barron and Ingram a chance to keep getting better and prepare themselves for the draft. Ingram needs to have a good game against Mich. State. I think his draft status has dropped. He has battled a bad knee this year, so that may have  had something to do with it. Just think he lost a little bit of his fire after winning Heisman and national title last year.

Michigan State is led by quarterback Kirk Cousins who has completed 216-320 (67.5%) for 2,705 yards, 20 tds and nine ints. Edwin Baker leads the running game with 1,187 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. Le’Veon Bell has 592 yards and eight tds. B.J. Cunningham is the top receiver with 50 catches for 611 yards and nine tds. Andrew Maxwell has 49-761 and six tds.

Greg Jones leads the defense with 98 tackles and eight tackles for loss. Colin Neely has 10 sacks. Michigan State has 17 interceptions on the season, 11th in the country. Alabama was third with 21.

Should be a nice matchup. Hopefully, ‘Bama will be up for this game. After the loss to Florida in 2008, the Tide team didn’t show up in the Sugar Bowl and got blasted by Utah. Not winning an SEC title and not being in the national championship  game or a BCS bowl are  disappointments for ‘Bama under Nick Saban, who usually has them in the mix for a national title at the end of the season. But it’s a pride game and there are some players playing for draft status and other guys playing for positions next year. Every game matters and this is a New Year’s Bowl game, so the Tide needs to show some pride and character and prepare to win this game. Michigan State will be ready.

Some of the other BCS bowl  games are outstanding. Wisconsin versus TCU (Sat. Jan. 1, 4 p.m. ESPN) should be fun in the Rose Bowl. Like the Badgers power to prevail in this one. They beat Ohio State at home in an outstanding performance and beat a good Iowa team (despite Iowa’s record) on the road. That convinced me they were the best team in the Big Ten. They destroyed opponents finishing the season scoring 83 points against Indiana and 73 against Northwestern. Wisconsin Coach Brett Bielema said he was playing his fourth and fifth string offensive players in those games late, so he was not trying to run up the score. They are a powerful football team with running backs John Clay and James White and qb Scott Tolzein. TCU has their hands full. TCU has clamored for the national title game, but they haven’t played enough quality opponents. They should consider themselves fortunate to be playing the Rose Bowl. We’ll see what they’re made of against Wisconsin. Their win over Utah was their best win, but they barely beat a pretty good San Diego State team, 40-35. I don’t think Auburn or Oregon would have that much trouble with San Diego State. They lost last year to Boise in the Fiesta Bowl 17-10, so we’ll see how they do against another high quality opponent.

The Orange Bowl pits Stanford against Va. Tech  (Mon. Jan 3, 7:30 p.m. ESPN) in a great matchup of two outstanding quarterbacks: Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Va Tech’s Tyrod Taylor. Should be a fun game to watch. It’s hard for me to go against Va Tech and Taylor though Stanford is playing very good football right now. Kind of up in the air on that one right now. Will have prediction closer to time.

The Sugar Bowl is a good matchup with Arkansas playing Ohio State (Tues,. Jan.4, 7:30 p.m., ESPN). Can the powerful defense of Ohio State slow down Ryan Mallett (30 tds passing, Kniles Davis (1,193 yards rushing) and the Razorbacks’ offense?  The Ark defense has to stop Terrelle Pryor. I think Pryor is still trying to prove he is a marquee player in the country. This will be a good measuring stick. He is coming back for his senior year.

The Fiesta Bowl could be decent with Oklahoma playing UConn (Sat. Jan. 1, 7:30 p.m. ESPN). On the surface it looks like a blowout and OU was pretty impressive on Saturday against Nebraska. Don’t like the way Landry Jones passes off his back foot, but there are a lot of weapons on offense and the defense was outstanding against the Huskers in the second half Sat. Connecticut has pretty much come from nowhere to earn a spot in a BCS bowl. They have their work cut out for them, but Randy Edsell’s team beat South Carolina 20-6 last year in the Papa John’s Bowl here. Like OU.

Other SEC teams in bowls: UT plays North Carolina in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Should be a great matchup. Like the way the Vols are playing. Derek Dooley really had them playing great ball at the end of the season.

Georgia plays Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl Dec. 31. Mark Richt has survived so far. If he makes it, he’ll need to win more than seven games next year and be a lot more competitive in the SEC East or it might be curtains for Richt.

South Carolina in a great matchup with Florida State in the Chick-Fil-A bowl. We’ll see if the Gamecocks can snap back. Like this game a lot.

Florida plays Penn State in the Outback Bowl Jan. 1. Could be kind of an ugly game, but we’ll see. Urban Meyer is probably looking for a new offensive coordinator at this time.

Miss. State plays Michigan in the Gator on Jan.1. Dan Mullen done a phenomenal job at State. Hopefully, they can keep him at State and not lose him to Miami.

LSU plays Texas A&M in the Cotton (Jan.7, 7 p.m. Fox). I like that matchup, too. We’ll see what “The Hatter” has in store. A&M a pretty good team. LSU should have their hands full.

And Kentucky plays Pittsburgh in the BBVA Compass Bowl here in B’ham, Sat., Jan 8 at 11 a.m. (ESPN). Should be an interesting matchup for Magic City. Hopefully, we can get a good crowd out there.

Stay with me. We’ll start talking a little basketball this week, too. A lot to discuss there as well.

(Gene Chizik and Chip Kelly match wits on Jan. 10 in Glendale for BCS Title game.)

The Cam Newton situation was resolved for the time being. This may not be a very good precedent by the NCAA saying the player is not accountable for his parent’s actions. Seemed like in the Reggie Bush case Bush and USC were culpable because of Bush’s stepfather’s actions of taking around 300 grand. The NCAA is catching some heat about their decision. I want it to be over with, but I do want the NCAA to get to the bottom of this and get to the truth. Cecil Newton’s is Cam Newton’s dad, so it would seem like there is some culpability on Cam’s part. Cam did tell Ms. State basically the money was better at Auburn, so something’s amiss here. We’ll just go with what we’ve got for the time being. I’m sure this is not over with yet. On to this week’s picks.
Record 117-40

SEC Title game

Auburn vs. South Carolina, 3 p.m., CBS:

It’s been well documented what each team needs to do. Steve Spurrier will  rely on Marcus Lattimore,  Stephen Garcia and Alshon Jeffery and the other receivers. The Auburn defense is tough on the run (10th in nation), so Spurrier may need to go to the air again this time. Maybe he’s going to try to get some short swing passes to Lattimore to keep him a big part of the game and mix in some draws. Auburn’s defense has a huge assignment in containing Jeffery. He’s a superstar, and, like Cam, almost unstoppable. Nick Fairley and company need to get pressure on Garcia to try and neutralize the passing game. Garcia can run, too, so Spurrier may get Garcia in the running game. I think Spurrier wants to run the ball for sure to soften up the Auburn defense for the pass.

SC has the fifth best run defense in the country, but Cam Newton ran for a buck seventy five against them in the fourth game of the season. But the SC defense had a great day against Clemson last week holding a pretty potent offense to seven points. They’re tough against the run and their pass defense has improved. I still don’t think Cam can be stopped completely. If he doesn’t beat you running the ball, he’ll throw and SC is vulnerable to the pass. Cam has that stable full of receivers he can throw to, possession guys like Kodi Burns, Darvin Adams and Phillip Lutzenkirchen (who all he does is score touchdowns), and big play guys like T-Zac and Emory Blake. It’s a highly potent areal attack.

This should be a fun game. South Carolina is a very good football team and Auburn is outstanding on offense and good enough on defense with a dominating player in Nick Fairley. Look for Auburn to do a little bit more and score one more time than the Gamecocks. Auburn can’t afford to fall behind by 21 points or so though. I’m sure it would be nice for Auburn fans if the team can get out of the blocks better. Auburn gets’er done and moves on to Glendale.

Auburn 35, SC 31

Oregon @ Oregon State, 2:30 p.m., ABC

The Oregon offense is just too much for the Beavers. Oregon State is a decent team, but like most teams in the country, can’t hang with this radioactive offense. LaMichael James, Darron Thomas and Jeff Maehl light it up once again as they move on to Glendale to face the Auburn Tigers in what should be an epic offensive battle.

Oregon 48, Oregon State 35

Other games:

Virginia Tech vs. Florida State, 6:45 p.m., ESPN: Ryan Williams and Tyrod Taylor just a little better than Christian Ponder and the Florida State offense.

Va Tech 34, Fl. State 28

Oklahoma vs Nebraska, 7 p.m. ABC: This should be another of these great games. OU has a little more offense than Nebraska with Taylor Martinez kind of banged up,. This is a tough call, but like the Sooners

OU 31, Nebraska 27

(Marcus Lattimore and Gamecocks’ offense will try to outscore Auburn Cam Newton will try to lead his team to Glendale)

As of right now, Cam has been exonerated by the NCAA. Like any court of law, Cam has been innocent until proven guilty even though the press (me included) has been pretty hard on him. He has been found innocent in the pay for play scandal that was orchestrated by his father, Cecil, and agent Kenny Rogers. The NCAA feels, at this point, that Cam and Auburn knew nothing about this financial ploy. I don’t think it’s over. But, as of right now, Cam should be the leading candidate for the Heisman. And, assuming he and Auburn can beat South Carolina–which is not in the bag by any means–he will probably win it.
I don’t want to say a lot about it because I want to talk about the game, a huge game with an intriguing matchup between two very good teams. The bottom line is Cam has been cleared to play and Auburn is cleared by the NCAA as well. The investigation is not over, and there are questions about Cam’s character from his past cheating incidents at Florida and the laptop scandal, so I’m not sure he’s out of the woods yet. But right now, he can concentrate on the South Carolina game. The off field incidents have not seemed to affect him at all on the field. He might be playing better than ever. He may be the best compartmentalizer since Bill Clinton, though Cam has not been found guilty of anything.

Ready to talk some football, but I understand that this is not over. The NCAA did not find any evidence that Cam was involved with his father’s scheme to profit from his son playing football at Mississippi State or maybe Auburn.

We’ll talk football tomorrow. I may have some more today. For right now, the Cam Newton situation is taking a hiatus and we can concentrate on whether Auburn will be passing the ball more on SC’s defense rather than running, whether South Carolina will load up the box to stop Cam, Dyer and McCalebb, how they will try to stop Cam and his receivers from getting chunks of yardage against them through the air, whether Marcus Lattimore can get it done on the ground and if the Auburn secondary can slow down Stephen Garcia, Alshon Jeffery and the Gamecock’s aerial attack.

Should be an awesome game. The Cam Newton pay for play situation is not over with, but for right now, we can talk about the SEC title game.

Here are some stats of interest for the title game this Sat at 3 p.m. at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on CBS between the No.1 Auburn Tigers and the No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks.
SEC:

Scoring Offense: 1. AU (41.6 per game) 5. SC (33.2) NCAA: 7. AU  27. SC

Scoring Defense: 3. SC (20.2) 9. AU (25.1) NCAA: 25. SC  57. AU

Rush Defense: 1. SC 93.2: 2. AU 108. NCAA: 5. SC  10. AU

Pass Defense: 10. SC  245.50: 12. AU 255  NCAA: 99. SC  106. AU

Total Defense: 5. SC (338.7 yards per game): 9. AU (363.2). NCAA: 33. SC 58. AU

Total Offense: 1. AU 490.1: 6. SC 394.7: NCAA 7. AU 27. SC

Sacks:

1. SC 39: 5. AU 30 NCAA: 3. SC,  26. AU

Red Zone Scoring D:

2. SC 22-31 69% 10. AU 33-38 87%

INT’s

(8)SC- 9

(11)AU-8

3rd Down conversions:

1. AU 68-133 51.1%

2.SC 77-155 49.7%

Individual: SEC

Rushing:

1. Cam 1,336, 5.9 average, 18 tds NCAA: 11th

2. Marcus Lattimore 1,114, 4.8 average, 17 tds NCAA: 20th

9. Michael Dyer 886, 6.1 average

Passing:

5. Stephen Garcia 189-287 2,646 yards, 65.9%, 18 tds, 9 ints

6. Cam 148-218 2,254 yards, 67.9%, 24 tds, 6 ints

Pass Efficiency: NCAA

2. Cam 185,57

14. Garcia 157.72

Receiving: SEC

2. Alshon Jeffery 75-1351 8 tds

10. Darvin Adams 41-692, 5 tds

As you know, Auburn won the first game 35-27 after falling behind 20-7 in the second quarter. That’s been a pattern for the Tigers all season. They seem to make the key adjustments at halftime defensively as they did against Alabama and get key turnovers at the right time as they did against Arkansas and South Carolina.

Garcia was 15-of-21 for 235 yards and three touchdowns but had two key fumbles in the fourth quarter against AU, one caused by Darren Bates that was recovered by T’Sharvin Bell and the second caused by Josh Bynes and Noss Eguae that was recovered by Mike Blanc. Steve Spurrier got impatient with Garcia as he tends to do with quarterbacks and yanked him for Connor Shaw, a freshman. Shaw was picked off twice, once by Bynes and the other time in the end zone by Demond Washington, on a pass that Jeffery had for a second but couldn’t hold on to.

Cam ran 25 times for 176 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground in that game. He was also 16-21 through the air for 158 yards and two tds. a seven yarder to Phillip Lutzenkirchen and a 12 yarder to Emory Blake.

This looks like a classic. I don’t know who I give the edge to in coaching. Steve Spurrier is 5-2 in SEC Championship games all with Florida. and Ellis Johnson has been there as an assistant at Alabama. Gus Malzahn and Ted Roof have never been to a title game and Gene Chizik has been as a a defensive coordinator for Auburn in 2004, a game Auburn won on its way to an undefeated season. Of course, Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Texas when they won the national championship in 2005 (2006 Rose Bowl) and Spurrier won the national championship at Florida in 1996 (1997 Sugar Bowl.)

So it’s pretty much a wash at head coaching. Gus Malzahn and Spurrier are also a wash as OC’s. Both are the best at what they do. I may give Malzahn a slight edge because he has so many playmakers particularly Cam. But Spurrier has Lattimore and Jeffery, and Garcia is playing very well right now. If he can avoid mistakes he will be difficult to beat.

I like Johnson over Roof on Defense.

Chizik has done an outstanding job. He can make the tough go for it calls (with help from Malzahn) and he and his coaches make great adjustments at halftime. Spurrier gambles a lot, sometimes it hurts him, but  it works too. Spurrier’s Achilles Heel is his impatience when things aren’t going right. He’ll yank Garcia or get away from the running game too soon if it’s not working. Chizik trusts Malzahn to get it right which is the smart thing to do as the Alabama game attests.

It’ll be Cam and his plethora of weapons on offense versus Lattimore, Jeffery and Garcia. Lattimore only ran for 38 yards in the first game, so we’ll see how he does this time around. Jeffery had eight catches for 192 yards and two tds. Tori Gurley is also a dangerous receiver.

Another huge factor are the offensive lines for both sides. Can the SC line hold out Nick Fairley who has 9.5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss. He’s second in the conference in sacks and first in TFLs. South Carolina leads the conference in sacks, but their pass defense is suspect. Both pass defenses are very suspect. Auburn seems to make the defensive stops when they have to, but Jeffery is the best in the league in my opinion. If the ball is thrown close to him, he’ll catch it, and he can really run with it after he catches it.

Both defenses will have their work cut out for them. The defense that can contain the other offense the most will win this game along with the team that gets the turnovers at the key points in the game deep in their territory stopping a drive or deep in the opponent’s territory leading to a touchdown.

Like Cam over Garcia slightly, but  Garcia’s become a very good player. Like Lattimore in the run game and Jeffery is stellar though Auburn also has its stable full of receivers. The team that plays better defense, has more stops, will win this game.

Prediction on Friday.

(Great matchup of qbs in this one.)