Outback Bowl

No.19 Auburn (8-4) vs. No. 18 Wisconsin

(10-3)

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa (65,657)

Noon ET/ 11 AM CT

ESPN2

Bob Wischusen, Matt Millen, Quint Kessenich

Coaches:

Gus: 49 years old, Irving, Texas, three years as a head coach, Arkansas State (2012), Auburn (2013-present). 29-9 (76%). 0-1 bowls.

Barry Alvarez (Interim until Paul Chryst, who came over from Pitt takes over right afterwards): 16 years as head coach at Wisconsin (1990-2005) , 118-74-4 (60%). Now the Athletics Director at Wisconsin.

Refs: Big 12, Mike Defee

Weather: 71 at kickoff, cloudy but 5 % chance of rain. Wind NE 6 MPH

Line: AU by 6 1/2

Analysis and Prediction:

I expect Auburn to play well. Gus and the team got a big boost with the hiring of Will Muschamp as defensive coordinator. I’m sure Muschamp will have his stamp on the defense somewhat tomorrow. Duke Williams is suspended from the team for violation of team rules (can anybody ever say what they did), but says he is coming back next year. We’ll see how that develops. Nick Marshall and Sammie Coates should have good days. So should Cameron Artis-Payne. Auburn played its best game of the season at Tuscaloosa in a 55-44 loss, though the defense was nowhere to be found in the second half. Having Muschamp is  a huge lift for the defense and the team. Next year there should be a marked improvement in that unit. The players look like they have talent on the defensive side, they just need to be coached up better. Wisconsin lost disastrously to Ohio State, 59-0, in the Big Ten Championship game, and then Coach Gary Anderson bolted to go to Oregon State. I’m still trying to figure out how losing a game 59-0 gets you another job. If somebody knows the answer to that please enlighten me. I thought when you lose that badly, your job could be in jeopardy, but maybe I’m not in tune with the Barrack Obama performance measurements these days. You tried hard even though you failed miserably, so you get a promotion to another job. Little unclear on that. Anyway, Barry Alvarez did a good job at Wisconsin and he’ll probably field a better team than Anderson would have, so it might be competitive for a while. I like the Tigers here though to get the victory and then start gearing up for 2015.

AU 38, Wisconsin 31

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

No.8 Michigan State (10-2) vs.  No.5 Baylor

(11-1)

Jerry “Sugar Magnolia” Jones World, AT&T Stadium, Arlington (80,000)

12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT

ESPN

Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Luginbill

Coaches:

Michigan State:

Jerry “Sugar Magnolia” Jones World, AT&T Stadium, Arlington

(80,000)

12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT

ESPN

Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Luginbill

Coaches:

Michigan State:

Mark Dantonio, 58 years old, El Paso, Texas, 11 years as head coach, Cincinnati (2004-06), Michigan State (2007-present). 92-48 (66%); Bowls (4-4).

Baylor:

Art Briles: 59 years old, Rule, Texas, 12 years as a head coach, Houston (2003-07), Baylor (2008-present). 89-61 (59%). 2-5 in bowls.

Refs: ACC, Jeff Flanagan

Weather: Rain, but retractable roof, so good to go.

Line: Baylor by 2 1/2

Baylor:

Art Briles: 59 years old, Rule, Texas, 12 years as a head coach, Houston (2003-07), Baylor (2008-present). 89-61 (59%). 2-5 in bowls.

Refs: ACC, head guy at game time

Weather: Rain, but retractable roof, so good to go.

Line: Baylor by 2 1/2

Analysis and Prediction:

These are two coaches who have done exceptional jobs at their respective program. Dantonio and Briles have made their teams major players in the national landscape, and Briles really has his program on a roll. Briles was pretty ticked off his team was not picked for the playoff and I don’t blame him. I thought both Baylor and TCU were more deserving than Ohio State and Baylor deserved the nod because of their head to head victory over the Horned Frogs. But it didn’t happen and I don’t blame Coach Briles at all for calling his conference commissioner and the committee out. I still think they blew it, but I know it’s over and decided. This should be a very good game. Like Bryce Petty and the Bears though.

Baylor 31, Michigan State 28

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl

No. 16 Missouri (10-3) vs. No. 25 Minnesota

(8-4)

The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium, Orlando (70,000)

1 PM ET/Noon CT

ABC

Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards

Coaches

Missouri:

Gary Pinkel, 62 years old, Akron, Ohio, 24 years as a head coach, 1991-2000 at Toledo, 2001-present at Missouri. 185-103-3 (64%). 6-4 in bowls.

Minnesota:

Jerry Kill, 53 years old, Cheney, Kansas, 7 years as a head coach in FBS, 21 overall as a head coach in FCS also. 152-98 overall record (61%). 0-4 in bowls.

Refs: Big 12, head guy at game time.

Weather: 72, partly cloudy, 0% rain, wind NE a@ 6 MPH

Line: Missouri by 4 1/2

Prediction:

Missouri gets it done at the end, but I think this game will be tight.

Missouri 31, Minnesota 30

Chick-fil-A Bowl

No.9 Ole Miss (9-3) vs. No.6 TCU (11-1)

Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga. (71,228)

12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT

ESPN

Tess, Brock, Tim, Shannon

Coaches:

Ole Miss

Hugh Freeze: 45 years old, born in Oxford, Mississippi, four years as a head coach. 2011-Arkansas State. 2012-present-Ole Miss. 54-21 (72%). 2-0 in bowls.

TCU

Gary Patterson: 54 years old, Rozal, Kansas, 15 years as head coach all at TCU. 131-45 (74%). 7-4 in bowls.

Refs: ACC, Jerry Magallanes

Weather: Dome

Line: TCU by 3

Analysis:

For the Rebels, it’s about defense and if they can get enough from Bo Wallace and the offense. Ole Miss is number one in the country in scoring defense, giving up just 13.8 points per game. They are 12th in total defense. TCU is 18th in scoring defense allowing 20.3 points and 33rd in total defense. Ole Miss cornerback Senquez Golden is second in the country in interceptions with nine. He trailed only Gerod Holliman of Louisville, who had 14. TCU was second in turnover margin, behind only Michigan State. TCU gained 36 turnovers and lost 18. Ole Miss was tied for 27th with 28 gained and 21 lost.

So the defenses will definitely play a major role. Trevone Boykin is an absolute stud at quarterback for the Horned Frogs. He has completed 279-of-461 passes (60.5%) for 3,714 yards, 30 touchdowns and just seven ints. He has also run for 642 yards and eight TDs. Aaron Green is the team’s leading rusher having run for 854 yards and 8 touchdowns. B.J. Catalon has added 493 yards and 10 TDs. Josh Doctson is Boykin’s favorite target. He has caught 59 passes for 959 yards and 9 sevens. Deante’ Gray has caught 34 passes for 564 yards and eight scores. TCU is 4th in the country in total offense averaging 542.2 yards per game and second in the country in scoring offense at 46.8. But they are facing a formidable group. Ole Miss has 90 tackles for loss which is a top 10 in the country number. Nickel back Tony Conner leads the way with nine for loss of 18, while defensive end Marquis Haynes has 8.5 for a loss of 74 yards.

So, for Ole Miss, it’ll come down to which Bo shows up. As a friend of mine says it can’t be the bad Bo, that’s for sure, and it needs to be better than the good Bo. It needs to be the stellar Bo. Wallace is 219-of-358 (61.2%) for 3,085 yards, 22 TDs and 11 ints. He’s had his moments this season against Alabama and Mississippi State, then he’s had his disasters like LSU, a 10-7 loss and Arkansas, a 30-0 loss. So he’s critical to the Rebels success. His favorite target is Cody Core, who has 38 receptions for 530 yards and six TDs. Ole Miss lost both of their leading receivers, Laquan Treadwell and Vince Sanders, to season ending injuries, but Core and Evan Engram (37-761-2) are excellent targets. Jaylen Walton rushed for 583 yards and five touchdowns. He’s small, but he can make a house call if he breaks through the front line and gets to the second level. He also caught 18 passes for 201 yards and 2 TDs.

Prediction

There’s a lot to like about both these teams. Ole Miss plays lock down defense, but their offense is questionable at times, though it can have its moments. TCU plays outstanding offense and plays pretty good defense too, actually. So I’m going with the more complete team. Should be an excellent game to start off the New Year’s Six.

TCU 30, Ole Miss 28

Vizio Fiesta Bowl

No.20 Boise State (11-2) vs. No 10 Arizona

(10-3)

University of Phoenix Stadium (63,400)

4 PM ET/3 PM CT

ESPN

Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay

Coaches:

Arizona

Rich Rodriguez: 51 years old, Chicago, 13 years as a head coach; West Virginia (2001-07), Michigan (2008-10) and Arizona (2012-present). 146-97-2 (60%  ) 4-4 in bowls.

Boise State

Bryan Harsin: 38 years old, Boise, Idaho, two years as a head coach, Arkansas State (2013), Boise State  (2014-present). 18-7 (72%). no bowl record until today.

Refs: Big Ten, John O’Neill

Weather: Retractable roof. Will probably be closed as it’s expected to rain in Phoenix. So no problem with the weather.

Line: Zona by 3

Prediction

I like Zona to get it done here. They played a much tougher schedule and did well with it. Better conference (Pac-12 vs Mountain West), better team.

Zona 42, Boise 30

Capital One Orange Bowl

No.7 Mississippi State (10-2)  vs. No 12

Georgia Tech (10-3)

Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida (76,100)

8 PM ET/7 PM CT

ESPN

Brent, Jess, Maria

Coaches:

Mississippi State:

Dan Mullen: 42 years old, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, six years all at State, 46-30 (60%); 3-1 in bowls.

Georgia Tech:

Paul Johnson: 57 years old, Newland, North Carolina, 13 years as a head coach, Navy (2002-07), Tech (2008-present). 164-74 (69%). 3-6 in bowls.

Refs: Big Ten, Dan Capron

Weather: 73, cloudy, 20% rain, wind NNE @ 3 MPH.

Line: State by 6 1/2

Prediction:

I like Johnson and the triple option here to pull off the upset.

Georgia Tech 34, Mississippi State 31