Yesterday:

Buffalo 31, Charlotte 9

Jaret Patterson rushed for 173 yards on 32 carries and 2 TDs to lead the Bulls to the victory in the Bahamas Bowl.

Kent State 51, Utah State 41

Quarterback Dustin Crum completed 21-of-26 passes for 289 yards and 2 TDs and rushed for 147 yards on 23 carries to lead the Golden Flashes to their first ever bowl victory.

Bowl Record

1-1 won Buffalo, lost Kent State.

Today

All Times Central

New Mexico Bowl

Central Michigan (8-5) vs. San Diego State (9-3)

DreamStyle Stadium, Albuquerque, 40, 094

1 PM

ESPN

Clay Matvick, Ryan Leaf, Dr. Jerry Punch

Stripes, American, Adam Savoie

SDSU by 3

I’m going to take the MAC again. They’re 2-0 and I like the way they’re trending. San Diego State has the 4th best scoring defense in the country allowing only 12.8 points per game, but they don’t score many themselves. Kent State defeated Utah State from the Mountain West last night, 51-41, and Utah State defeated San Diego State earlier this season at SDSU, 23-17. I like Quentin Dormady, who threw for 2,148 yards and 14 TDs against 6 ints and running back Jonathan Ward, who rushed for 1,082 yards and 15 TDs along with Kobe Lewis, who rushed for 977 and 11 TDs, and linebacker Troy Brown, who had 84 tackles and 3 ints this season, to lead the Chippewas to the upset victory in a low scoring contest in Albuquerque.

Central Michigan 17, San Diego State 14

Cure Bowl

Liberty (7-5) vs. Georgia Southern (7-5)

Orlando City Stadium, Orlando, FL. (25,000)

1:30 PM

CBS Sports Network

Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor, John Schriffen

Stripes, Mountain West, Kevin Hassell

GA Southern by 5 1/2

Georgia Southern defeated 12-1 App State on the road, 24-21. App State went on the road and defeated North Carolina and South Carolina, That seals it for me. Should be a close, exciting game though. Hugh Freeze on the sideline for Liberty.

Georgia Southern 34, Liberty 31

Boca Raton Bowl

Florida Atlantic (10-3) vs. SMU (10-2)

FAU Football Stadium, Boca Raton, FL., 29,419

2:30 PM

ABC

Tom Hart, Joseph Galloway, Pat McAfee

Whistles, Sun Belt, Lead launderer, Kyle Olson

SMU by 8

Florida Atlantic lost Lane KIffin to Ole Miss, and just suspended their top receivers on offense and their linebacker leading tackler and leader in forced fumbles on defense and lost their 3rd best receiver to injury. SMU features a high octane offense led by quarterback Shane Buechele (280-of-443, 63%, 3,626 yards, 33 TDs, 9 ints), running back Xavier Jones (1,249 yards, 21 TDs) and wide receiver, the explosive James Proche (102-1,139, 14 TDs). With that said, I’m liking pretty much a blowout now. The line started at SMU by 3 and moved to 8 last night with the suspensions.

SMU 45, Florida Atlantic 28

Camellia Bowl

Florida International (6-6) vs. Arkansas State (7-5)

Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, 25,000

4:30 PM

ESPN

Taylor Zarzour (“You are my wife,” “Goodbye City Life”), Matt “Stinch” Stinchcomb, Alyssa Lang

Vogue Cleaners, Mountain West, Lead Soap and Suds, Steve Baron

Ark State by 1

Give me Florida International coach Butch Jones in a slight upset in the state capital.

Florida International 31, Arkansas State 30

Las Vegas Bowl

Boise State (12-1) vs. Washington (7-5)

Sam Boyd Stadium, the City that never sleeps (one of them), 40,000

6:30 PM

ABC

Bob Wischusen, Herbie, Molly McGrath

Laundry, CUSA, Rodney Burnette

Washington by 3 1/2

Boise State is a strong team no doubt, but I like Chris Peterson to go out a winner at Washington. I hope Peterson returns to coaching because he’s a solid guy, a man of integrity, and awesome for college football.

Washington 34, Boise State 30

New Orleans Bowl

UAB (9-4) vs. App State (12-1)

Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, 73,432

8 PM

ESPN

Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman

Whistles, MAC, Ron Hudson

App State by 16 1/2

UAB has put together another good season, but they really haven’t defeated anybody that good. Their best victory is over LA Tech, a bowl team (Independence Bowl, vs. Miami, 3 PM ESPN finished 9-3), but that was at home and LA Tech had injuries. UAB lost @ Western Kentucky, 20-13, @ Tennessee, 30-7, and @ Florida Atlantic in the C-USA Championship game, 49-6. App State is for real, no doubt. They did lose first year coach Eli Drinkwitz to Missouri, but he inherited a loaded team from Scott Satterfield, who is now at Louisville and has taken the Cardinals (7-5) to the Music City Bowl vs Mississippi State, 6-6 (Monday, Dec. 30th, 3 PM CT, ESPN), and I don’t think he was that big of a difference maker. There is serious talent on this team. The players really like new coach Shawn Clark who was promoted from the staff. I like quarterback Zac Thomas from Hewitt-Trussville High School (212-of-335, 63%, 2,576 yards, 26 TDs, 6 ints) and running back Darrynton Evans, 1,323 yards, 17 TDs, to lead the Mountaineers to a convincing victory over the Blazers.

App State 35, UAB 17