Bowl Record: 11-8; Overall: 138-44 (76%)

Today, Dec.31

 

 Music City Bowl

Vandy (8-4) vs. NC State (7-5)

Where: LP Field (67,000), Nashville

Time: Noon ET/ 11 AM CT

Network: ESPN

Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jamele Hill

Refs: MAC Conference 

Line: Vandy by 7

Vandy is going to rely on the running of Zac Stacy (1,034 yards, 9 TDs), and his backups Wesley Tate and Brian Kimbrow along with the big play ability of qb Jordan Rodgers (175-294, 2,431 yards, 13 TDs, 5 ints) and superb wideouts Jordan Matthews (87-1,262, 7 TDs) and Chris Boyd (46-756, 4 TDs). The Vandy defense is 15th in scoring defense in the country and 10th in passing defense. Linebacker Chase Garnham (40 tackles, six sacks), dbs Kenny Ladler, Trey Wilson and Andre Hal and defensive tackle Rob Lohr anchor the defense. State is led by quarterback Mike Glennon, who has completed 58 percent of his passes (295-of-511), with 30 TDs and 14 ints. Shadrach Thornton, a redshirt freshman, leads the running game with 655 yards (4.6 per carry) and three TDs. Three wide receivers have caught over 40 passes: Quintin Payton (48-761, 2 TDs), Tobias Palmer (46-670, 6 TDs) and Bryan Underwood (43-615, 10 TDs) are all three outstanding. The State defense is led in tackles by safety Earl Wolff who has 11o on the season along with four tackles for loss and two ints. Safety Brandan Bishop has accounted for 99 tackles and three ints. David Amerson is a terrific corner with five ints on the season and defensive end Darryl Cato-Bishop has 10 tackles for loss of 58 yards and 6.5 sacks.

Good matchup here. State fired Tom O’Brien, who I thought was a pretty good coach, and hired Dave Doeren from Northern Illinois. Offensive coordinator Dana Bible will coach the team today. State beat Florida State earlier this year, 17-16, but lost to Tennessee, 35-21, to open the season. They also have losses to North Carolina, Virginia, Miami and Clemson. Vandy has won six in a row and James Franklin has his program believing they can be something special in the coming years. This team has had a nice season and defeated UT, 41-18. I like Stacy, JRodg, Matthews and Boyd to have big games, and while NC State will score some points, the Vandy offense will be the key to victory, but in a pretty close game.

Vandy 31, NC State 27

 

Sun Bowl

Georgia Tech (6-7) vs. USC (7-5)

Where: Sun Bowl Stadium (51,500), El Paso, Texas

Time: 2 PM ET/1 CT

Network: CBS

Announcers: Verne, Gary, Wolf

Refs: Big Ten 

Line: USC by 7 1/2

I kind of like Tech to pull the upset  off. USC has been pretty dysfunctional lately and quarterback Matt Barkley is with and injured shoulder. I think Georgia Tech wants this more. Going with the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Tech 31, ‘SC 27

 

Liberty Bowl

Tulsa (10-3) vs. Iowa State (6-6)

Where: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (61,108), Memphis

Time: 3:30 PM ET/ 2:30 CT

Network: ESPN

Announcers: Mark Jones, Brock Huard and Jessica Mendoza

Refs: Mountain West

Line: Iowa State by 1 1/2

I like this Tulsa team. Any team that can beat Central Florida and stud quarterback Blake Bortles is a pretty good team to me. Tulsa did it in overtime in the C-USA championship. Bortles was awesome in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl against Ball State. He’s just a sophomore and he looks NFL ready to me. Passed for 270 and ran for 80 in that game in a convincing UCF’ W. He was dominant. Tulsa beat him, so they’re for real. But Iowa State plays hard under Paul Rhoades. They’re a solid football team under a solid football coach. Like Tulsa to get it done though

Tulsa 31, Iowa State 28

 

Chick-fil-A Bowl

Clemson (10-2) vs. LSU (10-2)

Where: Georgia Dome (71,228), Atlanta

Time: 7:30 PM ET/6:30 CT

Network: ESPN

Announcers: Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham and Jeannine Edwards

Refs: Big Ten

Line: LSU by 6

This should be a very entertaining game. It’ll be an explosive Clemson offense against a top notch SEC defense. QB Taj Boyd, rb Andre Ellington and wideouts Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins will try to light up the scoreboard, while LSU defense led by linebacker Kevin Minter, safety Eric Reed and defensive end Sam Montgomery will try to neutralize the explosive Clemson attack. Look for LSU qb Zach Mettenberger to have a good night against the Clemson defense, which can be a little leaky. Running back Jeremy Hill should have a big game on the ground for the Bengal Tigers as well. Like the Hat to get it done over Dabo. The SEC defense will do enough and Mettenberger, Hill and company will do some damage offensively.

LSU 35, Clemson 27

 

NFL

I’ve made up my mind on the NFL MVP. Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards for the season which was punctuated by his 199-yard performance in the Vikings’ playoff clinching 37-34 victory over the Pack. He was 507 yards clear of the second leading rusher in the NFL, Marshawn Lynch (1,590), and nine yards short of breaking Eric Dickerson’s all time single season rushing record. Peyton Manning completed 337-of-554 balls (68.2%) for 4,355 yards, 34 TDs and 11 ints for the season. While Peyton’s numbers are off the charts and he led his team to the No.1 seed in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, AP’s season was historic. Peyton was only the seventh leading passer in the league. AP led his team to the playoffs in a Herculean effort, so I’m going with AP for MVP. Peyton deserves comeback player of the year without a doubt, but I’ll take AP for MVP. Wow, that was a heckuva game between the Vikes and the Packers with the Vikings winning on a field goal as time expired. Well played game by both sides. The playoffs are going to be fantastic. Here are the wild card matchups:

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) @ Houston Texans (12-4)

Time: 4:30 PM ET/3:30 CT

Network: NBC

 

Minnesota Vikings (10-6) @ Green Bay Packers (11-5)

Time: 8 PM ET/7 CT

Network: NBC

 

Sunday, Jan.6, 2013

Indianapolis Colts (11-5) @ Baltimore Ravens (10-6)

Time: 1 PM ET/Noon CT

Network: CBS

Seattle Seahawks (11-5) @ Washington Redskins (10-6)

Time: 4:30 PM ET/3:30 CT

Network: FOX

I’m looking forward to all these matchups, but I love the Russell Wilson vs RGIII matchup in D.C. on Sunday at 4:30 ET/3:30 CT. Wow. That’s huge. Will have analysis and predictions on Friday and throughout the playoffs.

Tomorrow morning I’ll have my New Year’s Day bowls analysis and predictions. Happy New Year.