Exciting five or six days of bowls coming up,. It’ll be interesting to see how Chiz’s defense plays against Virginia and if Malzahn’s offense can light it up in his farewell game for the Tigers. AU needs to win and then lock up some good recruits in the next month and a week and finish off what has been a tough season in some regards for the Tigers. Chiz also has a couple of coordinators to hire. Should be an interesting month for Auburn in January. Here are some quick predictions for the upcoming bowl games today. Hope you enjoy them. Will have New Year’s Day bowls on the blog tomorrow. Will be on top of the national championship game this coming week. Some big games this weekend, too, in the NFL as it prepares for the postseason. Will have more on that this week. And there have been some amazing games in the NBA so far. College basketball starts getting very interesting with conference play kicking in. Been some interesting non conference games so far. Watched Inidana beat Kentucky at the buzzer on a three by Shades Valley’s Christian Wattford. That was an awesome game. There have been some fun ones to watch and looking forward to the 2012 season. Can ‘Bama make it to the tourney? Can Auburn improve this year under Tony Barbee and at least get to the NIT? A lot to look forward to in 2012, starting with the bowl games beginning today. Here are predictions for today’s bowl games.
Record: 90-41
Today, Dec.31
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Houston; Northwestern (6-6) vs. Texas A&M (6-6) ; 11 AM CT, ESPN
A&M gets ready for SEC ball in 2012. I love Northwestern because they require stellar academics as well as athletics. Like their coach, Pat Fitzgerald, and their offense to get it done.
Northwestern 34, A&M 31
Hyundai Sun Bowl, El Paso; Georgia Tech (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5): 1 PM CT, CBS
Tech 31, Utah 28
AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Memphis; Cincinnati (9-3) VS. Vandy (6-6): 2:30, ABC
Like my ‘Dores to get their second bowl win in four years in an exciting offensive game in the River City. Vandy’s defense does enough and gets a turnover or two and Jordan Rodgers and Bibb County’s Zac Stacy roll up some offense both on the ground and through the air. James Franklin, Vandy’s coach, is a stud.
Vandy 34, Cincy 28
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, San Francisco; Illinois (6-6) vs. UCLA (6-7); 2:30 PM CT., ESPN
Like the Illini here. UCLA got smoked by Oregon and can’t play much defense, though they’re pretty good on offense.
Illini 37, UCLA 30
Chick-fil-A Bowl, Atlanta; AU (7-5) vs. Virginia (8-4); 6:30 PM CT, ESPN
I think AU will respond here with Chiz taking over the defense after Ted Roof left and offense will play well under Malzahn in his final hurrah on the Auburn sideline. Virginia a pretty good team which beat Florida State, but I like the Tigers as they try to get some momentum headed into the 2012 season. Need to really recruit after this game, to lock in some players for the future. Good recruiting class, but lost a key guy in running back T.J. Yeldon to Alabama. Need to get the momentum back. This would be a good start.
Review of the game tomorrow.
AU 31, Virginia 21
Will have rest of bowl games, including big New Years’ Day bowls on the blog tomorrow. Have a great day and enjoy some football.