Advocare V100 Bowl
Boston College Eagles (7-5) vs. Arizona Wildcats (7-5)
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, Louisiana (65,000)
12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT
ESPN
Broadcasters: Tom Bart, John Congemi and Niki Noto (hyper)
Refs: Mountain West, Alan Eck
Surface: Artificial
Weather: Partly cloudy, 42 @ kickoff, 0% rain, Wind ENE 3 MPH
Line: ‘Zona by 7
After Arizona State flopped last night against Texas Tech (a 37-23 loss), I’m starting to believe less in the PAC 12 and more in the Big 12. Two good running backs in this one, Andre Williams of Boston College who ran for more than 2,000 yards this season and 17 touchdowns, and ‘Zona’s Ka’Deem Carey who ran for 1,716 yards and 17 touchdowns too. I like Carey and the Wildcats to get it done here even though I’ve lost some faith in the Pac-12.
Rich Rod-Zona 31, Boston College 28
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Va Tech Hokies (8-4) VS. UCLA Bruins (9-3)
Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas (51,500)
2 PM ET/ 1 CT
CBS
Verne, Gare, Wolf
Refs: Big 12, Scott Novak
Surface: Artificial
Weather: 50 @ kickoff, sunny, wind, 2 MPH SW
Line: UCLA by 7 1/2
I really like Frank Beamer. He does an excellent job for the Hokies and Bud Foster is an excellent defensive coordinator. I looked at the recruiting rankings and he’s doing well in recruiting. He’s one of these guys like S and Ball Coach, you want to see stay in the game as long as possible. But I gotta go against the venerable coach today, though his team will be competitive. I think Jim Mora at UCLA is a high quality coach as well and the future is very bright out there with him in charge. I’ll say Beamer and his good defensive unit are going to compete hard today, but I like Mora and quarterback Brett Hundley (2,845 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, 67.8% completion percentage) to get it done over Beamer and quarterback Logan Thomas, though I’ve always liked Thomas even though he’s erratic at times. Va Tech just doesn’t have enough offense in this one.
Bruins 28, Hokies 20
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Rice Owls (10-3) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-6)
Liberty Bowl Stadium, Memphis (61,1008)
4 PM ET/3 CT
ESPN
Bob Wischusen, Rod Gilmore and Quingt Kessenich
Refs: ACC, Ron Cherry
Surface: Artificial
Weather: 44 @ kickoff, sunny, Wind no factor (1 MPH NW)
Line: State by 7
Rice has had a fantastic year winning the conference USA title with a win over a good Marshall team that throttled Maryland last week in the Military Bowl (31-20), but I’m going to go with State and quarterback Dak Prescott. Dak is a runner and a good passer. State has played good defense all year for the most part. Their 17-10 Egg Bowl victory over Ole Miss was special. Like the Bullies to get the job done here.
State 28, Rice 20
Chick-fil-A Bowl
No.24 Duke Blue Devils (10-3) vs. No.21 Texas A&M
Aggies (8-4)
Georgia Dome, Atlanta (71,228)
8 PM ET/7 CT
ESPN
Rece, Jess, Dave, Sam
Coaches: A&M: Kevin Sumlin, two seasons at A&M: 19-6; six seasons overall (four at Houston): 54-23; Duke; David Cutcliffe: six seasons at Duke: 31-43; 12 overall (six at Ole Miss) 75-72.
Refs: American Athletic, Jeff Maconaghy, confirmed
Surface: Artificial
Weather: Dome, 70
Line: A&M by 13
David Cutcliffe is another veteran coach who I really think a lot of. He did an exceptional job at Ole Miss and got a raw deal there and has done a terrific job in building Duke football to a highly respectable program. He was also key in getting Peyton Manning back on the football field during his neck issues. Denver is certainly glad Cutcliffe had a hand in that. But I can’t deny Johnny Football here. He’s just too much for the Blue Devils to handle. He’s auditioning for an NFL job, he’s going to go pro after this season. Manziel has completed 270-of-391 passes (69.1%) for 3,732 yards, 33 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He has better overall numbers than he did last year when he won the Heisman and led A&M to an 11-2 season. Kevin Sumlin is a high quality coach as well. Love this guy. A&M is recruiting very well and is positioned to challenge ‘Bama and AU and LSU in the west for the next several years if Sumlin stays. Like the Aggies to get it done pretty big here.
A&M 49, Duke 30
Bowl record: 12-7
Against spread, bowls: 10-9
Overall: 137-50 (73%)