Bowl Predictions: Then and Now

Way back in May, I made some early as hell bowl predictions. With bowls fast approaching, time for me to issue a slightly more educated list.

Just for fun, I've posted what I predicted way back then.

1.BCS Title Game- Then- Florida v. Oklahoma ; Now- Florida v. Oklahoma. The pick stays the same. Florida should take care of 'Bama in Atlanta and Oklahoma should have no trouble with Mizzou.

2. Fiesta Bowl- Then- Texas v. BYU; Now- Texas v. Ohio St. Texas stays the same. Back in May, I didn't realize the Fiesta Bowl had first dibs on BCS teams. That explains the switch from the non-BCS school to Ohio St.

3.Sugar Bowl- Then- Georgia v. Illinois; Now- Alabama v. Utah. I didn't envision 'Bama to have the type of season they had. I also didn't envision the type of season Illinois would have either.

4.Rose Bowl- Then- Ohio St. v. USC; Now- Penn St. v. USC. USC stays the same. Penn St. at least makes this game a little more interesting.

5. Orange Bowl- Then- Clemson v. West Virginia; Now- Virginia Tech v. Cincinnati. Doesn't my older version seem like so much more fun?

6. Capital One Bowl-Then- Wisconsin v. LSU; Now- Michigan St. v. Georgia. Georgia falls out of the BCS thanks to their meltdown vs. Georgia Tech.

7. Outback Bowl-Then- Michigan St. v. Auburn; Now- Iowa v. South Carolina. Auburn really crapped out on me this year.

8. Cotton Bowl-Then- Missouri v. Alabama; Now- Texas Tech v. Ole Miss. I gave Ole Miss a bunch of credit heading into the season. Just not enough credit.

9. Gator Bowl-Then- Wake Forest v. Cincinnati; Now- Georgia Tech v. West Virginia. One pass happy game to one run dominated game.

10.Sun Bowl-Then- Oregon St. v. Texas A&M; Now- Oregon St. v. Pittsburgh. Yeah. I thought TAMU would make a bowl.

11.Holiday Bowl-Then- Arizona St. v. Texas Tech;Now- Oregon v. Missouri. Once again the Holiday bowl could have the potential to be the most exciting Non-BCS game.

12. Chick-Fil-A Bowl-Then- Virginia Tech v. South Carolina;Now- Florida St. v. LSU. The newer version seems to be a better game.

13.Liberty Bowl-Then- Central Florida v. Tennessee;Now- Tulsa v. Kentucky. So I made a lil' bit of a homer pick with UCF. Who cares?

14.Alamo Bowl-Then- Kansas v. Purdue;Now- Oklahoma St. v. Wisconsin. Either way, the Big Eleven is gonna get worked in this one.

15.Insight Bowl-Then- Colorado v. Indiana;Now- Kansas v. Northwestern. I really whiffed on my original pick. Neither Colorado or Indiana are bowl eligible this year.

16.Music City Bowl-Then- Miami(FL) V. Mississippi St.;Now- Boston College v. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt in a home game. Fun.

17.Independence Bowl-Then- Oklahoma St. v. Arkansas;Now- North Carolina St. v. Buffalo. The lack of bowl eligible teams in the SEC and Big XII leads to this unorthodox match-up.

18.Champs Sports Bowl-Then- North Carolina St. v. Penn St;Now- Miami(FL) v. Minnesota. The Golden Gophers may be the biggest surprise among bowl teams this year.

19.Meineke Car Care Bowl-Then- North Carolina v. South Florida;Now- Wake Forest v. Rutgers. I expected Rutgers to be much better than this.

20.Papajohns.com Bowl-Then- Rutgers v. Kentucky;Now- Connecticut v. Notre Dame. Any bowl with the Irish is automatically a snooze fest.

21.Texas Bowl-Then- Nebraska v. Tusla;Now- Nebraska v. Rice. Nebraska stays the same. Rice was a pleasant surprise.

22.Humanitarian Bowl-Then- Virginia v. Boise St.;Now- Maryland v. Boise St. Boise St. stays the same. They deserve better than this.

23.Emerald Bowl-Then- Maryland v. UCLA;Now- North Carolina v. California. Both the Heels and the Bears have the potential to be really good teams next year.

24.Las Vegas Bowl-Then- Utah v. California;Now- BYU v. Arizona. It's a long drop from the BCS bowls to Vegas.

25. Hawaii Bowl-Then- Fresno St. v. Arizona;Now- Hawaii v. Bowling Green. The lack of a PAC-10 bowl eligible team gives the Falcons a trip to Hawaii.

26.GMAC Bowl-Then- East Carolina v. Nevada;Now- East Carolina v. Western Michigan. East Carolina stays the same. WMU should provide a stiffer challenge than the Wolfpack.

27.St. Petersburg Bowl-Then- Pittsburgh v. Houston;Now- South Florida v. Southern Miss. The Bulls should enjoy some good home cooking in this one.

28.Armed Forces Bowl-Then- Memphis v. Air Force;Now- Houston v. Air Force. Air Force stays the same. Houston is really come on strong late this season.

29.Eagle Bank Bowl- Then-Navy v. Georgia Tech;Now- Navy v. Clemson. Navy is contracted to play in this one. Clemson falls to D.C.

30.International Bowl- Then- Louisville v. Ball St.;Now- Nevada v. Central Michigan. I'm sure the people in Toronto will love this one.

31.Motor City Bowl-Then- Michigan v. Central Michigan;Now- Arkansas St. v. Ball St. The lack of Big Eleven bowl teams makes this game an even bigger joke. Nate Davis and Co. definitely deserve better than this.

32.New Orleans Bowl-Then- Louisiana-Monroe v. Southern Mississippi;Now- Troy v. Memphis. Different teams, same shitty bowl.

33.Poinsettia Bowl-Then- Washington v. Buffalo;Now- TCU v. Louisiana Tech. Can we overlook the fact that I had Washington in a bowl game and instead focus on the fact that I predicted Buffalo to make a bowl game?

34.New Mexico Bowl-Then- Louisiana Tech v. Florida Atlantic;Now- Fresno St. v. Colorado St. More Mountain West teams qualified for bowl berths than I imagined. Kudos to the Rams for proving me wrong.