Pac-12 Bowl Predictions

The college football post season is upon us. In about 48 hours, the first bowl will be played. On Saturday, the Pac-12 gets into the action with the first of its eight teams playing a bowl game.

Below is the full roster of bowls that league teams will be playing in and what I think will happen...

Las Vegas Bowl - Dec. 20

#22 Utah vs. Colorado State

Comment: Utah put together their first good season since joining the Pac-12. CSU seems to annually be decent but not great. But, I think this actually might be a very entertaining game. Utah has great D and dynamic special teams. Colorado State can move the ball. 

Prediction: CSU 27-UU 24

Holiday Bowl - Dec. 27

#24 USC vs. Nebraska

Comment: I like this one too. Nebraska is showing their coach out with one last game. USC trying to set up hopes for next season. I think this will make for a competitive game with some good talent on display.

Prediction: USC 28-Nebraska 17

Sun Bowl - Dec. 27

#15 Arizona State vs. Duke

Comment: Meh, not much to root for or care about unless you support one of the two schools. I won't be watching this one. Also, for the two schools it's a no-win situation I think. You win, nobody notices or cares. You lose - particularly if you're ASU - and your season really ends on a down note. 

Prediction: ASU 48-Duke 30

Foster Farms Bowl - Dec. 30

Stanford vs. Maryland

Comment: Double meh. Same reasons as the Sun Bowl. Plus, it's the "Foster Farms Bowl." Not watching. 

Prediction: Stanford 20-Maryland 14

Fiesta Bowl - Dec. 31

#10 Arizona vs. #20 Boise State

Comment: After a couple snoozer games, the Pac-12 is back with an exciting one here...on New Years Eve to boot. While I'm no Arizona fan, I'll be rooting for them to represent the league against the likes of BSU. Meanwhile, BSU will be trying to return to relevance with an upset of a top 10 team. 

Prediction: UA 35-BSU 23

Rose Bowl - Jan. 1

#2 Oregon vs. #3 Florida State

Comment: This is the biggie for the league and it will be a gooooood game. Given my personal interest in this one and since it's the marquee Pac-12 bowl appearance this season, I'll write a separate prediction post closer to the game.

Alamo Bowl - Jan. 2

#14 UCLA vs. #11 Kansas State

Comment: A battle of talented teams, but "also ran" status for both. UCLA was the toast of college football before the season started, then reality set in that they just were not as good as predicted...still good, but not THAT good. Meanwhile KSU put together a nice season, but dropped key games when it counted. I think UCLA will have the edge here, and last time the Wildcats played a Pac-12 team in a bowl (2013 Fiesta vs. Oregon) they were soundly beaten.

Prediction: UCLA 33-KSU 21

Cactus Bowl - Jan. 2

Washington vs. Oklahoma State

Comment: This could go either way. UW beat teams that they were clearly supposed to and lost to every team with a better record. Plus, their QB is iffy at best. Ok State played a plucky season, giving a scare to some good teams and beating their in-state rival Oklahoma. 

Prediction: Oklahoma State 30-UW 27

Pac-12 Wraps Up, Bowl Games Next

OK, so I predicted the Ducks would win the 2014 Pac-12 Title Game. I was right.

I predicted the score would be 45-28 - a difference of 17 points. Well, I was 20 points off on that as it ended up being UO by 37 with a final score of 51-13 - with six of UA's total of 13 coming on the last play of the game.

To summarize how the game went:

• Oregon stopped UA's offense cold - the exact opposite of when they met in Oct.
• UA's defense played well in the first half, but conceded points...then fell apart.
• Mariota and the Ducks O took a bit to get on track, but when they did...whoosh!
• Blowout.  

And with that, the Pac-12 season is over. Oregon is league champ - making it four titles over the past six seasons. Elsewhere, the league finished with six of its 12 teams ranked: Oregon #2, Arizona #10, UCLA #14, Arizona State #15, #22 Utah and USC #24. There were two other teams with winning records: UW (8-4) and Stanford (7-5).

What's Next
For the Pac-12 there are two big things left for this season:

Will Oregon QB Marcus Mariota win the Heisman Trophy? We'll only know the answer next weekend. Speculation is that he will, but there has not been a league player outside of USC who has won the award since 1970 (Jim Plunkett, Stanford) and nobody from a school outside of the state of California since 1962 (Terry Baker, Oregon State). So, one wonders.

Bowl Games

Eight league teams are going bowling, some with very interesting match ups, others not so much. Below is who is playing in what games along with some quick thoughts. I'll likely post some predictions for these games at some point in December and FOR SURE on the Rose Bowl.

#22 Utah vs. Colorado State

Las Vegas Bowl - Dec. 20

Decent match up. Could be a good game. The Vegas bowl is a blast and one of the better small bowl games.

#24 USC vs. Nebraska

Holiday Bowl - Dec. 27

I like this one. Nebraska showing their coach out with one last game. USC trying to set up hopes for next season. 

#15 Arizona State vs. Duke

Sun Bowl - Dec. 27

Meh, not much to root for or care about unless you support one of the two schools.

Stanford vs. Maryland

Foster Farms Bowl - Dec. 30

Double meh. Same reasons. Plus, it's the "Foster Farms Bowl."

#10 Arizona vs. #20 Boise State

Fiesta Bowl - Dec. 31

Another good one. New Years Eve day to boot. While I'm no Arizona fan, I'll be rooting for them to represent the league against the likes of BSU.

#2 Oregon vs. #3 Florida State

Rose Bowl - Jan. 1

This is the biggie! This will be a gooooood game I think. Close, hard fought with turnovers being a huge factor. I'll predict it soon.

#14 UCLA vs. #11 Kansas State

Alamo Bowl - Jan. 2

A battle of talented teams, but "also ran" status for both. 

Washington vs. Oklahoma State

Cactus Bowl - Jan. 2

Which team is on the rise and which one still has big question marks going into the offseason. The winner of this one will feel pretty good and the loser awful.

Pac-12 Goes Bowling - Comments and Predictions

The Pac-12 bowl matchups are set for the 2012 season. I think the league has a very good shot at running the table in bowl season. The matchups just favor the Pac-12 teams.

Below is who is playing who in which bowls and a few thoughts on each game...

FIESTA BOWL - Oregon vs. Kansas State on Jan. 3

Oh boy. This could be a HIGH scoring game. Oregon's O is a wicked and multi-faceted TD scoring machine on hyper drive. KSU's offense is run by 2013's version of Cam Newton. In situations like this, it's usually the team with the stiffest (gets stops) and most opportunistic (gets turnovers) defense that ends up winning. I say that between the two of these squads, that's Oregon.

Oregon 47-KSU 36


ROSE BOWL - Stanford vs. Wisconsin on Jan. 1 You won't be able to tell which team is which because both have the exact same colors, field similar "big beefy" squads who play smash mouth football, and sport very similar uniform styles - including white helmets with a single red block letter on both sides.

Wisconsin is in their third straight Rose Bowl, having lost to Oregon last year and TCU the year before. I say the third time is the charm and that the big guys in red and white from the Midwest beat the big guys in red and white from the Bay Area.

Wisconsin 28-Stanford 24

SUN BOWL - USC vs. Georgia Tech on Dec. 31
USC had a disappointing season. The Sun Bowl ain't why QB Matt Barkley came back for his senior season. However, they are playing a team in Georgia Tech with a losing record. That's right. The Ramblin' Wreck sports a 6-7 record. They're in this bowl because they petitioned the NCAA on the grounds that they should not "penalized" by being left out of a bowl by reaching but losing the ACC championship game. No matter, USC will win this.

USC 38-GT 14

ALAMO BOWL - Oregon State vs. Texas on Dec. 29 This ought to be a good matchup and worth watching. OSU is much better than expected this season and any time you get a Pac-12 team vs. Texas...seems like it proves entertaining. (Note many Holiday Bowls from previous years.) I think the Beavers win this.

OSU 27 - UT 24

FIGHT HUNGER BOWL - Arizona State vs. Navy on Dec. 29Hmmm. Will anyone outside of the ASU campus and Navy personnel watch this? Probably not...or at least not too many. Will it be a good game? That's less known. ASU might dominate this thing or perhaps it'll be close. I'll say that the Sun Devils do accelerate away from the Midshipmen to win it.

ASU 47-Navy 20

HOLIDAY BOWL - UCLA vs. Baylor on Dec. 27
I'd say that outside of Oregon vs. Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, this is the best matchup for Pac-12 teams...likely to deliver a lot of scoring, dynamic athletes and "wow" plays. Like the Fiesta Bowl, the team with the better defense is likely to win, and that team is UCLA.

UCLA 48-Baylor 44

LAS VEGAS BOWL - Washington vs. Boise State on Dec. 22
This is a good matchup too, and I think we'll see both squads out to prove something. It's also interesting that these same two teams play again in their very first game of the 2013 season. If Kellen Moore was still QB at Boise, I'd say they will win. He's not. He's now in the NFL. I think Washington eeks out an entertaining win.

UW 28-BSU 22

Pac-10 Bowl Predictions

Here are my predictions for Pac-10 bowl games that are not the BSC Championship Game...

Holiday Bowl: 6-6 Washington vs. 10-3 and #18 ranked Nebraska on Dec. 30 in San Diego
Earlier this season Nebraska visited Husky Stadium in Seattle and absolutely obliterated the Huskies by the score of 56-21. As bad as that score is for the Dawgs, it was actually worse than that. UW could not stop the Cornhuskers and could not get anything going on their own offense. It was a first class beat-down.

OK, so how is this going to be a game worth watching? Well, the Huskies did improve some since their early season drubbing by Nebraska, and Nebraska - despite finishing with a very nice 10-3 record - cooled off. So, the gap between the teams is probably closer. Also, this is the second year in a row that Nebraska is playing a Pac-10 team in the Holiday Bowl. Last year they killed Arizona by the score of 33-0. Between already having beaten UW and having played in and dominated this bowl last season, Nebraska may not be as motivated as Washington - a team seeking its first bowl win in a long, long time.

Prediction: Nebraska wins 41-24. All of the above considered, I just don't think UW can compete with Nebraska and they will roll the Huskies again.

Alamo Blow: 7-5 Arizona vs. 10-3 and #14 ranked Oklahoma State on Dec. 29 in San Antonio
This one also seems to be a mis-match. Oklahoma State is coming off quite a good season, including playing in the Big-12 championship game. Meanwhile, Arizona finished its season by losing its last four games in a row. The Wildcats are probably better than what their record indicates and could give OK St. some troubles, especially through the air. However, I don't see them winning this game against a well-rounded, quality team.

Prediction: Oklahoma State wins 28-17.

Orange Bowl: 11-1 and #4 ranked Stanford vs. 11-2 and #13 ranked Virginia Tech on Jan. 3 in Miami
Conventional wisdom suggests that this will be a blow out by Stanford. Certainly they will dominate the champion of the underpowered Big East, right? After all, isn't VA Tech the team that lost both to Boise State and James Madison this season? And, wasn't Stanford QB Andrew Luck the runner-up in the voting for the Heisman award this season? For sure, Stanford will roll...right? Well, maybe that could happen. However, more likely will be that VT's own dynamic QB weapon Tyrod Taylor will have some success against the Stanford D and we'll get a closer game than most people think.

Prediction: Stanford wins 31-24. With a win, Stanford could finish as high as #2 in the nation if TCU loses the Rose Bowl to Wisconsin and Oregon were to lose to Auburn in the BCS Championship Game.

So, to summarize, I think the Pac-10 will be 1-2 in bowl games before Oregon plays Auburn for the BSC championship. I'll predict that one just before the game.