Since the post-season rarely goes exactly as called by the experts, the Weber Kid takes a shot at projecting the bowl pairings. Let’s face it, despite preseason strengths of many top-ranked clubs, there are always injuries, turnovers and off-field issues that create havoc, not to mention a surprise turnaround for a team or three. Bearing that in mind, here’s what our prestigious prognosticator sees down the road (with selected commentaries)...
DEC. 19
SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA: Utah vs. Tulsa
DEC. 21
PIONEER PURE VISION LAS VEGAS: Arizona State vs. TCU
(If the guys with the pitchforks would ever get a defense....; Horny Toads are thinking much higher than this, especially with the new BCS criteria, but...)
DEC. 22
NEW ORLEANS: North Texas vs. Southern Miss
DEC. 23
NEW MEXICO: Colorado State vs. Boise State
BIRMINGHAM: East Carolina vs. Connecticut
FT. WORTH: BYU vs. UTEP
DEC. 24
HAWAII: Arizona vs. Hawaii
DEC. 26
MOTOR CITY: Toledo vs. Michigan State
DEC. 27
EMERALD: NC State vs. Washington State
INDEPENDENCE: Kansas vs. Mississippi
DEC. 28
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY: Southern Cal vs. Nebraska
(Troy Boys finally let somebody else have some fun in the PAC-10 [but then, Vindy had SoCal here this time last year too]; Big Red improving, but still just a bridesmaid)
MPC COMPUTERS: Fresno State vs. Wake Forest
DEC. 29
CHAMPS SPORTS: Wisconsin vs. Boston College
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY: Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech
(Ramblin’ Wreck fans will rejoice at the prospect of QB Reggie Ball playing his last game!)
VITALIS SUN: Texas Tech vs. Oregon
INSIGHT: Purdue vs. Missouri
MASTERCARD ALAMO: Iowa State vs. Those Penn State Nifty Lions
(As long as the Lions whack Michigan for ruining their perfect year in ‘05, Vindy will be happy with wherever they go in the post-season!)
DEC. 30
AUTOZONE LIBERTY: Houston vs. South Carolina
(Coogs’ offense and a decent schedule finally leads Houston to top of C-USA)
MEINEKE CAR CARE: Maryland vs. Navy
CHICK-FIL-A: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama
JAN. 1
GATOR: Florida State vs. Notre Dame
AT&T COTTON: Colorado vs. Arkansas
(Buffaloes aren’t gettin’ any preseason respect from the experts, but we think Dan Hawkins will do good things in Boulder)
OUTBACK: Michigan vs. Florida
(Will Lloyd Carr even be around long enough to coach the Wolverines in this one?)
CAPITAL ONE: Auburn vs. Ohio State
(With Longhorns’ title last year, Auburn becomes new Texas...always hyped in preseason, but always a little short in the end)
ROSE: Georgia vs. California
(Surely, USC can’t survive yet another major loss of key players, ASU defense is a problem and the Ducks are too busy designing flourescent duds)
TOSTITOS FIESTA: Oklahoma vs. Miami
(Sooners are the popular pick to take the Big 12, we like them too; Hokies might replace the ‘Canes here)
JAN. 2
FED-EX ORANGE: Clemson vs. Louisville
(An admitted Tiger-basher in the past, Vindy shows Clemson some love; lots of opportunity for Cards’ Brohm to re-injure the knee before November showdown with WVU)
JAN. 3
ALLSTATE SUGAR: LSU vs. Texas
(Bayou Bengals have enough to win wide-open SEC West; Vince-less ‘Horns’ defense gets ‘em back to the BCS)
JAN. 6
INTERNATIONAL: Northern Illinois vs. Rutgers
(Wow! A January bowl for the Scarlet Nuts?! Tony Soprano said so!)
JAN. 7
GMAC: Central Florida vs. Akron
JAN. 8
BCS TITLE: West Virginia vs. Iowa
(Mounties simply have to get by a road trip to Louisville; Hawkeyes’ toughest game will be a jaunt to the Not-So-Big House if they beat reloading/rebuilding/re-whatever Buckeyes early)
C’mon back in December to see how these panned out! Less than six weeks ‘til the first kickoff!
