News Archive for BYU

Sweet Sixteen Analysis

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

The NCAA Basketball Tournament has been trimmed down to sixteen teams and it has been a wide open tournament from the opening tipoff. The #1 overall seed Kansas Jayhawks were shocked in the second round with a loss to Northern Iowa, and the  third seeded Georgetown Hoyas did not even taste victory as they were bounced in the first round by Ohio. How does the tournament shape up with the remaining survivors is the question? Here is the way I see it…

MIDWEST

This region saw the aforementioned upsets above with Kansas and Georgetown wondering why they were sent packing. With those teams out, it is set up nicely for the Ohio St. Buckeyes to come out of this region. They have been workmenlike  like so far, and  they should  take out Tennessee in their next game and then  the winner of the Michigan State/Northern Iowa game. Ohio St. looks real  good for the Final Four.

WEST

Will the Kentucky Wildcats hang a championship banner from the rafters in 2010?

The West region still has their number two seeds remaining  in Syracuse and Kansas St. Syracuse has looked impressive including yesterday’s victory over Gonzaga. Kansas St. has looked true to form also and knocked off BYU in their latest victory. These two teams are on a collision course to meet in the Elite Eight and that should make a incredible game. But in the end, I see the Orangemen advancing and being a little too much for KState  to handle.

EAST

This region has  my prediction  champion Kentucky Wildcats playing as well as anyone in the tournament. Kentucky is coming off a thirty point blowout over Wake Forest and are riding on a high. They will have stiff competition down the road in Big East champion West Virginia. That game sets up for a very intriguing matchup. Kentucky is too deep and talented to the Final Four pass them by.

SOUTH

The South hosts the #1 seeded Duke Blue Devils. Duke has advanced with smothering defense and looks like a lock to get to the Eight where they will probably face a hungry Baylor team that has won their first tourney games in sixty years. I think Baylor will take out Duke and become the best story of the Final Four.

As you can see so far, anything can happen in this tournament. This makes it very tough to predict but makes the watching that much more exciting. I am looking forward to Thursday to see what transpires. It has left me wanting more!

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Posted in Baylor University, Brigham Young BYU University, College Basketball, Duke University, Georgetown University, Gonzaga University, Kansas State University, Kansas University, Kentucky University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Syracuse University, Tennessee University, Wake Forest University, West Virginia University | 9 Comments »

College Bowl Game Predictions

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

BSCThe college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl.   College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.

This year’s matchups pair what appear to be some with three teams favored by double-digit spreads and twelve team favored by a touchdown or more.  While Vegas is seeing a lot of mismatches, there appears to be some great upsets brewing.   I am projecting right now seven underdogs achieving outright victories and sixteen underdogs covering the spread.

My biggest underdog covers include SMU, Boston College, Northwestern, East Carolina and Boise State.  My biggest underdog outright victories are Texas A&M and Stanford.

Bowl Matchup Spread Winner Cover
New Mexico Bowl Wyoming vs. Fresno State Fresno State by 11 Fresno State Fresno State
St. Petersburg Bowl Central Florida vs. Rutgers EVEN Central Florida Central Florida
New Orleans Bowl Middle Tenn St vs.Southern Miss Southern Miss by 4 Southern Miss Middle Tenn St
Las Vegas Bowl BYU vs. Oregon State Oregon State by 3 BYU BYU
Poinsettia Bowl Utah vs. California EVEN Utah Utah
Hawaii Bowl SMU vs. Nevada Nevada by 15 Nevada SMU
Little Caesars Bowl Ohio vs. Marshall Ohio by 3 Ohio Ohio
Meineke Care Bowl North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh Pittsburgh by 3 Pitt North Carolina
Emerald Bowl Boston College vs. USC USC by 9 USC BC
Music City Bowl Kentucky vs. Clemson Clemson by 7½ Clemson Clemson
Independence Bowl Texas A&M vs. Georgia Georgia by 7 Texas A&M Texas A&M
Eagle Bank Bowl UCLA vs. Temple EVEN Temple Temple
Champs Sports Bowl Wisconsin vs. Miami Miami by 3 Miami Miami
Humanitarian Bowl Bowling Green vs. Idaho Bowling Green by 2 Bowling Green Bowling Green
Holiday Bowl Nebraska vs. Arizona Arizona by 1½ Nebraska Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl Air Force vs. Houston Houston by 4½ Air Force Air Force
Sun Bowl Stanford vs. Oklahoma Oklahoma by 8 Stanford Stanford
Texas Bowl Navy vs. Missouri EVEN Navy Navy
Insight Bowl Iowa State vs. Minnesota Minnesota by 3 Minnesota Minnesota
Chick Fil-A Bowl Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech Virginia Tech by 4½ Virginia Tech Tennessee
Outback Bowl Northwestern vs. Auburn Auburn by 7½ Auburn Northwestern
Capital One Bowl LSU vs. Penn St. Penn St. by 3 Penn State Penn State
Gator Bowl Florida State vs. West Virginia West Virginia by 3 West Virginia West Virginia
Rose Bowl Ohio State vs. Oregon Oregon by 3½ Oregon Oregon
Sugar Bowl Cincinnati vs. Florida Florida by 11 Florida Florida
International Bowl Northern Illinois vs. South Florida South Florida by 7 South Florida South Florida
Papa John’s Bowl Connecticut vs. South Carolina South Carolina by 4½ Connecticut Connecticut
Cotton Bowl Mississippi vs. Oklahoma State Mississippi by 3 Oklahoma State Oklahoma State
Liberty Bowl Arkansas vs. East Carolina Arkansas by 8 Arkansas East Carolina
Alamo Bowl Michigan State vs. Texas Tech Texas Tech by 8 Texas Tech Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl Boise State vs. TCU TCU by 7 TCU Boise State
Orange Bowl Iowa vs. Georgia Tech Georgia Tech by 4 Georgia Tech Iowa
Gmac Bowl Troy vs. Central Michigan Central Michigan by 3 Central Michigan Central Michigan
BCS Championship Texas vs. Alabama Alabama by 5 Alabama Alabama

Looking at conference performance, here’s how I see it playing out:

Bowl Matchup
Atlantic Coast 4-3
Big East 4-2
Big Ten 2-4
Big 12 4-4
C-USA 2-4
Mountain West 4-1
Pac-10 3-4
Southeastern 4-6
Western Athletic 2-2

The SEC might be the power conference, but they got some unfavorable matchup.  I think the Big 12 and Big East are going to surprise some opponents.  The Mountain West is going to do some damage and really stoke the argument that they deserve an automatic BCS invite.

As for the National Championship game, I am seeing a major blowout.  Given Texas’ performance against ranked opponents and closing out its season on some very poor play, this just seems like a mismatch of grand proportion.  TCU and Cincinnati were much more deserving of a spot in the Championship Game and Alabama is going to apply a major smackdown that will likely drop Colt McCoy’s NFL stock drop tremendously when he loses the game single-handedly.

Overall, this bowl season looks to be exciting.  We have a lot of underdogs with solid shots at upsets which should make the next 20 days enjoyable for all to watch.

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Posted in Alabama University, Arizona University, Arkansas University, Auburn University, Boise State University, Boston College, Brigham Young University, California University, Cincinnati University, Clemson University, Connecticut University, East Carolina University, Florida State University, Florida University, Fresno State University, Georgia Tech University, Georgia University, Houston University, Idaho University, Iowa State University, Iowa University, Kentucky University, Lousiana State University, Marshall University, Michigan State University, Minnesota University, Missouri University, Navy, Nebraska University, Nevada University, North Carolina University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma University, Ole Miss University, Oregon State University, Oregon University, Penn State University, Pittsburgh University, Rutgers University, South Carolina University, Southern Cal University, Southern Methodist University, Southern Miss University, Stanford University, Tennessee University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, Texas University, UCLA University, University Central Florida, University Miami Florida, University South Florida, Utah University, Virginia Tech University, West Virginia University, Wisconsin University, Wyoming University, college football | 1 Comment »