News Archive for Florida State

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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No Illegal Motion Here, FSU Lineman Takes A Down Off

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Bobby Bowden must be really hard on his players in practice.  Given this video replay, there must have been some major drilling on holding your stance in case of an offsides by the defense.  Apparently, Zebrie Sanders didn’t get the memo that you can move after it is hiked.

Sanders, a sophomore at Florida State, stood like a statue on one play during Saturday’s game against Florida. While it appears the center snapped the ball early, Sanders never budges as the action buzzes around him and his quarterback runs for dear life.

Needless to say, the end of the Bobby Bowden era couldn’t come sooner with coaching like this.

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Bowden Wants To Return in 2010

Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Bobby Bowden Says He Wants To Return in 2010

Bobby Bowden Says He Wants To Return in 2010

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach is reporting that Bobby Bowden has shared his desire to return as head coach in 2010.   After declining comment about his future after the 37-10 rout to rival Florida on Saturday, Bowden expressed his desire to meet with FSU officials to extend his contract for another year.

After completing his third six loss season in four years, the pressure has been on Bowden to step down and retire with dignity from alumni.  According to ESPN’s report, Bowden said he would only return to the sideline next season if he was FSU’s head coach, eliminating the possibility of him returning in an advisory role next season.  With Bowden’s statement, the gauntlet has be laid down for a difficult December in Tallahassee as Bowden attempts to wield his legacy for one more year to continue to build on his 388 career wins.

Sitting in the middle of the impending fiasco is Head Coach in Waiting, Jimbo Fisher.  Hired in 2007, Fisher signed a contract with Florida State University that provided for a balloon payment of $5 million if not placed into the head coach position by 2011.

Perhaps there is any easy resolution to this quandry around Bowden’s coaching future.  Based on USA Today’s database of college football coaching salaries, Bowden earned slightly over $2.3 million for his 2009 campaign.  This rates him as the 16th highest paid college football coach and the highest paid Florida state employee.  If Bowden’s desire is to leave on his terms and complete unfinished business, then accepting a $1 salary for 2010 seems to make sense. Not only will this cement his legacy as one of the most dedicated coach, he can provide significant help towards Florida’s state budget deficit crisis.

What do you say Bobby?  Is it about winning or is it money?  We’ll soon find out.

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