I couldn’t have been much farther off on my New Orleans Bowl prediction, but those sort of things happen sometimes. Today there are three bowls on the slate.

PapaJohns.com Bowl

South Florida vs East Carolina – should be some offensive fireworks, but in the end South Florida will put this one out. The 8-4 Bulls had high expectations coming into this season and will want to finish out with a W.

New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico vs San Jose St – 8-4 San Jose State rolls into the Lobos’ home stadium for this bowl game. This doesn’t quite seem fair and I think this will be the edge New Mexico needs to win this game in a defensive struggle.

Armed Forces Bowl

Tulsa vs Utah – This should be an excellent game and in the end 7-5 Utah will take down 8-4 Tulsa.

Rice covers -4.5 against Troy

OVERALL RECORD:

College Basketball 13-4-1

College Football: 7-7

NFL 8-3-1

NBA 1-1

Let me start off by apologizing for not providing a preview on last night’s Las Vegas Bowl game between BYU and Oregon. Not only did I slip up and not write a preview, but I also didn’t get up my bet of the day to let all my peeps know BYU was going to cover. All the Christmas parties this week caught up with me so last night it was definitely time to rest.

The New Orleans Bowl pits 7-5 Rice versus 7-5 Troy. These two teams are very evenly matched and both have explosive offenses. Rice rolls into this bowl on a six game winning streak and just a year ago were 1-10. Troy won six of their last seven games and almost beat FSU in Tallahassee earlier this year. All things lead to a very close game with one of these teams pulling out the victory at some point in the fourth quarter. Please stop by later to see who I pick to win the game.

Player to watch: You probably haven’t heard about Jarrett Dillard yet, but remember this name. Dillard is a phenomenal wide receiver for TCU and has caught a touchdown pass in 14 straight games and caught 20 on the year.

Fans in Tuscaloosa have to wonder what has happened to their beloved football program. Alabama reportedly has already been turned down by Steve Spurrier and Nick Saban for the open head coach slot after the recent firing of Mike Shula. Yesterday came the news that Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia also has turned down the Tide. This news was extremely shocking because everyone including Alabama athletic director Mal Moore felt it was a done deal. Rodriguez has guided the Mountaineers to three straight Big East titles and four straight New Year’s day bowl games. My gut tells me Rodriguez went through this process to get a raise in West Virginia and solidify him as the coach there for many years to come. The question is what is Alabama going to do next? Where do they turn and how do they right this ship? The names being tossed around are Paul Johnson (Navy), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), and Jeff Tedford (California). I think they should just bring back Mike Shula since they are paying him a ridiculouos amount of money til the end of the time anyway, but that would just be silly or would it?  Stay tuned for more because I think the shenanigans are far from over.

It seems the U isn’t the football Mecca it used to be after the news coming out of Miami today. Greg Schiano who was the defensive coordinator for the Canes in 1999 and 2000 will not be taking over the Hurricanes like everyone suspected because he is going to remain with Rutgers. Schiano has asked athletic director Paul Dee to remove his name from the coaching candidate list all together. Ouch Miami! Mr. Schiano would rather stay in New Jersey and coach the Scarlet Knights then take over a football team rich with football tradition. This rejection comes on the heels of Rutgers accepting an offer to the Texas Bowl. The U seems to be falling from notoriety quicker than Roseanne Barr putting down a KFC 12 piece meal.

Florida Gators cover -9 against FSU

OVERALL RECORD:

College Football: 6-6

College Basketball 4-2

NFL 5-2

Thanksgiving was great in so many ways! It was a time to be with family, eat great food and NAIL all three NFL games. Let’s keep this hot streak rolling into the weekend.

Arkansas Razorbacks cover +2 against LSU Tigers

OVERALL RECORD:

College Football: 6-5

College Basketball 4-2

NFL 5-2

Bo Schembechler was one of the greatest college football coaches ever and today the unfortunate news comes that he has passed away. Schembechler was by far at the top of his game along with Tom Osborne(Nebraska,) Joe Paterno (Penn State), and Bobby Bowden (Florida State) when I was growing up. I wish the best to his family during this trying time and you will be missed Bo!

Breaking News: Bo Schembechler

West Virginia rolls tonight -11 at Pittsburgh.

Overall Record:

College Football: 5-5

College Basketball 1-1

NFL 0-1

5-4 and it’s a Tuesday night game on ESPN.

Northern Illinois and Toledo go over 53