Thursday Bowl Picks

Thursday, December 30th

Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl – Dallas, TX

SMU (-7) over Army – Sure, it is nice to see Army back in a bowl game for the first time since 1996 but the Black Knights did not exactly beat the best competition to get here with their six wins all coming against losing teams. June Jones has had a month to get his team ready for Army’s option offense and I am sure he has dialed up a few new plays for his own run n’ shoot offense. I almost forgot to mention that this game is being played on SMU’s home field.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl – New York, NY

Kansas State (pk) over Syracuse – This should be an ugly game in the cold and snow inside of Yankee Stadium and I will take the Wildcats ability to make plays over the grind it out offense of the Orange.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – Nashville, TN

Tennessee (pk) over North Carolina – I originally liked North Carolina when this game was announced but as time went on I started leaning towards the Volunteers. There should be a large crowd advantage for Tennessee in Nashville and first year head coach Derek Dooley should have his boys fired up after winning their last four games to make it to a bowl game. That motivation could be the difference in what is an otherwise pretty evenly matched game.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forced Bowl – Dallas, TX

Nebraska (-13.5) over Washington – Tempted here to take the points with the little motivation that the Cornhuskers will probably be playing with but I just could not get over the major advantage that Nebraska has on both sides of the line. The near-month’s rest for QB Taylor Martinez and RB Roy Helu Jr. should be enough for the pair to be healthy and firing on all cylinders for the Huskers. That should be enough for a comfortable win.