Slow Tuesday? Never heard of it.
We’ve got a mostly full schedule of college football on deck. I’ll continue sounding like a broken record to remind everyone that this reality is one of the key reasons that Bowl Mania still holds value.
I mean, would you rather listen to the talking heads on ESPN for five hours if you’re off work and looking for something to watch?
Let’s take a look at Tuesday’s slate of bowl action.
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Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans
Toledo vs. Louisville (Tuesday, 2 PM ET – ESPN)
Regardless of how this game goes, it’ll be worth tuning into the postgame celebration to understand what Bush’s has cooking as the title sponsor. But trying to stay focused, this is an interesting situation given that the MAC school is the one heading into the game with a clear lack of continuity. Former head coach Jason Candle, as well as former defensive coordinator Vince Kehres, have left the Toledo program and will not be coaching in this game. Interim head man Robert Weiner has the unenviable task of motivating a group that may be without its starting quarterback and at least one starting offensive lineman. The Cardinals are generally been overlooked this season, but were actually much closer to a Playoff-worthy season than most people realize.
Louisville did lose three of its last four to end the regular season, but of the four total games it lost this year, three of them were by a field goal or less. Jeff Brohm’s squad was a bit inconsistent on offense, and I would have expected a little more from Miller Moss than what we saw in the second half of the season, but overall this was a team that typically put itself in position to win every game it played. The defense was more dependable at times, and that bodes well in a game where the Cardinals will have a physical advantage. Even if Toledo was at full strength offensively, this would be a tough game for it. Due to injuries at the running back position for Louisville, this should be an opportunity for a couple of freshmen in Braxton Jennings and Shaun Boykins, Jr. to get reps and make a case for a bigger role next season in what is looking like it will be one of the most stacked rooms in the country next year. Expect Louisville to treat this game like a job and enjoy whatever festivities the beans company has for the victor.
My Pick: 34-14 Louisville
Bowl Mania Confidence: 38 points
New Orleans Bowl
Western Kentucky vs. Southern Mississippi (Tuesday, 5:30 PM ET – ESPN)
Neither one of these teams were able to finish the regular season strongly, with Western Kentucky losing two straight (including one to Jacksonville State that resulted in the Hilltoppers missing the C-USA title game) and Southern Mississippi losing three straight, which also prevented the Golden Eagles from reaching its conference title game. A bowl victory would be a nice consolation for either team, however. Whether the Golden Eagles feel any sense of betrayal will be interesting – after a lot of players followed head coach Charles Huff from Marshall to Biloxi, Huff continued moving, taking the Memphis job. Blake Anderson has been named the permanent replacement and will coach in this game.
This was supposed to be the year that Western Kentucky offensive coordinator Rick Bowie and quarterback Maverick McIvor ran the show in Conference USA. The pair moved from Abilene Christian in the offseason and McIvor was expected to be one of the most prolific signal-callers in the league, if not the entire country. Unfortunately, a non-throwing shoulder injury limited McIvor to about half the regular season, though he will be back in this game and looking to make a final impression on NFL scouts. His counterpart on the other side, Braylon Braxton, did generally live up to expectations after following Charles Huff from Marshall. The only game that the Golden Eagles were uncompetitive in this season is the only game that Braxton missed. While the new head man Anderson may be focused on determining what he’s got for next season, Braxton is owed a final chance to play with his team and I think he’ll have fun doing so. Neither team is particularly lockdown defensively and so I expect both sides to score points. However, with McIvor “coming in cold” so to say, I think that Southern Mississippi is the slightly more likely to get off the losing skid in New Orleans.
My Pick: 34-31 Southern Mississippi
Bowl Mania Confidence: 6 points
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl
UNLV vs. Ohio (Tuesday, 9 PM ET – ESPN)
This is a solid bowl game between two G5 programs that is unfortunately starting too late for a large portion of potential viewership to bother with sacrificing sleep to watch. For those that do make the sacrifice, it should be worth it. Ohio and UNLV are two of the better teams in the country when it comes to running the football, and neither defense is excellent at stopping the run. While both squads will seek to stick to its guns and control the pace of the game, it’ll presumably produce a lot of points and be a back and forth affair.
Amidst all the external noise surrounding the Ohio program related to its unusual dismissal of former head coach Brian Smith, the Bobcats should be ready to go in this one. Fifth-year senior Parker Navarro is as much of a household name as one can be at a G5 program, and his running mate Sieh Bangura leads the MAC with 1,243 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Between the two of them, they have combined for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. But equally as importantly considering the Smith situation, they’re leaders that the rest of the team will listen to at a time when leadership has to come from within. UNLV is no slouch in the run game, either, boasting the Mountain West’s top offense (459.1 YPG) that averages over 200 yards per contest on the ground. Defense is optional for the Rebels. That has me more than a bit worried about how many points I’m putting on this game, because the Bobcats are unlikely to relent and in a close game, they have the experience and talent in the right areas to put together a game winning drive.
My Pick: 34-28 UNLV
Bowl Mania Confidence: 37 points
