December 27 is the busiest day of college football left on the schedule this season, which is to say, don’t take football being on all day for granted.
By Sunday, bowl season will be more than half over.
With eight games on the slate, more abbreviated previews of each game are in order. For the first time this postseason, it won’t be possible to watch every game uninterrupted, so fire up those multiple screens for the best experience.
Let’s take a look at the Saturday schedule.
Embed from Getty ImagesGo Bowling Military Bowl
Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina (Saturday, 11 AM ET – ESPN)
The transfer portal, opt outs and coaching changes will certainly have an impact on this game, particularly for East Carolina. The Pirates were potent offensively this season but will be without starting quarterback Katin Houser, leading rusher London Montgomery, second leading receiver Yannick Smith and both their offensive and defensive coordinators.
Pittsburgh may not be thrilled to be playing in Annapolis for the holidays, but it’ll be difficult for East Carolina to match up with the Panthers given all of their losses. The Pirates were also decent defensively and stifling the Pittsburgh offense is about all they can hope to do to keep this one interesting.
My Pick: 27-14 Pittsburgh
Bowl Mania Confidence: 33 points
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
Penn State vs. Clemson (Saturday, 12 PM ET – ABC)
Many people were expecting to see this matchup at some point this season, but not on December 27 at Yankee Stadium. It was a season to forget for both the Nittany Lions and Tigers, and quite frankly the way back to the top is not clear for either program.
Opt outs in this game are rampant, especially for Clemson, which will be without wideout Antonio Williams as well as defensive standouts Peter Woods and TJ Parker, all of whom are already preparing for the NFL Draft. Penn State will likely get Kaytron Allen one more time, and that along with the fact that the team has seemed to respond well to Terry Smith as interim coach leads me to believe that the Nittany Lions will at least get the consolation of a bowl victory to help alleviate the sour taste of this season.
My Pick: 24-21 Penn State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 31 points
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Connecticut vs. Army (Saturday, 2:15 PM ET – ESPN)
The Huskies had an excellent season and really started to build some momentum as a program under Jim Mora Jr., but Mora made the somewhat surprising decision to take the Colorado State job and won’t be available for this game. Neither will quarterback Joe Fagnano, nearly the entire running backs stable (including star Cam Edwards), a couple of offensive line starters and a few defensive contributors.
Offensive coordinator Gordon Sammis has his work cut out for him with the remaining roster at his expense. That said, preparing for Army’s offensive attack is fairly straightforward and the Huskies have had some extra time to do so. If Nick Evers can step into the large shoes left by Fagnano’s absence and run a similar offense, there is a path for success for Connecticut.
My Pick: 30-26 Connecticut
Bowl Mania Confidence: 14 points
Pop-Tarts Bowl
#22 Georgia Tech vs. #12 BYU (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET – ABC)
It only took 20 non-Playoff games for us to get a ranked vs. ranked matchup this bowl season. This is one of three matchups on the postseason schedule not associated with the Playoff that can say that. Most people would just more casually refer to this as the Consolation Bowl, given that it features BYU and was supposed to include Notre Dame, which also just missed out on the Playoff.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl has done a good job over the years at creating hype for the game, but even without the off-the-field festivities associated this is one of the best bowl matchups of the season. I think both teams recognize that and will want to perform well. Haynes King remains one of the most underrated players in college football and anything less than maximum effort isn’t an option for him. Bear Bachmeier is built in a similar mold and will have the advantage of going up against a run defense that isn’t as strong as BYU’s. To win this game, King will need to orchestrate one more herculean performance for the Yellow Jackets, something he is certainly capable of doing.
My Pick: 28-27 Georgia Tech
Bowl Mania Confidence: 20 points
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl
Miami (OH) vs. Fresno State (Saturday, 4:30 PM ET – The CW Network)
One of the most difficult bowl games to find on television at least has the backing of Snoop Dogg as title sponsor to create some hype. Both teams are unhappy giving an inch on the defensive side of the ball, though the Redhawks will be without their most dominant pass rusher in Adam Trick, who leads the team with 8.5 sacks and 12.5 TFL this season. Miami has to find production elsewhere, as getting to the quarterback (40 sacks as a team) is a large part of their success defensively.
The Bulldogs weren’t ever able to truly replace the production of Mikey Keene this season, and as a result Fresno State’s offense relied more on the run than it did the pass for the first time in awhile. As a result, this game pits strength against strength for both teams and I don’t see either side being able to break away from anything other than a single-point affair.
My Pick: 21-17 Fresno State
Bowl Mania Confidence: 10 points
Isleta New Mexico Bowl
#25 North Texas vs. San Diego State (Saturday, 5:45 PM ET – ESPN)
One of my favorite bowl games of the season takes place in Albuquerque, where the nation’s top scoring offense (North Texas) takes on the country’s fourth best scoring defense (San Diego State). Both teams enjoyed an excellent season thanks in large part to these dominant units, and it should be an exciting watch to see which one reigns supreme.
Though head coach Eric Morris and offensive coordinator Jordan Davis won’t be with the Mean Green for this one, quarterback Drew Mestemaker is expected to play despite announcing his intention to enter the transfer portal after the season. Mestemaker has been erratic at times but mostly very difficult to stop. San Diego State will need to find a way to contain his arm, and forcing turnovers has been a successful approach for teams that have beaten North Texas this season. The Aztecs will also be without a key contributor on the sideline, defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, who is off to Nebraska to fill the same role. Due to so many injuries and opt outs, I think this one will be lower scoring but surprisingly still favor the Mean Green.
My Pick: 24-14 North Texas
Bowl Mania Confidence: 27 points
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
#19 Virginia vs. Missouri (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET – ABC)
The way in which Virginia lost not only the ACC title game, but simultaneously an automatic bid to the Playoff, was tough. I do wonder whether that heartbreak will have a negative effect on their mental state in this game. Missouri does lose its OC (Kirby Moore) for this game as well Beau Pribula, but does get the opportunity to give freshman Matt Zollers more reps at quarterback in anticipation of next season.
The Tigers have been taking care of business against teams it should beat for the better part of two years now. This is one of those scenarios by my estimation, and even without some key pieces I think that the running game and defense will be enough to carry Missouri to a victory in this one. Ahmad Hardy has been excellent this season, even when Pribula was out for a couple of games in the regular season, and should be again in Jacksonville.
My Pick: 30-21 Missouri
Bowl Mania Confidence: 24 points
Kinder’s Texas Bowl
LSU vs. #21 Houston (Saturday, 9:15 PM ET – ESPN)
These two programs were heading in opposite directions for most of the season, with Houston experiencing a resurgence under Willie Fritz and LSU coming apart at the seams while Brian Kelly was still with the program. While some of that has subsided for the Tigers, it was still a massively disappointing season and there is work to be done in the offseason for Lane Kiffin. Normally a bowl game would be an opportunity for players intending to stick with the program to impress the new regime, but Kiffin’s unpredictable nature makes it difficult to assess whether the team sees it that way.
While Garrett Nussmeier and Whit Weeks were injured at various points throughout the year, having them both out for this game means that the player leaders on both sides of the ball will be missing. Houston has almost no opt outs and will get to play in front of what will presumably be a pro-Cougars crowd. Dean Connors and Conner Weigman are a difficult pair to stop for an entire game and I think those two help lead the Cougars to victory.
My Pick: 26-20 Houston
Bowl Mania Confidence: 7 points
