Four bowl games have finished today. Northwestern beat Mississippi State, 34-20, in the Gator Bowl. Oklahoma State clobbered Purdue, 58-14, in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. South Carolina edged Michigan, 33-28, in the Outback Bowl. And Georgia scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from Nebraska and win the Capital One Bowl, 45-31.
The BCS begins today. In a few minutes, the Rose Bowl kicks off (ESPN). It is usually one of my favorite bowls. Stanford faces Wisconsin in this year's edition. The Badgers are 8-5 and got in this game because they won the Big Ten title game over Nebraska but they only got in the Big Ten title game because neither Ohio State nor Penn State was eligible because of NCAA sanctions.
I like Stanford's defense to show up in this one. The Cardinal defeated Oregon earlier this season at the Ducks' home, holding them to just 14 points.
Stanford 27, Wisconsin 24
The ACC is 3-2 in bowl games and plays in its final contest of the season tonight when Florida State faces upstart MAC team Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl (8:30 p.m. ESPN). On New Year's Eve, Georgia Tech beat USC in the Sun Bowl, 21-7, N.C. State fell to Vanderbilt, 38-24, in the Music City Bowl, and Clemson pulled off the surprise of the night, coming back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, 25-24.
The Seminoles should win this game but the ACC has had its share of problems this year against non-conference opponents and this is well-documented. The Huskies went 12-1 this year and went undefeated in the MAC but their best non-conference victory was a 41-40 win over Army, which was not good this year. They also beat Kansas, another weak team, 30-23. Northern Illinois won most of its conference games in blowout fashion. In the MAC championship, both the Huskies and Kent State had a chance to play in a BCS bowl depending on who won that game and Northern Illinois came out on top in two overtimes, 44-37.
If the 'Noles are caught napping, they could lose this game but I like them to beat the Huskies fairly handily.
Florida State 38, Northern Illinois 23
The BCS begins today. In a few minutes, the Rose Bowl kicks off (ESPN). It is usually one of my favorite bowls. Stanford faces Wisconsin in this year's edition. The Badgers are 8-5 and got in this game because they won the Big Ten title game over Nebraska but they only got in the Big Ten title game because neither Ohio State nor Penn State was eligible because of NCAA sanctions.
I like Stanford's defense to show up in this one. The Cardinal defeated Oregon earlier this season at the Ducks' home, holding them to just 14 points.
Stanford 27, Wisconsin 24
The ACC is 3-2 in bowl games and plays in its final contest of the season tonight when Florida State faces upstart MAC team Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl (8:30 p.m. ESPN). On New Year's Eve, Georgia Tech beat USC in the Sun Bowl, 21-7, N.C. State fell to Vanderbilt, 38-24, in the Music City Bowl, and Clemson pulled off the surprise of the night, coming back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, 25-24.
The Seminoles should win this game but the ACC has had its share of problems this year against non-conference opponents and this is well-documented. The Huskies went 12-1 this year and went undefeated in the MAC but their best non-conference victory was a 41-40 win over Army, which was not good this year. They also beat Kansas, another weak team, 30-23. Northern Illinois won most of its conference games in blowout fashion. In the MAC championship, both the Huskies and Kent State had a chance to play in a BCS bowl depending on who won that game and Northern Illinois came out on top in two overtimes, 44-37.
If the 'Noles are caught napping, they could lose this game but I like them to beat the Huskies fairly handily.
Florida State 38, Northern Illinois 23
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