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Bowl picks
AT&T Cotton Bowl
No. 13 Oklahoma State (10-2) vs. No. 8 Missouri (11-2)
Arlington, Texas - 7:30 p.m. Friday FOX
This battle of old Big 12 foes is kind of a toss-up to me. Both have two losses, both ended their season with a loss, both have great offenses and pretty good defenses. Oklahoma State's schedule was OK, and Missouri, despite playing in the SEC, had a fairly easy schedule, too. Vanderbilt was good but nothing special. Florida was way worse than average. Georgia was injured and had a bad defense. Tennessee and Kentucky were not very good. Ole Miss was OK, but nothing special. The Tigers' best win came over Texas A&M, 28-21. Auburn beat Missouri 59-42 in the SEC championship and South Carolina beat Missouri, 27-24 in two OT, although that was when Missouri starting QB James Franklin was hurt. Oklahoma State's best win came 49-17 over Baylor. Early in the season, the Cowboys lost, 30-21, to West Virginia, a team that finished 4-8. Just a tough, tough game to pick. I am going with the Cowboys, though. They were a couple minutes away from beating Oklahoma, a team that looked very impressive in beating Alabama.
Oklahoma State 41, Missouri 38
Discover Orange Bowl
No. 12 Clemson (10-2) vs. No. 7 Ohio State (12-1)
Miami Gardens, Fla. - 8:30 p.m. Friday ESPN
Another tough game to pick. Both teams lost their toughest games of the year -- Clemson got blasted by Florida State and lost by 14 to South Carolina and Ohio State lost by 10 to Michigan State. I would say, for the most part, the Buckeyes were more dominating in the games they won than the Tigers were. Should be another fairly high-scoring game with lots of offense. I would like to think Clemson could help get the ACC back on track in bowls (3-6 record after starting 3-1), but I like Urban Meyer to get his team ready to play better than Dabo Swinney. Ohio State wins in game that is close into the second half.
Ohio State 38, Clemson 31
BBVA Compass Bowl
Houston (8-4) vs. Vanderbilt (8-4)
Birmingham, Ala. - 1 p.m. Saturday ESPN
I think this game will be pretty close. I would guess most people are just taking the SEC team. Vanderbilt lost all its big games, though. Its best win was over Georgia, 31-27. The Commodores lost to Ole Miss, South Carolina, Missouri, and Texas A&M. Only the Ole MIss loss (four) was by less than 10 points. They also had a bad non-conference schedule: Austin Peay, UMass, UAB, and Wake Forest. Those teams had a combined seven victories. Houston played in a weaker conference, but lost all their games by single digits and to respectable teams: BYU, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Central Florida. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the Cougars take this one. They will be paying with spunk and attitude because they are playing an SEC team. Vanderbilt will probably find it difficult to keep up its intensity level.
Houston 31, Vanderbilt 27
GoDaddy Bowl
Arkansas State (7-5) vs. Ball State (10-2)
Mobile, Ala. - 9 p.m. Sunday ESPN
Ball State was the better team all season from the better conference so I have no reason to go against the Cardinals here playing the Red Wolves.
Ball State 42, Arkansas State 21
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NFL playoffs
Next week, I hope to write a wrapup of the Cowboys' season, their third 8-8 campaign in a row. For now, though, the NFL playoffs begin this weekend with the wild-card games so here are my picks for those games. I finished the regular season going 9-2 last week in NFL picks, surely one of my better weeks of the season Overall on the year, I am now 52-40 on NFL picks.
Chiefs (11-5) at Colts (11-5)
4:35 p.m. Saturday NBC
Just two weeks ago, Indianapolis, which had an uneven ending to the year, beat Kansas City, 23-7, in Kansas City. The Colts lost to the Bengals, Cardinals, and Rams late in the year on the road. The fact that the Colts beat the Chiefs on the road makes me think they will win this game. Kansas City had a great start to the season but ended it losing five of seven games.
Colts 28, Chiefs 17
Saints (11-5) at Eagles (10-6)
8:10 p.m. Saturday NBC
Philadelphia beat Dallas on Sunday night to win the NFC East. The Eagles finished the year winning seven of eight games. Still, I am not convinced that they are a very good team. Those seven wins were not against a who's who of good NFL teams: Raiders, Packers (right after losing Aaron Rodgers), Redskins, Cardinals, Lions, Bears, and Cowboys. Their best wins in that stretch were Arizona and Dallas and neither of those teams made the playoffs. Philly's loss in that stretch was vs. Minnesota, a game in which the Eagles gave a horrid defensive performance. With all that said, the Saints were very shaky on the road this season with just three wins, and those were by a combined 14 points over the Bucs, Falcons, and Bears. New Orleans lost on the road five times, including to the Jets and Rams. Saturday's weather in Philly will be pretty cold and that should work in the Eagles' favor, because they have an excellent running game, whereas the Saints like to pass.
Eagles 27, Saints 24
Chargers (9-7) at Bengals (11-5)
1:05 p.m. Sunday CBS
San Diego was oh-so-close to not being in the playoffs. Kansas City almost beat them twice with tons of substitutes last weekend but a couple calls went in the Chargers' favor. The Bengals play very good defense and went 8-0 at home this season. They beat the Ravens last week by 17 despite QB Andy Dalton throwing three picks. Cincy beat San Diego on the road a few weeks ago, 17-10.
Bengals 30, Chargers 20
49ers (12-4) at Packers (8-7-1)
4:40 p.m. Sunday FOX
The weather for this game is going to be incredible. The forecast as of me typing this has the high temperature for Sunday in Green Bay being -3 with a wind chill of -19. The Packers have had a hard time selling tickets to this game, an odd thing for a team that has a waiting list for season tickets. People don't want to freeze their butts off and I can't really blame them! That might take some of the home field advantage away from the Packers. Additionally, San Francisco's strengths are more suited for cold-weather games. The 49ers have a strong running game and good defense. The Packers have discovered a good running game with Eddie Lacy, but still love to sling the ball around, especially now that Aaron Rodgers is back under center. Hands will be cold and hard and it will be difficult to catch the ball. Also, you have to wonder, if Rodgers takes a hard hit, how will his collarbone feel if he gets smashed into the Frozen Tundra? Would a hard hit ache more afterwards because of the extreme cold? I think the Packers are a lot better with Rodgers but I just think there are some things going against them in this game and I like the 49ers to win. In Week 1 of the season, San Francisco beat Green Bay, 34-28, at home. If San Francisco wins and New Orleans loses, we will get to see 49ers at Seahawks next week, a game fans would be clamoring to see.
49ers 28, Packers 24
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