Season: 115-48
I went 0-1 with my first bowl pick Saturday which means the ACC went 1-0 as Wake Forest came back from down 28-10 to beat Memphis, 37-34 in the Birmingham Bowl. Now the bowl season begins in earnest for the ACC with four the next two days. Here are the first two today:
First Responder Bowl in Dallas
Boston College (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-3), 1:30 p.m. ESPN
After beating Virginia Tech handily, the Eagles were 7-2 and had a chance, albeit small, of winning the ACC Atlantic. It needed to win at Clemson and hang on. Instead, BC lost three straight, to Clemson, Florida State, and then Syracuse to end the season. A possibly excellent regular season only ended up being good. The Broncos' regular season did not end how they wanted either. They lost the Mountain West title game on their home smurf turf to Fresno State, 19-16 in overtime. BC running back AJ Dillon has not been as good as last year, but is still a beast. He's had a hurt ankle that he re-injured in the finale. It's unknown if he will give it a go in the bowl. BC's best wins came over Temple and Miami. The Broncos, whose other two losses came to Oklahoma State in a blowout and San Diego State in a close contest, seem to always play tough against Power Five teams in the bowls, and with BC on a slide, I like Boise.
Boise State 31, Boston College 27
Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5), 5:15 p.m. ESPN
Many Yellow Jackets fans were angry they were not invited to the Belk Bowl, which is viewed as a better bowl than the Quick Lane Bowl. Their arguments were that their fans would travel to Charlotte very easily from the Atlanta area, they beat Virginia, which was invited to the Belk Bowl instead, and coach Paul Johnson is retiring, so the game would take on extra meaning and the team and fans would want to put on a great performance in Charlotte. Instead, the team was shipped north for the
holidays, so we will see how it responds. Georgia Tech struggled in the beginning of the year, but crushed Louisville and Virginia Tech, and got by UNC, Miami, and UVa (in OT). It wasn't competitive against Georgia in the finale. The Golden Gophers, in their second year with former Western Michigan coach PJ Fleck (who got WMU to the Cotton Bowl in 2017 and went 5-7 in his first season with Minnesota), upset Wisconsin 37-15 in their regular-season finale to get to the postseason. The Gophers, like other teams going through transition and improving with a new coach, show potential yet inconsistency. They were blown out at Maryland, but hung tight with Ohio State. They beat Purdue 41-10, a few weeks after the Boilermakers crushed OSU. Minnesota ranks 76th in the country in rushing defense, obviously a key stat when facing Georgia Tech. I like Georgia Tech in a fairly close game.
Georgia Tech 34, Minnesota 31
I went 0-1 with my first bowl pick Saturday which means the ACC went 1-0 as Wake Forest came back from down 28-10 to beat Memphis, 37-34 in the Birmingham Bowl. Now the bowl season begins in earnest for the ACC with four the next two days. Here are the first two today:
First Responder Bowl in Dallas
Boston College (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-3), 1:30 p.m. ESPN
After beating Virginia Tech handily, the Eagles were 7-2 and had a chance, albeit small, of winning the ACC Atlantic. It needed to win at Clemson and hang on. Instead, BC lost three straight, to Clemson, Florida State, and then Syracuse to end the season. A possibly excellent regular season only ended up being good. The Broncos' regular season did not end how they wanted either. They lost the Mountain West title game on their home smurf turf to Fresno State, 19-16 in overtime. BC running back AJ Dillon has not been as good as last year, but is still a beast. He's had a hurt ankle that he re-injured in the finale. It's unknown if he will give it a go in the bowl. BC's best wins came over Temple and Miami. The Broncos, whose other two losses came to Oklahoma State in a blowout and San Diego State in a close contest, seem to always play tough against Power Five teams in the bowls, and with BC on a slide, I like Boise.
Boise State 31, Boston College 27
Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5), 5:15 p.m. ESPN
Many Yellow Jackets fans were angry they were not invited to the Belk Bowl, which is viewed as a better bowl than the Quick Lane Bowl. Their arguments were that their fans would travel to Charlotte very easily from the Atlanta area, they beat Virginia, which was invited to the Belk Bowl instead, and coach Paul Johnson is retiring, so the game would take on extra meaning and the team and fans would want to put on a great performance in Charlotte. Instead, the team was shipped north for the
Georgia Tech 34, Minnesota 31
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