Point-Counterpoint: Our Bowl Picks

The bowls are upon us. Beginning tomorrow, we will be served with a slew of slightly stolid and somewhat superfluous slate of college football over the next twenty days. The old guard of the sport will tell you nothing beats the tradition of bowl games, but the bloated and commercialized world of the modern bowl game creates a general malaise until by the time we get to uninteresting BCS bowls, the viewing audience tunes out. However, it is football and we will be watching. In the spirit of bouts of mostly unattractive competition, we here at the ASD are squaring off in a no holds barred, fight to the death bowl pick compeition. It's me versus Catfish and this time, it's personal....with a vengeance! But not really, this is not for money and the winner may or may not choose to invoke bragging rights. The games and the duo of picks after the break. It's time for pick-counterpick!

Eaglebank Bowl- Washington D.C., Dec. 20, 11:00 a.m.
Wake Forest(7-5) vs. Navy(8-4)
Cleet: Wake Forest- Breakfast games are made of win.
Catfish: Wake Forest- Picking a team down 13 is for geniuses and idiots.

New Mexico Bowl- Albuquerque, Dec. 20, 2:30 p.m.
Colorado State (6-6) vs. Fresno State (7-5)
Cleet: Fresno State- I once drove through New Mexico at sunset, enchanting.
Catfish: Fresno State- Victor Conte is from Fresno, so the Rams have no chance.

St. Petersburg Bowl- St. Petersburg, Dec. 20, 4:30 p.m.
Memphis (6-6) vs. South Florida (7-5)
Cleet: South Florida- Can we at least try to be creative with the bowl names?
Catfish: Memphis- No free throws for the Tigers to miss.

Las Vegas Bowl- Las Vegas, Dec. 20, 8:30 p.m.
BYU (10-2) vs. Arizona (7-5)
Cleet: BYU- I guess the Cougars have to avert their eyes until they are inside the stadium.
Catfish: BYU- The Hoff will be the only thing from Zona looking good.

New Orleans Bowl- New Orleans, Dec. 21, 8:00 p.m.
Southern Miss (6-6) vs. Troy (8-4)
Cleet: Troy- Going up against Sunday Night Football not a wise decision.
Catfish: Troy- This is for all the people that say schools can't make the transition from 1-AA.

Poinsettia Bowl- San Diego, Dec. 23, 8 p.m.
Boise State (12-0) vs. Texas Christian (10-2)
Cleet: Boise State- Should be one of the best bowl games hands down.
Catfish: TCU- Spitting blood from one's eyes is more impressive that blue turf.

Hawaii Bowl- Honolulu, Dec. 24, 8 p.m.
Hawaii (7-6) vs. Notre Dame (6-6)
Cleet: Notre Dame- I can think of worse places to be on Christmas Eve.
Catfish: Hawaii- Charlie's Hawaiian shirt will be sized XL Samoan.

Motor City Bowl- Detroit, Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic (6-6) vs. Central Michigan (8-4)
Cleet: Central Michigan- More or less fans than a Lions game?
Catfish: FAU- I flipped a coin.

Meineke Car Care Bowl- Charlotte, Dec. 27, 1:00 p.m.
West Virginia (8-4) vs. North Carolina (8-4)
Cleet: West Virgnia- This bowl already is sold out.
Catfish: North Carolina- David Noel > Noel Devine.

Champ Sports Bowl- Orlando, Dec. 27, 4:30 p.m.
Wisconsin (7-5) vs. Florida State (8-4)
Cleet: Florida State- The shared hatred for Florida has really cooled the FSU-Miami relations.
Catfish: Wisconsin- Still plenty of time for some new FSU suspensions.

Emerald Bowl- San Francisco, Dec. 27, 8:00 p.m.
Miami (Fla.) (7-5) vs. California (8-4)
Cleet: Miami- I don't think they'll win, but I can't go against my alma mater.
Catfish: Cal- I can.

Independence Bowl- Shreveport, Dec. 28, 8:00 p.m.
Northern Illinois (6-6) vs. Louisiana Tech (7-5)
Cleet: Northern Illinois- I respect both schools but is this game really necessary?
Catfish: Louisiana Tech- Win it for Paul Milsap.

Papajohns.com Bowl- Birmingham, Dec. 29, 3:00 p.m.
North Carolina State (6-6) vs. Rutgers (7-5)
Cleet: NC State- Russel Wilson is the truth.
Catfish: NC State- Greg Schiano is the false?

Alamo Bowl- San Antonio, Dec. 29, 8:00 p.m.
Missouri (9-4) vs. Northwestern (9-3)
Cleet: Mizzou- Just because his team is not as good as advertised does not mean Jeremy Maclin isn't.
Catfish: Mizzou- and healthy for the first time in months.

Humanitarian Bowl- Boise, Dec. 30, 4:30 p.m.
Maryland (7-5) vs. Nevada (7-5)
Cleet: Maryland- Nothing says humanitarian like a blue football field.
Catfish: Nevada- Turtles don't travel well and get done in by the pistol.

Texas Bowl- Houston, Dec. 30, 8:00 p.m.
Rice (9-3) vs. Western Michigan (9-3)
Cleet: Rice- This game is on NFL Network, lewl!
Catfish: Rice- Complicated offenses and Michigan don't go well together.

Holiday Bowl- San Diego, Dec. 30, 8:00 p.m.
Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Oregon (9-3)
Cleet: Oklahoma State- Should be a great one to watch, unless you like defense.
Catfish: Oregon- Provided they don't lose another five QBs in freak hunting accidents.

Armed Forces Bowl- Fort Worth, Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m.
Houston (7-5) vs. Air Force (8-4)
Cleet: Houston- Catfish is not going to pick against the Falcons is he?
Catfish: Air Force- Fly Boys!

Sun Bowl- El Paso, Dec. 31, 2:00 p.m.
Oregon State (8-4) vs. Pittsburgh (9-3)
Cleet: Oregon State- This usually is a great bowl game, and it is one of the oldest, but having driven through El Paso once I would have no desire to spend a great length of time there.
Catfish: Oregon State- Betting on The 'Stache in big games should come with a Surgeon General's warning.

Music City Bowl- Nashville, Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m.
Boston College (9-4) vs. Vanderbilt (6-6)
Cleet: Boston College- As you can tell I am expecting great things from the ACC this bowl season.
Catfish: Boston College- Remember when Vandy had that big win against the juggernaut Auburn?

Insight Bowl- Tempe, Dec. 31, 5:30 p.m.
Kansas (7-5) vs. Minnesota (7-5)
Cleet: Kansas- Another NFL Network gem.
Catfish: Minnesota- The Deadspin rules of sports blogging insist we make a Mangino joke. He's big. There.

Chick-fil-A Bowl- Atlanta, Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.
LSU (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (9-3)
Cleet: Georgia Tech- Having gone to this bowl a few years ago when LSU destroyed UM, ran up the score, fake-kicked when up 30 points, go Jackets.
Catfish: LSU- Oh, are we picking who we're rooting for? Someone needs to explain these rules.

Outback Bowl- Tampa, Jan. 1, 11 a.m.
South Carolina (7-5) vs. Iowa (8-4)
Cleet: Iowa- I think the Gamecocks are a fraud.
Catfish: South Carolina- No weather to aid the Hawkeye running game.

Capital One Bowl- Orlando, Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m.
Georgia (9-3) vs. Michigan State (9-3)
Cleet: Georgia- I guess my UGA national championship pick was a tad off.
Catfish: Michigan State- Mark Richt better hope I'm right or the swell of unhappy boosters will continue to grow.

Gator Bowl- Jacksonville, Jan. 1, 1:00 p.m.
Clemson (7-5) vs. Nebraska (8-4)
Cleet: Clemson- If Dabo does not win this game, it is going to be a long off-season in Tigertown.
Catfish: Nebraska- Two new coaches that both need the win. Bo > Dabo.

Cotton Bowl- Dallas, Jan. 2, 2:00 p.m.
Mississippi (8-4) vs. Texas Tech (11-1)
Cleet: Texas Tech- Time to remind everyone you were one bad night in Norman away from the BCS title game.
Catfish: Ole Miss- The found mojo of the Tech defense is gone. McCluster!

Liberty Bowl- Memphis, Jan. 2, 5:00 p.m.
Kentucky (6-6) vs. East Carolina (9-4)
Cleet: East Carolina- Still an impressive year for ECU.
Catfish: Kentucky- It took 7 INTs for the Pirates to beat Tulsa.

International Bowl- Toronto, Jan. 3, 12:00 p.m.
Buffalo (8-5) vs. Connecticut (7-5)
Cleet: UCONN- So, you lead the nation in rushing on a poor passing team and you get second team all-american. Makes sense.
Catfish: Buffalo Barkley made me do it.

GMAC Bowl- Mobile, Jan. 6, 8:00 p.m.
Tulsa (10-3) vs. Ball State (12-1)
Cleet: Tulsa- Should actually be interesting to watch this game.
Catfish: Ball State- New coach, no problem.

Orange Bowl- Miami Gardens, Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.
Virginia Tech (9-4) vs. Cincinnati (11-2)
Cleet: Virginia Tech- Is Bud Foster ever going to get a head coaching job? In other news this bowl will not be high in the ratings.
Catfish: Virginia Tech- Over/under on Beamer Ball mentions: 7

Rose Bowl- Pasadena, Jan. 1, 5:00 p.m.
Penn State (11-1) vs. Southern California (11-1)
Cleet: Penn State- That's right I said it, Lions win this game.
Catfish: USC- They've been in a game this big before.

Sugar Bowl- New Orleans, Jan. 2, 8:00 p.m.
Utah (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1)
Cleet: Alabama- In a close one I think but the size on the lines proves too much.
Catfish: Alabama- Adrenalin fades and so do the Utes.

Fiesta Bowl- Tempe, Jan. 5, 8:00 p.m.
Ohio State (10-2) vs. Texas (11-1)
Cleet: Texas- The lots of stuff to prove bowl.
Catfish: Ohio State- The Sweatervest cometh.

BCS Title Game- Miami Gardens, Jan. 8, 8:00 p.m.
No. 1 Oklahoma (12-1) vs. No. 2 Florida (12-1)
Cleet: Florida- I do not think they are as great as people think but in this match-up I see them stopping OU more than OU stops them.
[tiebreaker- total points in championship game: 84]
Catfish:Oklaho who am I kidding? Florida
Points: 67