Sheraton Hawaii

Fresno State RB Robbie Rouse

Hey there guys,

I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season and a Merry Christmas (eve). 

Due to some family issues I took a small break. I'm back today to preview the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl featuring Fresno State and SMU.

 I am 6-0 so far in my bowl picks - one game ahead of Phil Steele - and ranked 41 out of 1,482 participants. It's still very early into the bowl season so I'm positive that will have changed by January 8th. Hopefully for the better, but I'm still rusty at this.

Click the jump for an abbreviated preview

Time Constraints and Cell Phone usage

What's up guys? Sorry no full post today. Family stuff came up so I'm away from a computer and obviously short on time with the first game coming up at 11 a.m. CST. I'm going to post my picks here and I'll get back to you with the Hawaii Bowl on Xmas eve.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
East Carolina (8-4) vs. Louisiana (8-4)
11 a.m. CST on ESPN

Watchability Grade: This game has very little impact value when you look at the names. I'm also not convinced this is going to be a great game either. Two high scoring offenses however should make this game at least somewhat entertaining, earning a C-

Projections: Louisiana 36, East Carolina 29
Pass Yards: Louisiana 290 yards, East Carolina 286 yards
Rush Yards: Louisiana 188 yards, East Carolina 145 yards

My Pick: Each of these teams should have an advantage when their offenses are on the field, however I think ULL's advantage is much greater. They hold a significant advantage on special teams and Mark Hudspeth is a fantastic coach. I expect the Cajuns to win 31-21.

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas
Washington (7-5) vs. No. 19 Boise State (10-2)
2:30 p.m. on ESPN

Watchability Grade: this one gets tricky because these are two recognizable teams, Boise State is even ranked. However, a low scoring matchup in which Boise figures to be a big favorite this game may feel like it deserves being an early bowl game once it's finished. I give it a C.

Projections: Boise State 26, Washington 16
Pass Yards: Boise State 209 yards, Washington 176 yards
Rush Yards: Boise State 172 yards, Washington 116 yards

My Pick: In a stark contrast to today's first game, each Defense will have a much bigger advantage over the others. Washington is much more battle tested, including wins over Oregon State and Stanford. However, Boise has the momentum and a huge special teams advantage. Also, I believe that Chris Peterson is arguably the best coach in the country. I look for Boise State to win a close one 21-10.

Beef O'Brady Bowl Preview and SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl Recap

UCF QB Blake Bortles

Hey there guys,

As I said last night. It really feels good to be 3-0. I haven't been publishing my picks in awhile so I honestly expected to come out rusty and embarrass myself. Not the case so far, but it's still very early. In this post I will recap BYU's come from behind 23-6 win over San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl and then I will preview the Beef O'Brady's Bowl featuring Central Florida and Ball State. I know. You're excited.

Click the jump to read more.

3-0 and still ranked 7,805 in confidence

I said BYU and Kyle Van Noy would get the win and I was right again. 3-0 feels good. I'll be honest I didn't expect Adam Muema to be that successful but man he is a great back.

Ill go more in depth into the game tomorrow when I post tomorrow's pick.

Phil Steele also happens to be 3-0, as is just about everyone else,but I've got a 2 point lead over Phil in confidence. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pack thins itself out as the games go on.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Preview

Hey there guys,

If you've been following you'll know that I'm off to a decent start. 2-0. It feels nice. Probably won't last long though. I've got 46 points in vs. Phil Steele's 42 so far in the bowl pick 'em on ESPN. We're both 2-0, but I've got confidence in my picks.

Click the jump for my picks for today's bowl game.

Daily Basketball Picks: Monday December 17th

Vanderbilt guard Kedren Johnson

Click the jump to see today's picks for the NBA and college - Top 25 and SEC.

New Mexico/Idaho Potato Bowl Recap

Hey there guys,

I'll be doing some small bowl recaps and updating you on how I'm doing in my battle with Phil Steele and all of his followers. I might try to find some of the other ESPN personalities and post their picks as well. Just so we can get some comparison going on.

Anyway, I'm obviously 2-0. I mostly follow the SEC now, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little off on games involving teams from other conferences, but I felt like I had a beat on the first two games.

Check out my breakdowns after the jump.

2-0 Start

After a couple of disappointing bowl pick 'ems I am off to a good start. And I actually sound kind of smart too! I said that Arizona and Nevada would put up some yards and points, but that the Wildcats would pull of the W. And they did, by 1.

I then called for Utah State to win comfortably, and granted they didn't really gain control until late in the fourth quarter but the final was 41-15. Sounds comfortable enough for me.

I'll post more analysis in the morning for now I'm going to enjoy the galaxy of lights here in HSV.

December 15th Bowl Picks

Arizona RB Ka'Deem Carey

Hey there guys,

I'm going to be posting my picks for every day that has a bowl game. I'll post my projected score, pass yards and rushing yards for each game, as well as something that I call my "Watchability Grade."

I grade each game on how watchable it should be; I take into affect how recognizable the teams are based on the level of conference they come from (Major, Mid-Major, Low), how well they've played, how high are they ranked (if at all), and then how close the game is projected to be.

Here is what each grade means:

• A - This is a can't miss game; you plan your day around this game. An 'A' grade means it will be a great game between highly recognizable teams. 
• B - These games have pretty high entertainment value. A 'B' grade is a game that involves highly recognizable teams playing a mediocre game, or two semi-recognizable teams playing a great game. 
• C - This level is for football junkies or fans of the team only. Not that these games are awful, but you will rarely see these highlights on SportsCenter the next day. Either an awful game between highly recognizable teams, a mediocre game between semi-recognizable teams, or a great game between teams you need to look up. 
• D - This game is going to put you too sleep. You may start off watching it, but this game is going to either get ugly fast or the two unrecognizable teams playing a mediocre game will just plain get boring. 
• F - This just shouldn't be on television. Or even radio. The fans aren't even interested in this game. 

Click the jump for my previews for today's games.

Week 6 SEC Game Grades

 Hey there guys,

I promise I'm trying to get better at posting every day. It's tough. I have things. School. My job. My other job. Laundry. A girlfriend. It never stops. Anyway, I'm doing my best to be more disciplined.

I'm going to preface my game grades by saying that yes, the team that won the game was the better team that day. My grade does not reflect that. My individual game grade for each team is based off of expectations, my Top30 performance numbers, what their opponents allow and what they average themselves. Essentially it's a comparison of what is expected and what happens.