Paul's Picks Bowls Part IV

By

Welcome Back!

For the bowls (and early round CFP games), I have been a very mediocre 24-19, or 55.8%. This makes me 657-259 for the year, a winning percentage of .717, way below my usual percentage. That means I'll need to get all of the last 3 games correct to bring that up ever so slightly. 

All the bowls are completed, and all that's left are this week's semifinals, and then the CFP Championship Game on Monday, December 20. 

Now... on with the picks!


Thursday, January 9


College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl

7 Notre Dame vs 6 Penn State  (Miami Gardens, FL)- This series is tied at 9-9-1, with the Fighting Irish winning the only prior bowl clash 20-9 in the 1976 Gator Bowl. ND's wins are in 1913, 1926, 1928, the '76 Gator Bowl, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1992, and 2006. PSU's wins are in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, and in their most recent contest in 2007. The tie was in 1925, and like so many from the 20s and before, was a scoreless one. This game will be the first time (to my knowledge), that any team has played in 2 bowl games for the same season. The Orange Bowl began in 1935, with Bucknell shutting out Miami (FL) 26-0. The Nittany Lions are 4-1 here, winning in 1969 over Kansas (15-14), 1970 over Missouri (10-3), 1974 over LSU (16-9 with Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti), and in 2006 over FSU (26-23), with their loss coming in 1986 to Oklahoma (25-10). The Irish are 2-3 in Orange Bowls, winning in 1975 over Alabama (13-11) and 1990 over Colorado (21-6), and losing in 1973 to Nebraska (40-6), 1991 to Colorado (10-9), and in 1996 to FSU (31-26). Independents are 13-15 in Miami (Penn State was an independent before joining the Bog Ten in 1993), and the Big Ten is 5-5 there (includes 1 win by PSU). The Irish are 23-21 in bowl/CFP games, including 2-0 this year, as is Penn State. However, the Lions are now 33-20-1 in postseason play. I have been high on ND all year, and see no reason to stop now. Irish win what I hope will be a close game.



Friday, January 10


College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

8 Ohio State vs 5 Texas  (Arlington, TX)- These teams have played only 3 times previously, with the Longhorns winning 25-22 in Columbus in 2005, and the Buckeyes winning 24-7 in Austin in 2006. Their other meeting was in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, with UT coming out on top 24-21, so all 3 games have been relatively low scoring. The Cotton Bowl began holding contests just 2 years after the Orange Bowl, with TCU besting Marquette 16-6 in 1937. For a long time, the Cotton Bowl hosted the winner of the old Southwest Conference, and then the winner of the Big XII for about a decade or so, so Texas has appeared there almost twice as much as the next team, but they are only 11-10-1 in the Classic. 8 of their wins were over SEC teams, a conference of which they are now a member, as they have wins in 1943 (Ga Tech, who was in the SEC at the time), 1946 (Missouri, a Big Eight team and future Big XII/SEC co-member), 1953 (Tenn), 1962 (Ole Miss), 1964 (Navy), 1969 (Tenn again), 1970 (ND), 1973 & 1982 (Alabama), 1999 (Miss State), and 2003 (LSU). their 10 losses were in 1951 (Tenn), 1960 (Syracuse), 1963 (LSU), 1971 (ND), 1972 (Penn State), 1974 (Nebraska), 1978 (ND again), 1984 (Georgia, 10-9!), 1991 (Miami), and 2000 (Arkansas), so 4 of their losses were to SEC teams. The one tie was in 1944, a 7-7 result against Randolph Field, which I assume was one of those WWII training schools that were so ubiquitous. Ohio State is 2-1 in Dallas, winning in 1987 (28-12 over Texas A&M) and in 2017 (24-7 over USC), with their lone loss last year, 14-3 to Missouri. The SWC was 24-29-4 in the Cotton Bowl, with the Big XII at 6-14, the SEC at 25-16-1, and the Big Ten at 5-2. The only team that can stop the Buckeyes are the Bucks themselves, but if the Horns can get some key plays from turnovers and special teams (like ND did against UGA), they could pull the upset. But I don't think that happens. OSU wins.



Feel free to leave a comment. Come back Jan 20 for my National Championship Game pick.

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!      

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

It's Almost Time!

By
Welcome back!  It's been about 6 months since my last post, and I'm sure my loyal readers (all 3 of them!) have been wondering when I would be back. Football season will be here before you know it! Do you know how I can tell? The preseason magazines have begun to hit the shelves (and my mailbox)! The various conferences will be holding their media days next month, and then the teams will be holding their preseason camps, with the first games being played on August 27, the stupidly named Week Zero.  But I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing for the last few months. Oh, no! I've just completed my preseason Power Rankings, and so will now begin writing my previews of all 131 teams and the 10 conferences, which will take me up until the first games. I will publish my previews according to the following schedule: 7/18     Part I           Teams 131-121 7/19     Part II         Teams 120-111 7/20 ...
Read more

Are You Ready?

By
  Welcome Back! College Football is only 9 weeks away- just 64 days until the 1st games on Aug 24! That means the college football preview magazines are all out, and I've been hard at work assembling data and researching the upcoming season for my previews. Here is what you can expect from me, and when you can expect it. Beginning on Monday, July 15, I will do my individual team previews. I will basically do 10 teams a day (after doing 12 a day for the 1st 2 days- 134 doesn't divide by 10 evenly...) for 2+ weeks, and then 5 a day for the last 4 days (my Top 20). These will take you through August 2. These will be presented in reverse order (from #134 to #1) according to my own preseason Power Rankings.  On August 5, I'll start my conference previews, which will take 2 weeks. 9 1/2 conferences plus Independents equals 10 days.  That takes us all the way to Game Week! Well, sort of. There are only a handful of games on Aug 24, which has the incredibly dumb name of Week Zero...
Read more

More Struggles

By
Growing up, my family attended the Presbyterian Church.  My mom had been a Baptist, and my dad grew up Methodist, so I guess this was a compromise.  I did all the normal kid-at-church things: nursery, VBS, Sunday School, Wednesday Night Suppers,  acolyte, confirmation class, youth group.  I really enjoyed my time, and grew to really appreciate the time spent there. When I went to college, I intended to continue going to church, and even went a few times, but just stopped going.  A big part may have been that Sundays was the only time I could sleep past 7 am, especially in the fall (football games on Saturdays).  And once you stop going, it's easy for things to stay that way. My senior year, I met Jackie in my Educational Psychology class.  After 6 weeks of dating, I proposed, and she accepted.  We were married at her home church in Snellville, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.  It was my first exposure to the Episcopal Church. We lived in...
Read more