Paul Prattles On

Welcome Back! A couple of quick predictions before my regular column. Boca Raton Bowl UAB vs. Northern Illinois - The Blazers have had a tremendous season, winning the Conference USA title.  The Huskies also won their conference, the MAC.  I think UAB wins a close one to get to 11 wins. Frisco Bowl (Texas) San Diego State vs Ohio - Both of these teams had somewhat disappointing seasons.  The Aztecs finished 4th in the MWC West, after harboring hopes of winning the division, and the Bobcats finished in a tie for 2nd in the MAC East.  SDSU has lost their last 3, and 4 of their last 5, while Ohio has won 5 of their last 6.  Call me crazy, but I'm going with the Aztecs in a mild upset. The Power Rankings   Today, I am going to compare my preseason power rankings to the post-season power rankings.  After each team, I list where they started, and the difference.  For example, Washington is #20, but they started at #...

Welcome Back! Saturday began the bowl season, and I actually watched most of the bowls.  Many people thik there are too many bowls, and I am one of them, but I can certainly see how important these games are for the teams involved, so I don't begrudge them that.  And there is nothing wrong with more college football!  I even watched a little of the Division II title game. Cure Bowl Tulane raced out to a big lead, but then saw Louisiana cut that lead to 3, before winning 41-24.  The Green Wave finish their season at 7-6, and the Ragin' Cajuns finish at 7-7. New Mexico Bowl Utah State absolutely crushed North Texas 52-13, but that may be due to QB Mason Fine being injured early in the game.  While I'm convinced the Aggies would have won anyway, it would certainly have been much closer.  USU finishes at 11-2, and the Mean Green at 9-4. Las Vegas Bowl Fresno State pulled away from Arizona State for a 31-20 win....

Welcome Back! Last week, I was right on every single game!  Yes, I was 1-0, but don't spoil the moment.   Overall, I am 618-225, a .733 win percentage.  Now that it's time for the bowl games, I don't see that percentage improving.  Generally, if anyone is above 50% in predicting the bowl games, that's pretty good.  Or pretty lucky.  Because predicting bowls is fraught with difficulty.  There are coaching changes, academic suspensions, behavior suspensions, players not playing to prepare for the NFL Draft, injuries, and a host of other issues, not the least of which are the location of the game and the focus level of the players.  Which team will be more motivated?  Take the Quick Lane Bowl, for example.  The game is in Detroit, which is closer to Minnesota, but the Gophers just suspended 6 players.  Will that galvanize the team?  Or will it weaken it?  Then again, Georgia Tech i...

Welcome Back! Here at Odds and Ends, I plan to look at some stats, trends, storylines, etc. as they play out.  I will also give my opinion on some issues, but you can take that for what it's worth. All-Time Bowl Records Today, I'm going to list every current FBS team in order of bowl victories.  At the bottom, I will list the top 10 in order of winning percentage.  It should be noted that several teams declined bowl invitations in earlier years due to school policy, and others were prohibited from attending.  For example, for many years, the Big Ten only allowed its champion to attend the Rose Bowl, and no other team was allowed to play in a bowl game. Alabama 40-25-3 USC 35-19 Georgia 31-20-3 Penn State 29-17-2 Oklahoma 29-21-1 FSU 28-16-2 Tennessee 28-24 Texas 28-24-1 Nebraska 26-27 Georgia Tech 25-19 LSU 25-23-1 Ole Miss 24-13 Ohio State 24-25 Auburn 23-17-2 Clemson 22-20 Florida 22-21 Michigan 21-25 Miami, Fla 19-20 Oklah...