College Football Handicapping Articles

2012 BCS Championship Game Predictions: LSU vs. Alabama Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 12/26/2011

All hail the SEC. Again. No. 1 LSU (13-0) will take on No. 2 Alabama (11-1) at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 9 at the Superdome in New Orleans. The winner will claim the sixth straight National Championship for the SEC and will be allowed another smug offseason of braggadocio for their rabid Southern fan base.

2012 Fiesta Bowl Predictions: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 12/26/2011

The Cowboys, the champions of the Big 12, were left out of the BCS National Championship Game as voters elected to go with a rematch between LSU-Alabama in the title clash. Oklahoma State was passed over despite the fact that Alabama didn’t win its own division in the SEC, much less a conference title, and the fact that Oklahoma State has performed better against a more difficult schedule this season.

2012 TicketCity Bowl Predictions: Penn State vs. Houston Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/26/2011

The busy day of bowl action on Jan. 2 kicks off with the TicketCity bowl at noon Eastern from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas when No. 17 Houston (12-1) faces off against No. 23 Penn State (9-3). It will be curious to see how motivated the Cougars are for this one. Houston was unbeaten and in line for its first-ever BCS bowl before running into a pretty good Southern Miss team in the Conference USA Championship Game and falling, 49-28 (that was the only ranked team Houston played this season).

2012 Rose Bowl Predictions: Wisconsin vs. Oregon Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/24/2011

The “Granddaddy of Them All” highlights the bowl action on Jan. 2 when No. 10 Wisconsin and No. 5 Oregon face off in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. While most would consider the Rose Bowl the top non-title bowl game, both UW and Oregon had National Championship hopes this year. The Badgers (11-2) were about 20 game seconds from playing in that game, falling in the final seconds in back-to-back weeks to Michigan State and Ohio State in midseason.

2012 Gator Bowl Predictions: Florida vs. Ohio State Odds and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/21/2011

If you had told Gator Bowl organizers back in the summer that they would be matching Florida and Ohio State, they probably would have wet themselves. Alas, this matchup of previous superpowers doesn’t hold quite the cache as expected because both enter off hugely disappointing seasons and at 6-6 each for the Jan. 2 game in Jacksonville.

2011 Insight Bowl Predictions: Iowa vs. Oklahoma Betting Odds
by - 12/21/2011

No. 19 Oklahoma will square off with Iowa in the 2011 Insight Bowl. The game will kick off at 10 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 30, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The spread on this game opened at 16.5, which was the highest of any bowl spread released in Las Vegas this winter.

2012 Orange Bowl Predictions: West Virginia vs. Clemson Odds
by - 12/20/2011

As the calendar turns to 2012 college football fans will be treated to a week of outstanding football. And while random teams from conferences across the country are thrown together, somewhat haphazardly, into odd bowl games, the Orange Bowl promises to be a rare game that has both national and regional significance.

2011 Holiday Bowl Predictions: Cal vs. Texas Odds and Betting Picks
by David Schwab - 12/19/2011

The California Golden Bears and the Texas Longhorns will be at Qualcomm Stadium on Wednesday, Dec.28, to square-off in the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl in San Diego. This Pac-12 /Big 12 clash is slated to get underway at 8 p.m. (EST) and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

2011 Champs Sports Bowl Predictions: Notre Dame vs. Florida State Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 12/16/2011

The Champs Sports Bowl is overrated. No. 25 Florida State will take on Notre Dame in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29 in the Florida Citrus Bowl and features perhaps the two most overrated programs in college football over the last 10 years.

2011 Poinsettia Bowl Predictions: TCU vs. Louisiana Tech Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 12/16/2011

The Horned Frogs played their final season in the Mountain West this year, winning the conference championship and positioning themselves to once again crash the BCS party and to play in a post-New Year’s bowl game. Instead, they get to take on fledgling Louisiana Tech in a pre-Christmas, mid-week matchup that is about as anticipated as holiday fruitcake.

2011 Alamo Bowl Predictions: Washington vs. Baylor Odds and Picks
by Aaron Smith - 12/16/2011

The Alamo Bowl is generally one of the better early-season bowl matchups, and I would say this year is no different. Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy early this month, and he’ll lead his Baylor Bears up against the Washington Huskies in this one. The man they call RG3 is making the rounds in the media after picking up the coveted trophy. Can his Bears reach double figures in wins in front of a friendly crowd in San Antonio?

2012 Cotton Bowl Predictions: Arkansas vs. Kansas State Odds and Picks
by Darin Zank - 12/16/2011

The Cotton Bowl has kind of fallen off the big bowl radar in recent years, which is too bad considering it's got a lot more tradition than most other bowls. For Instance, Alabama's Tommy Lewis stepping off the bench to lay out Rice's Dicky Moegle in the 1954 game; all those great Southwestern Conference teams; Joe Montana leading Notre Dame back vs. Houston in '79; those early New Year's Day kickoffs, to go along with your favorite hair of the dog. All good stuff.

2012 Outback Bowl Predictions: Michigan State vs. Georgia Odds
by - 12/15/2011

Are they focused and ready? How about interested in this game? Those are some of the most important questions for this year’s Outback Bowl when No. 13 Michigan State and No. 18 Georgia get together on Jan.2. Both Michigan State and Georgia played in their respective conference title games with each given more than a fair chance to go BCS bowling with a potential win.

2012 Sugar Bowl Predictions: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech Odds
by - 12/15/2011

Don’t look now, but the Maize and Blue are back in the BCS. It may not be the Rose Bowl, but things appear very good in Ann Arbor in Brady Hoke’s first season with his Michigan Wolverines. But then again, his opponent in the 2011 Sugar Bowl is Virginia Tech, and neither this program nor head coach Frank Beamer is a stranger to this game or the big stage.

2011 Independence Bowl Predictions: North Carolina vs. Missouri Betting Odds
by Aaron Smith - 12/14/2011

Many believe the real bowl season doesn’t begin until after Christmas Day. If you subscribe to that theory, the Independence Bowl will kick off this year’s bowl season on Dec. 26. North Carolina and Missouri both finished the regular season with a 7-5 record. The Tar Heels dropped four of their last six games, while the Tigers won their last three contests. This may not be a marquee bowl, but I believe it has the potential to be a quality game.

College Bowl Game Betting Advice: Heisman Trophy Winners
by T.O. Whenham - 12/14/2011

On Dec. 29 the wildly impressive Robert Griffin III will bring his newly-won Heisman Trophy to San Antonio to lead his Baylor Bears in the Alamo Bowl against the Washington Huskies. While Griffin’s Heisman win was unexpected — at least at the start of the season — he was certainly deserving despite the three losses his team suffered.

2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl Predictions: Texas A&M vs. Northwestern Odds
by Alan Matthews - 12/13/2011

Ah, the pageantry that is the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Just so we are clear here, I am referring to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas that is at noon on Dec. 31 in Houston. NOT to the former Meineke Car Care Bowl that used to be in Charlotte and is now called the Belk Bowl.

2011 New Orleans Bowl Predictions: San Diego State vs. UL Lafayette Odds
by David Schwab - 12/13/2011

The San Diego State Aztecs head into the Superdome this Saturday night as a road favorite in a neutral-site game when they take-on the hometown UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in this year’s New Orleans Bowl. The kickoff for this Mountain West verses Sun Belt clash is set for 9 p.m. (EST) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

2011 Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl Predictions: Florida International vs. Marshall Odds
by David Schwab - 12/13/2011

This upcoming Tuesday, the Florida International Golden Panthers, out of the Sun Belt Conference will look to keep their season-ending winning streak alive when they tangle with the Conference-USA’s Marshall Thundering Herd in this year’s Beef ‘O’ Brady Bowl in St. Petersburg, Florida.

College Bowl Game Handicapping: Coaching Changes
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 12/13/2011

There are 12 college football teams heading to their bowl games with some sort of coaching dilemma one-way or the other. There are the coaches who have already been fired but are permitted to coach in the bowl game, coordinators who have been elevated to interim coaches to replace a fired or departed coach, there are the teams with coaches looking for better jobs but stuck there for the time being, and then there are coaches who have already left for another school but will come back to coach in the bowl game.