FTRS Picks: Bowl Games Part 2

Still tabulating the results from last week. Got quite a few games left to go this bowl season.

We’ve had some surprises, some fun games and some not so fun games. Lets see what happens with College Football’s last great hurrah! There will be one last article to summarize the bowl game results and to have our final championship game picks, so keep an eye out for that on January 4th of 2023.

picks:

Quick Lane Bowl: New Mexico State Aggies (-1.5) v Bowling Green Falcons

Logan: Looking at this game both teams are pretty decent on offense, with the defense being the real weak point for Bowling Green. While the Aggies are not great on defense, they have been consistent. I will say the Aggies have only really struggled against P5 programs this year (despite some close games in conference). Bowling Green has been more all over the place. I like the consistency of the Aggies so I will roll with them.

Logan’s Pick: Aggies

Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern Eagles (-4.5) v Buffalo Bulls

Logan: The Eagles have found offense a few times this season, but generally they have struggled to get the ball in the end zone. Buffalo has a much better QB and most of their losses have been very close. I’ll side with Buffalo at least keeping it within a field goal, if not winning the game.

Logan’s Pick: Bulls

SERVPRO First Responders Bowl: Memphis Tigers (-10.5) v Utah State Aggies

Logan: I... just think Memphis is the better team here by far. You could argue for Utah State keeping things close, but the stats don’t lie on this one. Memphis should win far and away.

Logan’s Pick: Memphis

TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl: Coastal Carolina Chanticleers v ECU Pirates (-7.5)

Logan: This should be a shootout between two offensive powerhouses... Except for the fact that the Chanticleers are struggling right now with some injuries which hampered their last games of the regular season. It could be close, but I’ll still take ECU here.

Logan’s Pick: ECU

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin Badgers (-2.5) v Oklahoma State Cowboys

Logan: I have highlighted the Oklahoma State injury issues a few times this season. This is going to be another game where injuries hurt the Cowboys and Wisconsin should win this game by a few.

Logan’s Pick: Wisconsin

Military Bowl Presented by Peroton: UCF Knights (-3.5) v Duke Blue Devils

Logan: My first glance at this game made me go “Of course UCF wins this game”. Then I looked at the stats again and realized that Duke matches up pretty well against UCF and currently has a better QB than the knights have available. I’m gonna go with Duke in this one.

Logan’s Pick: Duke

Autozone Liberty Bowl: Kansas Jayhawks v Arkansas Razorbacks (-4.5)

Logan: Despite a great start to the season Kansas just couldn’t figure anything out down the stretch. Unfortunately I don’t expect Kansas to turn things around here, so I’ll take Arkansas.

Logan’s Pick: Razorbacks

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl: UNC Tarheels v Oregon Ducks (-9.5)

Logan: A tale of two teams going in the opposite direction. UNC fell apart at the end of the season whereas Oregon, despite a few losses, seemed to figure out how to run their offense efficiently. Oregon deserves the spread they have, so Oregon I will take.

Logan’s Pick: Oregon

TaxAct Texas Bowl: Texas Tech Red Raiders v Ole Miss Rebels (-3.5)

Logan: I will give Texas Tech more of a chance here than Kansas has against Arkansas, but not by much. Ole Miss has the better offense and defense here, I’ll take Ole Miss.

Logan’s Pick: Ole Miss

Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse Orange v Minnesota Golden Gophers (-6.5)

Logan: Both these teams matchup well statistically. The game should be closer than a touchdown if Syracuse can avoid turnovers which is not a guarantee. This is also a much closer game for Syracuse so I think the Orange have the better chance here.

Logan’s Pick: Syracuse

Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma Sooners v Florida State Seminoles (-7.5)

Logan: Oklahoma has not shown me enough for me to trust them to keep things close here. The Seminoles should win this game easily.

Logan’s Pick: FSU

Valero Alamo Bowl: Texas Longhorns (-3.5) v Washington Huskies

Logan: This game comes down to one thing, how much faith do you have in Michael Penix Jr. against the Longhorns defense. I’m tempted to go with the Longhorns, but if Penix plays at the same level he has been I think Washington should win this one.

Logan’s Pick: Washington

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Maryland Terrapins (-2.5) v NC State Wolfpack

Logan: This game is more important to the Wolfpack. NC State expected this to be a much better season, but injuries hampered them down the stretch. I think the NC State players are going to have more to prove in this game and will play harder here.

Logan’s Pick: NC State

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh Panthers v UCLA Bruins (-3.5)

Logan: UCLA is just the better team overall. UCLA should win this one pretty easily.

Logan’s Pick: UCLA

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-4.5) v South Carolina Gamecocks

Logan: At the time of my writing, Spencer Rattler is still indicating he will play in this game. South Carolina is expecting to be missing many other offensive weapons, but as long as Rattler is running the offense it is hard for me to pick against the Gamecocks.

Logan’s Pick: South Carolina

Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Ohio Bobcats (-3.5) v Wyoming Cowboys

Logan: You don’t have to agree with me on this one, I just like the Bobcats more. I like their offensive scheme and I like their QB. I’m taking Ohio, because I like them.

Logan’s Pick: Ohio

Capital One Orange Bowl: Tennessee Volunteers v Clemson Tigers (-4.5)

Logan: So... The Orange Bowl knew what they were doing picking these two teams right? Clemson can win if their defense holds up. There seems to be rumors that certain big players on the Tennessee offense won’t be showing up in this game. This is still a tough call but I will side with Clemson.

Logan’s Pick: Clemson

Allstate Sugar Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide (-4.5) v Kansas State Wildcats

Logan: Is this the smallest spread Alabama has had all season? Don’t make me point at the sign guys, we don’t pick against Bama here.

Logan’s Pick: Bama

TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa Hawkeyes v Kentucky Wildcats (-1.5)

Logan: This might be the lowest scoring bowl game. Neither team seems to know what to do when they are on offense. I guess I’ll take Kentucky since this is certainly closer to being a home game for them, but it could really go either way.

Logan’s Pick: Kentucky

Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: TCU Horned Frogs v Michigan Wolverines (-9.5)

Logan: As much as I want to ride with TCU, Michigan looks so talented right now. As long as everyone plays, I expect Michigan to win this one my multiple touchdowns.

Logan’s Pick: Michigan

Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl: Ohio State Buckeyes v Athens Community College (-6.5)

Logan: Sure I wasn’t going to pick uga anyway, but I do genuinely believe Ohio State has a good chance to win this one. Ohio State has a good secondary and talented linebackers who are capable of shutting down the uga offense. Ohio State also has a great offense which can potentially go toe to toe with the dwags. I actually think Ohio State will win this one.

Logan’s Pick: Ohio State

ReliaQuest Bowl: Mississippi State Bulldogs (-1.5) v Illinois Fighting Illini

Logan: Another game where I am picking with my heart instead of my head. I’ve ridden with the Illini all season, they made it to a bowl game and they are gonna find a way to win it.

Logan’s Pick: Illinois

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Tulane Green Wave v USC Trojans (-1.5)

Logan: I just don’t think USC really cares about this bowl. They were aiming for the playoff and I think since they missed it most of the players are going to have checked out. Tulane on the other hand is running a victory lap for winning the American Championship. I’ll take Tulane.

Logan’s Pick: Tulane

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: LSU Tigers (-5.5) v Purdue Boilermakers

Logan: Cheez-It gets two bowls? That’s cool I guess. If the spread was slightly bigger I might go with Purdue. LSU is riding so high based on how they ended the season. I don’t think Purdue is a bad team, but I don’t think they keep this game within a touchdown.

Logan’s Pick: LSU

Rose Bowl: Penn State Nittany Lions (-0.5) v Utah Utes

Logan: I dunno what you want from me here. Utah is the better team and they have been all year. I gotta go with Utah.

Logan’s Pick: Utah