If you look past all the controversy the Bowl Championship Series system creates and just enjoy your winter break, make sure you tune in for these intriguing bowl matchups.
AT&T Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1: Mizzou vs. Arkansas
This matchup features two Heisman Trophy candidates in Chase Daniel and Darren McFadden.
The discourse about this game will center around whether or not Mizzou should be playing in this game in the first place. They were left out of the BCS bowl games even though they only lost twice (both times to Oklahoma) and beat two teams that are in BCS bowl games: Kansas and Illinois.
Arkansas proved it can win big games with a victory over LSU in the second to the last week of the season. They also went 4-4 in their conference and 8-4 overall.
I think that McFadden will look to make one last good impression by running all over Mizzou’s offense before he gets drafted this year. My prediction: Arkansas 42, Mizzou 28.
AllState Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1: Georgia vs. Hawaii
Hawaii went undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference, and some argue that they should be in the national championship game since they ended the season undefeated.
What more could they do, right? Hawaii’s strength of schedule was 117 out of 119 teams, and I think there are plenty of teams that, given Hawaii’s schedule, could easily go undefeated.
However, Hawaii will get the chance to finally prove itself and make a case against getting left out of the national championship when the team plays Georgia. The Bulldogs are also looking to make a point as they, too, feel that they were left out of the national championship game.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, if they defeat Hawaii, it will be because Hawaii wasn’t good in the first place, rather than Georgia being great. My prediction: Georgia 31, Hawaii 30.
FedEx Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
The Jayhawks may have lost the battle with Mizzou in the Border Showdown, but they won the war, earning a bid to the Orange Bowl over the Tigers.
The story of this bowl is whether or not Kansas deserves to be here. The Jayhawks went 11-1, losing to Mizzou. They don’t really have any big marquee wins-their chance to do this against the Tigers didn’t happen-but they were given a second life by the BCS committee and now have another chance to prove themselves.
By beating Georgia, the Jayhawks can prove to be one of the best teams this year. However, a loss will only make Kansas appear to be an average team and confirm a lot of suspicion about the true talent of this squad. My prediction: Kansas 45, VT 28.
The Rose Bowl, Jan. 1:USC vs. Illinois
Illinois made a case for itself when it beat Ohio State 28-21. However, it remains one of the most controversial BCS bowl game selections, since it finished the year ranked No. 13 in the BCS. Although Illinois beat Ohio State, the Fighting Illini also lost to an average Iowa team 10-6.
USC was, without a doubt, thought to be one of the best teams coming into this season this year. But, after suffering an embarrassing loss to Stanford, USC plummeted in the rankings and didn’t recover, especially after a later loss to Oregon.
The Trojans have endured many key injuries this year, but they should be ready to go by this game. My prediction: USC 35, Illinois 14.
Max Vosburgh is a freshman in the John Cook School of Business.
