Bowl Season is upon us!

The days are getting shorter, the shopping days are getting fewer, and the reasons to fire Isiah Thomas are piling up. Must mean only one thing - the holidays have arrived! And what better gift to all of us already tired of BCS talk and complaints from teams that feel left out than more college football! As always, I'll be picking the winner of each and every bowl game, though some of them won't get the full treatment (you can decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing). Cut me some slack - its Hanukkah, I'm in the middle of finals, and I have that thing from 9am - 5pm every day. Work, I think they call it. Teams in bold are my picks. Anyhow, here's how I see the first week of games shaping up:


Tuesday, Dec. 19
POINSETTIA BOWL - San Diego, CA
Texas Christian -12 Northern Illinois

TCU is ranked and 10-2 this season. NIU went 7-5 in the MAC. However, Garrett Wolfe of the Huskies rushed for an NCAA leading 1900 yards rushing, and it would be pretty cool to see him break the single season record for rushing. He only needs 729 against the Horned Frogs. I don't see it happening, and I also don't see TCU winning by less than a pair of TDs. I'm taking Texas Christian to cover.

Thursday, Dec. 21
LAS VEGAS BOWL - Las Vegas, NV
Brigham Young -3 Oregon

This game was already written up in TV Guide this week. Here's what it said.

Las Vegas Bowl (Comedy) - A wacky bunch of Mormons find themselves far from home as their Mission takes back them to Sin City for the second straight year. Also starring Oregon as the unlucky losers of three straight games.

As much as it pains me to pick against BYU in Vegas for a second straight year, could Oregon really lose four games in a row? I don't think so. I'll take the Ducks to beat the spread. I'm sure they'll unveil some crazy zebra-striped uniform for the game. Phil Knight and Nike won't let me down.

Friday, Dec. 22
NEW ORLEANS BOWL - New Orleans, LA
Rice -4½ Troy

Uh, there's a team called Rice? Sounds good to me. Might as well take the over on this one too. Just a hunch.

Saturday, Dec. 23
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL - Birmingham, AL
South Florida -4½ East Carolina

Yes! A battle of directional schools! I'm most intrigued by South Florida's WR - Taurus Johnson. See, South Florida are the Bulls, and Taurus is a bull. See how that works out? Pretty neat huh? Its a good thing Taurus' parents didn't name him Hootie. Then he'd be a sexist and probably wouldn't let himself play at Augusta National. You thought I was going to make a "He'd have to play for Temple because they're the Owls" joke, didn't you. I totally went in another direction on that one! South Florida covers.

NEW MEXICO BOWL - Albuquerque, NM
NEW MEXICO -3½ San Jose State

Home field advantage, blah, blah, blah. If home field was such an advantage, why did the Lobos go 2-4 there this year? SDSU is 8-3 against the spread this season - one of the better marks in the country. Yes, they're tied for third place in the WAC, but there is something to be said about a barely eligible bowl team playing at home. I'm not sure what it is, but there is something to be said. I'll take the Spartans with the points.

ARMED FORCES BOWL - Fort Worth, TX
Utah -1 Tulsa

Nothing says "We Support Our Troops" quite like 7-5 Utah taking on 8-4 Tulsa. I'm sure our servicemen and women in Iraq are looking forward to waking up at 4:00am on Sunday the 24th, cracking open a cold one, and enjoying the offensive powerhouse that is Utah's leading rusher Darryl Poston (546 yards, 5 TDs)
. Tulsa on the other hand had three straight losses before beating up on Tulane to end the season. This one should be, um, fun to watch. I'll take Tulsa with the points because you can't spell Tulsa without USA!


Sunday, Dec. 24
HAWAII BOWL - Honolulu, HI
HAWAII -7 Arizona State

Colt Brennan's last shot at the single-season TD record + ASU giving up 21 or more points seven times this season + Hawaii playing in a virtual home game = an early Christmas gift for the Rainbow Warriors. See, Mrs. Falkoff, I am good at math. With 2 completions, 199 yards and 2 TDs, Brennan would set records for passes completed (374 by David Klingler in 1990) passing yards (5188 by Ty Detmer in 1990) and TDs (Klingler 1990) in a season. In addition, his passer rating of 182.80 is already tops all time. On the other side of the field, ASU is losing their coach after the game, so they have that going for them . . . which is nice. I'll take Hawaii and the Lazer from Laguna Beach to cover the spread.

For more on the post-Christmas games, check back later on this week . . .