Clemson vs Mississippi State (+3)
Peach Bowl - Atlanta, GA - 12/30 - 4:30pm Pacific
Obviously, we love the Bulldogs in this spot. They are clearly on a mission for respect here. Miss State finished the season at 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the ultra tough SEC. Despite this, they were passed up by two bigger bowl games in favor of teams with worse records. The Bulldogs only two losses (Alabama & Arkansas) were both on the road and both basically went down to the wire. They finished the season with a big win over Ole Miss which was their 3rd hard fought game in 12 days. Their defense finished #1 in the country by a whopping 22 yard per game margin over the next best team. They gave up only 13.5 points per game despite facing 8 SEC teams. Their defensive coordinator is the legendary Joe Lee Dunn. They have the nations best secondary with all five secondary starters receiving postseason honors. All are great tacklers and FS Ashley Cooper is just a nightmare to opposing teams. The defense is flat out awesome against both run and pass. Wayne Madkin is a good enough QB, and he has a go to receiver in senior Kelvin Love. The Miss State offense struggled at times mostly because of a sluggish running game. We look for the offensive line led by Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack that has been inconsistent all year to play a strong game vs an overachieving Clemson front 7. We are also expecting a big game from speedy super freshman RB Dontae Walker (#2 rated RB in the country out of high school last year) who averaged 5.1 yards per carry this year despite being hampered by minor injuries. He will finally be 100% healthy for this game and will get the majority of carries. The Bulldogs can also mix things up and go with more power with sophomore Dicenzo Miller & senior Chris Rainey. The Tigers appear to have benefited from a weak ACC this year. Virginia, NC State, UNC, and even Georgia Tech all had disappointing and/or down years. Clemson only went 2-2 vs that group and came close to losing to 0-11 South Carolina in the season finale. Granted the Tigers did have a solid rebuilding season, but they are just not in the same league as Miss State. Neither team has played on artificial turf this season and the speedy surface in the Georgia Dome might impair Clemson's timing which is critical in their quick pass offense. The turf could even make Miss State's defense better (scary thought) as one of their primary strengths is speed. With the added time to prepare, the Bulldogs will undoubtedly be ready for Clemson's no huddle offense and Miss State is 14-5 ATS after a bye week under head coach Jackie Sherrill. Sherrill does not get the credit he deserves but has also not won a bowl game in 4 tries and Miss State has not won a bowl game since 1981 so the pressure is on to do so. Bulldogs are 19-9 ATS away from home as a dog under Sherrill and 5-1 ATS on artificial turf. Miss State has a first rate place-kicker and has a knack for winning close games (Miss State 5-0 in gamed decided by 3 points or less, Clemson is 0-3) if it comes down to that. We love this matchup here and look for the Bulldogs and the SEC conference to make a major statement.  Mississippi State  3 UNITS   ** 1999 GAME OF THE YEAR **

Boston College (+8) vs Colorado - 10:45am Pacific - Friday
This is a major opportunity for the Eagles football program that has not been to a bowl game since 1994 and had to overcome a pointshaving scandal a few years back. It is head coach Tom O'Brien's third year here and he stated early in the season that this was by far the best team he has had here. QB Tim Hasselbeck was a top 10 recruit out of high school at his position and finally took over the starting job in this his junior year. He shook off a few bad starts in the early going and finished the season strong with a 55.6% completion percentage for almost 2,000 yards and ran for another 200. More important that any stat could show is Hasselbeck's leadership ability which was very evident in the teams wins over Syracuse (6-13-0-161, 52 rushing yards) and Notre Dame (20-30-0-272, 60 rushing yards). BC committed 4 turnovers and blew a 14-0 lead in a fluke loss vs Temple or else they would have finished the season 9-2 with the only losses being vs Miami, Fla and Virginia Tech. In fact, they led the Hurricanes 28-7 in the 4th quarter as well! Their running game and defense has been solid all year. Colorado went 6-5 and did nothing to impress this year. They managed to take Nebraska to overtime in the season finale but do not forget they trailed 27-3 going into the 4th quarter before the improbable rally. The Buffaloes have had numerous injury woes throughout the year and have eight players listed from probable to out due to injuries for this game. They just could never find their niche under first year coach Gary Barnett and we doubt things will change much in this game. Look for the Eagles to continue to surprise here, take the points.  Boston College  1 UNIT

Minnesota (-3) vs Oregon - 11:15am Pacific - Friday
No one can say enough about the Golden Gophers. They suffered only 3 losses in the ultra tough Big 10. The three losses were to Ohio State, Purdue, and Wisconsin by a combined total of 11 points! Young defensive coordinator David Gibbs is in his 3rd season here and the defense was outstanding all season giving up only 15.6 points per game. The offense returned all 11 starters and was a pleasant surprise led by explosive seniors QB Billy Cockerham (1834 passing yards, 805 rushing yards) and RB Thomas Hamner (1362 rushing yards). Head coach Glen Mason calls Ben Hamiltion the best center in college football hands down. He is the leader of a very good offensive line. Oregon has won 5 straight over very weak Pac-10 (already 0-3 SU and 1-2 ATS in bowl games) teams. We were high on this team early in the year when QB AJ Feeley was playing great. Something happened to him along the way and his poor play led to his benching and QB Joey Harrington is now the starter and has played solid but in my opinion the offense has not been as explosive since. The Oregon defense was supposed to be a strong point this year but instead has been a liability. Terry Miller was the only defensive lineman who started every game for the Ducks this year and he was in doubt for this game for a few days with the flu. Sophomore Zack Freiter will be making the first start of his career at defensive tackle. A questionable defensive line is the last thing a team wants when facing Minnesota. Several key Ducks were battling the flu bug early in the week including QB Harrington. Minnesota has not been to a bowl game since 1986 so you know they will be happy to be here. Meanwhile, this is Oregon's 6th bowl game in 8 years and may not be too excited to be here. Gophers will continue to prove they are for real.  Minnesota  1 UNIT

Florida (-2) vs Michigan State - 10:00am Pacific - Saturday
The Gators have had a sub par season for their high standards but Spurrier has made some key changes since their loss to Alabama in the SEC championship game. He has personally taken the blame for the teams lack of success and has given starting jobs back to some of his seniors including QB Doug Johnson who in our opinion is the teams best quarterback. Johnson has a 56.4% completion percentage, 2,569 passing yards, and a 20 to 13 touchdown to interception ratio so it is hard to imagine why he was partially benched to begin with. The Gators have only lost to Alabama twice and to #1 Florida State in a nail biter so they obviously have the class to compete with anyone. Look for Florida's offense to come out of its recent slump in a big way. They have one of their best running games in recent years with the trio of Earnest Graham, Bo Carroll, and Robert Gillespie so the offense has the ability to be balanced. Doug Johnson wants to go out a winner and will appreciate having a 100% healthy Travis Taylor at WR. With the extra time to prepare, there is little doubt in our minds that Spurrier will have this offense ready to go. Michigan State QB Bill Burke only has one more touchdown than interceptions this year. The Spartans lost what may be their best asset for this game and that is head coach Nick Saban who left for LSU. The game being played in Florida and on natural grass are both major advantages for the Gators. Our money will be on Spurrier and the SEC again.  Florida  2 UNITS

Syracuse vs Kentucky (-3) - Music City Bowl - 12/29 - 1:00pm Pacific
Some people thought we were crazy when we stated in our Kentucky/Arkansas analysis earlier this year that the Wildcats bowl hopes were very much alive. Indeed they were despite losing their entire offensive line, #1 draft pick QB Couch, and two talented receivers from last years bowl team. Cannot say enough about great the job coach Hal Mumme has done here in such a short time. Kentucky is a very young team and had to battle some key injuries in their secondary and at wide receiver. They still managed a winning record and a bowl berth for the second straight year despite playing 5 teams that were ranked in the top 25 at one time including 4 that were in the top 10. Dusty Bonner completed 65.2% of his passes for 3,264 yards, and 26 touchdowns. Not much more can be asked of a college quarterback. Bonner led the SEC in 6 categories including passing yards and total offense. The Kentucky offense will have even more options with the healthy return of speedy WR Quentin Mccord (21.3 yards per catch, 18 receptions, 6 touchdowns despite injury). They have also moved RB Derrick Homer to receiver where he can do more damage in the open field and along with all-American TE Jimmy Whalen and emerging 6-7 senior Bobby Blizzard (5 catches/60 yards last game) create size mismatches with the Syracuse secondary. Under the direction of the brilliant Mumme, with extra time to prepare and at full strength, you can count on the Kentucky offense to score points. The Wildcats defense has been a strong point all season despite late season injuries to CB Eric Kelly and FS Willie Gary, both are back at full strength now and will start which gives the defense a big boost. Syracuse had an awful season that left their fans with a very bad taste in their mouth and wondering if the Orangemen even deserve to be here. Do not count on many of their fans to make this trip. The Orangemen have lost 4 of their last 5 games, one at the Carrier Dome to Boston College, and another at the hands of lowly Rutgers (Scarlet Knights only win of the season). In the other two recent losses they were outscored 107-13 by Miami & Virginia Tech. The BC and Miami losses both followed a BYE week. Toledo (6-5, 5-3) from the MAC is the only team Syracuse beat that owns a winning record. The Orangemen (6-5, 3-4) did not even finish with a winning record in the Big East. They have played two quarterbacks this year and both have looked bad. The entire offense has looked out of sync against any decent opposition. Orangemen RG Joe Burton is out for this game and the offensive line has not performed well all year. WR Lowe is listed as questionable after re-injuring his foot. Syracuse's strength has been their experienced defense, but we are confident with Kentucky's chances on that side of the ball. Kentucky got to a bowl game last year and they are excited to have reached back to back bowl games, but they still have not won a bowl game since 1984. Mumme is said to be impressed with the teams work ethic and is pleased to have the team fully healthy (all previously injured players have taken almost every snap in practice). Reportedly, their workouts have been as good as any all year. It is only about a 3 and 1/2 hour drive for UK fans, so expect about 75% of the crowd to be in favor of the Cats. The game being played on natural grass is another condition that favors the Cats. We would generally take the SEC over the Big East in football any day of the week. We are expecting a convincing win here for the Wildcats as they use this game as a springboard for an even bigger season in 2000. Kentucky  2 UNITS

TCU vs East Carolina (-4.5) - 12/22 - 4:30pm Pacific - Mobile Alabama Bowl
About the only thing we could find against ECU was the possibility that highly regarded head coach Steve Logan may have been leaving which could have led to some distraction for the team. However, last Thursday Logan agreed to a contract extension through the 2005 season which is great news for Pirate fans. East Carolina had a great season, as they overcame the hurricane Floyd disaster and went 9-2 including big wins over Miami, Fla and NC State. Their only two losses could have easily been wins (blew 15-3 lead vs Southern Miss and had a hapless effort vs UAB). QB David Garrard struggled as a freshman but really blossomed this year. He is already a superb double (run and pass) threat and provides ECU with a very balanced offensive attack. Steve Logan has a great history with QB's so Garrard will only continue to improve in this system and may end up being Logan's best ever. Everyone is talking about TCU's defense (ranked 5th in the nation overall) but ECU has actually allowed less points per game despite facing a tougher schedule, having to battle key secondary injuries, and having much less offensive time of possession. ECU has held 5 opponents under 10 points this year. ECU has three returning starters at LB including standouts Pernell Griffin (121 tackles) and Jeff Kerr (90 tackles). They are confident in their ability to stop TCU's multi-fauceted ground attack. But, is TCU's running game really that good? The Frogs do not have a senior starter on their offensive line. In three games vs the bottom three of the WAC, (SJSU, Tulsa, UTEP) TCU averaged 53 carries and 416 yards per game on the ground. In four games vs the rest of the WAC, (Fresno State, Rice, Hawaii, SMU) they averaged 43 carries and only 148 yards per game! Try searching the TCU schedule for a quality win, you will not find one. Hawaii is the only team the Frogs beat that has a winning record. East Carolina has not been to a bowl game in three years so they are very happy to be here. Their practices have reportedly been good and we definitely like being on Logan's side. Once the Pirates get situated they will be too much for TCU.  East Carolina  1 UNIT