College bowl picks: What to watch for in early group of bowls

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College bowl picks: Independence Bowl trophy

Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

It’s all college football all the time. And that means college bowl picks, college bowl previews and, well, a lot of college bowl talk.

Starting Saturday and going through until New Year’s Day, you’ll be able to watch a college football game almost every day.

You’ll get the good, the bad, and the why I wasted three hours on this.

To get you ready, we take a look at the first group of games, the ones starting Saturday and going through until Tuesday, and let you know the games to make sure you tune in for.

College bowl picks: The It’s the First Bowl Game, Let’s Watch It! game

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Georgia Southern (6-6) vs. Ohio (9-3)

Every now and then you run up on a betting line that’s a head-scratcher. On paper, Ohio looks like the superior team.

The Bobcats are ranked fifth nationally in points allowed this season with 15.4. They held six opponents to 14 points or less and in-state foe Miami was the only team to score 30 points on them. And we’re in the age when scoring 30 points is a low bar.

It has the better win between the two teams, a Week 3 10-7 win against Big Ten team Iowa State. Georgia Southern lost to Wisconsin, its Power 5 opponent and its best win might have been against a Coastal Carolina team that finished 7-5.

What do the bookies know that we don’t? The transfer portal. Bobcats quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who threw for 2,207 yards and 11 touchdowns, has entered the portal as have the top two running backs, O’Shaan Allison and Sieh Bangura. 

Now, the Eagles do have a good passing attack. Quarterback Davis Brin threw for 3,431 yards and 22 touchdowns and receiver Khaled Hood had 917 receiving yards and was on the Bilitnekov watch list.

OK, then, the bookies talked us into it. We’ll take Georgia Southern to cover.

Related: College Football Playoff picks

The Whatever You Do, Watch the Halftime Show game

Cricket Celebration Bowl

Howard (6-6) vs. Florida A&M (11-1)

FAMU dominated the SWAC this season. Nobody in the league came close to knocking it off. Its only loss was to South Florida, and that was 38-24.

The Rattlers like to sling it around. Quarterback Jeremy Moussa had 19 touchdown passes and 2,604 yards. His two favorite targets were Marcus Riley, who had 31 catches and 621 yards, and Jah-Marae Sheered, who had 46 catches for 441 yards.

Even with a 6-5 overall record, Howard won the MEAC. That was because the Bison knocked off North Carolina Central, a team with nine wins, 50-20 in the regular season and since both teams ended up with a 4-1 conference record, Howard took the title.

For our college bowl picks, we’re going with Florida A&M here. Oh, and make sure you stick around for the halftime show, the Marching 100 is one of the best there is.

The More People on Bourbon Street than in the Stands game

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Jacksonville State (8-4) vs. Louisiana (6-6)

Jacksonville State isn’t supposed to be here. The Gamecocks are in the transition period, moving up from FCS to FBS, but because there weren’t enough teams with 6-6 records, they were given a spot (as was James Madison).

Now that it’s in, Jacksonville State should take advantage. Coach Rich Rodriguez has the Gamecocks running his read-option offense and is the fifth-best rushing team in the country, with 232.3 yards per game.

Louisiana comes in with a backup quarterback, Chandler Fields, after losing Zeon Chriss to a season-ending injury in November. Fields has thrown for 914 yards and seven touchdowns.

We’re taking Jacksonville State in this game.

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2024 SEC schedule release: Reactions from college football world

The Why Didn’t We Take a Disney Vacation This Year game

Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl

Miami, Ohio (11-2) vs. Appalachian State (8-5)

There are two quarterbacks to watch in this game. One because he’s near the top of the NCAA passing leaders. The other is because he has a name that would make you think he’s one of the NCAA passing leaders.

Appalachian State’s Joey Aguilar is ninth in the county with 3,546 passing yards. He has thrown for 33 touchdowns, a third of those to Kaedin Robinson, who has 787 yards receiving and 10 TDs.

Miami’s quarterback Brett Gabbert has thrown for significantly fewer yards, but with the last name of Gabbert and a brother who is in the NFL, the broadcast eyes might be on him.

Gabbert has passed for 1,634 yards and 14 touchdowns and has led the Redhawks to 11 wins, although none of them have been against great teams.

The best team Appalachian State played was North Carolina and it lost 40-34 in double overtime. This was one year after losing to the Tar Heels 63-61. Carolina coach Mack Brown has said his team won’t play the Mountaineers anymore. You can’t blame him.

The records say Miami should win, but we’re going with Appalachian State.

The Let’s Stream Breaking Bad Again game

Isleta New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico State (10-4) vs. Fresno State (8-4)

So, can someone tell us how New Mexico State has played 14 games? The Aggies are 10-4, and if they had that kind of record when the new playoff format comes out, they would have the potential to play 17 games! Sorry, we digress.

But with 14 games under their belts, the Aggies should be well-seasoned. They won eight straight games to close the regular season, then lost to unbeaten Liberty in the Conference USA championship.

Diego Pavia has passed for 2,915 yards and 26 touchdowns. He has rushed 856 yards and another six TDs. New Mexico State is 11th in the nation in rushing, averaging 204.1 yards per game.

Fresno State lost its final three games of the season. That was a tough way to end for a Bulldogs team that beat Purdue 39-35 and Arizona State 29-0. They’ll also have to play this game without coach Jeff Tedford, who has taken a leave for health reasons.

They’ll lean on quarterback Mikey Kene, who threw for 2,596 yards and 21 touchdowns and running back Malik Sherrod, who had 876 yards rushing with nine touchdowns.

New Mexico State might be the better team, but for our college bowl picks, we’re taking Fresno State.

The How Do I Get a Bowl Named After Me? game

Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk

UCLA (7-5) vs. Boise State (8-5)

In what will be a situation we encounter more as bowl season goes on, we have a game with a star player skipping to “prepare for the NFL draft.”

UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu won the Lombardi Award for best defensive lineman and was the Pac-12 defensive player of the year. He had 49 total tackles and 13 sacks. It’s quite possible he’ll be a Top 10 NFL draft pick in April. It’s too bad he’s not playing; he would arguably be the best player on the field.

Another interesting twist in this game is that Bruins defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, the architect of the Pac-12’s best defense, left for the same job at USC (yikes). That’s blasphemy. Next thing you know west coast teams will move to leagues like the Big Ten!

On the other side, this isn’t your father’s Boise State team. The Broncos finished 8-5, but were floundering at 5-5 and fired coach Andy Avalos, then went on to win their final three games. Oh, Avalos was just named the defensive coordinator at TCU.

Boise State lost quarterback Taylor Green, who passed for 1,752 yards and 11 touchdowns, to the transfer portal.

This one seems like a toss-up, but we’ll take UCLA to cover.

The They’re Still Playing This Game? game

Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

California (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (6-6)

Texas Tech has 13 players who have entered the transfer portal, including quarterback Tyler Shough, who started the season’s first four games. Behren Morton took over and has thrown for 1,498 yards and 12 touchdowns.

On the flip side, what’s up with Cal? The Bears were blown out by Oregon and Washington earlier in the season, played a decent game against Auburn and beat up UCLA at the end of the season.

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza passed for 1,447 yards and 13 TDs. Jaydn Ott rushed for 1,260 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The question for Cal is which team will show up?

Even with the turmoil, Texas Tech was able to knock off a good Kansas team down the stretch. The Red Raiders have played solid defense.

We like Texas Tech in this game.

The We’re Playing Where? game

Famous Toastery Bowl

Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Old Dominion (6-6)

Imagine you play or root for Western Kentucky and Old Dominion, and because of your bowl-eligible, barely better than .500 record, you know your team is in a postseason game. Then you got the news. Hey, we’re going to the Bahamas Bowl! Woohoo! It’s gonna be great! It’s so great, in fact, that this year’s game is going to be moved to Charlotte! Congrats everyone!

One thing we’re pretty sure of, the patrons at Jerry Richardson Stadium will witness more offense than during NFL games played there this season.

Western Kentucky is the 17th-ranked passing team in the country and quarterback Austin Reed has passed for 3,340 yards and 31 touchdowns. His favorite target is Malachi Corley, who has 11 TD receptions and 958 receiving yards.

Then we have Old Dominion, which became bowl-eligible in the final game of the season, coming back from a 10-point deficit in the final 1:37 to beat Georgia State 25-24. You can’t make up this stuff.

The Hilltoppers seem to be the better team, but when you’re making college bowl picks, you don’t always go with the better team. We can’t pick against a team that pulled off a comeback like Old Dominion did to get here. We’ll take Old Dominion.

An aside: Mid-major teams that barely finish with a winning record, don’t worry! Repairs being done on Thomas Robinson Stadium in the Bahamas will be finished sometime next year and the game moves back in 2024.

The Stay in School Forever game

Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl

UT-San Antonio (8-4) vs. Marshall (6-6)

Frank Harris is the Van Wilder of UTSA (go look it up, it’s a great movie). The 24-year-old has been a part of the Roadrunners program for seven years. Since UTSA’s football program played its first game in 2011, Harris has been there for more than half its existence.

To be fair, he redshirted his freshman year and was injured in his second. But seven seasons? He’ll have a locker room named after him before he leaves.

Harris has thrown for 2,506 yards and 18 touchdowns and ran for another 323 yards and four TDs. In a game against South Florida, he had 523 total yards and six touchdowns.

Marshall has had a streaky season. It started 4-0 and then lost five straight. Its best win came against Virginia Tech.

The Thundering Herd is playing in its 10th bowl game in the past 11 years.

This looks like a big win for UTSA. But we’re not so sure. We’ll take the Roadrunners to win in our college bowl picks, but not to cover.

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