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Bowl season gives us a unique opportunity to embrace our college football ignorance by picking winners of games we know little about. For instance, do you have a hot read on Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan? No one does, and that's the beauty of Bowl Pick 'Em. You're not supposed to know what you're doing; you're just supposed to take credit when your picks miraculously - through no wisdom of yours - come true.
OBNUG Bowl Pick 'Em is now accepting your wild guesses, and winner gets a free pair of shades (fancy ones, I promise) and a smug feeling of being a success in life.
I am not going to be the winner. Regardless, here are my Bowl Pick 'Em picks and strategies. May they inspire you, motivate you, or - as is my recommendation - give you a blueprint for picking opposite.
* - the following tables compare my picks with the Vegas favorite, the ESPN Bowl Mania favorite, and the team with the most wins
** - also, all games are listed in order of confidence points
Kevan | Vegas | ESPN | Wins | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boise State v. Washington | BSU | BSU | BSU | BSU |
The easiest part of Bowl Pick 'Em is picking Boise State to win and giving them the most confidence points I have. This was kind of hard that Hawaii Bowl year.
Kevan | Vegas | ESPN | Wins | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Wisconsin v. Stanford | Stan | Stan | Stan | Stan |
Fresno v. SMU | Fres | Fres | Fres | Fres |
Oregon v. Kansas State | Ore | Ore | Ore | Push |
San Jose State v. Bowling Green | SJSU | SJSU | SJSU | SJSU |
Nevada v. Arizona | Ari | Ari | Ari | Push |
Notre Dame v. Alabama | Ala | Ala | Ala | Push |
Toledo v. Utah State | USU | USU | USU | USU |
Northern Illinois v. Florida State | FSU | FSU | FSU | NIU |
Purdue vs. Oklahoma State | OkSt | OkSt | OkSt | OkSt |
Texas A&M v. Oklahoma | A&M | A&M | A&M | Push |
Louisville v. Florida | Fla | Fla | Fla | Fla |
USC v. Georgia Tech | USC | USC | USC | USC |
South Carolina v. Michigan | SCar | SCar | SCar | SCar |
Georgia v. Nebraska | Ga | Ga | Ga | Ga |
Navy v. Arizona State | ASU | n/a | ASU | Navy |
After Boise State, I like to identify some matchups I am almost certain will be blowouts. Wisconsin-Stanford? Yes. SMU-anyone? Yes, especially now that Fresno is Pat Hill-free.
You'll also notice a trend where I tend to put too much weight into teams I am loosely familiar with. Hence, San Jose State and Utah State are in my "blowout" category - in a good way (my, how the WAC has changed).
Kevan | Vegas | ESPN | Wins | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Miss. State vs. Northwestern | NW | MissSt | NW | NW |
Pitt v. Ole Miss | Miss | Miss | Miss | Push |
Iowa State v. Tulsa | Tulsa | n/a | Tulsa | Tulsa |
NC State v. Vanderbilt | NCSt | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy |
TCU v. Michigan State | TCU | TCU | TCU | TCU |
This batch of games I think will be very competitive because I don't know enough about any of the schools to think otherwise. My gut told me who to pick. My gut is about 50/50.
Kevan | Vegas | ESPN | Wins | |
---|---|---|---|---|
LSU v. Clemson | LSU | LSU | LSU | Push |
Texas v. Oregon State | OreSt | OreSt | OreSt | OreSt |
BYU v. San Diego St. | BYU | BYU | SDSU | SDSU |
Baylor v. UCLA | UCLA | n/a | UCLA | UCLA |
West Virginia v. Syracuse | WVU | WVU | WVU | Push |
Here's another batch of close games, except with these I am just plain guessing. No help from my gut.
Kevan | Vegas | ESPN | Wins | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rice v. Air Force | AF | AF | AF | Push |
Minnesota v. Texas Tech | TT | TT | TT | TT |
Rutgers v. Virginia Tech | Rutg | VaTech | Rutg | Rutg |
Ohio v. Louisiana Monroe | Ohio | ULM | ULM | Push |
Cincinnati v. Duke | Cincy | Cincy | Cincy | Cincy |
Western Kentucky v. Central Michigan | WKU | WKU | WKU | WKU |
East Carolina v. Louisiana-Lafayette | UL-L | UL-L | UL-L | Push |
UCF v. Ball State | Ball | UCF | UCF | Push |
Kent State v. Arkansas St. | ArkSt | ArkSt | Kent | Kent |
And finally, the bottom section of games are matchups that I don't have any idea about whatsoever. At least in the above sections I recognized the teams or had seen them on TV once or twice. This group may as well be FCS teams given how little I know about them. Naturally, I will go 9-0 here and 0-26 everywhere else. Such is the nature of Bowl Pick 'Em.