Big 12 Bowl W/L Predictions

With the bowl season quickly approaching it's time to make the predictions for how well the Big 12 will fare this time around. With only one Big 12 team getting invited to the big money BCS bowls (Texas) it's clear most of the country believes the Big 12 is not as strong this year as it traditionally is. With that being said, this would be a great time to prove to the country that even when the Big 12 is supposedly down, it's still hosts more competitive teams than the overrated big 11 and pac 10 teams (like Iowa...give me a break). No matter what the rankings are at the end of the regular season, I'll always question the major conferences who don't have to play a conference championship game. It's so weak. Nevertheless, here are the predictions for the Big 12 teams in the upcoming bowl games:

Independence Bowl, Aggies vs Georgia:
It's hard to pick against the Aggies, but when I do they usually win. I'll take Georgia in a higher scoring game 35-31

BCS National Championship Game, Texas vs Alabama:

This match up will showcase Alabama's great defense against a Texas Offense. The winner will be the team with the best run game. My pick goes to Alabama - The Heisman curse gets broken. Final score 24 - 13

Cotton Bowl, Oklahoma State vs Ole Miss

OSU will be looking to take out some revenge after a disasterous game in Norman. I'm taking OSU 31 - 24

Holiday Bowl, Nebraska vs Arizona:

Assuming Nebraska's Offense accidentially finds a way to score a touchdown (probably the result of being set up by the defense), Nebraska could win. But, that's probably not going to happen. Arizona wins in a low scoring game. 16 - 10

Sun Bowl, Oklahoma vs Stanford:

Oklahoma stops the run and wins. 27 - 17

Alamo Bowl, Texas Tech vs Michigan State:

It's hard to match up against Tech unless you play them every year. I'm taking tech 38 - 27

Insight Bowl, Iowa State vs Minnesota:

ATM beat ISU; however, Minnesota does play in the big 11. I'm taking ISU in an ugly game 24 - 21

Texas Bowl, Missouri vs Navy:

Missouri wins 31 - 21

Counting up the results puts the Big 12 at 5 wins and 3 losses

It Is December

And that can only mean a few things:

It being dark outside by 6:00.

Cold days and nights

Christmas lights strung on roof tops

Santa Clause bringing children toys

Christians celebrating the birth of our savior

Jews and Muslims doing whatever they do

The Dallas (or is it Arlington) Cowboys not being able to win football games.

So sit back by a fire, drink some Bourbon to keep warm, think about baby Jesus and let the glow of the Christmas tree shine upon your face as you watch Romo and the boys fumble away their Superbowl aspirations.

Heisman Curse

As everyone prepares for the Heisman ceremony on Saturday some of the Texas fans have to feel a little conflicted. You would think that McCoy making the top 5 would be something to celebrate (same being said for those Ingram fans); however, things aren't always as they seem. You see, since 2000 only two Heisman winners have gone on to win their respective bowl games while the other 7 winner's teams have suffered a defeat in college football's post season. This interesting statistic has gone on to be known as the Heisman Curse (not to be confused with the Madden Curse).

In the last 20 years, only Danny Wuerffel (1996) has won the national championship game after winning the Heisman Trophy. Since 2000 there have been a total of 7 losses by Heisman winners. The most recent defeat came in Jan '09 at the BCS championship game when the Gators beat Sam Bradford and the Oklahoma Sooners. Out of the 7 losses following a Heisman win, 6 of those games came in the National Championship. It is also a coincidence that in 6 of these instances either the losing team – with the Heisman winner – has scored 14 points or the winning team has scored 41 points. Even more bazaar, the two winners who went on to win their respective bowl games (Leinart and Palmer) and avoid the "curse" were both from USC, both quarterbacks, both 6'5", and both won the Orange Bowl. With all this evidence you have to ask yourself if this curse could be real.

There's no doubt that there is something to this supposed Heisman Curse. It's not nonsense like the famous baseball curses—the Curse of the Bambino and the Curse of the Billy Goat—which can be explained by poor teams and other circumstances. No, this curse has to be for real. If not, how else can you justify all of the coincidences?

Headed for Independence

It looks like the Aggies have accepted the bid to play in the Independence Bowl on December 28th. Here, the Aggies will be matched up against a very talented underachieving Georgia Bulldog team. The match up with the Georgia Bulldogs is probably the toughest opponent the Aggies could have drawn (others being Auburn and Navy). Again, I personally would have rather taken the Missouri spot to play in the Texas Bowl at home in Houston against an easier opponent in Navy; however, if the Aggies are going to return to the success of the past, they need to start winning these types of match ups. It's not enough just to make a bowl game, at some point you need to climb over the hump and start winning. Nevertheless, it will be good for some of our young players to go up against the size and speed of an SEC defense.

For this game it has been reported some of the UGA staff will not be participating due to conflicts with other job opportunities. I for one do not completely understand why the coaches would need to skip the game; however, I support anything that could potentially give the Aggies some extra help.

UGA D statistics from 2009:
Allow 328 yds/game
Give up 200.6 passing and 127.8 rushing

ATM D statistics from 2009
Probably worse

Texas or Independence?

As the bowl season gets closer most predict the Aggies will be going to either the Texas Bowl against Navy or the Independence Bowl against Auburn or Georgia. I, for one, would like to see the Aggies matched up against Navy here in the great state of Texas. Although the Texas Bowl is scheduled to be played on New Year's Day amongst the other bowl games and would not get the national appeal of the Independence Bowl against an SEC opponent, I feel the Texas Bowl would be best for the Aggie program.

First, there would be a ton of ATM fans in and around the stadium. The Aggie Fan Base travels well no matter where the game is located. With that being said, I can only Imagine the amount of Aggie support you would see for the bowl game if it was hosted in Houston. Plus, there is a good amount of Aggie players who are from Houston, and they would probably like nothing better than to come back and play at Reliant Stadium.

Also, I believe it is really important for the Aggies to get a win. As briefly mentioned earlier a national television win against an SEC opponent would do wonders for recruiting; however, with the Aggies, you really never know what you are going to get. Call me crazy, but I am real skeptical about our ability to win against an SEC opponent no matter what their record or ranking. If there is one thing the SEC knows how to do it's to play defense. You know, that thing ATM fans have not seen in a couple of years (especially this year). Navy gives us the chance to gain some confidence going into next year. I think it would be the perfect cap stone after the near upset in Aggieland on Thanksgiving.

Bowling

With 8 Big 12 teams becoming bowl eligible this season and most likely 7 to 8 spots open, it will be interesting to see which teams get picked to attend which bowls. Although records do matter somewhat in these selections, the final decision on where to place each team (other than auto bids) depends on one thing, Money. These bowl selection committees only care about butts in the stands and eyes on the TV screens. With ATM playing Texas close last week and having a key win against a bowl eligible texas tech squad, the Aggies chance of making it to the post season look all but certain (despite not having a known defense).

Here is a look at projected bowl match ups involving the Bowl Championship Series and schools from the Big 12:
BCS title game: Florida vs. Texas
Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee
Holiday Bowl: Nebraska vs. USC
Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Michigan State
Sun Bowl: Oklahoma vs. California
Insight Bowl: Missouri vs. Minnesota
Independence Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Auburn
Texas Bowl: Iowa State vs. Navy