Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
Realistic goals are important in sports.
There’s a reason players from schools like Baylor and East Carolina don’t spend August talking about reaching the BCS National Championship. It’s not going to happen.
Dreaming about making a bowl game or beating a rival is more useful. I’m going to do my best to follow that logic as this year’s bowl pick’em painfully moves ahead.
I just want to end the season around .500. Break even. With the start I’m off to, it would have to be considered an accomplishment.
Baylor and East Carolina are the latest horrendous picks in yet another 1-2 performance Wednesday. My batting average is .285 on bowl picks. Unfortunately, this isn’t baseball and that’s nowhere near a respectable number.
Let’s cut straight to it and make a gradual improvement over the next three days. Because it’s late and there are so many bowls coming up, I’m going to keep these explanations to a sentence.
No one cares about my explanations anyway. Reality, right?
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl: Army (+7) vs. SMU
Thursday 9:00, Gerald Ford Stadium Dallas, ESPN
SMU is playing in its home stadium and Army didn’t beat one decent team all season.
Pick: SMU -7
New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Kansas State (PK) vs. Syracuse
Thursday 12:20, Yankee Stadium New York, ESPN
Kansas State could barely beat North Texas by the end of the year and Syracuse has a strong enough defense to slow running back Daniel Thomas.
Pick: Syracuse PK
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: North Carolina (-1) vs. Tennessee
Thursday 3:40, LP Field Nashville, Tenn., ESPN
Butch Davis gets first bowl victory at North Carolina against an overvalued bunch from Tennessee.
Pick: North Carolina -1
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl: Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington
Thursday 7:00, Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, ESPN
Yes, Washington lost 56-21 at home against Nebraska earlier in the season but the Huskies have improved and are hungrier to end season correctly.
Pick: Washington +14
Meineke Car Care Bowl: South Florida (+6) vs. Clemson
Friday 9:00, Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, N.C., ESPN
Tough game to pick, but when in doubt take the points — and Skip Holtz over Dabo Swinney in the coaching department.
Pick: South Florida +6
Hyundai Sun Bowl: Miami (FL) (-2.5) vs. Notre Dame
Friday 11:00, Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas, ESPN
Will keep picking against teams going through coaching changes in bowl season despite their 2-0 record this year.
Pick: Notre Dame +2.5
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Georgia (-6.5) vs. No. 25 Central Florida
Friday 12:30, Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tenn., ESPN
Lifelong Georgia fan who shudders at the thought of the losing season, so this is a biased selection.
Pick: Georgia -6.5
Chick-fil-A Bowl: No. 20 South Carolina (-3) vs. No. 23 Florida State
Friday 4:30, Georgia Dome Atlanta, ESPN
Think the line should be a pick or South Carolina -1.5 at most.
Pick: Florida State +3
TicketCity Bowl: Northwestern (+9) vs. Texas Tech
Friday 9:00, Cotton Bowl Dallas, ESPNU
The Wildcats have hung right with superior teams in each of their last two bowl appearances and the Red Raiders are nothing special.
Pick: Northwestern +9
Capital One Bowl: No. 16 Alabama (-9.5) vs. Michigan State
Friday 10:00, Citrus Bowl Orlando, Fla., ESPN
My little brother, an Alabama student, will have plenty to celebrate in Orlando as the Spartans don’t have the talent to keep up here.
Pick: Alabama -9.5
Outback Bowl: Florida (-7) vs. Penn State
Friday 10:00, Outback Bowl Tampa, Fla., ABC
Think Penn State should keep it close for most of the game, but Florida will pull away at the end to send Urban Meyer away a winner.
Pick: Florida -7
Progressive Gator Bowl: Michigan (+3.5) vs. Mississippi State
Friday 10:30, Everbank Field Jacksonville, Fla., ESPN2
Going with another SEC favorite over a Big 10 squad. Would happily take a 2-1 record in these three.
Pick: Mississippi State -3.5
Rose Bowl: Wisconsin (+3) vs. TCU
Friday 1:30, Rose Bowl Pasadena, Calif., ABC
Plain and simple, TCU is the better team.
Pick: TCU -3
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Connecticut (+17.5) vs. Oklahoma
Friday 5:30, University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Ariz., ESPN
Not expecting the Sooners to lose here, but they haven’t covered a bowl game spread in eight years.
Pick: Connecticut +17.5
Bowl Season Record: 4-10
Note: Because of the number of bowl games this week, this page will be updated with selections each of the next three days instead of adding new entries everyday.
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