My Top 10 College Bowl Games For 2007 Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

My Top 10 College Bowl Games For 2007

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: LSU vs. Ohio State (January 7th)
Ohio State: Ohio State has won 30 of its last 32 games ... The Buckeyes lead the nation in scoring defense, pass defense and total defense ... The Buckeyes have scored at least one touchdown in their last 138 games ... Coach Jim Tressel is 73-15 in seven years at Ohio State ... James Laurinaitis won the Butkus Award ... Ohio State has an 18-20 record in bowl games.

LSU: DT Glenn Dorsey won the Lombardi, Nagurski and Outland Trophy ... Les Miles owns a 61-27 record in seven years at Oklahoma State and LSU ... Is 33-6 in three seasons with the Tigers ... LSU has won 10 SEC titles, two in the past seven years ... LSU has scored at least 28 points in all but one game ... Under Miles, LSU is 25-3 when leading at halftime.
PICK:  LSU

FIESTA BOWL: Oklahoma vs. West Virginia (January 2nd)
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops is 96-21 in nine seasons with the Sooners ... Against ranked opponents under Stoops, the Sooners are 28-10 ... The tight end tandem of Joe Jon Finley and Jermaine Gresham have combined for 13 touchdowns ... Oklahoma has forced at least one turnover in 107 of the last 118 games ... OL Duke Robinson was named first team All-America by AP.

West Virginia: West Virginia is 32-5 over the past 37 games ... Pat White owns a 25-4 record as a starter at West Virginia ... The Mountaineers have won their past two bowl games, winning the Sugar and Gator Bowls ... Steve Slaton leads the nation in active career touchdowns with 55 ... Six true freshmen have registered time on the field this season, including Noel Devine.
PICK:  Oklahoma

ORANGE BOWL: Virgina Tech vs. Kansas (January 3rd)
Virginia Tech: Junior cornerback Brandon Flowers was named second-team All-American by AP, while senior linebacker Xavier Adibi was named to the third team ... The last time Virginia Tech played in the Orange Bowl was in 1966, losing to Nebraska 41-21 ... The Hokies are 3-5 in their last eight bowl games ... Sean Glennon was named the MVP of the ACC Championship.

Kansas: Mark Mangino became the fourth Big 12 coach since 1998 to win Walter Camp Coach of the Year ... Aqib Talib, who was a finalist for the Nagurski Award, led the Big 12 in passes defended for the second year in a row with 17 ... Kansas is 4-6 in bowl games all-time ... The last time it played in the Orange Bowl was in 1969, losing to Penn State 15-14.
PICK:  Virginia Tech

SUGAR BOWL: Georgia vs. Hawaii (January 1st)
Georgia: Matthew Stafford cut back on his mistakes this season. He threw 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions, a vast improvement from last year's ratio of 7-13.

Hawaii: Hawaii (12-0) has a national-best 13-game winning streak. QB Colt Brennan tossed 10 touchdown passes in his final two regular-season games after suffering a mild concussion.
PICK:  Georgia

ROSE BOWL: USC vs. Illinois (January 1st)

Southern California: USC and Arizona State tied for the Pac-10 title, but Trojans held the head-to-head tiebreaker ... USC had eight first-team All Pac-10 selections, including defensive player of the year Sedrick Ellis ... Senior Fred Davis won the Mackey Award, given to the nation's top tight end ... USC has played in five straight BCS bowl games, winning four of them.

Illinois: J Leman led Illinois with 124 tackles and was named first-team All Big Ten ... Before this season, Illinois was 8-38 in the previous four seasons ... Freshman wide receiver Arrelious Benn and sophomore cornerback Vontae Davis finished the regular season on the sidelines with concussions, but they're expected to be ready for the Rose Bowl ... OL Martin O'Donnell was named first team All-American by AP.
PICK:  USC

COTTON BOWL: Arkansas vs. Missouri (January 1st)
Arkansas is second in the nation in pass-efficiency defense this season, but the secondary has taken some big hits this season. The Razorbacks allow 146.7 rushing yards per game, which can make it tough on the pass defense.

Missouri's inability to convert in the red zone, where it settled for three field goals, was a decisive blow in the 38-17 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. The breakdowns were unusual for the Tigers, who usually flourish in that territory. They only committed one turnover against OU, but a ball tipped by TE Martin Rucker was intercepted and returned to the Missouri seven-yard line to set up a score. Missouri must regroup in a bowl, but feisty QB Chase Daniel is the ideal leader for such a scenario.
PICK:  Missouri

CAPITAL ONE: Michigan vs. Florida (January 1st)
Injuries kept Michigan from putting up the type of numbers expected with explosive athletes dotting the depth chart. In Lloyd Carr's final game, after the injured stars have time to heal, don't be surprised if Michigan's offense hits stride in the bowl game. Michigan closed the regular season breaking 30 points just once in the last five games.

Only two opponents rushed for more than 100 yards against the Gators this year. Florida has 79 tackles for loss, 26 sacks, nine interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and four blocked kicks. Opponents have scored on 38 of 44 trips inside the red zone, but only 24 of those scores were touchdowns.
PICK:  Florida

GATOR BOWL: Virginia vs. Texas Tech (January 1st)
Virginia was 17th in the nation in total defense. When the 3-4 front reaches the quarterback and disrupts the timing of the offense, the Cavaliers can play with almost anyone. But if an opposing offensive line stalemates the rush, the Cavs can be ripe for the picking. For a team that played so many close games, Virginia had just 21 takeaways (and 18 turnovers).

The Tech defense allowed an average of 25.8 points per game, but its trouble came mostly on the ground. The Red Raiders were 17th in the country in pass defense (196.1), but 78th against the run (171.0). 
PICK:  Texas Tech

OUTBACK: Wisconsin vs. Tennessee (January 1st)
Wisconsin's 4-3 defense surrendered at least 31 points in half of its regular-season games. That's not the formula that worked so well when the Badgers won 12 games in 2006.

Simplified schemes over the season's second half, along with the development of a young secondary and the front four, has helped Tennessee improve on defense.
PICK:  Tennessee

HOLIDAY: Arizona State vs. Texas (December 27th)
Arizona State is always seemingly in the right place at the right time, with the lone exception being a dismantling by USC on Thanksgiving Day. The Sun Devils don't have the biggest front line in the league, but it was good enough to hold Arizona to just 44 yards rushing, and teams overall to just 101 yards per game.

After holding seven of its first eight opponents to under 400 yards of total offense, the Longhorns' last four foes all gained at least 447 yards and two gained more than 500 (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M). Texas has given up only 11 rushing touchdowns all season. The 'Horns have 99 tackles for loss, 25 quarterback sacks, 14 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries.
PICK:  Texas