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NON-PLAYOFF BOWL GAME PREVIEWS
LOCKHEED MARTIN ARMED FORCES BOWL Tulsa vs. Mississippi State
TV: Noon ET Thursday, ESPN
Tulsa (6-2) has been one of the most fun teams of the season. Not only did it shockingly rise up to get to the American Athletic championship game, but every game seemed to have some sense of drama, including losing to Cincinnati on a walk-off field goal. Be shocked if any team this bowl season brings more effort. Mississippi State (3-7) is coming off a blowout win over Missouri, but it’s been a rough first season under Mike Leach. But if the offense works like it’s supposed to, the Bulldogs should be able to open things up and make this fun.
Prediction: Mississippi State 27-24
ARIZONA BOWL Ball State vs. San Jose State
TV: 2 p.m. ET Thursday, CBSSN
Ball State (6-1) is a veteran team with a good balance and a whole lot of offense. It shocked Buffalo to win the Mid-American championship game, but handling Mountain West champion San Jose State is a whole different issue. It’s the best season in San Jose State football, going 7-0 with every win by double digits. Head coach Brent Brennan has become a hot name on the coaching carousel circuit, QB Nick Starkel has been fantastic after transferring in from Arkansas and before that Texas A&M, and the defense has been steadily great. The Cardinals have problems against good passing teams, but they own the turnover battle with an ultraaggressive style on both sides. Prediction: San Jose State 34-20
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL West Virginia vs. Army
TV: 4 p.m. ET Thursday, ESPN Army (9-2) was originally set to go to the Independence Bowl, but the game was canceled due to a lack of an opponent. The Knights were able to quickly turn into a fill-in to play West Virginia (5-4) when Tennessee had to opt out. Army is coming in on a run of three straight wins including back-to-back victories over Navy and Air Force to take the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. It’s the great Army option rushing offense against the great Mountaineers run defense. West Virginia second-year head man Neal Brown was 3-0 in bowl games at Troy, but he’ll need a big day out of the NFL-caliber defensive line brother tandem of Dante and Darius Stills to slow down the Army ground attack.
Prediction: West Virginia 26-21
CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL Georgia vs. Cincinnati
TV: Noon ET Friday, ESPN
It’s the annual referendum matchup in the College Football Playoff era. The committee throws the Group of Five programs a cookie with the top-ranked champion from the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, MidAmerican, Mountain West and Sun Belt getting a big-name bowl slot against a Power Five program that wasn’t good enough to make the CFP. The Group of Five started out 3-1 against the big boys, but the Power Five has taken the last two. This time around means a wee bit more because there wasn’t a totally obvious No. 4 team for the playoff, and Cincinnati (9-0) finished ranked eighth in the final committee rankings. A win by the American Athletic Conference champion won’t necessarily change anything going forward, but in the battle for hearts and minds, it would give the Group of Five programs a major talking point. However … For good and for bad, Georgia (7-2) is terrific. Talentwise, it’s right there with anyone in the country, but the quarterback play was shaky early on, things changed once JT Daniels was healthy enough to go, and the team ripped through a three-game run of wins with the offense improving along the way. Cincinnati has been knocking on the door of big things under head coach Luke Fickell. The program won 11 games two seasons in a row – and two bowl games over Power Five teams – and then came this unbeaten campaign with a conference championship.
Prediction: Georgia 30-20
VRBO CITRUS BOWL Northwestern vs. Auburn
TV: 1 p.m. ET Friday, ABC
It’s a big game for the Big Ten. Northwestern (6-2) played for the Big Ten championship, it pushed Ohio State a bit in the 22-10 loss, and it has one of the hottest head coaches in all of football with the NFL about to be knocking on Pat Fitzgerald’s door. It’s Northwestern, but it’s supposed to beat a mediocre Auburn (6-4) team with interim head coach Kevin Steele keeping the seat warm before newly hired head man Bryan Harsin takes over. If you like lots of fun, exciting, high-octane offense, this isn’t for you. However, Northwestern doesn’t miss a whole lot of tackles – despite getting run over by Trey Sermon and Ohio State – and it leads the nation in pass efficiency defense. Auburn’s D has been sneaky-decent, and QB Bo Nix is a hit-or-miss playmaker who could use a big performance going into the offseason.
Prediction: Northwestern 26-23
TAXSLAYER GATOR BOWL North Carolina State vs. Kentucky
TV: Noon ET Saturday, ESPN Sometimes bowl games are just bowl games, and sometimes they’re seasondefiners. It’s the latter for these two but for different reasons. Kentucky (4-6) had a disappointing losing season, but it’s in the bowl it likely would’ve been in had the schedule been normal and if it had a few non-conference wins to build up the record. For a team that relies on a rock-steady style of play, it’s been a flaky year with a whole slew of blowouts for both good and bad. Winning this would make the season. On the flip side … North Carolina State (8-3) had a strong record, it was the only team to beat Liberty this season, and it comes in on a four-game winning streak. It’s not the most scintillating of teams, but it finds ways to get wins. Prediction: Kentucky 24-23
OUTBACK BOWL Indiana vs. Mississippi
TV: 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN These are two teams that play a fun style of football. It’s been a better first year at Mississippi (4-5) under Lane Kiffin than the record might indicate. The offense led the Southeastern Conference and was third in the country with QB Matt Corral bombing away for close to 3,000 yards, but the defense – and this is a good thing for your bowl enjoyment – is awful. Indiana (6-1) should help make this a shootout. QB Jack Tuttle and WR Ty Fryfogle should go off on the soft Rebels secondary. Prediction: Indiana 45-38
PLAYSTATION FIESTA BOWL Oregon vs. Iowa State
TV: 4 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN
It’s the Bowl of Misfit Teams, with Oregon (4-2) winning the Pac-12 championship game over Southern California – after Washington wasn’t able to go due to COVID-19 issues – battling an Iowa State (8-3) squad that had a great second half of the season but started with a 17-point loss to Louisiana and ended with a Big 12 title game defeat to Oklahoma. However, this is a good Cyclones team that’s going to be fired up to close strong, and Oregon has a very young, very talented team that fought through key preseason opt-outs and now wants to make a statement going into next season. Oregon never quite found a groove, but the offense is efficient, the defense stepped up when it needed to against USC, and, again, talent isn’t a question. Iowa State is a good, sound, experienced team, but the Ducks have the next-level guys across the board. This is a big deal for the Cyclones. Iowa State has never won an outright league title despite playing football since the late 1800s and this is just the 16th bowl appearance. Prediction: Oregon 31-27
CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL North Carolina vs. Texas A&M
TV: 8 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN North Carolina (8-3) does a good job of controlling the clock, but it likes to hit the home run, relies on the big plays to overcome too many sleepy lulls during games and it’s going to keep on coming with a quick pace that can strike quickly. However, the offense is missing star RB Javonte Williams and top WR Dyami Brown – they’re both out getting ready for the NFL. Texas A&M (8-1) is going to come into this was a major attitude after being passed over by the College Football Playoff committee for the fourth spot in the field. It plays a deliberate style that dominates the clock and makes opposing teams press when they finally get the ball. It’s a veteran team with a great back in Isaiah Spiller, a veteran quarterback in Kellen Mond and a defense that led the SEC in yards allowed and was third in the nation against the run.
Prediction: Texas A&M 34-24