Welcome back for a second post today. Earlier we talked about the mid-season Top 363 for Women’s Basketball. Now we switch back to football. Yesterday we had a fun game on the blue field that is The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise. The GCR picked the upset as Washington St (7-6/72) nursed a 20-0 lead to a 34-21 victory over Utah St (6-7/90). The game wasn’t that close as the Cougars outgained the Aggies 628-254. UTST didn’t put a point on the board until 2:27 in the 3rd. WAST answered early in the 4th to put the game out of reach. It could have been more of a blowout, but the Cougars threw three interceptions.
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Today we move south for three games starting with the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl in, you guessed it, Boca Raton, Florida. Being shown on ESPN at 2:00, we have the Toledo Rockets (8-4/50), tied for second in the MAC, taking on the ACC’s Louisville Cardinals, tied for 7th in the conference. Of the 42 Core 4 teams in bowl games or the playoffs, there are 9 games against Group of 5 teams. There were 2 in the playoffs with Mississippi/Tulane (the only such SEC game out of 11 teams) and Oregon/James Madison (one of three such Big Ten games along with Northwestern/C Michigan and Minnesota/New Mexico out of 12 teams). The Big 12 has one (Cincinnati/Navy) out of 8 teams. Counting today’s game, the ACC has four G5 games out of 11 total postseason slots. In addition to Louisville, NC St has already played and beaten Memphis while California will play Hawaii on 12/24, and Pittsburgh will play East Carolina on 12/27. But we digress. Toledo lost the opener to Kentucky before winning two including C-USA champion W Kentucky. The next five games alternated LWLWL before winning their last 4. The best win was the WKY (8-4/71) game while their worst loss was a conference game to Bowling Green (4-8/120). They faced 5 bowl teams going 3-2 against them. Louisville had a great start at 4-0 including wins over playoff team James Madison as well as Pittsburgh. They lost to conference runner up Virginia before rattling on three straight wins including one against playoff team Miami FL. Then the rails came off the Cardinal train a little with 3 losses before beating archrival Kentucky to end the season. Their best win was the Miami FL (11-2/7) game, and their worst loss was against California (7-5/59). They were 3-4 against postseason-bound opponents including the remarkable 2-0 against playoff teams. Both of these teams played Kentucky. Toledo lost 24-16 while Louisville shut them out 41-0. Vegas has LOU-10.5 and the GCR agrees at 63.5% and to cover.
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Leaving southern Florida, we head along the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans to play the not-very-creatively named New Orleans Bowl. With a 5:30 kickoff on ESPN, we have the W Kentucky Hilltoppers (8-4/71), 3rd in C-USA, facing the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-5/85), tied for 2nd in the Sun Belt West Division. The Hilltoppers (JoJo’s favorite mascot, for the record) started the season 5-1, then 8-2 before close losses to LSU (13-10) and conference runner up Jacksonville St (37-34). Their best win was against LA Tech (7-5/69) while their worst loss was against FIU (7-5/71) – both conference foes. Facing 7 bowl teams, they went 3-4 in those games. SMIS started 2-2 before rattling off 5 straight wins and looking like they would win the West (the Sun Belt is the only FBS conference that still has divisions). Losing the last three games of the season dashed those hopes but set them up for a trip to The Big Easy. They beat Jacksonville St (9-5/77), a common opponent with WKY which was their best win. They were upset by South Alabama (4-8/114) suffering their worst loss of the campaign. Oddly, they were just 1-3 against teams that are not in a bowl game but 6-2 against those that are. Maybe they play to the level of their opponent. If so, this will be a great game. Vegas likes SMIS-1.5, maybe because of that record against quality teams, but the GCR has the red blob mascot of W Kentucky walking away victorious 51.5% in the upset and cover.
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Our nightcap, at 9:00 also on ESPN, takes us to Frisco, TX to play in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl – yep, 3 games all named for the city they are played in. The game features the Mountain West’s runner up UNLV Rebels (10-3/47) facing the MAC’s Ohio Bobcats (8-4/65), tied for 2nd in the MAC. UNLV started 6-0 including a win over Big Ten UCLA, before dropping games to MWC champion Boise St and New Mexico. They won their last 4 to earn a return trip to Boise for the championship game which they lost. Their best win was against Hawaii (8-4/67) while their worst loss was to New Mexico (9-3/53). 0-3 against BOST and NMEX, they played 3 other bowl-bound teams and swept them ending 3-3. Ohio’s first three games were a loss to Rutgers (Big Ten), a win over West Virginia (Big 12), and a loss to Ohio St (playoff team from the Big Ten). After that, they finished a strong 7-2. Their best win was against Miami OH (7-6/82) and their worst loss was an upset to Ball St (4-8/126). The MIAO win was the only one against bowl teams and they finished just 1-2 including the loss to the Buckeyes. Vegas has UNLV-6.5 and, while the GCR agrees the Rebels will win at 54.5%, the algorithm has the Bobcats covering.
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So far this postseason, the GCR is 9-7 picking the winner (7-3 in FBS games), but just 8-9 against the spread. Let’s hope a clean sweep today pulls those numbers up.
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That’s it for today. Tune in tomorrow for another double dip. First, we will have the Men’s Basketball midseason rankings in the morning. Then we preview the Hawaii Bowl tomorrow evening. Happy Holidays to all of our readers. We cannot thank you enough for your readership and your generosity in sharing out meager posts with others. You are helping us grow which is the most thoughtful Holiday gift we can imagine, JoJo and G.
