Not to single out any holiday and the safest and happiest of all the winter holidays (from Channukah to Ramadan, Saturnalia to Kwanzaa, Solstice to Tet, and any I left out) from all of us here (that would be me) at the GCR massive server room (aka my laptop). I didn’t post yesterday because I took a day off when Hawaii dropped out of the Hawai’i Bowl leaving Memphis with no place to play (although being in Hawai’i for no particular reason is not a bad deal). That news came almost at exactly the same time as Rutgers 5-7 (88) taking Texas A&M’s spot in the Gator Bowl facing Wake Forest. So we solved one problem of a team with no one to play and created a new one at the same time. Brilliant!!!
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In Thursday’s games, Miami OH 7-6 (99) gave the MAC its first win in 5 bowls by knocking off North Texas 6-7 (137) who finished up C-USA’s bowl season at 3-5, by the score of 27-14. The RedHawks ran the ball and used 38 minutes of the game clock to get the win. It was close and high scoring in the first half 20-14, but ball control and burning clock slowed things down in the second. A single TD in the 3rd was all of the scoring.
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In the nightcap, the Power 5 fell to 0-3 vs the Group of 5 when UCF 9-4 (64) of the American (soon to be Big 12) won the proverbial state championship by beating Florida 6-7 (78) 29-17. the game was a back and forth with the Gators up 17-16 until 3:09 in the 3rd. It was all Knights after that. Florida was short-handed, both teams were eager for extra-curricular pushing and shoving, and the game devolved into a bunch of ugliness at the end. A Florida player was carted off when the game was already decided and I saw yesterday he was released from the hospital.
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Here are the conference standings going into today’s game, updated for Rutgers and the Hawai’i Bowl:
| Conference | Bowls | Overall Record | vs Power 5 Record | vs Group of 5 Record |
| American | 6 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| ACC | 10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Big 12 | 7 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Big Ten | 10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| C-USA | 8 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 3-5 |
| Indies | 4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| MAC | 8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1-4 |
| Mtn West | 7 | 4-0 | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| Pac-12 | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| SEC | 12 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Sun Belt | 4 | 2-1 | 0-0 | 2-1 |
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Today, out of Montgomery, Alabama, with a 2:30 (all times Eastern) kickoff, we have the Camellia Bowl with Ball St 6-6 (116) facing Georgia St 7-5 (74). When Ball St has the ball, don’t expect a lot of scoring. They bring an Offensive Efficiency Rating of 88 (they score 8.8 points for every 10 their opponents normally allow) and will be facing a Panther DER (Defensive) of 104 (they give up 10 points for every 10.4 their opponents normally score). When the boys from Atlanta have the ball, they show an OER of 94 and will face a Cardinal DER of 109. This should be a low scoring game. Vegas has the over/under at 51 which is just about the average for the two teams combined. For the winner, Vegas likes GAST -6.0 and the GCR agrees 61.3%.
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That’s the only game today and college has tomorrow off (apparently the NFL is playing a few games), but the GCR will be back on Monday where we will predict the Quick Lane and Military Bowls. Speaking of predictions, Vegas was 1-1 yesterday and the GCR was 2-0 (thank you Miami OH) making us tied with 11-6 records so far. Here are all the games in the bowl season with updated records, ranking, and Vegas odds. Have a wonderful weekend, G
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