[FreakNasty]

I'll give my in depth analysis/opinions on every game this bowl season. As the famous ESPN commerical goes, IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIMEEEEE OF THE YEAR!

I'll break the games down 5 at a time till we get to my super-nice BCS preview in a week or two. Expect these previews every couple of days.

Today we will cover
The New Orleans Bowl
The GMAC Bowl
The Las Vegas Bowl
The Poinsetta Bowl
The Fort Worth Bowl

[size=6]New Orleans Bowl[/size]

Arkansas St. (6-5) vs. Southern Miss (6-5)

Arkansas St. (6-5, 5-2 Sun Belt)

Best Offensive weapon:Antonio Warren RB (166 carries, 1046 yards, 6 touchdowns)

Best Defensive weapon:James Johnson CB/KR (4 interceptions)

Average PPG:25
Average PPG against:24.7

Southern Miss (6-5 5-3 C-USA)

Best Offensive Weapon: Dustin Almond QB (199-362, 2607 Yards, 21 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon:Brandon Summrall (4 interceptions)

Average PPG:29.4
Average PPG Against:20.2

Analysis

This will be Southern Miss's 2nd straight trip to the New Orleans Bowl, which is being played in Lafeyette La this season due to Katrina.

Arkansas St. is playing in it's first ever bowl game, North Texas has represented the Sun Belt in the previous 4 New Orleans Bowls.

This game will by who win TOP. Arkansas St. is a very good running team (granted they play in a kiddie conference), and Southern Miss is very balanced on offense and defense.

I'll take Southern Miss by 3 touchdowns.

Southern Miss 34
Arkansas St. 13

[b]GMAC Bowl[/b]

UTEP (8-3) vs. Toledo (8-3)

UTEP (8-3, 5-3 C-USA)

Best Offensive Weapon:Jordan Palmer (244-401, 3340 Yards, 28 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon:Quentin Demps (3 interceptions)

Average PPG:33.5
Average PPG Against:23.2

Toledo (8-3, 6-2 MAC)

Best Offensive Weapon:Trinity Dawson (208 rushes, 1170 Yards, 5 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon:Keon Jackson (4 INT's)

Average PPG:34.9
Average PPG Against:22.5

Analysis

As history suggest, this game, like all GMAC bowls, will be high scoring. UTEP and Toledo are explosive offensively (as the numbers show) and are very similar on defense. It'll be a very good, evenly matched game.

Watch out for Bruce Gradkowski, the Toledo QB. He could be the next MAC QB to make an impact in the NFL.

Jordan Palmer is Carson's brother, and is having a great year. UTEP slipped towards the end of the year, but they are still going to be my pick.

UTEP 41
Toledo 35

The Las Vegas Bowl

California (7-4) vs. BYU (6-5)

Cal (7-4 4-4 Pac 10)

Best Offensive Weapon:Marshawn Lynch (172 Rushes, 1052 yards, 7 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon: Daymeion Hughes (4 INT's)

Average PPG:32.7
Average PPG Against:20.5

BYU (6-5, 5-3 Mountain West)

Best Offensive Weapon:John Beck (296-460, 3357 Yards, 24 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon:John Luettergodt (3 INT's)

Average PPG:33.4
Average PPG Against:28.7

Analysis

BYU played solid non-conference compition in Notre Dame and Boston College. They are very balanced offensively, but at times cannot stop a rock on defense.

Cal has been the exact opposite. Solid on defense, horrid on offense (thanks to inconsistant QB play from Joe Ayoob.)

Lynch will go off in this game, and BYU will not be able to keep up their scoring pace of the last part of the year.

Cal 35
BYU 21

The Poinsetta Bowl

Colorado St. (6-5) vs. Navy (7-4)

Colorado St. (6-5, 5-3)

Best Offensive Option:Kyle Bell (254 rushes, 1166 yards, 9 TD's)

Best Defensive Option:Travis Garcia (3 INT's)

Average PPG:26.4
Average PPG Against:28.9

Navy (7-4 No Conference Record)

Best Offensive Option:Lamar Owens (1155 Yards Passing, 830 yards rushing, 11 TD's)

Best Defensive Option:Greg Thrasher Jr. (2 INT's)

Average PPG:32.6
Average PPG Against:23

Analysis

This is by far the worst bowl game. A team that go outscored on the season against a Navy team that hasn't invented the forward pass. Good luck staying up past the first quarter.

Both teams play similar style offenses, and Sonny Lubick was one of the masterminds of the Miami teams of the late 80's and 90's, but I dont see Gino or Lamar Thomas on this Rams team.

Navy 21
Colorado St. 17

The Fort Worth Bowl

Kansas (6-5) vs. Houston (6-5)

Kansas (6-5, 3-5 Big XII)

Best Offensive Weapon:Jon Cornish (118 rushes, 679 yards, 9 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon:Charles Gordon (2 INT's)

Average PPG:20.6
Average PPG Against:22.8

Houston (6-5, 4-4 C-USA)

Best Offensive Weapon: Kevin Kolb (233-375, 3034 Yards, 19 TD's)

Best Defensive Weapon: Kenneth Fontenette (4 INT's)

Average PPG:29.4
Average PPG Against:25.6

Analysis

Houston gets the advantage of playing in their home state for this game, which will be a huge advantage against a Kansas team that is severly limited offensively.

Kansas has the best defensive player you have never heard of in Charles Gordon, but he can't pass, run, catch, and play defense, and that'll be the difference.

Houston 28
Kansas 10

[Beef]

Looking good FN!!! Sure do seem to have a lot of free time on your hands...but with skills like this, you could very well be on TV one day :Thumbs:

[alfus21]

Looking good FN!!! Sure do seem to have a lot of free time on your hands...but with skills like this, you could very well be on TV one day :Thumbs:

He'll be one of the guys in the booth next to the commentators handing them the random stats like "Johnson leads the league in stand-up doubles after 7:00 P.M. in June of odd years the day after a rainstorm when between 10,000 and 20,000 fans are in attendance" Not saying that's a bad thing, but with all the free time he has to do that, I could see it happening...

[FreakNasty]

Looking good FN!!! Sure do seem to have a lot of free time on your hands...but with skills like this, you could very well be on TV one day :Thumbs:

I make time.

He'll be one of the guys in the booth next to the commentators handing them the random stats like "Johnson leads the league in stand-up doubles after 7:00 P.M. in June of odd years the day after a rainstorm when between 10,000 and 20,000 fans are in attendance" Not saying that's a bad thing, but with all the free time he has to do that, I could see it happening..

.

Play by Play always needs guys who know what they are talking about, and the $$$ isn't all that bad

[imported_torQQue]

Nice work FN.. Good luck with whatever career you pursue after college.