The New Years Six Bowl games kicked off with the Cotton Bowl last night. There are two more major bowl games today with the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl.

Here are my previews and predictions for today’s games.

TaxSlayer Bowl (Noon ET) No. 23 Mississippi State vs. Louisville (-5.5): Another game where a coaching change could affect the outcome of the game. Dan Mullen left Mississippi State last month for Florida. That left a skelton staff behind to pick up the pieces. The school chose running backs coach Greg Knox to lead the program today. 

Knox and his staff will have to find a way to keep up with Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals high powered offense. It won’t be easy. Jackson ran roughshod through the ACC this past season and put up better numbers than he did in 2016. 

It would be nice to see Mississippi State be competitive in this game and keep it close but I don’t see that happening. Louisville is more talented and has a far more stable coaching situation. The Cardinals will roll and win by three scores. 

AutoZone Liberty Bowl (12:30 p.m. ET) No. 20 Memphis (-3) vs. Iowa State: Matt Campbell has done a fantastic job at Iowa State this season but I have a hard time believing his Cyclones can keep up with the explosive Memphis Tigers.

Memphis averaged 47.7 points per game this season. Quarterback Riley Ferguson threw for 3,971 yards and 36 touchdown passes in 12 games. Those are big time numbers. 

Iowa State plays good enough defense to keep this game close but it is hard to see them keeping up. I am going to take Memphis in what could be a highly entertaining, high scoring affair. 

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (4 p.m. ET) No. 9 Penn State (-3) vs. No. 11 Washington: This could be one of the best bowl games of the season. Both teams enter the game at 10-2 and are loaded with talent.
Washington’s offense is led by quarterback Jake Browning, running back Myles Gaskins and wide receiver Dante Pettis. All three players have put up big numbers the past two seasons playing in Chris Pedersen’s offense. They will have their hands full against a Penn State front seven that is athletic and can rush the passer. If Browning gets time however, he can take advantage of a secondary that is prone to giving up big plays.

Penn State has its own triplets in quarterback Trace McSorley, running back Saquon Barkley and tight end Mike Gesicki. The trio along with wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton helped the Nittany Lions average 41.6 points per game.

Both programs have stout, physical defenses and whichever defense plays the best, particularly in the second half will lead their program to the win. This is another game with high scoring potential. I am putting my money on Penn State. I think they are the better team and they will prove it by winning a tight game. 

Capital One Orange Bowl (8 p.m. ET) No. 6 Wisconsin (-6) vs. No. 10 Miami (FL): The match up to watch in this game is the Wisconsin running game and their massive offensive line versus the Turnover Chain wearing Miami Hurricanes defense. 
If Wisconsin can effectively run the ball early with Jonathan Taylor and impose their will, they will win this game. If the Badgers have to rely on quarterback Alex Hornibrook to win this game, they are in trouble.

Miami faded down the stretch and much of that was attributed to the play of quarterback Malik Rozier who struggled in loses to Pitt and Clemson. Rozier will need to play much better in this game if the hometown Hurricanes want to have any chance of winning this game. 

I expect this to be a tight game that will come down to the fourth quarter. It is tough picking against Miami at home but I am going to do it. Wisconsin is better. They will win this game by a touchdown.