Mike Leach and his Cougars will look to cool off Washington State.
Military Bowl: Virginia vs. Navy (-2.5): Navy by 2.5 in Annapolis? I’ll take those odds any day of the week. I don’t see Virginia stopping Malcolm Perry and the Midshipmen’s flexbone triple option. I like Navy in this game and I like them big. Like, three scores big.
Camping World Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State (-6): I like Oklahoma State in this game. Sure, Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster will have some exotic fronts and coverages drawn up for Mason Rudolph and the Cowboys, but Oklahoma State has too much talent on perimeter for the Hokies to contain. This game has shootout potential but when the dust settles, I like Oklahoma State by two scores.
Alamo Bowl: Stanford vs. TCU (-3): TCU is athletic and fast on defense but I am not sure they have seen a running back like Bryce Love this season. Love runs with speed and power. If TCU doesn’t dominate the line of scrimmage, they will have problems stopping him.
I don’t think they will. The only way TCU wins this game is if they turn it into a track meet. I don’t see that happening because Stanford can ball control them. I’m taking the Cardinal as a dog in this one.
Holiday Bowl: Michigan State (-2.5) vs. Washington State: I love Mike Leach as a coach but his Cougars are a different team away from Pullman. I think they will struggle to consistently move the ball in this game.
Michigan State is stout defensively and they have the edge rushers necessary to throw Washington State quarterback Luke Falk out of rhythm.
The Spartans will do enough defensively to slow down Washington State. Add to that a physical ball control running game lead by quarterback Brian Lewerke and running back L.J Scott and taking Sparty as a short favorite is a no brainer.