The Rabbi's Complete Bowl Preview 2009-10!

I'm the Rabbi, video editor of On The Sportslines. This is one of my favorite times of year. You can say how much the bowl system is only for money, how the bowl system is flawed and how it's ludicrous how it all works, but I say different. Is 33 bowls a bit much? Yeah, probably. But the fact is, 66 teams get to play one more game. A lot, and I mean a lot of players get that one last competitive game to play in their college football careers. Plus, the holidays are a whole lot more fun.

You want a 8 team playoff? Then we're gonna complain about the 9th and 10th team left out. Want a 16 team playoff? Then we'll complain about teams 17 and 18. I want to see college football action late season, not imagine about what could have been. Plus, bowl games make schools money, bowl games get schools recognition. For god sakes, I wish I went to a 1-A school sometimes for the atmosphere. I went to Hofstra, who's president decided this week that college football was too much of a financial burden, so they cut the entire program. That sucks.

So here's how this will work, I'll preview each of the bowls, and at the end I'll give confidence points. Confidence points= how sure I am each team will win. I'll do it from 1-33. I'll try to have these out every couple of days, so you know what you're watching and who you're watching. We're going from first...to the very very last. Since Bowl season is not that far away, let's get started with Part 1.

New Mexico Bowl- Dec 19th
Fresno State (8-4) Vs. Wyoming (6-6)

Why watch: It’s the beginning of the bowl season! You get your fill of college football after 2 weeks...actually forgot about Army/Navy this week so it’s 1 of no actual football!
After that, I got nothing for ya.

The Matchup: Well, the first two New Mexico Bowls featured, well, New Mexico, and the last two featured the perennial pretenders to Boise State’s WAC throne, Fresno State. The Bulldogs, now in their 3rd consecutive bowl, had modest expectations going into the season and beat basically every team they were supposed to on the schedule, only losing to 2 undefeated teams (Boise and Cincinnati), and 2 more talented teams (Nevada and at Wisconsin in 3OT) along the way. Fresno is 19th in the nation in offensive yards per game, having only scored less than 20 once. Meanwhile Wyoming, under first year head coach Dave Christensen, the former off. Coordinator at Missouri, had an up and down season en route to a 6-6 record, needing a last minute field goal against Colorado State to claim bowl eligibility. Despite giving up over 100 points more than they scored, the Cowboys are bowling for the first time in 5 years.

Who to Watch: For Fresno State, Ryan Matthews, who rushed for 100+ yards in all but one of the games he played in. For Wyoming, it’s anyone who is trying to stop Ryan Matthews, cause they probably won’t.

Prediction: Fresno State solidly, but I’m only putting 20 confidence points on it cause sometimes these games cause strange things.

St. Petersberg Bowl- Dec 19th
Central Florida (8-4) Vs. Rutgers (8-4)

Why Watch: To see the darlings of New Jersey in their 5th (yes, I said 5th) straight bowl, as they go on the road, again, versus George O’ Leary’s boys.

The Matchup: The boys of Rutgers wanted to make another trip to Florida for recruiting purposes, and now they got it. The season began about as bad as it could for Rutgers, losing by 32 in a national televised game, at home, to the Cincy Bearcats. The Big East was lost then and there, but the Scarlet Knights semi bounced back. They did lose two more close home games against teams that were just a little better (Pitt and West Virginia), but did win road games in the last seconds with long TD passes (at UCONN). All in all, Rutgers kinda sorta righted the ship, save for an embarrassing 18 point loss at Syracuse 3 weeks ago. UCF will basically be at home for this game, so they’ll bring the crowd. However, the only signature win on their resume this year is a 5 point win against Conf USA division winner Houston late in the season. Although, save for Miami and Texas, two top 15 teams, Central Florida either won or lost by less than a TD in all their games. UCF is winless in their previous 2 bowl games.

Who to Watch: For Rutgers, it’s Tom Savage, who had a 12-6 TD/INT ratio this year, and plays very well for a freshman, although he has freshman moments. For the Golden Knights, it’s sophomore rusher Brynn Harvey, a 1,000 yard rusher with 14 Tds.


Prediction: They have had solid wins on the road this season, so as much as I love Conference USA, I got to go with the boys from Piscataway to win another bowl game, but I’ll only put 9 confidence points on it.

R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- Dec 20th
Southern Miss (7-5) Vs. Middle Tennessee (9-3)


Why Watch: Cause both teams are 30th and 31st respectively in the nation in offense. Plus, the Sunday Night Football game that week might be Vikings-Panthers, I think this is a solid alternative.


Matchup: The Eagles rebounded from a 3-3 start to finish 7-5, a game better than last regular season. The difference from this year and last? Um, a better defense, one that may be just a tad bit better than the team that beat Troy last year in this bowl 30-27. (The Sun Belt winner is supposed to go here, but Troy declined for another bowl). That opened the door for Middle Tennessee State. The team is only in it’s 11th year of FBS football, and is going to it’s 2nd bowl (both times because of Troy declining bowls). Middle Tennessee, who’s off coordinator is former Auburn off coordinator/scapegoat Tony Franklin, has a defense to match it’s offense, 1st in the nation in tackles for loss and 4th in the nation in sacks.

Who To Watch: Let's focus on the QB's here. For Southern Miss, it's Martevious Young, who led his team to a 4-2 record (with both losses by 14 points), late in the year, throwing for 200+ yards in 4 of those games. His counterpart is Dwight Dasher, who's thrown for 26 TD's in 09, but be careful, he has 5 multi-INT games this season, but when he's good he's good, all of Mid Ten State's wins he's led his team to 27 or more points.

Prediction: While Southern Miss has the experience, this is a Blue Raiders team from Mid Tennessee that’s won 6 straight. They’re hot, I’ll take them here, but again, too much of an unknown factor, only putting 6 points here.

Don't worry, we get a little juicier with the matchups Wed, including a fun matchup involving 2 ranked teams BEFORE Christmas. See you Wed.