Happy New Year - BCS Picks

Well, Christmas vacation is winding down as we ring in the new year. I've had some nice time off. Watching the kids open presents on Christmas morning and taking Reid for a bike ride in his pajamas was one of the major highlights.

I also had some time to play some golf, visit with family, take Reid to the Children's Museum and spend a day with just Tiffany, no kids. All-in-all, it's been a pretty good week away from the office.

As for the bowl games, I've gotten to watch a couple but honestly, I haven't really been that impressed with the bowl match ups this year. Even the New Year's Day and BCS games aren't "can't-miss games" this year. However, after sporting a 2-0 record picking games against the spread last year on my blog, I decided to put my undefeated record on the line and pick the BCS and Championship games.

Rose Bowl - USC (-8.5) vs. Penn State

Hype: I am probably the only one picking Penn State in this game. The media has once again jumped on the USC bandwagon and will ride it from Pasadena to Miami after the Rose Bowl in an attempt to petition to get USC into the National Championship game.

Match up: Yes, USC does have a great defense. And yes, USC has already routed a good Ohio State team this season that Penn State struggled to defeat. However, because both teams have a good defense, I don't think you will see a lot of points in this game and 8.5 points may be too much for USC to cover.

Motivation: Penn State will probably be more motivated to play in this game than USC. USC has played in this game four years in a row and while Pete Carroll preaches that reaching the Rose Bowl is their goal when they start the season, the players can't be as excited to stay at home for the Rose Bowl than say travel cross-country to Miami for the National Championship game.

Pick: Penn State 17 USC 16

Orange Bowl - Cincinnati (-2.5) vs. Virginia Tech

Hype: This is a 2 out of 5 star game but only because it will be the only bowl game being played

in prime time on New Year's Day. Otherwise, the Big East champion against the ACC champion doesn't register very high on my radar.

Match up: Let's face it, I'm not Kirk Herbstreit or Lee Corso. I don't know much about either of these teams but I think I've watch enough of college football and the bowl games to know that I am not very impressed with either of these conferences overall.

Motivation: Cincinnati which has never played in a BCS game should be the more motivated team. However, don't jump the gun on this one. Virginia Tech was in the same situation last year as they played Kansas, another team making their first appearance in a BCS game. Kansas got the better of them and motivation for last year's Orange Bowl defeat may be on their mind.

Pick: Virginia Tech 21 Cincinnati 19

Orange Bowl - Alabama (-9) vs. Utah

Hype: This bowl game doesn't offer a whole lot of pizaz but is always fun to see how the BCS Cinderalla team will fair against the mighty Goliath.

Match up: Alabama was a couple of plays away from playing in this year's National Championship game and have had a very sucessful season by running the ball, playing excellent defense & winning the field position battle.

Utah was 2-0 against BCS conference teams this year although a 2-point win against a struggling Michgian team and 3-point home win over Oregon State doesn't necessarily make them battle tested. The question will be, can Utah move the ball against the Alabama defense?

Pick: Alabama 31 Utah 10

I'll be picking the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship game later this weekend.