MWC Bowl Predictions

"Surely, the NCAA and Division I-A football can join the other 23 intercollegiate sports and devise a system that determines a true champion, preserves the integrity of the game and levels the playing field.”— Retired Brigham Young football coach LaVell Edwards, to the Senate Judiciary Committee October 2003

“To be frank with you, I don’t know what the reasons are not to have a playoff, You can talk about missing class and all that kind of stuff, [yet] you see basketball go on forever. You have a lot of bogus excuses, but obviously the majority of people who have the say don’t want it.” Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno

I'll just let those quotes be my BCS "rant" for the day, so here are my predictions:

NEW MEXICO BOWL SATURDAY DEC 19, 2:30 pm MT
Fresno St. vs Wyoming: Fresno St. is another one of those Jekyll and Hide teams. They got cut up by Nevada like boarding house pie, but they also beat a descent Illinois team on the road their last time out. This is a tough draw for Wyoming and one of a few tough match ups for the MWC. Congrats to UW on their first bowl game in a while but I don't think they'll be able to pull off the upset. I've got Fresno St. 28 Wyoming 21

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS (aka Las Vegas Bowl or the Cougar Bowl, not to be confused with Cougar Town) TUESDAY DEC 22, 6:00 pm MT

18 Oregon St. vs 14 BYU

This is by far one of the best bowl games of the season, it pits two ranked teams from two very good conferences. Both teams have very good offenses. Myth: Both teams have a suspect defense. Fact: BYU's defense has performed extremely well all year with one glaring exception, FSU. BYU has done well this year against pocket passers in run-heavy offenses. OSU's QB is an exceptional pocket passer and he will get his points against this BYU defense. OSU's RB (Jaques Rodgers, yeah the guy who tore up USC a couple years ago) is great NFL bound running back. If BYU can slow him down and force a few third and longs then they will be alright. I expect this game to be a shootout with both offenses putting on a show. Whichever defense can make the big plays will come out on top. Max Hall has a big monkey off his back now that he has beaten Utah 2 out of 3 times. He also owns the BYU record for most wins in a career and he will be relaxed and looking to go out with a bang. He will lead BYU to a game winning TD drive in the 4th Quarter. BYU 42 OSU 35

SAN DIEGO COUNTY CREDIT UNION POINSETTIA BOWL Wednesday Dec 23, 6:00 pm MT

23 Utah vs California

I don't like Utah, in fact I hate them (not really). If Utah wins this match up then the MWC will finish with 3 ranked teams for the second consecutive year. So I will be cheering for Utah this time, but I will probably feel the need to shower soon after the game is over. I'm going to predict a very nice game for the Freshman QB for Utah. Utah 38 Cal 21

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL Thursday DEC 31, 10:00 AM MT

Air Force vs Houston

This is another very good but very tough match up for both teams. Air Force's defense is one of the best in the nation but will be looking to recover a bit from the shalacking that BYU handed them their last time out. Houston has a very good offense and one of the best passers in the Nation in Case Keenum. I'm not sure what two expect but something has got to give so lets just hope that Air Force's defense learned something from Max Hall. Air Force 28 Houston 42

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL Monday JAN 4, 6:00 pm MT

6 BSU vs 4 TCU

I can't wait for this game. TCU has got something to prove and so does BSU. When I first caught wind of this match up I was a bit disappointed but after thinking about it, this should be a very good game. TCU is one of the best teams in the country largely because of it's defense. BSU is one of the best because of it's offense. TCU's defense is better than BSU offense though. BSU is a similar team to BYU. BYU could have very likely gone undefeated with BSU's schedule. As much as a hate to say it TCU's beating of BYU was not a fluke. Their defense will do the same thing to BSU. However, BSU has a lot to play for and they won't take it lying down. They will probably do about what they did last year against TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl.

TCU 28 BSU 21

Basically I'm expecting the Big 3 to win their games and the other two bowl teams to come up a bit short. 3-2 with this years match ups will be very big for the MWC. Any upset that Wyoming or Air Force can pull off will be icing on the cake. Get your chips and salsa and grab a Dr. Pepper folks (caffeine free of course) cause "it's the most wonderful time of the year"!

Tackling...

Predicting the Holy War

Trying to guess the winner of the Holy War is like picking the winning horse in the Kentucky derby. Some horses might have a better chance but when the race is actually run, anyone has a chance. I'm just glad there is not family pool like there is with the NCAA tournament because I'm sure my sister or my aunt would win because they just used their birthday to pick the score. Before I get to that I feel obligated to predict the rest of the MWC scores.

Wyoming at CSU: The Cowboys are fighting for a bowl birth and CSU is fighting for pride. It's another rivalry games so it's another tough one to pick. I'm going with the hot hand in this one. I think Wyoming's offense will do just enough to keep them within striking range all game long. ACS will come alive in the 4th quarter for a touchdown drive, the win, and a bowl game. Wyoming 21 CSU 17

New Mexico at TCU: New Mexico has progressively gotten better as the year has gone on. This one will get ugly though because there is a lot on the line for TCU. I don't think there will be any letdowns at this point. TCU 55 New Mexico 7

SDSU at UNLV: I don't think this game means much to either team except ending the season with a win. Neither team is going bowling. For SDSU they are on the up and up and talent wise they should win this game. UNLV may have something to play for if they want to send Sanford out on a win. I think i will be a nail bighter with SDSU winning a close one. SDSU 49 UNLV 42

Utah at BYU: BYU will be favored by a few points when the game starts at 3 on Saturday but that really doesn't mean much. The Y has traditionally been very good in this rivalry game when a Senior QB is at the helm. Actually since 2001 BYU is 2-0 when playing with a Senior QB and Utah is also 2-0 when playing with a Senior QB. I think that will be the difference as the Utes will be starting Fr. Jordan Wynn. I look for Hall to have a monster game because I think the Utes will stack the box and force Hall to win the game instead of Unga. BYU 31 Utah 17

Don't look now but my record is better than Max Hall's

Max Hall is a measly 29-7 in his BYU career and he only went 1-0 last week. I on the other hand am 32-6 and I went 4-0 last week. Can I get a scholarship for that? And this week I say:

TCU at Wyoming: The good news for Wyoming is that...er OK I don't think there is any good news this week for the Cowboys. I don't see TCU letting down at all and right now they are arguably the best team in the country. They are focused and Wyoming is too young and they don't quite have enough talent to compete this week. I won't be as bad as the meltdown against BYU though. TCU 56 Wyoming 7

Air Force at BYU: Air Force is coming off a convincing win against UNLV but who hasn't. The Cougars on the other hand struggled on the road against New Mexico. BYU's offense will be very crisp this week and Air Force will not be able to contain Harvey Unga or Dennis Pitta. The field will be hard from the cold so they won't have the issues that they have had in past weeks with not getting proper footing on offense. BYU also has traditionally handled Air Force's option attack very well. BYU 35 Air Force 19

San Diego St. at Utah: For those of you that are waiting for Utah's annual meltdown game you might want to tune in to this one. SDSU is dangerous on offense and Utah is coming off a bad loss to TCU. Utah will have enough guns on defense and SDSU's defense is bad enough that Utah will squeak one out. SDSU 21 Utah 24

CSU at New Mexico: Hmmm what to say what to say... Ugh. CSU 21 New Mexico 18

Jimmer drops 25, Cougars roll.

I would be more excited about this game but some freshman kid stole my beanie right out from underneath me when I wasn't looking. So here are some quick hits and thoughts from last nights game:
- Jimmer scored 25 points. The best part about that is it LOOKED like he had a mediocre game. He was off most of the night on his shot and the lack of an inside game hurt him I think. When this team struggles during the season Jimmer will take the team on his back and that is very good news.
- Jax and JT both struggled to get into the flow of the game. Between the two of them they shot 6-22 from the field with 7 PF and 5 TO and 2 assists.
- The hero tonight was Mike Lloyd Jr. (Can we call him MLJ?) He came in and shot 4-4 from the field for 10 points. He had 4 rebounds and a steal. Very impressive outing from the RS Sophomore.
- BYU is very deep. Transfer Logan Magnusson only got in for 2 minutes but still managed to pull down a couple of boards and got an assist.
- Davies looked good but was only in the game for 10 minutes and he struggled from the charity stripe going 1-4.
- Haws went 0-2 from the field and 4-6 from the line. Most impressive were his 5 defensive boards and his 2 offensive boards. He led the team in rebounds. Ty struggled just a little bit on defense. He lost his man a couple times and it looked like he was having a hard time helping and recovering. That is something that will get better within a couple games though.
Overall this was a very good opener from the Cougars. There were a couple times when I thought the Braves were going to be in the game all the way. Each time though BYU rallied and closed the door to an upset. That's not easy to do in the first game of the season, just ask the Utes about Idaho.

MWC Predictions

I'm just rolling folks. I went 4-1 last week so my record is up to 28-6. Not bad. Lets see how I do this week.

UNLV at Air Force: I don't really see UNLV staying in this game for very long. It's in Colorado Springs and it's going to be cold. Air Force's defense will be too much for UNLV's offense and well UNLV's defense is almost non existent. Air Force could rack up 300 + yards rushing. That equals a victory for the Falcons. Air Force 35 UNLV 14

Utah at TCU: Utah is going into DFW this weekend with a Freshman QB. That spells trouble for the Utes who otherwise match up very well with TCU. Utah usually does well against TCU because there defense is good enough to keep them in the contest and give their offense a chance to mustar a few points. TCU's defense will eat Freshman Wynn alive and get 2 pick and at least one fumble from the kid. TCU 28 Utah 14



Wyoming at SDSU: A bowl game is on the line for both of these 1st year head coaches. The winner gets in inside track at a bowl game and the loser has to knock off a top team in order to become bowl eligable. It's safe to say that the loser will not be practicing in December. Wyoming's defense will have to be better than they were last week in order to stop SDSU's offense. In Laramie I would take the Cowboys in this one but in sunny San Diego it's a different story. This is another bad match up for the Cowboys. Christiansen is a good coach though and I think he's got something up his sleeve so I'm still going to take the Cowboys in a close one. Wyoming 24 SDSU 21

BYU at New Mexico: This game will just be the second bye in three weeks for the Cougars. New Mexico is terrible and could likely go winless this year. BYU 49 New Mexico 3

Introducing the Score Predictor

Alright folks, last week I did well with my predictions going 4-0 so that brings my overall record up to 24-5. Here are this weeks predictions:

Army at Air Force: I'm going to pick Air Force on this one. I'll be honest, I haven't seen Army play at all but they are just 3-5 on the year. Air Force is coming off a convincing win against CSU and I think they will roll. Air Force 24 Navy 10

TCU at SDSU: This should be a pretty good game. By that I mean the weather should be good. As far as the score goes, this one will get ugly, fast. TCU has no problem running up the score to get style points in their bid for the BCS. SDSU will be just the next in line to be victimized. SDSU's best weapon (that one wide receiver that owned BYU) will be neutralized by TCU's awesome secondary.

TCU 49 SDSU 7

New Mexico at Utah: Not sure what Whittingham is trying to do by not announcing his starting QB for the week. He said he wants to make it hard for NM to get ready for the game... Now I could be wrong but I would guess Utah could start their water boy and still win this game very easily. New Mexico's defense should give Utah's terrible offense a little confidence going into next weeks showdown against TCU. Don't be surprised if Utah has a total letdown here though. No doubt they are looking ahead to the TCU game next week. Kwhittingham's teams have a tendency to lose games the have no business losing. They'll pull this one out in the end though. Utah 27 New Mexico 17

CSU at UNLV: A few weeks ago I said the winner of the SDSU vs CSU game would end up placing 5th in the conference and the loser would end up at 7th. Well I still think that will hold true and so that's why I think CSU will squeak by UNLV on the road. CSU 45 UNLV 42

BYU vs Wyoming: On paper this one doesn't look like it will be too close of a game. But as the saying goes, that's why they play the game. The Cougars are coming off a demoralizing loss to TCU and Wyoming is coming off a tough loss to Utah. I think the Cougars will steam roll the Cowboys and here's why:

1. Wyoming will have no answer for Unga. This will open up the play action and passing game and Max Hall is going to have a hay day.

2. Wyoming does not have the offense that it takes to beat BYU. Their receivers aren't very good and they have an average Freshman QB with a lot of potential, but it is still just that: potential. ACS ranks 8th among the 9 QB's in the Mountain West in passing efficiency. BYU will be able to shut him down on 3rd down runs when he is dangerous.

BYU 41 Wyoming 10

Ok check out the following video to find out the real reason BYU will beat Wyoming on Saturday.

Also vote in the poll to tell me what you think the score will be.