EC's Bowl Picks Confidence Plays

I'm listing winners from most confident (34) to least confident (1) along with a comment...if you need help picking the bowls...check out below:

34 - USC over Boston College
BC is not good on the road...and USC has vengence on its mind from an underachieving regular season.
33 - Fresno St. over Wyoming
Wyoming is borderline the worst team of the 68 in a bowl game.
32 - Nevada over SMU
SMU would be in the bottom 5 of the 68 bowl teams...they blew a big lead and lost to a Washington St. team who finished the season 1-11.
31 - Texas Tech over Michigan St.
MSU has 8 key players suspended for this one and Tech is playing not too far from home.
30 - Florida over Cincinnati
You think Tim Tebow wants to lose his final two games as a collegian? No chance.
29 - UCLA over Temple
Even an average Pac-10 team should stomp an above average team from the MAC. Defense rules this game.
28 - Virginia Tech over Tennessee
V-Tech will avenge its Game 1 loss to an SEC team in the Georgia Dome with a rousing victory over Tennessee in the same venue.
27 - South Florida over Northern Illinois
MAC teams have traditionally gotten pounded by the much stronger Big East team in the International Bowl. USF romps.
26 - Ohio over Marshall
What an awful bowl game! If you watch this and don't have gambling interests, you must be a football diehard (like me)!
25 - TCU over Boise St.
I think this game will be closer than the the 7 point line...despite the fact that TCU is clearly the better team.
24 - Missouri over Navy
With a win here, Mizzou kicks off its campaign to be a surprise team in the Big 12 next season under QB Blaine Gabbert.
23 - Georgia over Texas A&M
Don't expect much defense to be played in this one...A&M can score in bunches but has absolutely no defense.
22 - Oregon St. over BYU
This should be a very good game with a similar result to last year's Arizona-BYU Las Vegas Bowl...the Pac-10 team (OSU) should win by a TD or so.
21 - Arkansas over East Carolina
Arkansas might be a very dangerous team if QB Ryan Mallet returns to school next season instead of opting for the NFL Draft.
20 - Mississippi over Oklahoma St.
Without suspended receiver Dez Bryant, I'm not sure OSU has the firepower to keep up with a very good, but underachieving Ole Miss offense.
19 - Houston over Air Force
Points galore in this one...a superior passing team (Houston) against a dominant ground attack (Air Force). This is the third time these teams have played in the last two years, including in the same bowl last December.
18 - Miami over Wisconsin
A great matchup here...but Miami is playing in their home state, has faced better competition this season, and has the better athletes. 'Canes win 26-20.
17 - Arizona over Nebraska
Obviously I'll be at this one on December 30th in San Diego. Look for the 'Cats to use quick timing routes to keep the Nebraska defensive line in check. UofA wins 20-17.
16 - Iowa over Georgia Tech
Iowa lost two of their last three, but with QB Ricky Stanzi back from injury and a dominant defense, don't be surprised if they completely stifle Tech's option running attack.
15 - Central Michigan over Troy
I'm a lot more leery of this pick after CMU Coach Butch Jones just left for Cincinnati and won't coach the bowl game.
14 - LSU over Penn St.
Why is Penn St. favored here? They looked poor against ranked teams (Ohio St. and Iowa) in their own weak conference.
13 - Iowa St. over Minnesota
Minnesota was horrible after losing star wideout Eric Decker, while Iowa St. actually has some impressive wins on its resume (at Nebraska being one).
12 - Auburn over Northwestern
The SEC owns the Big 10...except in the Outback Bowl. NW won their last three to close out the season strong...
11 - Bowling Green over Idaho
This is essentially a home game for Idaho - but a late season slump makes me believe Bowling Green is simply the better team. This game should be a shootout.
10 - Utah over California
Without their best player (Jahvid Best), what is Cal really playing for here? Utah is money in bowl games.
9 - Alabama over Texas
The reason I picked this so low is Texas' mastery in the Rose Bowl (2 big wins this decade including in the last national championship game played here).
8 - Connecticut over South Carolina
Since the death of cornerback Jasper Howard, UConn has played with a different level of emotion.
7 - Ohio St. over Oregon
I really don't know why I'm picking this one...great defenses do usually beat great offenses though.
6 - Central Florida over Rutgers
This is essentially a home game for UCF, whose defense should feed on Rutgers Freshman QB Tom Savage.
5 - Middle Tennessee over Southern Mississippi
Middle Tenn has a nice long winning streak coming into this one...but will they be ready for superior competition in USM?
4 - Florida St. over West Virginia
If it weren't Bobby Bowden's last game after a storied coaching career, FSU would have no chance.
3 - North Carolina over Pittsburgh
Does Pitt have any motivation to play here? They missed a BCS bowl game by a bad extra point snap. This game is essentially a home game for UNC.
2 - Kentucky over Clemson
Does Clemson have any motivation to play here? They were that close to the Orange Bowl!
1 - Stanford over Oklahoma
This one might a reach with Stanford QB Andrew Luck out of the lineup...but Oklahoma's record in bowl games of late is surprisingly poor.

See you back next Monday!