I felt like a kid who just found his much-anticipated Christmas gift on Dec. 23. You know you shouldn’t look. It’s two days early.
But no one’s home…maybe a quick glance, then a little scotch tape to the wrapping paper so it looks exactly as it did as before the sneak peak. Yep … parents will never know.
Well there I was, minding my own business earlier this week, checking weather.com for a likelihood of precipitation and watching an episode of Dexter before I went to work. Nice little Wednesday, actually.
Right before I left for work, though, I stumbled across this link on Rivals.com. Early college football bowl predictions?
Come on, it’s not even November yet. Like the kid who couldn’t resist his Christmas gift two days early, I couldn’t resist looking at these bowl projections two months early. Too much anticipation.
Five regular-season games remain for Big 12 teams, but which bowl game did the conference’s schools get into?
Mythical or not, this was too interesting to pass up. Here’s Rivals.com’s early picks for bowl destinations. I’ll just list the Big 12 games:
**BCS Championship game: Texas vs. Florida (Jan. 8, 7 p.m., FOX)**
**Thoughts**: Talk about a sexy pick. Can these two schools survive their conference’s schedules, though? Texas still has a home game Saturday against Oklahoma State, then road games at Texas Tech and at Kansas.
Florida still has to win vs. Georgia in Jacksonville, at Vanderbilt and at Florida State. If it happens, it would generate the kind of mammoth buzz that Texas vs. USC generated in the 2005 season. And it might be just as good a game. Tebow vs. McCoy? That’d be quality TV.
**Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Penn State (Jan. 5, 7 p.m., FOX)**
**Thoughts**: Sadly, if Penn State gets past Ohio State in Columbus this weekend, it will likely play in the BCS Championship. It would have defeated only two ranked teams and benefited from a weak Big Ten Conference schedule.
Penn State’s remaining games after Ohio State: At Iowa (5-3, 2-2), then home to Indiana (2-5, 0-4) and Michigan State (6-2, 3-1). I’ll take “favorable” for 500, Alex.
**Cotton Bowl: Texas Tech vs. South Carolina (Jan. 2, 1 p.m., FOX)**
**Thoughts**: The Cotton Bowl takes the Big 12 No. 2 vs. the SEC No. 4. We all want to see the Big 12 vs. the SEC in some capacity during the bowl season. There has to be a sexier game than this one, though, right? Perhaps that’s what Texas vs. Florida for the national title was for.
**Sun Bowl: Kansas vs. California (Dec. 31, 1 p.m., CBS)**
**Thoughts**: What do you guys think about this one? This matchup is the Big 12 No. 6 against the Pac-10 No. 3. El Paso wouldn’t be the best vacation spot for KU fans wanting to travel to support the Jayhawks in a bowl game. If KU beats Missouri and represents the North in the Big 12 Championship game, there’s almost zero chance the Jayhawks play in this bowl.
**Insight Bowl: Colorado vs. Northwestern (Dec. 31, 4:30 p.m., NFL Network)**
**Thoughts**: The way Colorado is playing, I’m not so sure it even gets to this bowl, which will match up the No. 7 from the Big 12 against the No. 6 from the Big Ten.
**Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon State (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., ESPN)**
**Thoughts**: Oregon State may be the biggest mystery in the country. The Beavers have lost road games at Stanford, Penn State and Utah. The latter two don’t look too bad now. Then, they beat then-No. 1 USC at home. Their two latest victories have been against Washington St. and Washington, a combined 0-9 in the Pac-10. Tough to see if these guys are for real or not.
**Texas Bowl: Kansas State vs. Houston (Dec. 30, 7 p.m., NFL Network)**
**Thoughts**: Might be fair to say if this matchup takes place, the last team to have possession between Houston (544.3 yards of total offense per game, third in nation) and Kansas State (408.4 total offense per game) will win.
**Alamo Bowl: Missouri vs. Minnesota (Dec. 29, 7 p.m., ESPN)**
**Thoughts**: For a look at the world’s easiest schedule, [take a look at Minnesota’s][2]. If Missouri plays better down the stretch with its favorable schedule, it should play in a better bowl than this one.
**Independence Bowl: Nebraska vs. Vanderbilt (Dec. 28, 7 p.m., ESPN)**
**Thoughts**: Nebraska coach Bo Pelini’s return to SEC country in Shreveport, La., to face an SEC opponent would be an interesting angle in this matchup.
Nine bowls. Not bad at all for the conference.
That’s all for now, friends. As always, discuss.