Bowl Preview

The bowl season kicks off today with two under the radar games, the New Mexico Bowl pitting Fresno State and Wyoming and the St. Petersburg Bowl that set up Rutgers and Central Florida. What follows is a quick preview of the games with predictions:

The New Mexico Bowl does have one known commodity in Fresno State (8-4), who is making its 10th post-season appearance in past 11 seasons. Coach Pat Hill's Bulldogs played in this bowl a season ago, losing to Colorado State 40-35. This season's squad is led by RB Ryan Mathews, who led the nation with 151.27y rushing per game. Mathews rushed for 234y of his 1,664y season total against Boise State and will have no problem with Wyoming's rush D. Look for a monster game from the junior and then his announcement that he will turn pro. As for Wyoming (6-6), they are rebuilding with youth under new coach Dave Christensen and surprisingly made a bowl game with a .500 record. The Cowboys did not beat a FBS team with a winning record this year and will not do so today. The focus today for Wyoming will be on lessons learned as they get the bowl experience any young team needs while Fresno makes off with an easy win.

Pick: Fresno State 35 Wyoming 13

The St. Petersburg Bowl will feature two teams from the Sunshine State battling it out under the lights at Tropicana Field. Yeah, I know Rutgers is from my home state of New Jersey, but with so many recruits from Florida, the Scarlet Knights should feel very comfortable making this trip. But I like the other knights in this one, the Knights of Central Florida who are happier to be in a bowl game and have enough defense to contain the Scarlet Knights. The DE tandem of Jarvis Geathers (11 sacks) and Bruce Miller (pictured), the Conference USA defensive player of the year who had 12 sacks, will put pressure on frosh QB Tom Savage of RU and the UCF rush D, ranked 4th in the nation, will handle the Rutgers middling run game. With standout WR Tim Brown (51/1,051y) sidelined with a bum ankle, Rutgers is further limited on offense. I look for Rutgers's three-game bowl win snapped on late FG.

Pick: UCF 24 Rutgers 21