Bowl Game Pick 'Em: The Writers Pick the Bowls

Bowl Game Pick 'Em: The Writers Pick the Bowls

This article is part of our Bowl Game Pick 'Em series.

Bowl season is upon us, so we polled some of our college football writers for their picks. Of the 41 bowls, including the national championship, none provided consensus, though a number came close.

James Anderson proved the contrarian of the bunch, preventing consensus in the Military Bowl. He was the only writer to take Pittsburgh and the 3.5 against Navy.

Chris Morgan and John McKechnie were the only writers to pick the same Best Bet, both picking Florida State to knock off Houston in the Peach Bowl by more than a touchdown.

While Nick Grays' pick of New Mexico (+9) in its namesake bowl against Arizona was the biggest underdog Best Bet, Mario Puig's call on Bowling Green (-7.5) vs. Georgia Southern in the GoDaddy Bowl was the biggest favorite.

Chris Bennett made his Best Bet a coin-flip game, as he says Louisville (+1) is a lock against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl.

Ethan Padway and Greg Vara looked to the bigger bowls for their best bets. The former took Michigan State (+9.5) against Alabama in the Cotton Bowl's national semifinal, while the latter went with Ole Miss (-7) against Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl.

The majority believe in Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, but Nick Whalen made the Wolverines (-4.5) his Best Bet against Florida. And we're still waiting for Jesse Siegel's Best Bet.

As for the national championship, the group split down the middle between Alabama and Oklahoma State. The lone holdout was Jason Thornbury,

Bowl season is upon us, so we polled some of our college football writers for their picks. Of the 41 bowls, including the national championship, none provided consensus, though a number came close.

James Anderson proved the contrarian of the bunch, preventing consensus in the Military Bowl. He was the only writer to take Pittsburgh and the 3.5 against Navy.

Chris Morgan and John McKechnie were the only writers to pick the same Best Bet, both picking Florida State to knock off Houston in the Peach Bowl by more than a touchdown.

While Nick Grays' pick of New Mexico (+9) in its namesake bowl against Arizona was the biggest underdog Best Bet, Mario Puig's call on Bowling Green (-7.5) vs. Georgia Southern in the GoDaddy Bowl was the biggest favorite.

Chris Bennett made his Best Bet a coin-flip game, as he says Louisville (+1) is a lock against Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl.

Ethan Padway and Greg Vara looked to the bigger bowls for their best bets. The former took Michigan State (+9.5) against Alabama in the Cotton Bowl's national semifinal, while the latter went with Ole Miss (-7) against Oklahoma State in the Sugar Bowl.

The majority believe in Michigan in the Citrus Bowl, but Nick Whalen made the Wolverines (-4.5) his Best Bet against Florida. And we're still waiting for Jesse Siegel's Best Bet.

As for the national championship, the group split down the middle between Alabama and Oklahoma State. The lone holdout was Jason Thornbury, who picked Michigan State to win the title.

Picks are against the spread (except the national championship). Best Bets are in bold. Losers are noted as such.

Happy Bowling.

POST-BOWL UPDATE: Congratulations to Jason Thornbury for winning the Bowl Pick 'Em title. He finished one game better than Chris Morgan in the standings.

BOWL
MATCHUP
FINAL JAMES CHRIS
M.
NICK
G.
JOHN MARIO CHRIS
B.
ETHAN NICK
W.
GREG JASON JESSE
New Mexico
Arizona vs.
New Mexico +9

45
37
AZAZNMAZAZAZAZAZ NM AZAZ
Las Vegas
BYU vs.
Utah -2.5

28
35
UT UT BYU UT UT UT UT BYU UT UT UT
Camellia
Ohio vs.
Appal. St. -7.5

29
31
OH OH OH APP OH APPAPPAPPAPP OH APP
Cure
San Jose St. vs.
Georgia St. +3

27
16
GS SJ SJ GS SJ SJ GS SJ GS SJ GS
New Orleans
Arkansas St. vs.
La. Tech -2

28
47
LT LT LT LT LT LT ASU LT ASU LT LT
Miami Beach
W. Kentucky vs.
S. Florida +2.5

45
35
WK SFUSFU WK SFU WK SFU WK WK WK WK
Potato
Akron vs.
Utah St. -6.5

23
21
US AK AK USUSUSUS AK USUSUS
Boca Raton
Temple vs.
Toledo +1.5

17
32
TOL TEMTEM TOL TOL TEMTEMTEMTEMTEMTEM
Poinsettia
Boise St. vs.
N. Illinois +8

55
7
NIUNIUNIU BSU BSU BSU BSU BSU NIUNIU BSU
GoDaddy
Georgia So. vs.
B. Green -7.5

58
27
GS GS BGBGBGBG GS BG GS BGBG
Bahamas
Mid. Tenn. vs.
W. Michigan -3

31
45
MT WM WM MT WM MTMT WM WM WM WM
Hawaii
SDSU vs.
Cincinnati -1.5

42
7
SDS SDS CIN SDS SDS SDS CIN SDS SDS CIN SDS
St. Petersburg
Connecticut vs.
Marshall -4

10
16
CONCONCON MAR MAR CON MAR MAR CON MAR MAR
Sun
Miami vs.
WSU -3

14
20
MIA WSU WSU MIA WSU WSU WSU MIAMIA WSU MIA
Dallas
Washington vs.
So. Miss +8.5

44
31
SMSM UW UW UW UW UW UW UW UW UW
Pinstripe
Indiana vs.
Duke +2

41
44
IU DKE IUIU DKE DKE DKE IU DKE DKE DKE
Independence
Tulsa vs.
Va. Tech -13.5

52
55
VT TUL VT TUL VTVT TUL VT TUL TUL TUL
Foster Farms
UCLA vs.
Nebraska +6.5

29
37
UCLAUCLA NEB UCLAUCLAUCLAUCLAUCLA NEB UCLAUCLA
Military
Pittsburgh vs.
Navy -3.5

28
44
PIT NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY NVY
Quick Lane
C. Michigan vs.
Minnesota -5.5

14
21
CMCMCM MIN MIN MIN MIN MIN MIN CM MIN
Armed Forces
Cal vs.
Air Force +7

55
36
AF CAL CAL AF CAL CAL CAL CAL AF CAL AF
Russ. Athletic
N. Carolina vs.
Baylor -2.5

38
49
NC BAY NCNCNCNC BAY BAY BAY BAY NC
Arizona
Nevada vs.
Colorado St. -3

28
23
NV CSUCSUCSU NV CSU NV CSU NV NV CSU
Texas
LSU vs.
Texas Tech +7

56
27
TT LSU LSU LSU LSU LSU TT LSU TTLSUTT
Birmingham
Auburn vs.
Memphis +3.5

31
10
MEMMEMMEM AUB MEMMEMMEMMEMMEM AUB MEM
Belk
NC St. vs.
Miss. St. -5.5
28
51
MSU MSU MSU MSU NCST MSU MSU MSU MSU NCST MSU
Music City
Texas A&M vs.
Louisville +1

21
27
A&MA&MA&MA&MA&MLOU LOU LOU A&M LOU A&M
Holiday
USC vs.
Wisconsin +3

21
23
WIS USCUSCUSCUSCUSC WIS USC WIS USCUSC
Peach
Houston vs.
Florida St. -7

38
24
HOU FSUFSUFSUFSU HOU HOU FSUFSU HOU HOU
Orange
Oklahoma vs.
Clemson +3.5

17
37
OKL CLM OKL CLM CLM CLM OKLOKL CLM CLM CLM
Cotton
Michigan St. vs.
Alabama -9.5

0
38
ALA MSUMSUMSU ALA MSUMSUMSUMSUMSUMSU
Outback
Northwstrn vs.
Tennessee -8

6
45
NWNWNWNW TEN TEN NWNWNWNWNW
Citrus
Michigan vs.
Florida +4.5

41
7
UF UM UM UM UF UM UFUM UM UM UM
Fiesta
Notre Dame vs.
Ohio St. -6.5

28
44
OSU OSU OSU ND OSU NDNDND OSU OSU ND
Rose
Stanford vs.
Iowa +6.5

45
16
STAN STAN IOWAIOWA STAN IOWAIOWA STAN IOWAIOWAIOWA
Sugar
Okla. St. vs.
Mississippi -7

20
48
OSUOSUOSU MISS OSUOSUOSUOSUMISS MISS MISS
Taxslayer
Penn St. vs.
Georgia -6.5

17
24
PSU UGA PSU UGA PSU UGA UGA PSU UGA UGA PSU
Liberty
Kansas St. vs.
Arkansas -11

23
45
KSU ARK ARK ARK ARK ARK ARK KSU ARK KSU ARK
Alamo
Oregon vs.
TCU pk

41
47
OREORE TCU OREOREORE TCU ORE TCU TCU ORE
Cactus
W. Virginia vs.
Arizona St. pk

43
42
ASU WV WV WV ASU WV WV WV ASUASUASU
National
Champ
OKL ALA OKL ALA OKLOKL ALA ALA ALA MSUOKL
RECORD 13-28 24-17 18-23 21-20 23-18 22-19 22-19 18-22 23-18 25-16 18-23

THE PLAYERS

James Anderson: CFB Podcast host
Chris Morgan: Writes the Start vs. Sit column and covers Conference-USA
Nick Grays: Covers the Big 12
John McKechnie: CFB Podcast host and Big Ten beat writer
Mario Puig: RotoWire College Football Editor; 2012 and 2013 Bowl Picks champion
Chris Bennett: Covers the ACC; writes DFS article
Ethan Padway: Writes Waiver Wire column and covers the AAC.
Nick Whalen: College football injury guru and fur coat man
Greg Vara: Writes College Capper column; 2008 Bowl Picks champion
Jason Thornbury: RotoWire Senior Editor; 2011 and 2014 Bowl Picks champion
Jesse Siegel: Writes The Spread Offensive column and covers the SEC

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