This article is part of our Bowl Game Pick 'Em series.
Bowl season is upon us, so we polled our college football writers for their picks. Of the 35 bowls, none provided consensus.
Dustin Choy, Edward Kensik, Greg Vara and Jason Thornbury proved the contrarians in the group, preventing consensus in four bowls. Choy is the only writer picking Lousiana-Lafayette over San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl, while Kensik is the lone backer of Arizona State over Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Vara is the lone holdout for Marshall over Florida International in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and Thornbury is the only handicapper who thinks Washington can stay within nine points of Baylor in the Alamo Bowl.
Not only did Chris Morgan disagree with that Alamo Bowl upset, he tabbed Baylor as his best bet. Jesse Siegel took an underdog as his best bet with Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
And finally, Andrew Martinez and Vince Russo sided with the majority in the BCS Championship, picking LSU to down Alabama.
(UPDATE: Mario Puig was a late entry but submitted picks before kickoff of the first game.)
Picks are against the spread. Best bets are CAPITALIZED/UNDERLINED. Winners are noted in blue, losers in red, pushes in black.
Happy Bowling.
POST-BOWL UPDATE: Congratulations to Jason Thornbury for winning the Bowl Pick 'Em title with the best record.
| BOWL MATCHUP | ANDREW MARTINEZ | VINCE RUSSO | DUSTIN CHOY | JESSE SIEGEL | CHRIS MORGAN | EDWARD KENSIK | JASON THORNBURY | GREG VARA | MARIO PUIG |
| New Mexico Bowl Temple vs. Wyoming |
Bowl season is upon us, so we polled our college football writers for their picks. Of the 35 bowls, none provided consensus.
Dustin Choy, Edward Kensik, Greg Vara and Jason Thornbury proved the contrarians in the group, preventing consensus in four bowls. Choy is the only writer picking Lousiana-Lafayette over San Diego State in the New Orleans Bowl, while Kensik is the lone backer of Arizona State over Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl. Vara is the lone holdout for Marshall over Florida International in the St. Petersburg Bowl, and Thornbury is the only handicapper who thinks Washington can stay within nine points of Baylor in the Alamo Bowl.
Not only did Chris Morgan disagree with that Alamo Bowl upset, he tabbed Baylor as his best bet. Jesse Siegel took an underdog as his best bet with Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.
And finally, Andrew Martinez and Vince Russo sided with the majority in the BCS Championship, picking LSU to down Alabama.
(UPDATE: Mario Puig was a late entry but submitted picks before kickoff of the first game.)
Picks are against the spread. Best bets are CAPITALIZED/UNDERLINED. Winners are noted in blue, losers in red, pushes in black.
Happy Bowling.
POST-BOWL UPDATE: Congratulations to Jason Thornbury for winning the Bowl Pick 'Em title with the best record.
| BOWL MATCHUP | ANDREW MARTINEZ | VINCE RUSSO | DUSTIN CHOY | JESSE SIEGEL | CHRIS MORGAN | EDWARD KENSIK | JASON THORNBURY | GREG VARA | MARIO PUIG |
| New Mexico Bowl Temple vs. Wyoming +6.5 | Temple | Wyoming | Temple | Temple | Wyoming | Wyoming | Wyoming | Temple | Temple |
| Potato Bowl Utah St. vs. Ohio +2.5 | Ohio | Ohio | Ohio | Utah St. | Utah St. | Ohio | Ohio | Utah St. | Utah St. |
| New Orleans Bowl Lafayette vs. San Diego St. -4.5 | SDSU | SDSU | LA-Laf | SDSU | SDSU | SDSU | SDSU | SDSU | LA-Laf |
| St. Petersburg Bowl FIU vs. Marshall +4 | FIU | FIU | FIU | FIU | FIU | FIU | FIU | Marshall | FIU |
| Poinsettia Bowl LA Tech vs. TCU -10.5 | TCU | TCU | LA Tech | TCU | LA Tech | LA Tech | LA Tech | LA Tech | LA Tech |
| Las Vegas Bowl Arizona St. vs. Boise St. -14 | BOISE ST. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Arizona St. | Boise St. | Boise St. | Boise St. |
| Hawaii Bowl Nevada vs. So. Miss -6 | Nevada | Nevada | Nevada | So. Miss | So. Miss | Nevada | So. Miss | Nevada | So. Miss |
| Independence Bowl N. Carolina vs. Missouri -5 | N.C. | N.C. | Missouri | Missouri | N.C. | Missouri | N.C. | Missouri | Missouri |
| Little Caesars Bowl W. Michigan vs. Purdue -2.5 | W. Michigan | Purdue | Purdue | Purdue | Purdue | Purdue | W. Michigan | Purdue | W. Michigan |
| Belk Bowl Louisville vs. NC St. -3 | Louisville | NC St. | Louisville | Louisville | NC St. | NC St. | NC St. | Louisville | Louisville |
| Military Bowl Toledo vs. Air Force +3 | Toledo | Air Force | Air Force | Toledo | Toledo | Air Force | Air Force | Air Force | TOLEDO |
| Holiday Bowl California vs. Texas -3 | California | California | Texas | Texas | Texas | California | California | Texas | Texas |
| Champs Sports Bowl Notre Dame vs. Florida St. -3 | N.D. | Florida St. | N.D. | N.D. | Florida St. | N.D. | Florida St. | N.D. | Florida St. |
| Alamo Bowl Washington vs. Baylor -9 | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor | BAYLOR | Baylor | Washington | Baylor | Washington |
| Armed Forces Bowl Tulsa vs. BYU -2.5 | BYU | BYU | Tulsa | BYU | BYU | BYU | Tulsa | Tulsa | BYU |
| Pinstripe Bowl Rutgers vs. Iowa St. +1.5 | Rutgers | Iowa St. | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers | Iowa St. | Rutgers | IOWA ST. | Iowa St. |
| Music City Bowl Wake Forest vs. Miss. St. -7 | Miss. St. | Miss. St. | W. Forest | W. Forest | Miss. St. | W. Forest | W. Forest | Miss. St. | Miss. St. |
| Insight Bowl Iowa vs. Oklahoma -14 | Oklahoma | Iowa | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Iowa | Iowa | Iowa | Iowa | Iowa |
| Texas Bowl Texas A&M vs. Northwestern +10 | Texas AM | Texas AM | Nrthwstrn | Texas AM | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn |
| Sun Bowl Utah vs. Georgia Tech -3.5 | Utah | Utah | GA Tech | GA Tech | Utah | Utah | GA Tech | Utah | GA Tech |
| Fight Hunger Bowl UCLA vs. Illinois -2.5 | Illinois | UCLA | Illinois | UCLA | UCLA | Illinois | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA |
| Liberty Bowl Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt -2.5 | Cincy | Cincy | Vandy | Vandy | Cincy | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy |
| Chick fil-A Bowl Virginia vs. Auburn -1.5 | Virginia | Auburn | Virginia | Virginia | Auburn | Virginia | Virginia | Virginia | Auburn |
| Ticket City Bowl Penn St. vs. Houston -5.5 | Houston | Houston | Penn St. | Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | Penn St. | Penn St. |
| Capital One Bowl Nebraska vs. S. Carolina -2.5 | S.C. | S.C. | Nebraska | S.C. | S.C. | Nebraska | S.C. | S.C. | S.C. |
| Gator Bowl Florida vs. Ohio St. +2 | Ohio State | Ohio State | Ohio State | Florida | Ohio State | Florida | Florida | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| Outback Bowl Michigan St. vs. Georgia -4 | MSU | Georgia | MSU | MSU | Georgia | MSU | MSU | MSU | MSU |
| Rose Bowl Wisconsin vs. Oregon -6 | Wisconsin | Wisconsin | Wisconsin | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon | Wisconsin | Oregon |
| Fiesta Bowl Stanford vs. Oklahoma St. -3.5 | Stanford | OK State | OK STATE | OK State | OK State | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | OK State |
| Sugar Bowl Michigan vs. Virginia Tech +2.5 | Michigan | Michigan | Michigan | VA Tech | VA Tech | Michigan | VA Tech | Michigan | VA Tech |
| Orange Bowl W. Virginia vs. Clemson -3.5 | W. Virginia | Clemson | Clemson | Clemson | Clemson | Clemson | W. Virginia | W. Virginia | Clemson |
| Cotton Bowl Kansas St. vs. Arkansas -7.5 | KSU | Arkansas | KSU | KSU | Arkansas | KSU | Arkansas | KSU | KSU |
| Compass Bowl SMU vs. Pittsburgh -4.5 | Pitt | Pitt | SMU | Pitt | SMU | PITT | SMU | Pitt | Pitt |
| Go Daddy.com Bowl Arkansas St. vs. N. Illinois +1.5 | Ark. St. | Ark. St. | Ark. St. | N. Illinois | N. Illinois | N. Illinois | N. Illinois | N. Illinois | Ark. St. |
| BCS Championship Alabama vs. LSU PK | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama |
| RECORD | 17-18 | 16-19 | 17-18 | 18-17 | 18-17 | 19-16 | 20-15 | 18-17 | 14-21 |
The Players
Andrew Martinez: Covers Conference-USA
Vince Russo: Covers the Mountain West
Dustin Choy: Covers the Big 12
Jesse Siegel: Covers the Big East; Writes College Football Barometer
Chris Morgan: Covers the WAC
Edward Kensik: Covers the NHL Chicago Blackhawks; roots for Notre Dame
Jason Thornbury: RotoWire Senior Editor; 2011 Staff CFB League Champion
Greg Vara: RotoWire college football handicapper. 2008 Bowl Picks Champion
Mario Puig: Wrote 2011 player outlooks for College Football Draft Kit
