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, just two provided consensus.
UCLA and Oklahoma State received unanimous approval with Chris Morgan liking UCLA so much, he made the Bruins his best bet. Tony Goldenstein did the same with Oklahoma State.
Nick Grays proved the contrarian in the group, preventing consensus in the Outback Bowl where he's the only backer of Michigan over South Carolina and in the Russell Athletic Bowl where he's the only writer to pick Virginia Tech to beat Rutgers.
Jessie Siegel, Mario Puig and Chris Bennett also zagged where the group zigged. Siegel is the only writer picking Clemson over LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, while Puig is the only one who thinks Louisville has a chance against Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Bennett is the lone backer of Arkansas State over Kent state in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Finally, Greg Vara leads the majority in picking Notre Dame in BCS Championship, while Perry Missner joined the minority in backing Alabama.
(UPDATE: Ethan Padway, who covers the Big Ten, was a late entry.)
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 Mario Puig for winning the Bowl Pick 'Em title. Puig tied three others with the best record, but won the tie-breaker by virtue of picking the national champion and his best bet
Bowl season is upon us, so we polled our college football writers for their picks. Of the 35 bowls, just two provided consensus.
UCLA and Oklahoma State received unanimous approval with Chris Morgan liking UCLA so much, he made the Bruins his best bet. Tony Goldenstein did the same with Oklahoma State.
Nick Grays proved the contrarian in the group, preventing consensus in the Outback Bowl where he's the only backer of Michigan over South Carolina and in the Russell Athletic Bowl where he's the only writer to pick Virginia Tech to beat Rutgers.
Jessie Siegel, Mario Puig and Chris Bennett also zagged where the group zigged. Siegel is the only writer picking Clemson over LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, while Puig is the only one who thinks Louisville has a chance against Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Bennett is the lone backer of Arkansas State over Kent state in the GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Finally, Greg Vara leads the majority in picking Notre Dame in BCS Championship, while Perry Missner joined the minority in backing Alabama.
(UPDATE: Ethan Padway, who covers the Big Ten, was a late entry.)
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 Mario Puig for winning the Bowl Pick 'Em title. Puig tied three others with the best record, but won the tie-breaker by virtue of picking the national champion and his best bet correctly.
| BOWL MATCHUP | CHRIS BENNETT | TONY GOLDEN- STEIN | NICK GRAYS | ETHAN PADWAY | JESSE SIEGEL | CHRIS MORGAN | PERRY MISSNER | JASON THORNBURY | GREG VARA | MARIO PUIG |
| New Mexico Bowl Nevada vs. Arizona -10 | Arizona | Nevada | Arizona | Nevada | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona | Nevada |
| Potato Bowl Toledo vs. Utah St. -9 | Utah St. | Utah St. | Toledo | Utah St. | Toledo | Utah St. | Toledo | Toledo | Toledo | Toledo |
| Poinsettia Bowl BYU vs. San Diego St. +3 | BYU | SDSU | SDSU | BYU | BYU | SDSU | SDSU | SDSU | BYU | BYU |
| Beef O Brady's Bowl Ball St. vs. UCF -7.5 | UCF | Ball St. | UCF | UCF | UCF | Ball St. | UCF | Ball St. | Ball St. | UCF |
| New Orleans Bowl E. Carolina vs. LA-Lafayette -6 | LA-Laf | LA-Laf | LA-Laf | LA-Laf | ECU | LA-Laf | LA-LAF | LA-Laf | ECU | LA-Laf |
| MAACO Bowl Washington vs. Boise St. -5.5 | Wash. | BSU | Wash. | BSU | BSU | Wash. | BSU | Wash. | Wash. | BSU |
| Hawaii Bowl Fresno St. vs. SMU +12.5 | SMU | SMU | FSU | FSU | SMU | SMU | FSU | FSU | FSU | FSU |
| Little Caesars Bowl W. Kentucky vs. C. Michigan +5.5 | WKU | WKU | CMU | CMU | CMU | CMU | CMU | CMU | CMU | WKU |
| Military Bowl San Jose St. vs. Bowling Green +7 | BGU | SJSU | SJSU | SJSU | SJSU | SJSU | BGU | BGU | BGU | BGU |
| Belk Bowl Cincinnati vs. Duke +7 | Cinci. | Cinci. | Duke | Cinci. | Cinci. | Duke | Cinci. | Duke | Duke | Cinci. |
| Holiday Bowl Baylor vs. UCLA PK | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA | UCLA |
| Independence Bowl Ohio vs. LA-Monroe -7 | Ohio | Ohio | Ohio | Ohio | Ohio | Ohio | LA-Mon | Ohio | LA-Mon | LA-Mon |
| Russell Athletic Bowl Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers +2.5 | Rutgers | Rutgers | VA Tech | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers | Rutgers |
| Car Care Bowl Minnesota vs. Texas Tech -13 | T. Tech | Minn. | Minn. | T. Tech | T. Tech | T. Tech | T. Tech | T. Tech | T. Tech | T. Tech |
| Armed Forces Bowl Rice vs. Air Force -1.5 | Air Force | Air Force | Air Force | Rice | Rice | Air Force | Rice | Rice | Air Force | Rice |
| Pinstripe Bowl W. Virginia vs. Syracuse +4 | Syracuse | WVU | WVU | WVU | Syracuse | WVU | WVU | Syracuse | Syracuse | Syracuse |
| Fight Hunger Bowl Navy vs. Arizona St. -14.5 | ASU | Navy | ASU | ASU | ASU | ASU | ASU | Navy | ASU | ASU |
| Alamo Bowl Texas vs. Oregon St. -2 | Texas | Texas | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | Texas | OSU |
| Wild Wings Bowl TCU vs. Michigan St. +2.5 | MSU | TCU | TCU | TCU | MSU | TCU | TCU | MSU | TCU | TCU |
| Music City Bowl NC St. vs. Vanderbilt -7 | NC St. | Vandy | NC St. | Vandy | NC St. | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy | Vandy |
| Sun Bowl USC vs. Georgia Tech +10 | G. Tech | USC | G. Tech | USC | USC | USC | G. Tech | G. Tech | USC | G. Tech |
| Liberty Bowl Iowa St. vs. Tulsa -1 | Iowa St. | Tulsa | Iowa St. | Iowa St. | Tulsa | Iowa St. | Iowa St. | Iowa St. | Iowa St. | Iowa St. |
| Chick-fil-A Bowl LSU vs. Clemson +4 | LSU | LSU | Clemson | LSU | Clemson | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU | LSU |
| Gator Bowl Miss. St. vs. Northwestern +2 | Miss. St. | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Miss. St. | Miss. St. | Miss. St. | Nrthwstrn | Nrthwstrn | Miss. St. |
| Dallas Bowl Purdue vs. Okla. St. -16.5 | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU | OSU |
| Outback Bowl S. Carolina vs. Michigan +5 | USC | USC | Michigan | Michigan | USC | USC | USC | USC | USC | USC |
| Capital One Bowl Georgia vs. Nebraska +10 | Georgia | Georgia | Nebraska | Georgia | Georgia | Nebraska | Georgia | Nebraska | Georgia | Georgia |
| Rose Bowl Wisconsin vs. Stanford -6.5 | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford | Wisconsin | STANFORD | Stanford | Wisconsin | Stanford | Stanford | Stanford |
| Orange Bowl N. Illinois vs. Florida St. -13 | FSU | N. Illinois | N. Illinois | FSU | FSU | N. Illinois | FSU | N. Illinois | FSU | FSU |
| Sugar Bowl Louisville vs. Florida -13.5 | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Florida | Louisville |
| Fiesta Bowl Oregon vs. Kansas St. +9 | Oregon | KSU | KSU | KSU | KSU | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon |
| Cotton Bowl Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma +4.5 | Okla. | Okla. | Tex. AM | Okla. | Tex. AM | Okla. | Tex. AM | Okla. | Okla. | Tex. AM |
| Compass Bowl Pittsburgh vs. Mississippi -3.5 | Miss. | Miss. | Pitt. | Miss. | Pitt. | Miss. | Pitt. | Miss. | Miss. | Miss. |
| GoDaddy.com Bowl Kent St. vs. Arkansas St. -4 | Ark. St. | Kent St. | Ark. St. | Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. | Kent St. |
| BCS Champ. Notre Dame vs. Alabama -10 | N.D. | Alabama | N.D. | N.D. | Alabama | N.D. | Alabama | N.D. | N.D. | Alabama |
| RECORD | 18-15-2 | 16-17-2 | 14-19-2 | 18-15-2 | 18-15-2 | 12-21-2 | 15-18-2 | 13-20-2 | 13-20-2 | 18-15-2 |
THE PLAYERS
Chris Bennett: Covers the ACC
Tony Goldenstein: Covers the Big 12
Nick Grays: Covers the Mountain West
Ethan Padway: Covers the Big Ten
Jesse Siegel: Covers the SEC; Writes College Football Barometer
Chris Morgan: Covers the WAC; Writes Start vs. Sit
Perry Missner: Covers the Big East
Jason Thornbury: RotoWire Senior Editor; 2011 Bowl Picks champion
Greg Vara: RotoWire college football handicapper. 2008 Bowl Picks champion
Mario Puig: RotoWire College Football Editor; Writes Waiver Wire Watch
