Bowl Game Pick 'Em: The Writers Picks the Bowls

Bowl Game Pick 'Em: The Writers Picks 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, only one provided consensus — Washington State (-6.5) vs. Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl. Nick Grays likes Wazzu so much he made it his best bet.

Jesse Siegel proved the biggest spoiler, preventing consensus in four games. He was the only writer to take underdogs Miami (OH) (+13 vs. Mississippi State), Baylor (+7.5 vs. Boise State) and Penn State (+6.5 vs. USC), and was the only one on the side of Hawaii in a pick 'em against Middle Tennessee.

Chris Morgan took the points on two of the bigger underdogs as the only writer picking Central Michigan (+11.5) over Tulsa and Idaho (+13.5) over Colorado State.

Mario Puig and Jason Thornbury did likewise with their consensus busters, with Puig taking the points in Indiana (+8) vs. Utah and Thornbury going with underdog Arkansas State (+5.5) against Central Florida.

James Anderson went the other way as the only writer to give up the points and take North Carolina State (-4) over Vanderbilt.

Greg Vara's best bet came from the national semifinal as he tabbed Clemson (+3.5) against Ohio State, while Chris Bennett stuck with the Big Ten and Wisconsin (-7.5) vs. undefeated Western Michigan as his best bet.

As for the national championship, Thornbury was the lone holdout, going against the grain with Washington as all others took favorite Alabama to win the title.

Picks

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, only one provided consensus — Washington State (-6.5) vs. Minnesota in the Holiday Bowl. Nick Grays likes Wazzu so much he made it his best bet.

Jesse Siegel proved the biggest spoiler, preventing consensus in four games. He was the only writer to take underdogs Miami (OH) (+13 vs. Mississippi State), Baylor (+7.5 vs. Boise State) and Penn State (+6.5 vs. USC), and was the only one on the side of Hawaii in a pick 'em against Middle Tennessee.

Chris Morgan took the points on two of the bigger underdogs as the only writer picking Central Michigan (+11.5) over Tulsa and Idaho (+13.5) over Colorado State.

Mario Puig and Jason Thornbury did likewise with their consensus busters, with Puig taking the points in Indiana (+8) vs. Utah and Thornbury going with underdog Arkansas State (+5.5) against Central Florida.

James Anderson went the other way as the only writer to give up the points and take North Carolina State (-4) over Vanderbilt.

Greg Vara's best bet came from the national semifinal as he tabbed Clemson (+3.5) against Ohio State, while Chris Bennett stuck with the Big Ten and Wisconsin (-7.5) vs. undefeated Western Michigan as his best bet.

As for the national championship, Thornbury was the lone holdout, going against the grain with Washington as all others took favorite Alabama to win the title.

Picks are against the spread (except the national championship).

Best Bets are in bold.

Losers are noted as such.

Pushes are italicized.

The Hawaii Bowl (Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee) did not have a line at press time, so we made it a pick 'em.

Minnesota players are threatening a boycott of the Holiday Bowl, in which case Northern Illinois will play Washington State. We stuck with the spread at press time that still involved Minnesota (+6.5).

John McKechnie was a late entry.

Happy Bowling.

POST-BOWL UPDATE: Congratualtions to Chris Bennett for winning the 2016 Bowl Pick 'Em title. Five players finished with the same record and Bennett won on the fourth tie-breaker:

1. Record
2. National championship pick
3. Best Bet
4. National semifinals picks

BOWL
MATCHUP
FINAL MARIO CHRIS B NICK JESSE GREG CHRIS M JASON JAMES JOHN
New Mexico
New Mexico vs.
UT San Antonio +7

23
20
UTSA NMNMNM UTSA NM UTSA NM UTSA
Las Vegas
Houston vs.
San Diego State +3

10
34
HOU SDSU HOUHOU SDSU SDSU HOUHOUHOU
Camellia
App. State vs.
Toledo +1

31
28
TOLTOL APP APP TOLTOL APP APP APP
Cure
Central Florida vs.
Arkansas State +5.5

13
31
UCFUCFUCFUCFUCFUCF ASU UCFUCF
New Orleans
Southern Miss vs.
La Lafayette +3.5

28
21
SM SM SM ULLULLULLULL SM SM
Miami Beach
C. Michigan vs.
Tulsa -11.5

10
55
TUL TUL TUL TUL TUL CMU TUL TUL TUL
Boca Raton
Memphis vs.
W. Kentucky -5

31
51
WKU WKU MEM WKU MEMMEM WKU WKU WKU
Poinsettia
BYU vs.
Wyoming +8.5

24
21
WYM BYU WYM BYUBYUBYU WYM BYU WYM
Potato
Idaho vs.
Colo. State -13.5

61
50
CSUCSUCSUCSUCSU IDA CSUCSUCSU
Bahamas
E. Michigan vs.
Old Dominion -4

20
24
ODODODEMUODEMUODODOD
Armed Forces
Louisiana Tech vs.
Navy +3.5

48
45
LTLTLT NAVY LTLTLT NAVY LT
Dollar General
Ohio vs.
Troy -4

23
28
OHIO TROY OHIO TROY TROY OHIO TROY TROY OHIO
Hawaii
Hawaii vs.
Middle Tenn EV

52
35
MTMTMT HA MTMTMTMTMT
St. Petersburg
Miami (OH) vs.
Miss State -13

16
17
MSUMSUMSU MO MSUMSUMSUMSU MO
Quick Lane
Maryland vs.
Boston College +1

30
36
UMUMUMUM BC UMUM BC UM
Independence
NC State vs.
Vanderbilt +4

41
17
VANDVANDVANDVANDVANDVANDVAND NCSU NCSU
Dallas
Army vs.
North Texas +10

38
31
NT ARMYARMYARMY NT NT NT ARMY NT
Military
Temple vs.
Wake Forest +13

26
34
TEM WK WK WK WK WK TEMTEM WK
Holiday
Minnesota vs.
Wash. State -6.5

17
12
WSUWSUWSUWSUWSUWSUWSUWSUWSU
Cactus
Boise State vs.
Baylor +7.5

12
31
BSUBSUBSU BAY BSUBSUBSUBSUBSU
Pinstripe
Pittsburgh vs.
Northwestern +5.5

24
31
NW PIT NW PITPITPIT NW PITPIT
Russell Athletic
West Virginia vs.
Miami -3

14
31
MIA WV MIA MIA WVWVWV MIA WV
Foster Farms
Indiana vs.
Utah -8

24
26
IND UTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTA IND
Texas
Texas A&M vs.
Kansas State +2

28
33
TAM KSU KSU TAM KSU KSU TAM KSU TAM
Birmingham
S. Florida vs.
S. Carolina +10.5

46
39
SC SF SC SC SFSF SC SF SC
Belk
Arkansas vs.
Virginia Tech -7

24
35
VT VT VT ARKARK VT VT ARKARK
Alamo
Oklahoma State vs.
Colorado -3

38
8
COL OSU OSU COLCOL OSU COL OSU COL
Liberty
Georgia vs.
TCU +1

31
23
UG UG UG TCUTCU UG UG TCUUG
Sun
Stanford vs.
North Carolina +3.5

25
23
STANSTANSTAN UNC STAN UNC STANSTANSTAN
Music City
Nebraska vs.
Tennessee -3

24
38
TEN NEBNEB TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN
Arizona
South Alabama vs.
Air Force -13

21
45
SA AF AF AF SASASA AF SA
Orange
Michigan vs.
Florida State +7

32
33
UM FSU UMUM FSU UMUMUMUM
Citrus
LSU vs.
Louisville +3.5

29
9
LSU LSU LOULOU LSU LOU LSU LOU LSU
Taxslayer
Georgia Tech vs.
Kentucky +3.5

33
18
KUKUKUKUKUKU GT GT GT
Peach
Washington vs.
Alabama -16

7
24
ALA ALA UWALAUW ALA UW ALA ALA
Fiesta
Ohio State vs.
Clemson +3.5

0
31
CLE CLE CLE OSUCLEOSUOSUOSUOSU
Outback
Florida vs.
Iowa +2.5

30
3
UF UF IOWA UF UF UF IOWA UF IOWA
Cotton
W. Michigan vs.
Wisconsin -7.5

16
24
WIS WIS WIS WMUWMU WIS WMU WIS WIS
Rose
USC vs.
Penn State +6.5

52
49
USCUSCUSC PSU USCUSCUSCUSCUSC
Sugar
Auburn vs.
Oklahoma -3.5

19
35
AUB OU OU OU OU OU AUB OU AUB
National Champ
ALAALAALAALAALA ALAUWALAALA
RECORD 18-22-1 18-22-1 16-24-1 18-22-1 14-26-1 14-26-1 15-25-1 18-22-1 18-22-1

THE PLAYERS

Mario Puig: RotoWire College Football Editor; 2012 and 2013 Bowl Picks champion
Chris Bennett: Co-writes College Capper column
Nick Grays: Writes Waiver Wire column, covers the Big 12
Jesse Siegel: Writes The Spread Offensive column, covers the SEC
Greg Vara: Co-writes the College Capper column; 2008 Bowl Picks champion
Chris Morgan: Covers Conference-USA
Jason Thornbury: RotoWire Senior Editor; 2011, 2014 and 2015 Bowl Picks champion
James Anderson: CFB Podcast host
John McKechnie: Assistant College Football Editor, CFB Podcast host

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