By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
Unfortunately, the 2010-11 college football bowl season is a little less interesting for Iowa State fans this year. Have no fear though fanatics. We’ve still got you covered…Our panel of CF experts is here with picks on 12 of most interesting games in college football’s postseason. Where do your predictions stack up with these guys? Here goes nothing.
UPDATED STANDINGS
Brent Blum, 44-28
Chris Hassel, 43-29
Adam Carper, 42-30
Matt Perrault, 41-31
Chris Williams, 40-32
Steve Deace, 40-32
Adam Gray, 39-33
Dave Zawilinski, 39-33
Bret Meyer, 38-34
THE CYCLONE RADIO NETWORK’S BRENT BLUM
Making all my picks based on current pop songs. This is dangerous.
Holiday Bowl, Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – Bo Pelini is a real "Firework." Huskers explode on Huskies. Nebraska 34 Washington 14.
Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – The Sooners will be able to handle UCONN with "No Hands." Yawner. OU 45 UCONN 17.
Texas Bowl, Baylor vs. Illinois – First bowl game for Baylor since 1994. We can "Raise our Glass" to that. Flip a coin. Baylor 31 Illinois 30.
Insight Bowl, Iowa vs. Mizzou – It’s "Back to December" for the Hawks. First December bowl game since 2006. Tigers put a bow on Iowa’s lackluster season. Mizzou 31 Iowa 17.
Alamo Bowl, Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Mike Gundy will have Mike Stoops saying, "What’s My Name," I’m a man, I’m 43! Oklahoma State 38 Arizona 28.
Pinstripe Bowl, Kansas State vs. Syracuse – This game would have been awesome in 1998. Oh the "Memories." K-State 28 Syracuse 24.
Cotton Bowl, Texas A&M vs. LSU – Aggies have been "Dynamite" the last half of the season, but Tigers too solid on defense. LSU 24 A&M 20.
Capital One Bowl, Michigan State vs. Alabama – Alabama way more talented than Sparty. Michigan State can’t overcome, "We r who we are." Alabama 30 Michigan State 17.
Rose Bowl, TCU vs. Wisconsin – The Badgers have been flying "Like a G6" against weak Big 10 teams. The Horny Frogs put a stop to that. TCU 27 Wisconsin 21.
Orange Bowl, Virginia Tech vs. Stanford – The Hokies are "Coming Home" to the Orange Bowl. They’ve played in this game three of the past four years. I hope they have time-shares on South Beach. Stanford 34 Virginia Tech 27.
Sugar Bowl, Arkansas vs. Ohio State – It must be "Just A Dream" that Ohio State had players suspended for 5 games next year, but yet they can play in the Sugar Bowl. That makes no sense. If it was Iowa State under fire, they would have been forced to forfeit the bowl game and the NCAA would have made half the basketball team ineligible just because. Ohio State 24 Arkansas 21.
BCS, Auburn vs. Oregon – Cam Newton is one talented "Grenade." The whole thing may blow up eventually, but it has been entertaining. When they make the Cam Newton movie in a few years, I think Nick Cannon plays Cam. Chizik plays himself and then walks off mid-movie. Oregon 37 Auburn 34.
WHO TV 13’s CHRIS HASSEL
Nebraska (-14) vs. Arizona – Nebraska
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – UConn
Baylor vs. Illinois – Illinois
Iowa vs. Missouri – Missouri
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Oklahoma State
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – Kansas State
LSU vs. Texas A&M – LSU
Alabama vs. Michigan State – Alabama
Wisconsin vs. TCU – Wisconsin
Stanford vs. Virginia Tech – Stanford
Ohio State vs. Arkansas – OSU
Oregon vs. Auburn – Oregon
FORMER CYCLONE LINEBACKER ADAM CARPER
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – Nebraska
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – UCONN
Baylor vs. Illinois – Baylor
Iowa vs. Mizzou – Mizzou
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Okie State
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – Kansas State
Texas A&M vs. LSU – Texas A&M
Michigan State vs. Alabama – Alabama
TCU vs. Wisconsin – TCU
Virginia Tech vs. Stanford – Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State – Ohio State
Auburn vs. Oregon – Auburn
1460 KXNO’S MATT PERRAULT
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington = Nebraska
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN = Oklahoma
Baylor vs. Illinois = Baylor
Iowa vs. Mizzou = Mizzou
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona = Okie State
Kansas State vs. Syracuse = Syracuse
Texas A&M vs. LSU = Texas A&M
Michigan State vs. Alabama = Alabama
TCU vs. Wisconsin = Wisconsin
Virginia Tech vs. Stanford = Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State = Arkansas
Auburn vs. Oregon = Oregon
CYCLONEFANATIC.COM’S CHRIS WILLIAMS
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – How excited are the ‘Skers to be back in San Diego playing a team that they blew out earlier this season. How motivated is Taylor Martinez? Huskers win, Huskies cover.
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – No bowl season blues for the Sooners this year. Oklahoma BIG.
Baylor vs. Illinois – This one will be a shootout. I’ll take the Big 12.
Iowa vs. Missouri – Horrible matchup for the Hawks. Tigers by 10.
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Cowboys
Texas A&M vs. LSU – The Aggies are red hot right now. Plus, the Cotton Bowl is a big reward for this team. I like the motivation factor. Give me A&M.
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – The Wildcats running game is built for bad weather. Big 12 is far superior to the Big East.
Michigan State vs. Alabama – Roll Tide!
TCU vs. Wisconsin – Wisconsin might be the third best team in America. They’ll prove it in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford vs. Virginia Tech – Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State – Hogs
Auburn vs. Oregon – Toss up in my opinion. I’ll go with Oregon because that’s who I’ll be cheering for and I’m banking on the Heisman curse…
1040 WHO’S STEVE DEACE
Washington +14 over Nebraska – You just get the sense this means more to the Huskies, plus they’re out for revenge in the rematch. Nebraska 31, Washington 24
Oklahoma -17 over UCONN – This won’t be a repeat of the Boise State debacle because the Sooners will be out to snap their BCS losing streak. Oklahoma 38, UCONN 17
Baylor over Illinois – Robert Griffin is the difference. Baylor 27, Illinois 20
Missouri over Iowa – This was already a bad matchup for Iowa before the distractions. Missouri 28, Iowa 21
Oklahoma State over Arizona – Cowboys will have a lot of fans there, and too much offense. Oklahoma State 35, Arizona 31
Kansas State over Syracuse – Just not a believer in the Big East. Kansas State 21, Syracuse 10
Texas A&M over LSU – This game is more of a reward for the Aggies, and I like the way they were playing at the end of the season. Texas A&M 24, LSU 21
Alabama over Michigan State – This would normally be a letdown spot for the defending champs except Nick Saban won’t let it happen against his former team. Alabama 31, Michigan State 20
Wisconsin over TCU – Badgers will simply be too big, too physical, and too balanced for TCU, and you can expect a sea of red at Rose Bowl turning this into Camp Randall West. Wisconsin 28, TCU 24
Stanford over Virginia Tech – Tough matchup to call here. Stanfod is better team but Virginia Tech is more tested in these sorts of spots as a program. Still, you can’t ignore the quarterback advantage for Cardinal. Stanford 28, Virginia Tech 27
Ohio State over Arkansas – Terrelle Pryor makes a play with his legs at the end to win it. Ohio State 24, Arkansas 20
Auburn over Oregon – Tigers are too physical and have clearly played the better schedule. Auburn 38, Oregon 31
CF ADVERTISER ADAM GRAY, OF ADAM GRAY INSURANCE (NATIONWIDE)
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – Washington
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – OU
Baylor vs. Illinois – Baylor
Missouri vs. Iowa – Iowa
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – OSU
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – Kansas State
LSU vs. Texas A&M – LSU
Alabama vs. Michigan State – Bama
Wisconsin vs. TCU – Wisconsin
Stanford vs. Virginia Tech – Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State – Arkansas
Auburn vs. Oregon – Auburn
ABC 5’S DAVE ZAWILINSKI
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – Nebraska
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – UCONN
Baylor vs. Illinois – Baylor
Missouri vs. Iowa – Mizzou
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Oklahoma St.
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – Kansas St.
Texas A&M vs. LSU – LSU
Alabama vs. Michigan State – Alabama
Wisconsin vs. TCU – Wisconsin
Stanford vs. Virginia Tech – Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State – Arkansas
Auburn vs. Oregon – Auburn
FORMER CYCLONE QUARTERBACK BRET MEYER
Nebraska (-14) vs. Washington – Nebraska
Oklahoma (-17) vs. UCONN – Oklahoma
Baylor vs. Illinois – Baylor
Iowa vs. Mizzou – Mizzou
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona – Oklahoma State
Kansas State vs. Syracuse – Syracuse
Texas A&M vs. LSU – LSU
Michigan State vs. Alabama – Alabama
TCU vs. Wisconsin – Wisconsin
Virginia Tech vs. Stanford – Stanford
Arkansas vs. Ohio State – Arkansas
Auburn vs. Oregon – Auburn
