Today's News Links:
ESPN's Max Olsen has a column about Mack Brown's last hour as the head coach of Texas Longhorns football. Full story here.
Newly hired Washington Huskies head coach Chris Petersen has assembled his coaching staff. It includes Pete Kwiatkowski as defensive coordinator, Jonathan Smith as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Bob Gregory as linebackers coach and assistant head coach. Full story here.
Washington Huskies RB Bishop Sankey will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Full story here.
ESPN has hired Tim Tebow as an analyst for the new SEC Network. Full story here.
Just In: Johnny Orr, head basketball coach at Michigan and Iowa State, who led Michigan to the 1976 NCAA National Championship game, has passed away. He was 86. Full Story Here.
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The last day of 2013 includes four great bowl games in various cities throughout the South. Starting at 12:30PM Eastern on ESPN, the ADVOCARE V100 BOWL at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, features Arizona (PAC-12) vs. Boston College (ACC). Today's game features two of college football's top running backs: Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey and Boston College's Andre Williams. A Heisman Trophy finalist, Williams is the only the sixteenth division one player to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Carey is currently ranked fifth among FBS players with 1,716 yards. Arizona finished the season with a 7-5 record that included wins against Oregon and Utah and they have a chance to win back-to-back bowls for the first time since the late 1990s. As for Boston College, they also finished their season 7-5. But this year's record was a vast improvement over last season's 2-10 disaster. ESPN's Mark Schlabach predicts a close game, with Boston College favored by one point. His projected final score: 31-30.
At 2:00PM Eastern on CBS, the HYUNDAI SUN BOWL from El Paso, Texas, features Virginia Tech (ACC) vs. #17 UCLA (PAC-12). Despite a rough game against Alabama in the first week of the season, Frank Beamer's Hokies recovered to win eight games. As a result, Virginia Tech's streak of postseason bowl appearances for an active head coach (this year makes it twenty-one) remains uninterrupted. Beamer's strong defense, which has only allowed an average of 17.4 points per game, will have to contain a UCLA offense that currently averages 448.2 total yards per game. Virginia Tech boasts the #4 defense in country, but they may have their hands full with a UCLA offensive line led by dual-threat QB Brett Hundley. So far, Hundley has accumulated 3,432 total yards as well as 31 touchdowns. Last night, ESPN's bottom line gave UCLA a ten-point advantage. ESPN's Mark Schlabach has the Bruins winning by eight. His projected final score: 28-20.
At 4:00PM Eastern on ESPN, the AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL pits Rice (C-USA) against Mississppi State (SEC). Rice won its first outright conference championship for the first time in 56 years, but the Owls may be facing strong opposition as well as an unfriendly crowd when they play the Bulldogs in Memphis, Tennessee. Both teams offensive squads have averaged roughly 425 yards per game during the 2013 season, with Rice relying on the rushing game (240.2 yards per game) and Mississippi State employing a passing scheme (240.3 yards per game). Rice's defense has allowed less points than Mississippi State, but the average margin is not that much: Owls: 22.9 points allowed, Bulldogs: 24.3 points allowed. By these numbers, it looks like both teams are evenly matched. Still, it is an SEC team versus a team from a non-power FBS conference. Mark Schlabach picks Mississippi State to win by 11. Projected final score: 28-17.
The last game before the ball drops in Times Square is probably the
most anticipated game of the night. The CHICK-FIL-A BOWL (formerly The
Peach Bowl) features #24 Duke (ACC) against #21 Texas A&M (SEC) in what will be Johnny Manziel's last game as Quarterback for Kevin Sumlin's Aggies. A report from CBS Sports yesterday mentioned he will enter the NFL Draft after tonight's game. As for Duke, the Blue Devils finished the 2013 season with 10 wins, a berth in the ACC Championship game, and coach of the year honors for head coach David Cutcliffe. Duke's players, notably linebacker Kelby Brown, are calling this game "a chance to make a statement for ourselves".
Indeed, an upset win over Texas A&M would reflect the idea that Duke is no longer a football backwater. Unfortunately, Duke is playing a Texas A&M team which, on paper, outclasses them in every category except for rushing yards and points allowed (Duke: 24.7 ppg allowed, TX A&M: 30.9 ppg allowed). Texas A&M is fifth in the country in scoring (43.6 average points per game) so Duke's chances of winning in a shootout situation are highly unlikely. It seems like the only way for the Blue Devils to win is for their defense to slow down Manziel and the rest of the Aggie offensive line. Mark Schlabach picks Texas A&M to win with a final projected score of 45-27.
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