It is just a few days away from the beginning of that most wonderful time in college football called “Bowl Season”. Games being played in ridiculous places - with sponsors we have never heard of before - between teams that could care less about putting on the pads some 4 to 6 weeks after their season has already ended. Records just this side of mediocre – who could ask for more ? My picks are in BOLD

12/19 – Poinsettia Bowl – TCU (10-2) vs Northern Illinois (7-5) – the only reason to watch this game is because it is the first game . Or maybe to see that RB from Northern Illinois – what his name

12/21 – Las Vegas Bowl – BYU (10-2) vs Oregon (7-5) – despite their record the Ducks are tougher than they appear – still looks like tread marks on their unis – Vegas is the perfect place for a road tripping mormon to lapse – Mormons Gone Wild !!!!

12/22 – New Orleans Bowl – Troy (7-5) vs Rice (7-5)- at least they both have winning records – where is Troy anyway and didn’t they use to be Troy State ???

12/23 – Papajohn’s.com Bowl – South Florida (8-4) vs East Carolina (7-5) – for to go with the Bulls over the Pirates and did you know that Red Bull isn’t really red ?

12/23 – New Mexico Bowl – New Mexico (6-6) vs San Jose State (8-4) – only someone from San Jose could be excited about going to Albuquerque – home field will rule for the game that should be re-named “The you should be ashamed of yourself for watching this Bowl”

12/23 – Armed Forces Bowl – Tulsa (8-4) vs Utah (7-5) – what a sorry excuse for the triple header capper – if you are still watching football at this point you may need your chair surgically removed from your ass

12/24 – Hawaii Bowl – Arizona State (7-5) vs Hawaii (10-3) – ASU gets the reward of a trip to Honolulu for playing the patsy to Hawaii – I would not be upset about playing in this game at all – that QB for Hawaii is fun to watch too

12/26 – Motor City Bowl – Central Michigan (9-4) vs Middle Tennessee State (7-5) - “The you should be ashamed of yourself for watching this Bowl II”

12/27 – Emerald Bowl – Florida State (6-6) vs UCLA (7-5) – once upon a time this was a good game – maybe even a great game – now it is a pathetic afterthought – FSU should have said no to playing in a Bowl Game this year – I love to see Bobby Bowden lose – except for when FSU plays Miami of course

12/28 – Independence Bowl – Oklahoma State (6-6) vs Alabama (6-6) – how did the for Poulan Weedeater Bowl get saddled with this match up ? This truly is mediocrity at best. At least they gambling in nearby Bossier City.

12/28 – Holiday Bowl – California (9-3) vs Texas A&M (9-3) – finally a better than good game to watch and watch I will – tell all the aggie jokes you want – Mom was a Golden Bear – Go Oscie Go !!!

12/28 – Texas Bowl – Rutgers (10-2) vs Kansas State (7-5) – Louisville beats West Virginia and Rutgers beats Louisville and West Virgina beats Rutgers – and this the reward for the Scarlet Knights ? no respect I tell ya – no respect

12/29 – Music City Bowl – Clemson (8-4) vs Kentucky (7-5) – remember when Clemson beat Georgia Tech and ESPN Gameday was there and they talked about Clemson’s BCS possibilities ? Nashville is a lot farther away from Glendale than even Google earth thinks it is.

12/29 - Sun Bowl – Missouri (8-4) vs Oregon State (9-4) – despite being punished by being sent to El Paso, this has the potential to be a decent game to watch – Mizzou was on a roll but faded when the college football world started to take notice of them and Oregon State slayed the National Title hopes of USC – much to the Rose Bowl’s delight

12/29 – Liberty Bowl – South Carolina (7-5) vs Houston (10-3) – I love to see Steve Spurrier lose

12/29 – Insight Bowl – Minnesota (6-6) vs Texas Tech (7-5) – how excited was Tempe when they got stuck with this match-up ? the game is on the NFL Network so most of the country won’t be subjected to it.

12/29 – Champs Sports Bowl – Maryland (8-4) vs Purdue (8-5) – Purdue’s fifth loss was in Hawaii to Hawaii – doesn’t count – Maryland had a shot at the ACC title but a lot of mediocre teams did too.

12/30 – Meineke Car Care Bowl – Navy (9-3) vs Boston College (9-3) – the battle of the gold helmets !!! – BC was another ACC also ran – I never get tired of watching the Flutie Hail Mary Pass – I may even watch this promising match-up

12/30 - Alamo Bowl – Iowa (6-6) vs Texas (9-3) – talk about how far the mighty have fallen ? Texas should be able to sleep walk through this mess

12/30 – Chick-Fil-A Bowl – Virginia Tech (10-2) vs Georgia (8-4) – the Bulldogs may be the worst 8-4 team in the country – G logos on cars all over the place here in Atlanta – eat more chikin’

12/31 – MPC Computers Bowl – Nevada (8-4) vs Miami (6-6) – BLUE FIELD !!!! New Year’s Eve in Boise – what a great sendoff for Larry Coker – I can only hope it starts to snow in the 4th quarter so the team’s plane can’t take off

1/1 – Outback Bowl – Penn State (8-4) vs Tennessee (9-3) – interesting game – Joe Pa should be on the sidelines – I am looking into the rumors that he is going to be borrowing the PopeMobile

1/1 – Cotton Bowl – Auburn (10-2) vs Nebraska (9-4) – I hate Nebraska. I hate everything about Nebraska. If I never set foot in the state of Nebraska again in my lifetime it will be too soon. I really want auburn to win. And they will.

1/1 – Capital One Bowl – Wisconsin (11-1) vs Arkansas (10-3) – the badgers have to be one of the least impressive 11-1 teams I have ever seen – that is if they had actually kept me interested enough to watch – McFadden is going to be a very rich young man soon and the old Southwest Conference will smile from the great beyond

1/1 – Gator Bowl – Georgia Tech (9-4) vs West Virginia (10-2) – two BCS Wannabe’s who couldn’t seal the deal when they needed to – the Rambling Wreck was just that this year and will end the season in the same way

1/1 – Rose Bowl – Michigan (11-1) vs USC (10-2) – Old School – this game is going to be the best game so to date and maybe the best game of the whole shooting match – went to the Rose Bowl 16 years ago – what an experience

1/1 – Fiesta Bowl – Boise State (12-0) vs Oklahoma (11-2) – My BCS Championship Game – easily the absolute biggest game in Broncos history – Ian Johnson is going to get to showcase himself on the national stage – Oklahoma was really just one bad “home” call away from being included in the National Championship conversations

1/2 - Orange Bowl – Wake Forest (11-2) vs Louisville (11-1) – this will be a fun game to watch – Louisville is never boring and they love to run & pass – I still think they played better with the back-up under center while Brohm was hurt – Wake survived the “rugged” ACC but can it survive it’s national spotlight debut ?

1/3 – Sugar Bowl – LSU (10-2) vs Notre Dame (10-2) – Everything I said about Nebraksa could be said about Notre Dame – I don’t like South Bend but I did stay in the Holiday Inn just off of Route 80 every time I dove cross country back in the 80’s – I will never forget the night I lay awake all night listening to the couple in the next room go at it like a couple of teenagers all night long – but I digress – LSU thought they were going to Pasdena – they will now get a chance to show their “home” crowd that the BCS should have sent them west

1/6 – International Bowl - Cincinnati (7-5) vs Western Michigan (8-4) - “The you should be ashamed of yourself for watching this Bowl III” - if you are watching this game, you need to get out of your parent’s basement and get some fresh air

1/7 – GMAC Bowl – Southern Mississippi (8-5) vs Ohio (9-4) - “The you should be ashamed of yourself for watching this Bowl IV” – if you are watching this game than you must be a degenerate gambler and somebody needs to stage an intervention – but let’s wait until halftime to see how the bets are riding

1/8 – BCS National Championship Game – Ohio State (12-0) vs Florida (12-1) – it is not exactly a game that I am all that excited to watch – I will have it on but won’t be watching it watching it……Gators deserve to be there as much as Michigan but we already saw OSU vs MICH and no on wants to see a re-match – Florida will try to keep it close but Ohio State is just too fast and Troy Smith does not know how to lose – make room in the trophy case for another large chunk of glass

at the dark end of the bar - quietly making noise - swampy abides........