It's the biggest day of the year for college football! Use this thread to discuss the morning games. We'll put up a second thread for the afternoon and evening games. Once again, don't put too much faith in my picks. I'm 0 for 8 in these open threads so far. The odds of getting all 8 wrong are about one third of one percent. If I go 0 for 6 today I'm giving up on these bowl threads and sending you all to Addicted to Quack to talk about the games instead.
Saturday, January 1
TIME (ET)
MATCHUP
TV
PPV
MOBILE
TICKETS
12:00 PM ET
Northwestern vs. Texas Tech
TICKETCITY BOWL
Tickets
1:00 PM ET
No. 16 Alabama vs. No. 9 Michigan State
CAPITAL ONE BOWL
Tickets
1:00 PM ET
Florida vs. Penn State
OUTBACK BOWL
Tickets
1:30 PM ET
No. 21 Mississippi State vs. Michigan
PROGRESSIVE GATOR BOWL
Why watch the TicketCity bowl?
The only reason you would watch this is if you're so hungover that you forgot about the Capital One Bowl. Northwestern QB Dan Person ruptured his achilles tendon against Iowa and Northwestern hasn't won (or even been competitive) since then. Texas Tech is the same team we all know and love: they pass well, don't run, and don't play defense. Their lack of defense shouldn't be an issue against the Wildcats' inept offense. To make things worse for Northwestern, they gave up 118 points in their final two games. Winner: Texas Tech will have the game decided in time for kickoff of the Capital One Bowl.
Why watch the Capital One bowl?
It's not a BCS bowl, but it certainly feels like it. The rammin', jammin' Alabamans take on Michigan State. Alabama is vulnerable, but Michigan State's weaknesses on defense will not be able to take advantage of Alabama's weaknesses on offense. Michigan State will play without leading receiver Mark Dell (remember him?). This one will come down to Michigan State's ability to move the ball against the Bama D. Winner: Tide by 1.
Why watch the Outback bowl?
Because for a couple minutes you thought the Capital One Bowl was on ABC instead of ESPN. Florida's offense was laughably bad at times this year while Penn State's offense picked up after sophomore Matt McGloin took the reins. This is Urban Meyer's last game at Florida, so his team will have extra motivation to end the season with a win. They'll need it, because Penn State seems like the better team. Winner: Florida by 1.
Why watch the Gator bowl?
Because at the end of the game Michigan will announce that RichRod will be relieved of his coaching duties and they will announce Jim Harbaugh as his replacement. The always exciting Denard Robinson will lead Michigan against a Miss St defense that was quite successful Jeremiah Masoli. Meanwhile, Mississippi State's dynamic running game will run all over a suspect Michigan defense. Winner: Cal fans nationwide.