Prognostications Reveal Upsets In Store for Bowl Offerings
With football’s silly season—the holiday bowl time—upon us, the KENNEL’s sports staff decided to join in the spirit of the occasion and predict the winners along with literally thousands of other scribes from coast to coast.
Before revealing our choices, let’s take a look at the various offerings in the major bowls.
The most appetizing dish of the day appears to be the Orange Bowl, where undefeated Nebraska and once-downed Alabama tangle. The Crimson Tide hasn’t lost since its first outing of the year, and Bear Bryant’s teams are always a pleasure to watch.
In the Cotton Bowl, Arkansas, one of the three major unbeaten teams in the nation, plays host to thrice-downed Louisiana State. This should be an exciting affair to watch, with three All-Americans—Glen Ray Hines, Loyd Phillips, and Bobby Crockett—not to mention seven other all conference players. The Hogs are noted for their come-from-behind finishes, and this could be a thriller!
The Sugar Bowl almost isn’t worth mentioning this year, as off-beaten Missouri and multi-trodden Florida meet in New Orleans in the battle of the also-rans.
On the West Coast, undefeated Michigan State—ranked number one in the polls, takes on UCLA for the second time this season. In their first outing, State dumped the Golden Staters 13-3, and the Spartans are apparently stronger now than they were two months ago.
In the Gator Bowl, twice-dumped Texas Tech meets thrice-dumped Georgia Tech. Tech’s Donny Anderson—a two-time All-American—should provide enough appeal for any grid fan in this contest. From this corner, this should prove to be a vastly more entertaining contest than at least two of the older, bigger-name bowls.
Tulsa meets Tennessee in the Bluebonnet Bowl, and this is a clash worthy of a sellout crowd. Tulsa lost only to Arkansas and Oklahoma State, the latter a major upset, while Tennessee was dumped only by Mississippi.
Now that we’ve met the cast of elevens, here are the KENNEL’s selections:
- Orange Bowl, Alabama over Nebraska by 7 points.
- Cotton Bowl, Arkansas over LSU by 14 points.
- Sugar Bowl, Missouri over Florida by 6 points.
- Rose Bowl, Michigan State over UCLA by 21 points.
- Gator Bowl, Texas Tech over Georgia Tech by 10 points.
- Bluebonnet Bowl, Tulsa over Tennessee by 7 points.