My Gems for the Bowl Season

[GridironGems]

All of my picks will go here:

Utah -7 LOSS
Cinci -10 PUSH
Nevada +3 LOSS
BYU -6 LOSS
CMU +8 WIN
CMU ML .25 unit LOSS (didn't quite get it..but worth the shot at the price imo)

Arizona State +3
ASU ML .25 unit
Boston College -4
UCONN +2
UCONN ML .25 unit
Penn St -5.5
Alabama -3

CMU +8 and Arizona St ML parlay for 1/2 unit






With write-ups below as I get to them...

 

[GridironGems]

Utah -7

The main reason here? Navy's defense. They give up bunches of points (36.5) this year and would hate to be a Navy bettor. The other team's defense is the best in the MWC (15.6) and also third in the nation. The only good team Navy has beaten all year is Air Force, all their other wins are not good. Utah on the other hand started out slow, partly due to injuries, and finished strong (despite losing to BYU in season finale) and beat three bowl bound teams (UCLA, TCU, and New Mexico) along with a victory against Louisville.
Navy will score some points against Utah, but will not be nearly enough to keep up. Utah will move the ball at will towards victory. Also doesn't hurt not having Paul Johnson there coaching Navy, instead Ken Niumatololo takes his place. Now this isn't as big of a factor as some think, because Ken knows this offense so well as he has been involved in it for a long time and is a stricter coach than Paul Johnson was, but I still think it's an adjustment and a small distraction for Navy. Both teams have a good bowl history, but Utah a better one, winning the past 5 and covering all of them.

 

[GridironGems]

Thoughts on the Memphis/Florida Atlantic game...

I see these two teams as very similar...same record, good passing offenses, big losses, not so good wins (although FAU victory against Troy not to bad and Memphis victory over Southern Miss). Neither team has a good defense, and I think it'll be a high scoring game. Don't really have a lean on either side...but would lean the over.

 

[GridironGems]

0-1 start to the bowl season...sorry guys, didn't look that great most of the game until the end of the 3rd quarter...then thought we had it with 1:30 left...then bam...utah doing nothing the first half and waiting till 1/4 of the game was left to actually do anything offensively against that horrible navy defense.

Most likely not playing anything tonight, but if I had to take anything...it'd be the over. Gonna be such a close game, don't really see much value taking either team tonight.

 

[GridironGems]

Other games I'll be adding:

Cinci -10
Nevada +3
BYU -6
Boise St -10
Central Mich +7.5
Arizona State +3
Boston College -3
UCONN +3
Penn St -5.5
Alabama -3
Air Force +3.5
South Florida -6.5
Florida -10

Still going over the BCS bowls, but right now lean towards:
Illini, VT, OU, UGA, and LSU (too many favorites there for BCS bowls I know, but just leans as of now...)

Not sure if I'll get write-ups on all of these games, not due to lack of time, but because I'm damn lazy right now...but if you have any questions, just ask.

 

[HUNT]

great write ups bro...gl this bowl season!

 

[RetroVK]

with you on nevada and az st gems !

AND not against you on any of your made plays so far !!

AND i like 4 of your 5 bcs sides ... not lsu hehe.

gl this bowl run brutha !!!

 

[GridironGems]

Well I should have pulled the trigger on the over tonight...but oh well.

Hate being on the the public side on all 3 games tomorrow, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Cincinnati -10

Plain and simple...Cinci has the better athletes, the better offense, and the better defense. My only problem here is the Southern Miss players loved Bower, and will probably play their guts out for them. But will that be enough? Brian Kelly on the other side is a great coach and I truly believe he will have the Bearcats team prepared for this one.
I don't believe Southern Miss really has any quality wins this season...and the good teams they did play, well the results weren't there. Lost by 20 at Tennessee, by 22 at Boise St, by 17 against UCF, and by 4 against Memphis..oh and throw in a 2 point loss at home against Rice. Meanwhile, Cinci got off to a great start, and then stumbled for a few games, but still have a few real quality wins under their belt.
The one Bearcat weakness on their team is their passing defense. But that is not something that Southern Miss wants to do.. they want to run the ball with Damion Fletcher and let Jeremy Young be the dual threat QB that he is.
Another thing to keep an eye on is the turnover battle, Southern Miss is 74th in the nation, while Cinci is 3rd.
I think the bearcats just have too much for the golden eagles to handle. I like Cinci by 14-17 points.

 

[GridironGems]

ADD:

CMU +8
CMU ML .25 unit
Arizona State +3
ASU ML .25 unit
Boston College -4
UCONN +2
UCONN ML .25 unit
Penn St -5.5
Alabama -3

I will be out of town until Saturday or so...so just posting these as I don't know if I'll be at a computer until Saturday or Sunday. GL and have a good rest of the week...

 

[tee*dub]

CMU :smiley_acbe:.. IMO, best play on the Bowl game board.. GL bro

 

[GridironGems]

Here are some quick short write-ups...

CMU has every edge here except for talent (which we have already learned this bowl season...talent does not equal wins/covers)...CMU has big time motivation (purdue does not want to be here and CMU does...Dorien Bryant would rather forfeit this game than play in it *this from PaintCrew post earlier*) ..CMU has the fan base... CMU has learned something as you can tell in the 2h of the first meeting if you watch the game over.. *did not get to see the last game, but this from tee*) etc. etc.

Arizona St head is more into this matchup than Texas.. Texas fans getting restless...Carpenter will throw all over the Horns secondary...

The two losses for the Spartans on D are big..and I like BC before anyway...

This UCONN game is pretty evenly matched...but turnovers and special teams wins it for UCONN...

Penn St defense too much for the Aggie run game....

Alabama better team overall than the Buffs... and have played a MUCH tougher schedule...

 

[GridironGems]

For fun I'll add a parlay...my two favorite ones that I added to the card..

CMU +8 and Arizona St ML for 1/2 unit...

 

[GridironGems]

Was a bit sketchy at the beginning...but got the win ATS..just wish coulda hit that ML..oh well I'll take it.

 

[GridironGems]

Oh and almost forgot about my parlay.. the CMU +8 and ASU ML.. so that is still alive ... let's got Devils *fork em!*

 

[HUNT]

nice hit bro...good shit.