Bowl Preview: New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium, Albuquerque, N.M.
Fresno State vs. Wyoming
Date: Dec. 19
Time: 4:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Line: Fresno State -10.5

About Fresno State (8-4): This is the Bulldogs second straight December trip to Albuquerque, which doesn't seem like much of a bowl trip until you consider they purposefully live in Fresno all year. Albuquerque is like some kind of goddam paradise. Fresno coach Pat Hill has to be happy he's facing a team he should beat instead of his normal M.O. of acting like a badass and then getting his clock cleaned by decent teams. I'm pretty sure Fresno finishes 8-5 every freaking year.

Intangibles:
David Carr: -4
Trent Dilfer: -2
Trent Dilfer with the Browns: -23
Crystal Meth capital of America: -4
Crystal Meth Capital of America while on Meth: +400

About Wyoming (6-6): A large state located somewhere west of Minnesota and south of Canada, Wyoming is home to many sheep and some local militias. The Cowboys are coached by first-year head man Dave Christensen who came north from Missouri and are the first example this year of why there are just too many damned bowls.

Intangibles:
Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Parks: +6
Places where people can actually live: -4
Fennis Dembo (look it up, kids): +5
Anyone else whoever played hoops at Wyoming: -3

Impact Player: Wyoming receiver David Leonard has 70 catches. For 645 yards. WHAT? 9 yards a catch? how many WR screens can one guy catch? Is he a parapalegic? c'mon David, get DOWN the freaking field.

Bowl slogan: "The only other thing Albuquerque has going for it besides that big balloon deal."

Little known fact: Wyoming's booster club is known as the "Cowboy Joe Club." That's a dumb name.

Watchability scale (1-5): .9

The Pick: Bulldogs 31, Cowboys 13

Tiny Dancer

OK, so he's not so tiny. But this dude shows off some nifty dancing moves to the Star-Spangled Banner before Saturday's Wyoming-Utah game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

(Hat Tip: The Wiz of Odds)

Anything for a win

Dan Hawkins is desperate these days. The Buffaloes are 0-2 (when many thought they'd be 2-0 right now). Of course, this was planned well before last week's program-embarrassing loss at Toledo, but CU is trying to channel some of the success of the 1930s.

Hawkins' team is wearing 1937 Colorado Buffaloes throwback uniforms when his 2009 team takes on Wyoming on Saturday during Legacy Day in Boulder. The Buffs will don the jersey of that era, gold in color with black numbers, along with silver pants. I love when teams do this, especially paying homage to a specific time in their history. Not a bad year in CU history. The Buffs went 8-0 that season.

Nice tribute and Colorado should finally get that first win of the season.

Of course, you can buy this NIKE jersey.

Picks of the Week: No. 2

I'll take a 3-2 week, but wow was I off on the Notre Dame-Nevada game. Probably avoid the Irish until I get a better feel for Charlie Weis' team. Let's see if I can do a little better this week.

Texas (-33.5) over Wyoming
Clearly Texas is going to win this game, but by 33.5 points? Without a doubt. The Longhorns are the most talented team in the nation and Mack Brown has been known to run up a score to earn computer points. Colt McCoy will pick apart the Cowboys and Texas will roll big.
Pick: Texas 63, Wyoming 7

Vanderbilt (+14.5) over LSU
The Tigers were shaky in their win at Washington last week. The once-vaunted defense of LSU gave up 478 total yards of offense to the Huskies, who finished 0-12 last year. Les Miles says the defense will perform better this week. Maybe, but not enough to cover the spread. LSU will win though. The Tigers never seem to lose night home games.
Pick: LSU 27, Vanderbilt 21

USC (-7.0) over Ohio State
'Eye will probably be upset to see this pick, but if wants Ohio State in an upset then he should make these picks. This goes against everything I believe in, especially picking true freshmen QBs (Matt Barkley) to win in hostile environments at night. But the Buckeyes have lost five consecutive games against Top 5 teams. The Buckeyes will keep this much closer than a year ago, but USC will control the line of scrimmage and win back-to-back against OSU.
Pick: USC 31, Ohio State 17

Virginia Tech (-19.0) over Marshall
One thing Frank Beamer coached teams usually do well is putting tough losses behind them and focusing on the next game. The Thundering Herd are better this season, but not Hokies' good. VT will score at least one special teams TD and roll in the home opener and erase some of the bad memories of last week's nationally televised loss to Alabama.
Pick: Virginia Tech 36, Marshall 9

Upset of the Week
Stanford (+3.0) over Wake Forest
I'm not feeling a real upset this week. Maybe I'm gun-shy after last week's horrible pick. This would be a minor upset, but if Stanford could go across the country and win at Wake that would be a very nice win. I don't usually pick against Jim Grobe because he's the best coach in the nation (seriously, this guy wins with less talent). But Jim Harbaugh also does a fine job with the Cardinal and following Wake's loss to Baylor last week the Demon Deacons may be losing confidence.
Pick: Stanford 28, Wake Forest 24


Last Week: 3-2
Season Record: 3-2

Observations from Saturday's Games (Nov. 8)

Sitting here watching Texas Tech-Oklahoma State I am gaining more respect for Graham Harrell with each completed pass. Also pissed that I don't have ESPNU and the Mountaineers are losing 20-7 at half to Cincinnati.

So with that in mind, here are my thoughts from Saturday's games (so far):

1. I got it now. WVU should fire its special teams coach. What's his name again? Stewart? The Mountaineers have the worst kickoff coverage in the nation and how did they open Saturday's game? They allowed a 100-yard return for a score. Great job.

2. Worse than I thought. Tennessee has been bad this season, but nothing like Saturday's 13-7 loss to a bad Wyoming team. That's right, the Cowboys who entered Neyland Stadium with a 1-5 record in the powerhouse conference Mountain West. Let's hear that SEC chant now.

3. Rose Bowl still in site. Of course Penn State is bummed after losing 24-23 at Iowa, but the Nittany Lions need to remember that a Big 10 title is still there to get as well as a much deserved shot at the Rose Bowl. This also allows the rest of us to avoid any guilt of being happy when an undefeated Penn State team is left out of the championship game. Thanks Iowa.

4. A little luck. That's what it takes to win a national title. I can't think of a team that won it all that didn't get a little somewhere along the way. Alabama didn't play its best at LSU, but an overtime win in that hostile environment is a good victory. I still think the Tide will fall in the SEC Championship, but Nick Saban is working miracles and is at least a year ahead of schedule.

5. Wake-up call. All week Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez was getting whipped by the media. He was short and pissy in press conferences. It was rumored the players and UM officials were growing tired of his selfish acts. So what team was that at Minnesota today? The Wolverines were playing great defense, appeared to be having fun and rolled to an easy 29-6 victory. Still don't like the man, but if they give him time Michigan will be unbeatable in a few years.

6. OAC supremacy. Talked about this earlier in the week, so for anyone who cares Mount Union took care of business and easily defeated Otterbein 49-20 in a great match-up of ranked Division III teams in Ohio. The Purple Raiders scored early and often and remain the No. 1 team in the nation and will win its 20th Ohio Athletic Conference championship. Each team has one regular season game remaining and both should advance to the playoffs in two weeks.

7. What are you waiting for Syracuse? It's time to join the other struggling Division I programs in your search for a new coach. You can let Greg Robinson finish out the year, but we all know he's done. End the Robinson experiment and give yourself a shot at a decent coach.

8. Love that 'Stache. Really? Pitt is bowl eligible? It's about time. For three years all we have heard is how great Dave Wannstache's recruiting classes have been. Not until the Panthers' 41-7 thrashing of Louisville Saturday had Pitt been eligible for a bowl. Now my concern is Pitt could actually become dominant in the Big East. Nah! The 'Stache will always blow a couple games a year.

9. ACC confusion. It was an interesting day in the ACC, but what's even more intriguing is that we're still not sure who'll be playing in the title game. I like Wake Forest (Atlantic Division) and North Carolina (Coastal Division) now, but don't count out Florida State (Atlantic) and Virginia Tech and Miami in the Coastal.

10. The worst. I don't want to pick on Washington State, but the Cougars are by far the worst team in a BCS conference (and possibly the worst Division I team). Wazzu allowed 531 yards of offense against a good Arizona team as the Wildcats rolled 59-28. The Cougars played one of their better games this season, but still became the first Pac-10 team to give up 500 points in a season. Even worse news, they still have three more games to play.