New Year's Day Games Predictions

Five big games on today - five big predictions for you.

Outback Bowl - South Carolina vs Iowa (-4): Stephen Garcia and Chris Smelley have the fear of Spurrier hanging over their backs any time either QB is on the field. I don't think that's the motivational tool to get the most out of your QB's. I like Iowa giving the points here. Iowa -4.

Capital One - Georgia (-9) vs. Michigan State: All-time Georgia is 7-2 against Big 10 teams the margin of difference in those games is just 5 points per game. I think Georgia wins this game but the question is whether they can cover the 9 points. SEC vs Big 10? Big edge SEC. The line started at 7 and has been moving up ever since. Currently 87% of the bettors are talking Georgia. I know it may sound stupid but if that number was over 90% then I'd go the other way. As it is - I'm picking Georgia -9.

Gator Bowl - Nebraska vs. Clemson (-1): Lots of people are picking Clemson because they think Dabo Swinney is a magic fix to an under-performing team. I'm not buying into that. I think Nebraska will ball control Clemson into submission. Nebraska +1.

Rose Bowl - Penn St vs. USC (-10): People will point out how well Penn State did against Oregon State who beat USC but I think you can throw that out. Some teams just have trouble with certain rivals. USC has trouble with Oregon State the same way Penn State always struggles against Iowa. I think USC wins the game but I'm worried about the spread. A friend of mine like to say that the 11th Commandment is "Thou shall not tease" but I swear I woke up this morning thinking "Hey tease Georgia and USC to get those spreads down." It's as if my mind noodled it though during the night. Tease USC with Georgia.

Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech vs Cincinnati (-2): This is a coin flip of a game - so bear with me while I flip a coin (heads for Va Tech and tails for Cinci). Heads it is - take Va Tech and the 2 points.