Monday, December 22, 2008
By Jim Feist

As 2008 draws to a close, we find ourselves smack in the middle of the bowls. You shouldn't be bowled-out, either, as the bowls slowly build to the crescendo that is the Florida/Oklahoma showdown, which I'll look at next week.

Hawaii Bowl (Wed., Dec. 24): Aloha! And top of the marnin'! Notre Dame (6-6 SU/5-7 ATS) ended the regular season 1-4 SU/ATS with fans calling for Charlie Weis' scalp after a miserable home loss to Syracuse, 24-23. The Irish have a mostly passing offense behind sophomore QB Jimmy Clausen (20 TDs, 17 INTs). They average 22.7 points and 231 yards passing.

However, they lost to Syracuse, a 20-point dog, one with the nation's No. 104th-ranked defense. Notre Dame is 2-4 SU, 3-3 ATS on the road and on a 5-1 run under the total. Hawaii (7-6 SU, 7-5 ATS) made it to a bowl for first-year head coach Greg McMackin, winning six of the last nine. They had a 29-24 home loss to Cincinnati as QB Greg Alexander threw for 275 yards. The last five bowls, Hawaii has allowed 36, 48, 40, 24 and 41 points.

Motor City Bowl (Fri., Dec. 26): Two outstanding passing teams meet as Florida Atlantic and Central Michigan battle in Ford Field. Florida Atlantic (6-6 SU/7-5 ATS) had a tough start (1-5) under Coach Howard Schnellenberger, but ended on a 5-1 SU, 4-2 ATS run. Junior QB Rusty Smith (22 TDs, 14 picks) leads an offense that averages 141 yards rushing, 250 passing. The offense has scored 24, 29, 46, 40, 14 and 57 points the last six games. There has been a flare for dramatics, with a 22-yard TD pass with 22 seconds left to top UL-Monroe, 29-28, and a 57-50 OT victory over Florida International.

Schnellenberger is 5-0 in bowl games, including a 44-27 win over Memphis last year. (9-2 SU, 5-4 ATS) Central Michigan averages 30 points and 292 yards passing behind junior QB Dan LeFevour (19 TDs, 5 INTs) and RB Ontario Sneed. The defense has allowed 34, 30, 24 and 56 points the last four games. CM beat Indiana, 37-34, and will appear in its third straight Motor City Bowl. This indoor game should feature many things, except defense.

Champs Sports Bowl (Sat., Dec. 27): Orlando, Florida, is the site for Wisconsin against Florida State. Wisconsin (7-5 SU/5-6 ATS) was ranked as high as No. 9 before a four-game skid. The Badgers won their final three games to make a bowl, including a 36-35 OT win over Cal Poly. Junior QB Dustin Sherer (5 TDs, 5 INTs) is in charge after they demoted senior QB Allan Evridge (5 TDs, 5 INTs) during the slide. This is a running team behind 5-11, 242-pound junior RB P.J. Hill Jr (1,021 yds, 4.8, 13 TDs) and freshman John Clay (845 yds).

The Badgers are 1-3 SU their last four road games and on a 5-2-1 run over the total. Florida State (8-4 SU, 6-5 ATS) has a young QB of its own in sophomore QB Christian Ponder (12 TDs, 13 picks). They also like to run behind senior RB Antone Smith (753 yds) and freshman RB Jermaine Thomas (478 yds). Wisconsin is 4-0 under the total their last four bowls.

Emerald Bowl (Sat., Dec. 27): This is a long road trip for Miami, 3,000 across the country, and a 13-mile trip across San Francisco Bay for Cal. Miami (7-5 SU, 4-6 ATS) is a young team that had a 5-game win streak in midseason, then finished 0-2 SU/ATS, getting clocked by Georgia tech (41-23) and NC State (38-28). Against Georgia Tech they allowed a staggering 472 yards rushing! Redshirt freshman QB Robert Marve (9 TDs, 13 INTs) had been running the offense, but freshman QB Jacory Harris (10 TDs, 6 INTs) has seen time.

Cal (8-4 SU, 8-3 ATS) was a perfect 7-0 SU/ATS at home, but 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS away from Berkeley. Coach Jeff Tedford had been using both sophomore QB Kevin Riley (14 TDs, 6 INTs) and senior Nate Longshore, but Riley has played most of the way the last three games. This offense is balanced, averaging 33 points, 175 yards rushing, 200 passing with a beast in the backfield in sophomore RB Jahvid Best (1,394 yards).

PapaJohn's Bowl (Mon., Dec. 29): N.C. State (6-6 SU/9-2 ATS) coach Tom O.5?Brien whipped the young Wolfpack into shape and is on a four-game win streak, plus a 7-0 ATS run. Even more remarkable, they were an underdog the last four games, but won them all by 10, 4, 31 and 10 points. The running game is strong with senior Andre Brown (728 yds) and junior RB Jamelle Eugene, while the emergence of freshman QB Russell Wilson (16 TDs, only 1 pick) was key. NC State is on a 6-3 run over the total.

Rutgers (7-5 SU, 6-4 ATS) is even hotter, on a 6-0 SU, 5-1 ATS run for coach Greg Schiano. Senior QB Mike Teel (23 TDs, 12 INTs, 3,099 yards) and 6-4 junior WR Kenny Britt (1,252 yds) lead a passing offense that averages 29 points. Britt is the nation.5?s second leading receiver with an average of 113.8 yards receiving. This offense has scored 54, 35, 49, 30 and 63 points the last five games. Rutgers is 2-0 SU/ATS the last two bowls, but NC State is 7-0 ATS its last seven as a dog.