Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic

Chippewas -7 vs. Owls

They had them right where they wanted them. Central Michigan, champions of the Mid-American Conference two years running was playing the team that wanted their title, in the snow, in Mount Pleasant. Yet the, then, undefeated Ball State Cardinals weathered both the winter storm and the Chippewa storm en route to a 34-21 victory. The loss sealed CMU’s fate within their conference. They would not repeat as champions, but circumstances came into play that sent Central to their third straight Motor City Bowl. They will take on legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger and Florida Atlantic at Ford Field in Detroit the day after Christmas.

When Buffalo handed Ball State a devastating loss in the MAC Championship Game, also played in Detroit, it muddied up the MAC bowl picture. Throughout it’s 12-year history, the Motor City Bowl has usually been the reward for the champion of the conference. But even though Buffalo won the MAC Championship, it made much more sense for them to head a few miles north to Toronto for the International Bowl on January 3rd. This opened up the door for Ball State to head to the Motor City Bowl, but the MAC and the bowl game decided to allow the Cardinals to have a better matchup with Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl to be held in Mobile, Alabama on January 6, so the door swung open for the Chippewas (8-4).

CMU enjoyed its fourth straight winning season and earned a third straight trip to a bowl game, even though its regular season ended in the disappointment of Ball State and an upset loss to Eastern Michigan on the final game of the regular season. The Central Michigan Chippewas will attempt to avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time since October 2004.

Much was expected of Schnellenberger and the Owls this season after winning the Sun Belt Conference last year, but a devastating 1-5 start seemed to seal their fate. But the team responded by winning five of their last six games. During the stretch Florida Atlantic averaged 35 points and defeated Florida International 57-50 in overtime to win their final game and become bowl eligible.

The bowl game may be one of the more entertaining early bowl games because both teams feature potent offenses. Dan LeFevour and Central are ranked third in the MAC with 253.1 passing yards and 24th in the nation with 427.1 yards per contest. The Owls’ Rusty Smith led his conference with 2918 yards and 22 scores.

This will be the first all-time meeting between the schools.

This will be CMU’s fifth bowl appearance, having gone 1-3 in previous appearances, including last year’s last second 51-48 loss to Purdue in last year’s Motor City Bowl. FAU went to their first bowl game last season and beat Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl. Coach Schnellenberger is 5-0 all-time in bowl games with FAU, Miami and Louisville.

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West Virginia vs. North Carolina

Mountaineers -1 1/2 vs. Tar Heels

North Carolina is beautiful this time of year, but Miami after New Years is even better. While both West Virginia and North Carolina can celebrate solid seasons by playing each other in the Meineke Bowl on December 27, they both know it could have been so much more.

Both teams went 2-2 in their last four contests which prevented them from residing at the top of their conferences, where they both sat before the final stretch of the season. If they would have held on, the teams would have met in the Orange Bowl.

For West Virginia (8-4), the losses were particularly tough. After winning five straight from September 27-November 1, the Mountaineers losses and wins to their conference foes the final four games of the year. They lost a second straight year to their rivals from Pittsburgh and also dropped a contest to Rutgers. Both of those losses were by a combined seven points.

Nonetheless the Mountaineers had a solid season in a transition year which saw Bill Stewart replace Rich Rodriguez as head coach. Stewart, a native of West Virginia, was named interim head coach when Rodriguez left for Ann Arbor prior to last season’s Fiesta Bowl. Stewart led his team to a 48-28 upset of Oklahoma, a participant in this year’s national championship game. One day after the victory, Stewart lost the “interim” tag in his title.

North Carolina (8-4) was 7-2 after nine games and they were not defeating patsies by any means, having posted victories over Connecticut, Boston College and Georgia Tech, all Top 25 teams. Each of those games, they won by 22.6 points. After their .500 stretch run, which included a final game victory over archrival Duke, the Tar Heels tied Miami for third in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Still it was quite a turnaround for Butch Davis’ team, who finished 4-8 a season ago.

These teams have met only once, in the 1997 Gator Bowl, with North Carolina winning 20-13 to finish their season 11-1 under then head coach Mack Brown.

This will be North Carolina’s 26th bowl game, but first since the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl. The Tar Heels will be looking for their first victory since they beat Auburn in the 2001 Peach Bowl. They have a 12-13 bowl record. West Virginia is 12-15 in their previous bowl games and have won three straight.

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Florida State vs. Wisconsin

Seminoles -5 1/2 vs. Badgers

A few years back an American television network produced some low-budget pieces involving rabid animals, out of control cars and other wacky activities and behavior. These shows were usually called, “When Animals Attack” or a reasonable facsimile. If someone produces a movie about this past year’s University of Wisconsin season, it should be named, “When Good Seasons Go Wrong.”

On September 27, the 3-0 Badgers visited Ann Arbor to take on the hapless Wolverines. They raced out to an 18-0 lead and put on cruise control until Michigan began climbing back into the game late in the third quarter. The end result was a stunning 27-25 loss when a holding call erased a game-tying two-point conversion. The game seemed to demoralize Wisconsin as they dropped their next four and five out of the following six.

The week following the Michigan loss, the Badgers faced off against the Buckeyes in Columbus and once again watched a late lead evaporate into a loss. Over one month later, on November 1, as Wisconsin tried to build on their first victory since September 13 the week before, the Badgers once again blew a late fourth quarter lead and watched the Spartans kick a game-winning field goal in East Lansing.

Yet coach Brett Bielema was able to get his players to play hard down the stretch to win three straight, become bowl eligible and achieve a 7-5 season, something unthinkable during the Badger’s losing skid. Their reward for the turnaround is a December 27th trip to Orlando to take on Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Seminoles (8-4) was the opposite of the Badgers. Florida State played well the first half of the season but stumbled their way down the stretch, landing in this bowl game. Florida State is now appearing in their third-straight non-January 1st (or later) bowl game after 15 straight years of going to January 1st (or later) Bowl games. The good news for Florida State, however, they now own the longest bowl streak at 27, after Michigan’s lousy season broke their streak of 33.

These teams have never met before.

This will be Wisconsin’s 20th bowl game. They have gone 10-9 in the previous 19, including last season’s Outback Bowl loss to Tennessee. This will be Florida State’s 37th postseason affair, having gone 20-14-2. They were defeated by Kentucky in last season’s Music City Bowl.

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California vs. Miami

Golden Bears -8 vs. Hurricanes

Miami was flying high and ranked for the first time in a number of years as they won their fifth in a row over Virginia Tech on November 13. With a 7-3 record and two games remaining, the Hurricanes were looking for possibly a New Years Day bowl game. Perhaps they were looking too hard because they dropped their final two games to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State, both on the road, by an average of nearly 15 points. Miami finished 7-5 and is headed to the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco to take on the California Golden Bears on December 27.

Meanwhile, at 6-4, California’s season looked in peril prior to their final two games of the season. They had lost any shot at the PAC-10 title and were facing opponents whose seasons could be defined by an upset of the Bears. But Cal crushed their final two opponents, Stanford and Washington, by an average of 31 points to finish at 8-4 and be allowed the ability to take the short trip to San Francisco for their sixth straight postseason appearance.

Jahvid Best was vital to the Bears throttling of their Pac-10 opponents by rushing for 201 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-16 win against the Cardinal. If that performance was not enough the sophomore running back set a school record in the final game of the season with 311 rushing yards and four scores to help the Beats whip the Huskies 48-7.

With its proximity to Berkeley, this game will have the look and feel of a Cal home game, which is a distinct advantage for the Bears who won all seven of their home games this year. Miami was a so-so 3-3.

The Hurricanes season ending skid cost them a chance at the ACC title game. Their defense, in particular, let them down as they allowed a combined 691 yards in the final two losses. This flew directly in the face of the type of defense Miami boasted all season. Through their first seven games, the Hurricanes allowed only two opponents to rush for 100 yards, yet Georgia Tech ran for 472 yards in a 41-23 victory over Miami and NC State ran for a troubling 219 yards on the ground in a 38-28 win for the Wolfpack.

Still the Miami Hurricanes have to be happy with the turnaround they achieved from last year’s disappointing 5-7 season. This will be Miami’s 23rd postseason appearance in 26 seasons and 32nd bowl game overall. They have a 18-13 record and won their last bowl game, the MPC Computers Bowl, on New Years Eve 2006 over Nevada. California has been to 18 bowl games, going 9-8-1. In their five straight bowl appearances prior to this season, the Bears have gone 4-1, including last season’s victory over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.

The teams have not met since a home-and-home series over two years in 1989 and 1990 with Miami claming both games. Prior to that, they had met once before, back in 1964, which was Cal’s only win in the short series.

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TCU vs. Boise State

Horned Frogs -3 vs. Broncos

The best of the early bowl games will take place on Christmas Eve-Eve, Tuesday night, December 23, as number 11 TCU will take on number nine Boise State in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

Two seasons ago, Boise State (12-0) was the BCS buster. In arguably one of the best BCS games in the last few years, the Broncos used a number of trick plays to upset the old guard of college football, Oklahoma a few seasons ago. Boise State did not receive the amount of love they should have probably been shown for the entertainment value they would bring to the BCS games, frequently full of blowouts and mismatches and will, instead go to San Diego for an early bowl game.

Boise State did everything they could to try to nab a BCS berth this season. They won all 12 of their games by an average of 27.2 points, but saw Utah get the coveted, non-BSC conference spot in the Sugar Bowl. The Broncos had a shot to land in the Fiesta Bowl, but the game decided to pick Ohio State instead, despite being ranked lower.

The Broncos will face a worthy opponent in TCU (10-2) who won double-digit games in the regular season largely on the backs of their second-ranked defense in the nation. The Horned Frogs only lost to number two Oklahoma and number 10 Utah along the way. TCU will look to use their stellar defense to stop Boise State’s 12th-ranked offense which yields 39.4 points per game.

The Frogs meanwhile are holding opponents to 10.9 points per contest, second only to Southern California’s 7.8 points per game. Their offense if none to shabby either. They have five players with 400 yards rushing and hold onto the ball longer than anyone in the nation at 34:50. These factors will be critical in beating Boise State.

The teams have met only once before, also in a bowl game. The Boise State upset the 19th-ranked TCU 34-31 in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl.

This will be the Broncos ninth bowl appearance, having won five of those. The Horned Frogs will appear in their 25th bowl game. In the previous 24, they have gone 10-13-1.

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Bears vs. Packers

Chicago -4 vs. Green Bay

One of the best rivalries will be renewed this Monday in Chicago as the Green Bay Packers play the Chicago Bears.

Green Bay (5-9) has been eliminated from postseason play and has not won in a month. Their last victory came against Chicago when they totally dominated the Bears 37-3 on November 16 at Lambeau Field. The game was not the turning point in the season that Green Bay had hoped. After the victory, the Packers evened their record at 5-5 and were still very much in the thick of the NFC North Division race. Since then they have lost four straight contests in excruciating fashion.

Immediately following the Bears game, the Packers engaged the Saints in a close battle with much scoring throughout the first-half. But New Orleans blew it open in the second-half and claimed victory 51-29. The next three weeks, the Packers have lost each game by no more than four points.

Chicago (8-6) has had a solid season after dropping to last in the division last season after their Super Bowl season of 2006, however the Bears do not control their own destiny. The Minnesota Vikings have had a very solid second-half and sit in an advantageous position over Chicago. Win just one of their final two games and the Vikings will clinch the division no matter what the Bears do.

Either way Chicago must win and they should be ready to avenge that loss to a Green Bay team searching for answers.

Even if the Bears fail to make the playoffs, they know they will be able to compete with the Vikings in the future as far as talented and young running backs is concerned. Matt Forte is the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award, won last year by Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson. Forte needs 69 yards in his last two contests to surpass the Bears’ highest rookie running back yardage total of 1183 set by Anthony Thomas in 2001.

Before the season the Packers back Ryan Grant was seen to be in elite company with Peterson, but he has had a tough season. However, he did have his best game against Chicago with 145 yards. Grant loves playing the Bears, as he has garnered 100 yards or more in both of his career starts against them.

Even with the loss earlier this season, the Bears have won six of the last nine over the Packers, but have held home field very well in the series, having split the last four at Soldier Field.

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Arizona vs. BYU

Wildcats -3 vs. Cougars

Despite only two wins, BYU finds itself in a bowl game on the first day of bowl season-again. The Las Vegas Bowl is one of the four bowl games set for Saturday, the first day of the bowl season and BYU (10-2) finds itself in the game for the fourth straight time, this time facing Arizona (7-5).

Perhaps with only two losses, the Cougars deserved better, however their losses were costly ones. The first came to TCU on October 16. The unranked Frogs handled the Cougars easily, winning 32-7. The loss dropped BYU from number eight, their highest ranking all season. Finally with a chance to make a statement against archrival Utah, the Cougars fell on their face, losing 48-24 on November 22. The Utes were ranked number eight at the time and are now on the greener pastures, while BYU is in the familiar surroundings of Sin City.

Las Vegas is certainly a great place to visit and the Cougars have won their last two trips into Sam Boyd Stadium for the bowl game. For their opponents, Arizona, they are ecstatic to be there. The Wildcats enjoyed their first winning season since 1998 and capped a good regular season with a victory over archrival Arizona State on December 6. This will be the first bowl game for the program since they beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl following the 1998 season to capture a 12-1 record.

The game should be a high-octane gun-slinging affair which befits the western style of Las Vegas. Both teams have great signal callers able to sling the ball. Max Hall leads BYU and helped the team climb to 19th in the nation is scoring with 35.3 points per game and 17th with total offense at 448.8 yards per contest. The Wildcats Willie Tuitama had a stellar year in the pass happy Pac-10 by finishing second in the conference with 2763 yards and 21 scores.

Arizona actually has quite a stellar defense with 302.1 yards given up, but have struggled away from home. In their five road games, they have given up 30.6 points per game, while at home they have limited opponents to 14.7 points.

It is a rarity for two teams to have played each other many times compete in a postseason contest, but this will be the third straight season that BYU and Arizona have met with the teams splitting the pair. This will be the 22nd game between the programs which used to reside in the Western Athletic Conference.

The two game winning streak in the Las Vegas Bowl followed a four-game bowl losing streak for BYU. The Cougars have attended 26 bowl games and has gone 9-16-1 in those contests. This will be the Wildcats’ 14th bowl game and have won five and tied one of the previous 13.

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Dolphins vs. Chiefs

Miami -3 1/2 vs. Kansas City

Remember in grade school when you had a crush on the girl a few desks over? You would stare at her and then when she happened to look in your direction, you would peel your eyes away as fast as possible. As Kansas City welcomes Miami in for their Week 16 contest, perhaps the Chiefs will be eyeing the Dolphins longingly, only to look away when their gaze is met.

The Chiefs (2-12) have been caught in the doldrums all season long, but they only have to look at their opponents to see that fortunes in the NFL can change quite rapidly. The Dolphins (9-5) needed a lucky brake to avoid going 0-16 last season and finished 1-15. They had a shakeup in the organization that shipped out first-year coach Cam Cameron and brought in Bill Parcells to take over the organization and his handpicked coach Tony Sparano. The team now has shot a playoff berth and even an outside chance at clinching the AFC East crown, something unthinkable just 12 months before.

Kansas City will be undergoing a similar off-season makeover. Long term President and General Manager Carl Peterson has announced he will be stepping down after this season which will bring in a new regime and a new age of Kansas City football. Peterson built the Chiefs into perennial contenders when he arrived in the city prior to the 1989 season. He inherited a Chiefs squad that went 4-11 in both years prior to his arrival. He turned the team into a 8-7-1 squad his first year and watched them make the postseason six straight times. The good teams fell apart mid-way through this decade and resulted in his departure.

Kansas City’s future is bright with their strong draft last spring, but Miami’s future is now. If they win their next two games and the Jets lose both games (the two teams met in the regular season finale), the Dolphins win the division. Last week Miami beat San Francisco 14-9 at home.

The teams have not met since 2006 when the Dolphins won at home.

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Steelers vs. Titans

Pittsburgh -2 vs. Tennessee

For teams that have the playoffs and a first-round bye clinched, this game between Pittsburgh and Tennessee does not have the impact it may have had had the Steelers not clinched the AFC South and a first-round bye in the playoffs after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens 13-9 in a big road victory last week. But this game still has a tremendous impact and will decide whether the AFC playoffs will go through frigid Heinz Field in Pittsburgh or through the Music City of Nashville.

Moreover, the Tennessee Titans (12-2) want to prove they are still the power they appeared to be when they started the season 10-0, but have only gone .500 since with wins against winless Detroit and hapless Cleveland and losses to possible playoff team the New York Jets and last week to division rival Houston.

Home field seemed a foregone conclusion nearly a month ago, but Tennessee’s struggles have opened the door for Pittsburgh (11-3), winners of five straight, to possibly steel away the Titans’ coveted prize.

Tennessee’s stellar defensive play has eroded in recent weeks and that was seen when the Texans’ Andre Johnson racked up 207 yards and a touchdown en route to a 13-12 upset victory over Tennessee. A bad day was made worse as the Titans saw their defensive leader, tackle Albert Haynesworth rolling around on the field in pain. The All-Pro had sprained his MCL and will miss the Titan’s remaining two games. With a bye in the first week of the postseason, Haynesworth is hopeful to return for the team’s first playoff game in the divisional round.

While Tennessee’s defense has betrayed them in recent weeks, Pittsburgh’s defense has led them on the brink of home field advantage. The Steelers won a controversial replay and turned a late 9-6 deficit to Baltimore into a 13-9 victory.

The Pittsburgh Steelers lead the NFL in rush defense, pass defense and total defense and is on pace to be first the first team to finish first in all three of those categories since the 1991 Eagles. The Steelers also lead in scoring defense at a paltry 13.7 points per contest.

Even more history making is the fact that no opponent to face Pittsburgh this season has eclipsed 300 yards and no one has done that since the 1973 Rams.

The interesting thing about home field for these teams is that they may not want that distinction. In 2000, the year after the Titans lost the Super Bowl to the Rams by one-yard, they finished 13-3 and were preparing to have the AFC playoffs go through Nashville until they lost in their first game. The Steelers have even more pain as the top AFC seed, clinching it in 1994, 2001 and 2004 but lost the AFC championship game at home each season. They won the Super Bowl following the 2005 season as a wild-card team, playing three road games before winning Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

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Nuggets vs. Cavaliers

Denver -1 vs. Cleveland

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing so well this season that they are gaining fans wearing the opponent’s jerseys in the stands. As the Cavaliers wrapped up their 20th victory in 22 games Wednesday in Minnesota, the beleaguered Timberwolf faithful watched their team lose their 11th game in a row, they remaining fans gave James a standing ovation for his performance in the 93-70 victory for his team. James was being lauded for his 32-point game.

No one expects a similar scene from a contending team, especially from the Denver Nuggets fans who have seen James and the Cavs as a sort of rival since James and the Nuggets Carmelo Anthony came into the league in the same 2003 draft class.

Two of the NBA’s red hot teams will clash Friday night in the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets (17-8) look to rebound from a 108-96 road loss to Houston and look to avoid losing two games in a row for the first time since Chauncey Billups joined their squad. The loss in Houston snapped Denver’s four-game winning streak, but the club has still won eight of their last 10 and is 16-5 since the trade which brought Billups back to his hometown.

While Denver is hot, no one has been hotter than Cleveland (21-4), who saw their 11-game upswing broken by Atlanta last Saturday. They will attempt to start another streak tonight when they play Denver, a team they have already beaten once this season 110-99 in a November 13th game in Cleveland.

The Cavs have emerged as the NBA’s best defensive team by allowing a mere 89.2 points per contest while the Nuggets defense has steadily improved since Billups’ arrival. A season ago, Denver allowed 107 points per game, second from last in the league. This season they have shaved a hearty nine points off their average and have held opponents to 42.7 percent shooting, leaving them third in the NBA behind Boston and Cleveland.

The Nuggets had a lapse in their stellar defense when they allowed the Rockets to score 108 points in their 108-96 setback Tuesday night. Anthony netted 22 points for Denver, while Billups was held to 8.

Cleveland has not fared well in Denver, losing three straight there. Their last victory in the Pepsi Center came in 2004.

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