Let's go bowling!

The Bowl Season gets kicked off tomorrow with the New Mexico Bowl and the St Petersburg Bowl. Can you feel the excitement. Are you starting to salivate. I know I am. The New Mexico Bowl will be great. But before we get into the Div-I bowl games we have some props to distribute and a heads up to the Div III football championship.

For those of you who missed it, top ranked Montana took on third place Villanova for the Div-IAA national championship. This was the second consecutive year Montana has been in the National Championship and the 5th time this decade. Montana set a record by making the play-offs for the 17th straight year. This game ended the same as last year's championship, with the Montana Grizzlies losing. Villanova held off the fierce Grizzly comeback to win their first ever Div. IAA National Championship.

Tomorrow is the 38th playing of the Stagg Bowl, the Div.III National Championship game. It will place two perennial powerhouses head to head. Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater will battle for the top spot. Mount Union has played in twelve of the last 16 Stagg Bowls. These two teams are quite familiar with one another. They have faced off in the last four with Mount Union winning three of those contests. Mount Union is 10 and 2 in the last 12 championship games they have played in. This will be fun to watch because it will be played in heavy snow. Hope you get a chance to see it!

Now on to the two games from the DIV-I:

New Mexico Bowl; Wyoming v. Fresno State: Wyoming unfortunately have bit off more than they can chew. The Cowboys are a young football team with a tough freshman quarterback. But their offense will not be the focal point of this game. Can their defense stop arguably the best back in the NCAA. Fresno State running back, Ryan Mathews lead the nation in rushing yards per game including 235 yards against a very good Boise State defense. If you remember that is the same defense that shut down the high-powered Oregon offense. Wyoming is an emerging team in a very tough Mountain West but I think the running game of Fresno will be just too much. I am taking Fresno State. Lys took Wyoming because she loves cowboys and John took Fresno. (Jess didn't get her picks in by publication time, but I will have them before game time.)

St Petersburg Bowl; Central Florida v. Rutgers: This is a match-up of two very similar teams. Both offenses can put up points but both teams are very inconsistent. UCF has a strong running game and slightly better defense. Rutgers can score a lot of points in a hurry, but freshman quarterback Tom Savage has been known to make big mistakes in key points in the game. This will be a better game than the New Mexico Bowl. I am taking Central Florida, so is Lys. John is taking Rutgers.

Enjoy the start to the bowl season, and if your up sneak a peek at the Div-III championship game. Live like no one is watching, and enjoy your Saturday.