Two of my early favorites are Memphis/BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl and Marshall/NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl. The MAC and C-USA champs get a shot at each other. NIU's offense has been spotty at times so Marshall's offense might be too much to handle. I think Memphis, even at 9-3 and even while missing ECU and UCF, is a fringe top 25 team with a good defense. BYU will have their hands full in this one, but they can more than hold their own. This game is a true tossup.
Western Michigan and Air Force should be a great watch. Air Force is flying (sorry) under the radar and they put a great season together. They have something of a passing threat this year and the defense looks improved, but they are still a little undermanned on that side of the ball as usual. I'd like to see if Western can put together a good effort on the ground. I think this one could go all the way down to the wire. The Broncos might be a little disappointed if they were forced into this game instead of one of the Florida bowls or the game in the Bahamas. I don't know what Donovan might think, but I think those locations are a little nicer than Boise this time of year
Duke and Arizona State meet in the Sun Bowl. Have these teams every played? Really unique matchup there. Boston College and Penn State at Yankee Stadium will be a huge draw. Look away if you enjoy points, because Christian Hackenberg is unlikely to provide any. Texas and Arkansas will rekindle their Southwest Conference days in the Texas Bowl. I like this matchup a lot and it could go either way, should be a defensive battle. The Music City Bowl usually doesn't land a lot of elite programs, but this year they got Notre Dame and LSU into the mix. Notre Dame is sliding hard though, I wonder if the time off will recharge their competitive batteries. Louisville and Georgia in the Belk could be an outstanding matchup, but I have a feeling this game will be a dud. I don't know which team will win though.
Maryland and Stanford in Santa Clara will be ugly. Maryland probably has no business flying out to central California to play Stanford in a road game. They're not going to be able to move the football in that one. I was worried about Minnesota's draw in their New Year's bowl, but they can handle a Missouri team that has problems putting points on the board. Mizzou has a good defensive line though, so they will have to throw the football at some point, but I'm surprisingly leaning Gophers in this matchup, something I wasn't expecting to do. Wisconsin draws Auburn in the Outback; I think Wisky will lick their wounds and rebound, but I still like Auburn. This game might send the single-game bowl record for combined rushing yards.
I like all of the "New Year's Six" matchups. Baylor and Michigan State will be a great watch. Ole Miss and TCU will be interesting, but Ole Miss will have to show up with their A game on offense. As good as their defense is, Ole Miss has this weird tendency to sputter and it all stems from Bo Wallace's turnover tendencies. Boise State sneaks into the Fiesta at #20. I'm a fan of the way the "Access Bowl" has been set up because in the old BCS, this team wouldn't have gotten a crack at it. With the playoff really being the focal point of the new bowl system, I'm okay with lessening the standards because these "New Year's Six" games are all about fielding interesting-yet-worthwhile matchups. Plus Arizona is a winnable game for the Broncos.
