The FedEx Orange Bowl, what a strange name for a BCS Bowl Game don’t you think?

The battle for positioning is over in the 2008 NCAA college football season as Big East champions, Cincinnati Bearcats, are slotted to face the Virginia Tech Hokies for the Orange Bowl.

The 2009 FedEx Orange Bowl will be the 75th edition of South Florida’s showcase game. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech will meet on January 1 in Miami. The last time these two teams met, it was back in 2006 with Virginia Tech prevailing, 29-13.

The Virginia Tech Hokies have been to the Orange Bowl twice before, losing to Nebraska in 1996 and Kansas at the end of last season.

The Cincinnati Bearcats on the other hand, have been on a tear, winning 28 of its past 35 games since losing to the Hokies a little over two years ago. Over that span, only seven teams; Boise State, Oklahoma, BYU, Florida, Southern California, Hawaii and Ohio State, have won more games than the Bearcats.

The Virginia Tech Hokies finished the regular season ranked seventh nationally in total defense, allowing just 277 yards per game, while…

Read More » Cincinnati meet Virginia Tech in 2009 Orange Bowl

It’s in Orlando, Florida where both Georgia and Michigan State will be looking to do their own magic for the Citrus Bowl title.

The 2009 Capital One Citrus Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Michigan State Spartans is one of the BCS bowl games we have to start the new year. This is a New Year’s Day matchup containing two teams that are both coming off losses.

Neither the Georgia Bulldogs nor the Michigan State Spartans are ranked in the Associated Press top 15, which makes this Capital One Bowl different from any other since 1992, when the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten began meeting in Orlando. Yet this game does have at least two things going for it.

Michigan State’s Javon Ringer and Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno.

Ringer leads the Big Ten in rushing and ranks third nationally after amassing 1,590 yards (132.5 yards per game) and 21 touchdowns on 370 carries. Moreno leads the SEC and is 16th nationally with 1,338 yards (111.5) and 16 touchdowns on 227 carries.

Though the No.16 Georgia Bulldogs rely on Moreno, Michigan State rely heavily on Ringer.

The 5-foot-9, 202-pound senior from Michigan State, has 32 more carries than the second-busiest running back in the NCAA bowl subdivision. In a three-week stretch in late…

Read More » Georgia V Michigan State in 2009 Citrus Bowl

The Central Michigan Chippewas need to win this one since they are the team from the Motor City in a BCS Bowl game named after their city.

After opening the season 1-5, a bowl game seemed bleak for the defending Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic Owls. However, since that time, the Owls have reeled off 5 wins in 6 games, receiving an invitation to the 2008 Motor City Bowl.

The Florida Atlantic Owls suffered a brutal start before claiming its bowl berth. Since then, the Owls averaged 35.0 points while winning five of their final six games, overcoming a 1-5 start, becoming bowl-eligible with a 57-50 overtime win over Florida International on Nov.29.

Considering the last Motor City Bowl and each team’s most recent contests, with the Central Michigan Chippewas also on fire, it’s possible the 2008 matchup could be another shootout.

Florida Atlantic boasts a top defensive presence in senior linebacker Frantz Joseph, the nation’s second-best tackler with 141 to lead the Sun Belt in that category for a second straight season. He also earned all-conference honors while breaking his own school record for tackles in a season. Joseph also set the school’s single-game (16) and career (333) tackle mark.

The Owls’ offense is directed by junior quarterback…

Read More » Central Michigan V Florida Atlantic in Motor City Bowl

Merry Christmas people!

By now, I’m already off to a much needed vacation. (More specifically, playing Madden all day long without anyone bothering me…) But before I leave ya’ll here, I’m going to give ya’ll my very last weekly preview of the 2008-09 NFL football season. It’s already Week 17 people. Boy, time sure flies huh? And after 16 weeks, we learned that the Lions are only a loss away from becoming the most fucked up team in years, Tom Brady continues to lose his job to Matt Cassel and the Cowboys desperately need to win this Sunday to make the playoffs.

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys, after losing to Baltimore, 33-24, need to beat the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday to give themselves a shot of making the playoffs. And since Philly can only put up three points in their game against Washington last Sunday, this is probably the perfect opportunity for the Cowboys to steal one in Philly.

Dallas Cowboys by 3.

The Atlanta Falcons, with a playoff berth already secured, will probably just look for some momentum heading for the postseason when they face the struggling the St. Louis Rams, who have now lost nine in a row. The Rams won’t have anything to gain on this game and they’d probably just rest some of their starters to give those guys a chance to rest up and…

Read More » 2008 NFL Football Week 17 Betting Picks and Tips

It’s do or die for the Bears on Monday Night Football.

In what would be the very last broadcast of ESPN’s Monday Night Football this 2008-09 NFL football season, the Bears are hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Packers.

Thanks to the Minnesota Vikings dominating the high-flying Arizona Cardinals, 35-14 last Sunday, the Chicago Bears were pushed further to playoff elimination. It would’ve been a nice Christmas gift for the Bears if the Cardinals defeated the Vikes and gave them an even better chance of catching up to Minnesota in the NFC North.

Instead, even though the Bears defeated New Orleans to go 8-6 last Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings, with the win over Arizona, are still a game ahead of Chicago at 9-5 with only two more games left to play this weekend.

For what it’s worth, the Bears know they still have to do their part to stay in playoff contention. A win over the Green Bay Packers is big and Bears defensive tackle Anthony Adams is aware of it.

‘’I don’t know, man, we’ve just got to let that stuff play out,'’ Anthony Adams said. ‘’I try to simplify things when I look at [scenarios]. We’ve got to get this win against Green Bay, then get the next one [at Houston], and then just…'’

Read More » Bears play for NFL Playoffs spot against the Packers

Two straight losses heading to the playoffs? Yes, the Giants need to wakeup now.

After what has been a dominant run for the playoffs in the 2008-09 NFL football season, the Giants, for some reason, lost their edge during the last two weeks, suffering two straight losses to two NFC East rivals, Philadelphia and Dallas.

The New York Giants were one of the heavy favorites to win Super Bowl XLIII, but after the last two weeks, people are starting to wonder if this Giants team really is as good as they were hyped up to be.

The New York Giants know they have to get back to work. Surely, they don’t want to be caught playing this bad once the playoffs get here right? They already have a playoff berth AND the NFC East title secured but if they want to get to the Super Bowl again, they better get back to work now.

They have the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football, a win over that high-flying team should bring the defending Super Bowl champs back on track. Another loss and New York should be pressing on the panic button faster than Ray Allen’s sweet jump shot with a sense of desperation they haven’t felt…

Read More » New York looking to be a Giant again against Carolina

And while the Poinsettia Bowl may not be as big as, say, the BCS national championship, Boise State is playing! That means it’s going to be exciting.

The BCS Bowl season continues at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego when it hosts the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl between the No.9 Boise State Broncos and the No.11 TCU Horned Frogs.

The TCU Horned Frogs will make its 10th bowl appearance in the last 11 seasons. Despite that experience in BCS Bowl games, they will have their hands full against the undefeated Boise State Broncos who, despite their strong campaign this season at 12-0, were still snubbed from the BCS title game.

Only four other bowls feature two teams with a higher combined current ranking than the Poinsettia Bowl (20). It’s also the first time the TCU Horned Frogs will play in a BCS Bowl game that has two teams having a ranking this high.

The last time TCU had this kind of game was the 1959 Bluebonnet Bowl, when No.11 Clemson defeated No.7 TCU, 23-7. The Frogs are 4-4-1 when playing a bowl game with both teams ranked.

TCU and Boise State will face each other for just the second time in their history. The first meeting also featured a battle of top-20 teams as the 18th-ranked Broncos defeated the…

Read More » Boise State and TCU play in 2008 Poinsettia Bowl

The BCS Bowl Games kick off with the EagleBank Bowl. Hopefully, the first one will be as good as the big game in Miami.

The 2008 EagleBank Bowl is the first of what would be an annual college football bowl game. The first one will be played on December 20 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. It is one of the two newest BCS bowl games to be approved by the NCAA and this year, we have quite an interesting match-up.

The Navy Midshipmen and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons will play for the EagleBank Bowl and since unfamiliarity with each other won’t be an issue for both teams, were hoping to see an exciting finish.

The Dec. 20 contest at RFK Stadium will be a rematch of the Sept. 27 game, when the Navy Midshipmen upset then-unbeaten Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 24-17. The Demon Deacons were ranked 16th at the time.

Navy (8-4) accepted the invitation to the bowl at RFK Stadium when it became bowl eligible. Navy, which is coming off a 34-0 rout of Army, is 6-7-1 in bowl games. This will be the sixth straight postseason appearance for the Midshipmen and since they play in nearby Annapolis, Md., those guys will undoubtedly have a strong following.

The Demon Deacons’ invite came from the EagleBank Bowl’s…

Read More » The Wake Forest Demon Deacons play the Navy Midshipmen in the 2008 EagleBank Bowl

It’s win or go home for some teams still looking for playoff berths.

Yes, it’s already Week 16 of the 2008-09 NFL football season and nothing, absolutely NOTHING has been decided as far as the final playoff picture is concerned. And after 15 weeks into the season, we learned that Matt Cassel can put up points, Terrell Owens is letting Romo and Witten have their thing together (for now…) and the Lions STILL can’t win shit. (Surprise… surprise…)

Heading to NFL Week 16, we’ll have the last Thursday and Monday night games of the season and since we’re giving you a heads up for the coming football action, we’ll start on Thursday night when the Indianapolis Colts visit the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Indianapolis Colts want to extend their six-year streak of making it to the playoffs. That’s exactly what they can do with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, who will try to partially salvage their season of failed expectations by at least delaying the Colts’ seventh straight entry into the postseason. However, the 10-4 Colts won seven in a row to put themselves at the top of the AFC wild-card standings. That’s why you should stay away from Jacksonville for this one.

Indianapolis Colts by 7

For the first time this season, we’ll have NFL football action on a Saturday when the Baltimore Ravens visit the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium in…

Read More » 2008 NFL Football Week 16 Betting Picks and Tips

Probably because having Jon Bon Jovi as one of the team owners in this league has just become too embarrassing to swallow.

During the last few years, it has been customary that every time the NFL season draws to a close, the Arena Football League takes over to quench our thirst for more football action. But since the AFL is pulling the plug on the 2009 season, we would just have to settle for other stuff once the 2008-09 NFL football season is over.

And yes, the Arena Football League is pulling the plug on the coming season. After rumors came out that the AFL would have to ultimately shut down, league officials held a conference call and announced that no consensus had been reached.

They also claim that they will continue to talk amongst each other in hopes of coming up with a better business model. I guess having this partnership with ESPN wasn’t enough to fool football fans into thinking that what they are watching from the AFL is football.

The league’s board of directors met by conference call, voting to shut down the coming season primarily because too many big-name owners (like Jon Bon Jovi perhaps?) and big-name cities said they would not return in 2009.

‘’We couldn’t be taken seriously if we lost too many teams, especially in big markets,'’ one league official said. ‘’That’s what was going to happen. We needed to shut down and reorganize.'’

The AFL has been going through an offseason of uncertainty the last few…

Read More » Arena Football pulls the plug on 2009 AFL Season