I’ve decided to create a new section on Best Sports Gambling for Horse Racing events that will happen throughout the year. The Racing season doesn’t really start to heat up until March, but that is no longer that far away.

There are multiple Graded Stakes that take place in the U.S. every week. The typical purse for these events is between $100,000 to $300,000. During the winter, most of these races are held in Florida, California and other warm weather cities.

There are three different grades for these races: 1, 2 and 3. Grade 1 are the most important and offer the highest purse. Grade 2 is still important and will still offer a decent purse. Grade 3 races are the most common and offer the lowest purse for the Graded Stakes races.

The Graded Stakes come in three age groups: 3 Year Olds, 3+ Years and 4+ Years. The 3 Year Old races are the most important this time of year, because they are the only ones that can qualify for the Kentucky Derby.

In the Fall every year, the Breeders Cup involves multiple races to determine the best 2 year old horses. This is the first look at many of the horses that will be competing for a chance to win the Triple Crown starting in May.

Each race will have its own distance. Most races will fall between 1 mile and 1 1/2 miles in length. This is important because some horses are sprinters and others do better on endurance. Make sure you find a good program that has all of the horses recent racing information before you start placing bets.

2012 Horse Racing Schedule

Here are the premiere racing events that will take place in 2012:

February

Donn Handicap – This is the next major Graded Stakes raced at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida. It is a 1 1/8 mile long track with all 4+ Year horses racing for a chance at a $500,000 purse. The race will begin Saturday, February 11 at 4:45PM ET.

Risen Star Stakes – This is the next Graded Stakes race that matters on the trail to qualify to the Kentucky Derby. This is a 1 1/16 mile long race that is raced in New Orleans at the Fair Grounds track. The purse for this race is $300,000 which will take place February 25 at 5:00PM ET.

Fountain of Youth Stakes – The very next day (2/26) is another Grade 2 race for 3 Year Old horses at Gulfstream Park. The Fountain of Youth Stakes is a 1 1/16 mile long track. The race begins at 5:00PM ET and the purse is $400,000.

March

This is the month where things start to heat up in the horse racing world. Over in England, they have their famed Cheltenham Festival the second full week in March. This is a 4-day festival with National Hunt races, where horses have to clear hurdles and other obstacles as they are racing. Learn more about Cheltenham Betting here.

Back over in the States, there are many more major graded stakes as horses get prepared and try to qualify for the Kentucky Derby in May. Here are some of the major events this month:

Las Virgenes Stakes – This is a Grade 1 Stakes for 3 year old horses that takes place on 3/3 at Santa Anita racetrack. The purse is $250,000 for this 1 Mile race.

Santa Anita Handicap – This race takes place the same day and at the same track. It is for 4+ year olds and is a 1 1/4 mile race. The purse is an impressive $750,000.

Rebel Stakes – We’ll jump ahead 2 weeks to this $500,000 race that takes place at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. This 1 1/16 mile race is another of the important races on the trail to the Kentucky Derby.

Florida Derby – Here is the first major race of the season and the first race with a purse of $1,000,000. This is a 1 1/8 mile Grade 1 race for 3 year olds and a major stepping stone towards the Kentucky Derby. It takes place at the very end of March on Saturday the 31st at 5:00PM ET.

Santa Anita Oaks – Simultaneously on the other side of the country, the 1 1/16 mile Santa Anita Oaks will start. It is another Grade 1 Stakes for 3 year olds and has a purse of $300,000.

April

This is when horse racing begins to take center stage. There is 3 separate $1,000,000 races and a total of 5 with a purse of $750,000 or more. These big races are all for 3 Year Old horses and all of them will determine which horses will get into the Kentucky Derby in early May.

Louisiana Derby – A 1 1/8 mile race that takes place at the Fair Grounds on April 1 at 5:00PM.

Santa Anita Derby – A 1 1/8 mile race that is happening simultaneously with the Louisiana Derby.

Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial Stakes – Another 1 1/8 mile race which is run at the Aqueduct Track in Ozone Park, New York on April 7.

Arkansas Derby – A 1 1/8 mile race that is run at Oaklawn Park on April 14 at 5:00PM ET.

Toyota Blue Grass Stakes – A race of 9 Furlongs run at the Keeneland Track in Lexington, Kentucky that runs at the same time as the Arkansas Derby.

May/June

This month and a half is where I am going to stop this post. Once the Triple Crown gets started, I am sure that I will get another post written that will detail these races properly.

Kentucky Derby – The most exciting 2 minutes in sports. This is a Grade 1 race for 3 Year Old horses that qualify for this 1 1/4 Mile race. It will take place on May 5 at 5:00PM ET at the famed Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. There is a $2,000,000 purse with this race.

Preakness Stakes – Two weeks later, the second race of the Triple Crown will begin. The Preakness is a 1 3/16 mile race that takes place on May 19 at 5:00PM ET. It is run at Pimlico racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland.

Belmont Stakes – The final leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont, which is run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York on June 9th at 5:00PM ET. It is a 1 1/2 mile long track. The excitement for this race usually comes and goes with casual fans if the same horse doesn’t win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

Also, about the same time that these races are being held, Great Britain has their version of the Triple Crown which precedes the races in the U.S. by about 30 years. These races are the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger Stakes. The first two races take place early May and early June. However, the St. Leger Stakes does not take place until September, which seems like a long time to wait for the final leg.

There are a couple of basic questions that a lot of people have that I would like to answer. Chief among these is “how do I bet on Football games” and “where can I bet on Football games”. This is where an NFL betting guide like this one will help out.

How to Bet on Football Games

First, lets take a look at the early lines for the Championship Weekend Playoff matchups:

So lets break this down one column at a time. The Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots are playing in Foxboro this weekend. This is the early matchup on Sunday and will start at 3:00pm ET. The New York Giants are playing in San Francisco against the 49ers in the later matchup on Sunday which will start at 6:30pm ET.

Spread

The next column has to do with the Spread for each game. You will see the number -110 next to every number in the Spread. This means that you will have to wager $110 for every $100 that you hope to win. If you want to win $500, you will need to bet $550. This extra 10% is called the Juice.

You will see that the Baltimore Ravens have a Spread of 7 1/2 points. This means that they are the Underdog and will start out the game with a virtual lead of 7 1/2 – 0. The Patriots have a -7 1/2 points spread. That means they are the Favorite and will start out the game with a deficit of 0 – 7 1/2.

If you bet on New England to beat the spread, you will need New England to win by more than 1 Touchdown. If the final score is New England 31 – Baltimore 21, then New England will have won the spread. If Baltimore wins or loses by 7 points or less, they will win the spread on this game.

Likewise, the New York Giants are the underdog with a 2 1/2 spread and the San Francisco 49ers are the favorite with a -2 1/2 spread. This means San Francisco must win by 3 points or more and the Giants must win or lose by 2 points or less.

You will also see a percentage between one of the two teams in the game and the Spread. This is the percentage of people who have placed bets on one side of the Spread. 75% of the bettors have picked New England and 74% of the bettors have picked New York to win the spread.

Why the 1/2 point? This is because a half point cannot be scored, so there is no chance of a tie on the spread.

Line

The next column over is the Line. This is also known as the Money Line. Instead of betting on the spread, you will be betting on who will win the football game.

You will see that the Baltimore Ravens have a Line of +280 and the Patriots have a Line of -340. If you want to bet on the Ravens to win, you will win $280 for every $100 that you bet. If you want to bet on the Patriots to win, you will have to bet $340 for every $100 you want to win.

The Lines for the NFC Championship are much lower because the spread is much closer. That means if you are going to bet on the Giants to win, you will receive $120 for every $100 that you bet. You will need to bet $140 to win $100 if you are betting on the 49ers to win.

Over/Under Total

The final column is the Over/Under Total. This is a bet on the total number of points that will be scored during a game. If the final score of the game is 27-21, then the Total for that game will be 48 points.

The Over/Under for the AFC Championship is current 50 1/2. If you bet Over and the point total is 50, you will lose; but if the total is 51, you will win. The Over/Under for the NFC Championship is 42 points; this means there is a chance of a tie on this bet.

For each Over/Under bet, you will need to wager $110 in order to win $100.

I will be giving my selections for each of these bets closer toward the end of the week.

Other Types of Bets

There are also other bets that can be played. This include Parlay Bets, Teasers, Pleasers, Prop Bets and Future Bets.

Parlay Bets – You are betting on multiple games in order to win a larger percentage of money. You must get every bet correct in order to win a Parlay Bet; but if you do, you will receive a big payday.

Teasers/Pleasers – These two bets are opposites of each other. A Teaser is a bet that moves the spread in you favor. If the spread is -7 1/2 and you get a 7 point teaser, the spread will change to -0 1/2. If the spread is 7 1/2 and you get a 7 point teaser, the spread will change to 14 1/2. Since Teaser bets are easier to win, you will win less money. Pleasers work the exact opposite, the bet is harder to win, so you will win more money if you are correct.

Prop Bets – These are called Proposition bets and they can take all forms. You may place a prop bet that Tom Brady will throw for more than 300 yards. Other examples are which team will win the coin toss, how many turnovers will happen in the game, how many rushing TDs for one team and the list goes on and on.

Future Bets – These are usually early bets in the season. The most popular future bet is which team will win the Superbowl before the season starts. You will always get better odds the earlier you make this future bet. If you were to bet on Green Bay late in the regular season, you would have lost more money than betting on Green Bay before the season started.

Where can I bet on these football games?

All you have to do is click on one of the banners to 5Dimes, Bovada or BetOnline and sign up with these sports betting sites. After you make a deposit, you will be able to bet on any one of the bet shown.

The Fiesta Bowl was twice the national championship game in 1999 and 2003. It started out as an automatic bowl berth for the Western Athletic Conference, which didn’t earn many invitations. The ties with the WAC stop in the late 70′s and the game became an at-large bowl game played on New Year’s Day.

In 1986, the Fiesta Bowl also determined the National Champion as #2 Penn State beat #1 Miami. Another national champion was determine two years later as #1 Notre Dame played #3 West Virginia.

With these major bowl games being played on New Year’s Day, the Fiesta Bowl slowly took over the 4th spot away from the Cotton Bowl to go along with the Orange, Sugar and Rose Bowl.

This year’s matchup is the Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-1) playing against the Stanford Cardinal (11-1). Oklahoma State is the #1 ranked offense overall and #2 with 49.3 points per game. Stanford has the nations best quarterback and consensus #1 draft pick for the NFL draft in Andrew Luck.

Just like several other games this bowl season, this will be a very high scoring game. Stanford has a decent defense, but they have never seen an offense even close to the Cowboys.

On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma State is average at best. This means that it’s going to be the team with the most mistakes that is going lose the game. You may well see these two teams trade touchdowns in at least one quarter of the Fiesta Bowl.

Prediction

After faltering for much of yesterday and early today, I’ve finally hit a couple of these games in a row. South Carolina took care of Nebraska; Michigan State gutted out an overtime win; I almost called the exact score of the Rose Bowl. So I’m feeling better about making these picks.

I have Oklahoma State winning yet another shootout with the final score of 42-37.

2011 Fiesta Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

The Big East conference is 1-2 in the Fiesta Bowl the BCS was introduced and the Big 12 conference is 2-4 in the that same time period.

Oklahoma has lost the Fiesta Bowl twice before 1) the miracle that Boise State pulled off which you can see below and 2) in 2008 when West Virginia beat them 48-28.

UConn is 3-1 in bowl games all-time. Last year, the Huskies (7-5) beat the favored SEC team South Carolina (6-6) by the score of 20-7 in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Other than that, their bowl experiences haven’t been against the caliber of team that they are about to face.

Oklahoma finally cracked through last year beating Stanford in the Sun Bowl 31-27. Other than a win in the 2005 Holiday bowl, they have been cursed since winning the National Championship. I don’t think that the Sooners’ fans would be able to cope with another loss of this magnitude. All they have to do is look to what Nebraska losing to a 6-6 Washington team did if they want proof of embarrassment.

Fiesta Bowl Breakdown

Records – Oklahoma: 11-2; UConn: 8-4
All Time Bowl Record – Oklahoma: 25-17-1; UConn: 3-1
Key Wins – Oklahoma: Florida State 47-17, Texas Tech 45-7, OK State 47-41; UConn: West Virginia 16-13, Pittsburgh 30-28, Syracuse 23-6
Key Losses – Oklahoma: Missouri 36-27, Texas A&M 33-19; UConn: Michigan 30-10, Temple 30-16, Louisville 26-0

Oklahoma had the National Championship game in sights before they lost unexpectedly to Missouri on the road. They have rebounded to win their last four games.

UConn beat the two teams that they needed to beat (Pittsburgh and West Virginia) and hung on to win in South Florida to win the Big East title on a three-way tiebreaker. They are currently 16 1/2 point underdogs for the Fiesta bowl.

Points For/Game – Oklahoma: 36.4; UConn: 26.9
Points Against/Game – Oklahoma: 21.9; UConn: 19.8
Offensive Yards/Game – Oklahoma: 478; UConn: 325

Look at the difference in yards per game. Oklahoma gains an average of 150 yards more than Connecticut does per game. Unlike Nebraska, Oklahoma won’t be in trouble if they go down 17-7 in the third quarter. The Sooners have the 4th best passing attack in the Nation.

Even though it was at the beginning of the year, I have to be suspicious of UConn’s offense because they could only put up 10 points on Michigan. Besides squeaking out two games against Pitt and WVU they didn’t play much of anyone this year.

Prediction

Oklahoma should have taken a very important lesson to heart after watching the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers lose to the lowly Washington Huskies in the Holiday Bowl. They are not going to take Connecticut lightly; the memory of Boise State will make sure of that. Oklahoma wins 42-17.

Bowl Game Results

This game played out exactly like I thought it would, which isn’t a surprise. Oklahoma had a lot to lose if they tanked this game and they knew the possibility was there once Nebraska lost to Washington. This game was never in doubt – Oklahoma wins 48-20.

2010 Bowl Record – 15-12

Previous Fiesta Bowl Highlights

For most of this time, the matchup featured the Big Ten Champion against the Pac-12 (or Pac-10/Pac-8) Champion. The Pac-12 had the better of these meetings overall since the meetings were more like a home game for the Pac-12. Now and then this will be broken when the Rose Bowl is the national championship game or when another bowl claims the Big Ten/Pac-12 winner.

This season, the Oregon Ducks (11-2) face off against the Wisconsin Badgers (11-2) in the 2012 Rose Bowl Game.

Oregon started the year off with a loss at a not-so-neutral stadium against the possible national champions LSU Tigers. It looked like they might have set up for the rematch instead of Alabama until they lost a rare game at home against USC.

While the Ducks defense isn’t very remarkable, it is more than made up for by their offense which is #3 in the nation, scoring over 46 points a game.

Meanwhile, it has been another year which the Wisconsin Badgers make the Rose Bowl. They were almost unbeaten this year; the Badgers lost back-to-back games on Hail Mary passes to Michigan State and Ohio State.

Wisconsin also has a very potent offense, ranked #5 with 44 points per game, led by their rushing game and Monte Ball. The Badgers have also got one of the better defenses in the nation. However, this defense got shredded by the Spartans in Big 10 championship game. The Badgers were very lucky to get a late running into the kicker penalty to win the game.

This game has all the hallmarks of a shootout. Oregon takes less than 10 seconds between offensive plays and scores TDs in bunches. If Wisconsin wants to win this game, their defense is going to have to find some way of slowing Oregon’s offense down.

Prediction

I just don’t see this happening. Oregon is too potent offensively and Wisconsin is not going to be able to match them in this game.

I have Oregon winning the Rose Bowl by the final score of 48-38.

2011 Rose Bowl

TCU has to feel like they are getting the raw end again. They were undefeated last year and the BCS threw them up against fellow undefeated non-BCS automatic qualifier Boise State; they lost the 2010 Fiesta Bowl 17-10.

With the current system, they don’t have much of an argument because Oregon and Auburn should be playing for the National Championship. All they can do is prove they belong by beating Wisconsin. Fortunately for TCU, they may avoid this fate in upcoming years because they are set to move to the Big East conference and their automatic BCS qualifier.

Previous Bowl Results

USC had been a fixture for the Rose Bowl playing in 5 of the last 7 games. They are currently banned from playing in a bowl game both this year and next year. Ohio State won last year’s game in impressive fashion over Oregon, who is playing for the national championship this year.

This is TCU’s first trip to the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin has played in the rose bowl 6 times and has a 3-3 record; but they have won their last three straight trips.

TCU lost in the Fiesta Bowl last year to undefeated Boise State 17-10. They are 11-14-1 in bowl games. TCU played in several Sugar, Orange and Cotton bowl in the 1930′s, 40′s and 50′s; but they only had 3 appearances in bowl games between 1960 and 1998. Since then, they have only missed a bowl game once in 2004.

Wisconsin is a program that can into its own in the 1990′s and have since been competing for Big Ten titles every year. They have actually played in less bowl games than TCU with an 11-10 record overall. Wisconsin (9-3) won their bowl game last year against the Miami Hurricanes (9-3) in the Champs Sports Bowl by the score of 20-14.

Rose Bowl Breakdown

Records – TCU: 12-0; Wisconsin: 11-1
All Time Bowl Record – TCU: 11-14-1; Wisconsin: 11-10
Key Wins – TCU: Oregon State 30-21, Baylor 45-10, Utah 47-7; Wisconsin: Ohio State 31-18, Iowa 31-30, Michigan 48-28
Key Losses – TCU: none; Wisconsin: Michigan State 34-24

TCU cruised threw the Mountain West Conference this year. The closest game was a 5 point game against San Diego State, but none of the other games were closer than 17 points. They also beat two good non-conference teams in Baylor and Oregon State.

Wisconsin had the lone blemish on their record when they lost to Michigan State in their Big Ten opener. Since that, they haven’t looked back and have beaten several good teams like Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan. They decided to run up a couple of the scores late in the season because they were trying to get the best BCS ranking that they could. Their offense put up 83 against Indiana and 70 against Northwestern.

Points For/Game – TCU: 43.3; Wisconsin: 43.3
Points Against/Game – TCU: 11.4; Wisconsin: 20.5
Offensive Yards/Game – TCU: 491.5; Wisconsin: 450

TCU has the top ranked defense in the league in points allowed, only averaging a little more than 10 points a game. A lot of the shutouts, 3 and 7 point games were against inferior opponents in the MWC, but only two teams scored more than 20 points on them this season.

Both teams are tied in points for with 43.3 points per game. TCU is one of the best rushing teams in the country, but Wisconsin’s running game is not far behind.

Prediction

TCU is currently a 3 point favorite in this game. As crazy as this sounds with both teams scoring 43 points a game, I think that this is going to be a defensive battle. This is the way that both of these teams traditionally play in bowl games.

Both of these teams are running teams, that why I expect the score to be something like 20-14. I’m going to pick Wisconsin to win and take the under (57).

Bowl Game Results

Now, if you bet against the Big Ten today, you did really, really good as they slump to 0-5 on New Year’s Day. This isn’t a really bad loss for Wisconsin; TCU is a very good team. The two Michigan schools are going to make today look a lot worse for the conference as a whole.

The final score was 21-19 which keeps me undefeated so far on my over/under picks.

2010 Bowl Record – 14-12

Previous Rose Bowl Highlights

The Gator Bowl started off on New Year’s Day in 1946. It wasn’t named the Gator Bowl until two years later. The bowl game used to be between a team from the Southern Conference and an at large bid. Then the SEC began to participate in the mid 1950′s. In the 1970′s, the game was just played between an opponent from the South and a team from another region.

This year’s matchup is between the Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6) and the Florida Gators (6-6). This is one of three matchups on New Year’s Day between the Big 10 and SEC. Kickoff for the game is at 1:00PM ET from EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. You can watch this game on ESPN2.

This is an interesting matchup since these two schools have played for national championship in both football and basketball. There is another interesting appeal to this game as former Florida coach Urban Meyer is now the head coach for the Buckeyes. So much for wanting to spend more time with your family! I think Urban found out what most of us already know, a little bit of time with the family goes a long way.

However, I don’t think that Ohio State would have accepted this bowl bid if they knew it would cost them a chance at post-season play next year. Ohio State is going to have a 1 year bowl ban in place for the 2012 season, along with scholarships reductions. This will end up hurting the Buckeyes for the next couple of years.

This is a game between 2 offensively challenged teams. Florida insists that their former coach left the cupboards bare after he won a national championship with Tim Tebow. Whatever the case, Florida has a subpar 3-6 conference record while only beating the bottom feeders of the SEC. Their 3 non-conference wins were against a division 1 sub-division Furman that had a chance to beat them and two of the worst teams in division 1.

Ohio State had some ups and a lot of downs this year. After Jim Tressel was forced out as head coach, the team struggled out of the gate going 3-3. This includes a loss against Nebraska in which they lead by 21 points in the second half. They strung together some upsets before losing their last 3 games and finally losing to arch-rival Michigan in a shootout.

Prediction

Because of the way Ohio State finished the season at Michigan, I think that they have the edge. Originally, I was picking the Buckeyes because of the emotional lift that Urban Meyer would bring. Now with the NCAA sanctions, I feel a little less confident about that.

However, I am still picking the Ohio State to win this game with the score 18-13.

2010 Gator Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

Michigan has actually played in the Gator Bowl before, winning the game 35-3 over Mississippi in 1991. The SEC used to be a regular participant up until 1995. Mississippi has played in the Gator Bowl several times, but this is MSU’s first trip.

Last year, the Gator Bowl saw the send off of the great Bobby Bowden as Florida State beat West Virginia 33-21.

Both teams have been absent from the bowl season for a couple of years. For Michigan, this is surprising because they made 35 straight bowl games before that. Michigan has not played since the 2008 Capital One Bowl, where they surprised the Florida Gators and Tim Tebow 41-35. That sent off Llyod Carr with a win and began the downfall of the program.

Mississippi State has not played in a bowl game since they beat Central Florida 10-3 in the 2007 Liberty Bowl. They have not been to a lot of bowl games but do have a 7-6 record in those games.

Gator Bowl Breakdown

Records – Michigan: 7-5; MSU: 8-4
All Time Bowl Record – Michigan: 19-20; MSU: 7-6
Key Wins – Michigan: UConn 30-10, Notre Dame 28-24, Illinois 67-65; MSU: Georgia 24-12, Florida 10-7, Kentucky 24-17
Key Losses – Michigan: Michigan State 34-17, Ohio State 37-7, Wisconsin 48-28; MSU: Auburn 17-14, LSU 29-7, Alabama 30-10

Michigan let up 21 points against an awful Bowling Green offense, gave up 41 points to Penn States struggling offense and have been thoroughly routed by the good teams that they have faced. They also had the highest scoring game in quite a while against Illinois winning 67-65. The only way that Michigan has a chance to win is if they score over 40 points.

Mississippi State has pulled off a couple of shockers this season, like going into Gainsville and beating the Gators; but they have also look very average against some of the better opponents that they have faced. They almost beat Arkansas at home but lost in 2OT.

Points For/Game – Michigan: 34.3; MSU: 27.1
Points Against/Game – Michigan: 33.8; MSU: 20.3
Offensive Yards/Game – Michigan: 501; MSU: 394.5

The story of Michigan’s season is a brutal defense, special teams and kicking game. Michigan’s kicking game is comical, they’ve only kicked 4 FG all year and constantly have to go for it on 4th down. They forgot to bring a punter to their big rivalry game against Ohio State. They have one of the best offenses in the nation, but it isn’t enough because the defense can’t stop anyone.

Mississippi State’s strength is running the football. That’s bad news for Michigan because they cannot stop the run. Even though MSU has a decent defense, this game is going to be a shootout.

Prediction

The over/under on this game is 59 1/2 points. I’m going to venture to say that this gets broken by a fair margin. Mississippi State will win the Gator Bowl 48-35.

Bowl Game Results

That makes 5 straight wins. If you were betting against the Big Ten today, you did very good indeed. I think RichRod has coached his last game at Michigan. If not, then the school needs it’s head examined. The Wolverines looked horrible at all three facets of the game. The Bulldogs hand Michigan its worst bowl loss ever – 52-14.

2010 Bowl Record – 14-11

Previous Gator Bowl Highlights

The game is played in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando Florida. This year’s game will see the Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) face off against the South Carolina Gamecocks (10-2). Kickoff for this game is 1:00PM ET and can be viewed on ESPN.

South Carolina looked like they should have run away with the SEC East this year; however, they stumbled against Auburn and got beat up on the road against Arkansas. They went into the bowl season on an upswing as they destroyed instate rival Clemson 34-13.

Nebraska was the newcomer to the Big 10 conference this year. They didn’t find their new conference to be the cakewalk that they expected. They lost big games against Wisconsin and Michigan and also got surprised at home against Northwestern. Combine that with a weak non-conference schedule and you have a team that looks like an underdog in this game.

In this matchup, the South Carolina defense should be the difference in this game. Nebraska has a rather poor passing game; if they get down early, they will not be able to come back. The Cornhuskers are only going to win this game if they can dominate the ground game on both sides of the ball.

Prediction

The Gamecocks are a 2 point favorite in this game. I see this game being a lower scoring contest, with the final score being 25-20 in favor of the South Carolina.

2010 Capital One Bowl

Michigan State is the upstart team at 11-1. They have not played this well in a long time but still could not crack the BCS games because they tied for the Big Ten championship with Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Alabama won the National Championship last year. They were favored to repeat this year, but had three painful losses. The worst of the three was the Iron Bowl against their rivals Auburn. They got off to a 24-0 start and it should have been more; but Auburn came all the way back to shock the Tide 28-27. That was Alabama’s last game and it did not leave a good taste in their mouth.

Previous Bowl Results

Since 1993, this has been a Big Ten vs SEC matchup. The two conferences are 9-9 since then in this bowl game. The Big Ten has won 5 of the last 6 Capital One bowls. Penn State defeated LSU last year 19-17.

Alabama was the 2010 BCS National Championship Game last year. They defeated the Texas Longhorns 37-21 when Colt McCoy went out of the game early. Alabama has the most bowl wins and appearances of any team with an all-time record of 32-22-3.

Michigan State has not made many bowl games in recent years; although MSU (6-6) did play in the Alamo Bowl last year against the Texas Tech Red Raiders (9-3), losing 41-31.

Capital One Bowl Breakdown

Records – Michigan State: 11-1; Alabama: 9-3
All Time Bowl Record – Michigan State: 7-13; Alabama: 32-22-3
Key Wins – Michigan State: Notre Dame 34-31, Wisconsin 34-24, Michigan 34-17; Alabama: Penn State 24-3, Arkansas 24-20, Florida 31-6
Key Losses – Michigan State: Iowa 37-6; Alabama: South Carolina 35-21, LSU 24-21, Auburn 28-27

Michigan State got away with not having to play Ohio State this year, but this ended up costing them as there was a three-way tie atop the Big Ten standings. The BCS bowls choose the top two Big Ten teams as ranked by the BCS standings. The bad loss to Iowa was what ended up hurting the Spartans because neither Wisconsin or Ohio State lost a game after them.

Alabama lost their 19 game winning streak midway throught the year to South Carolina. They also lost a tough game at LSU when Les Miles called a 4th and 1 reverse in the 4th quarter. Then came the heartbreak at home against Auburn, a game they will not soon forget.

Points For/Game – Michigan State: 31.3; Alabama: 34.6
Points Against/Game – Michigan State: 20.1; Alabama: 14.1
Offensive Yards/Game – Michigan State: 406.5; Alabama: 435.5

Alabama is statistically a little better than the Spartans in just about every category including rushing, passing and defense.

Prediction

All three games that Alabama has lost this year are games that the opponent scored more then 20 points, the only three times they allowed more than 20 points this year. In order for the Spartans to win this game, they must also be able to do this and win a tough game like Auburn and LSU did.

Michigan State is a great story this year, but I don’t think that they have it in them to beat Alabama. The final score will be 24-13.

Bowl Game Results

Can somebody say fraudulent? Michigan State proves that it isn’t ready for a BCS birth by laying an egg against Alabama. How did they manage to play worse then their cross-state rivals? Roll Tide – 49-7.

2010 Bowl Record – 14-11

Previous Capital One Bowl Highlights

This year’s matchup will feature the Michigan State Spartans (10-3) against the Georgia Bulldogs (10-3). Kickoff for this matchup will be at 1:00PM ET on New Year’s Day. The game is played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. You can watch this game on ABC and listen to it live on ESPN Radio.

For Michigan State, this is a make or break bowl game for them. They were hammered last year by Alabama when they were snubbed from a BCS bowl game. They lost a heart-breaker to Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game on the strength of a running into the kicker call that gave Wisconsin the win.

The Spartans have a senior quarterback and a veteran team that has not won a bowl game since coach Dantonio took over. If Sparty ever wants the rest of the country to take them seriously as a program, they will have to compete and win in a bowl game.

In some ways, they are lucky that they aren’t going to the Rose Bowl. At least they will have a chance against the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia started off the season very slowly, losing their first 2 games. They were then blessed with a relatively easy SEC schedule with all of the tough games coming at home. They were able to avoid Alabama and Arkansas and didn’t play LSU until the championship game.

Coach Richt finally got off the snide against Florida in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”. If he did not have the 10 game winning streak and make the SEC championship game, he was probably going to have to find another job.

Points For/Game – Michigan State: 30.8; Georgia: 32.2
Points Against/Game – Michigan State: 17.5; Georgia: 19.6
Offensive Yards/Game – Michigan State: 390.5; Georgia: 414

These two teams are very evenly matched, not only by record and strength of wins, but also statistically as well. Both of these teams are in the top 10 in defense while both teams possess a potent offense.

Prediction

Georgia is currently a 3 point favorite to win. I think that this will be a very closely contested game. I have Michigan State getting off the snide with a 34-30 victory.

2010 Outback Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

This has been a very even matchup between the two conferences over the years with the SEC holding a 10-7 lead. Last year, Northwestern almost shocked the world when they took Auburn to overtime only to lose by a field goal 38-35.

Penn State is 3-0 in the Outback bowl, while Florida has a record of 1-2 in the game.

Penn State (11-1) won their bowl game, the Capital One bowl, last year against the LSU Tigers (9-3) 19-17 on the strength of a last minute field goal. They have a phenomenal bowl record of 27-13-2 all-time.

Florida (12-1) defeated Cincinnati (12-0) in the 2010 Sugar Bowl in a rout 51-24. Tim Tebow was the MVP by far with a total of 533 yards of offense.

Outback Bowl Breakdown

Records – Penn State: 7-5; Florida: 7-5
All Time Bowl Record – Penn State: 27-13-2; Florida: 18-19
Key Wins – Penn State: Michigan 41-31, Northwestern 35-21; Florida: Tennessee 31-17, Kentucky 48-14, South Florida 38-14
Key Losses – Penn State: Alabama 24-3, Iowa 24-3, Illinois 33-13, Ohio State 38-14; Florida: Alabama 31-6, South Carolina 36-14, Florida State 31-7

Florida is not having a very good year, but they have beaten quality opponents and have done so in convincing fashion. That’s something that I cannot say for the offensively challenged Nittany Lions. Of their 7 wins, only two of them have come against teams with winning records and both of those games were at home.

Since this game is Tampa, Florida will pretty much be playing in front of a home crowd. This isn’t a guarantee for Florida as they have struggled at home losing 3 out of 5 conference games and one of the wins came against struggling Georgia in overtime.

The common opponent, Alabama, beat up both of these teams handily as neither team could score a TD.

Points For/Game – Penn State: 24.6; Florida: 29.3
Points Against/Game – Penn State: 22.6; Florida: 21.1
Offensive Yards/Game – Penn State: 374; Florida: 357

Penn State’s liability is on the offensive side of the football. They have struggled against all of the good defenses that they have faced this year and Florida is in the quarter of the teams in the nation defensively.

Florida has also struggled to put points up on the board this year, but they have shown some spark against some of the middle of the road SEC teams.

Prediction

I envision this game being a defensive struggle with neither offense moving the football down the field often. Big 10 teams almost always show up for New Year’s Day bowl games, but I’m going to give the edge to Florida 24-14.

Bowl Game Results

Penn State put up a good fight, but lays down late with an interception return for a TD. Not looking good for the Big Ten today. Florida wins 37-24.

2010 Bowl Record – 13-11

Previous Outback Bowl Highlights

The TicketCity Bowl was originally going to be called the Dallas Football Classic, but changed names when the online ticket swapping website claimed the title sponsor. This game will feature the Houston Cougars (12-1) from Conference USA against the Penn State Nittany Lions (9-3) from the Big 10.

Kickoff for this game will be Noon ET on New Year’s Day. This will be the first of six games played on January 1st. You can watch this game on ESPNU.

I originally had picked Penn State in this game. This is going to be one of the few bowl games that I will change my mind. Penn State’s starting quarterback is out for this bowl game. They already were facing a tough opponent on the road in hostile territory with all of the baggage that surrounds the Nittany Lions for the past couple of months.

Having a backup quarterback on a team that already had a mediocre offense is going to be the nail in the coffin to Penn State’s chances in this bowl game. They are going to heavily rely on their defense to stop the potent passing game of Houston. Simply put, if Houston can put up more than 17 points in the game, they are going to win.

Prediction

This game won’t be low scoring enough for Penn State to win. I now have Houston running away with this game with the final score of 31-13.

2010 TicketCity Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

This is the inaugural TicketCity Bowl. Unfortunately, Northwestern will not be at full strength with their starting QB, Dan Persa, out for the year with a ruptured achilles.

Northwestern put up a good fight against Auburn last year in the Outback bowl, but Auburn came away with the win 38-35 in overtime. The Wildcats have only won 1 bowl game in their history.

Texas Tech won their bowl game last year, a 41-31 win over Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl. Their bowl record is not very good overall at 11-21-1.

TicketCity Bowl Breakdown

Records – Texas Tech: 7-5; Northwestern: 7-5
All Time Bowl Record – Texas Tech: 11-21-1; Northwestern: 1-7
Key Wins – Texas Tech: SMU 35-27, Baylor 45-38, Missouri 24-17; Northwestern: Iowa 21-17
Key Losses – Texas Tech: Texas 24-14, Oklahoma State 34-17, Oklahoma 45-7; Northwestern: Michigan State 35-27, Wisconsin 70-23, Illinois 48-27

Northwestern seemed to be turning the corner when they beat a ranked Iowa team, but their starting QB went out for the year in this game. Since that, they have lost two games badly and have missed Persa’s leadership.

The only really good win this year for the Red Raiders was a 7 point home win to a ranked Missouri. Other then that, they have been an average Big 12 team.

Points For/Game – Texas Tech: 32.1; Northwestern: 25.4
Points Against/Game – Texas Tech: 30.3; Northwestern: 27.7
Offensive Yards/Game – Texas Tech: 452.5; Northwestern: 392.5

Texas Tech’s offense and passing game are always going to be good. Northwestern’s defense has proven to be a liability since their QB went down. Giving up 70 points to Wisconsin is not the mark of a good team with or without your starting QB.

Prediction

If Dan Persa was healthy and playing, I would give some serious consideration to Northwestern on winning this game. As it is, the Wildcats are a different team without him and they don’t stand a whole lot of chance of winning.

I’m going to pick Texas Tech to win the game 41-24.

Bowl Game Results

Northwestern put up a better battle than I thought they would. This is becoming a familiar theme with the Wildcats. They are playing above their talent level and almost complete the comeback; but Texas Tech still wins 45-38.

2010 Bowl Record – 12-11

Previous TicketCity Bowl

The Chick-fil-A Bowl has been played in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta since Chick-fil-A took over the sponsor of the Peach Bowl in 1991. It is the only bowl game to be played in the state of Georgia.

Kickoff for this year’s matchup will be on Friday, December 31 at 7:30PM ET. You can watch this game on ESPN or listen live on ESPN Radio station across the country.

Auburn is obviously not the same team that they were last year, when they had Cam Newton and Nick Fairley dominating the championship game. The Tigers don’t have the offensive firepower this year to blow past teams.

Even more concerning is that Auburn rank in the bottom third of the nation in both scoring offense and defense. When they played good offensive teams, they did not fair well at all. They were blown out against 5 of the 7 good teams that they played this season.

Virginia was one of the biggest surprises in the nation. The Cavaliers were a perennial doormat of the ACC for much of the past decade. The one thing that they have going against them is that they are not a prolific offense, so they will have to win a close game against Auburn.

Take a look at the non-conference schedule of Virginia. They barely beat Indiana and Idaho. Their wins against the ACC’s elite were all very close games. However, with a trip to the ACC Championship on the line, Virginia laid an egg at home against Virginia Tech getting shut out 38-0.

All of this information points towards Auburn winning this game. That is why they play the game!

Prediction

I’m starting to come back down to earth on my picks. I am 1-3 so far today. Texas A&M avoided another 2nd half collapse, but Georgia Tech did not. They lost a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter and lost in OT. Illinois finally found some offense and my only win was Cincinnati.

I’m going with the underdog yet again, which may cost me yet again. It would be very easy to keep picking the favorites, and this year I would be doing incredibly well if I had done so. But, it isn’t very imaginative and it feels more satisfying to call an upset. Auburn may very well win the game, but I am predicting that Virginia will win with the score 24-17.

2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

Since the SEC and ACC agreed to tie-ins with this bowl game in 1992, both sides have won 9 games each. The average margin of victory over that time is less than 10 points. An interesting side note to this, neither Florida State or South Carolina have played in the Peach/Chick-fil-A Bowl.

South Carolina lost last year in the PapaJohns.com Bowl to the UConn Huskies 20-7, both teams were 7-5 going into the matchup. South Carolina has not done well over the years in bowl games, only putting up a 4-11 all-time bowl record.

Florida State is phoenix back on the rise since Bobby Bowden left. The Seminoles (6-6) upset West Virginia (9-3) last year in the Gator Bowl 33-21. They have been getting better ever since. FSU has an all-time bowl record of 22-14-2.

Chick-fil-A Bowl Breakdown

Records – FSU: 9-4; USC: 9-4
All Time Bowl Record – FSU: 22-14-2; USC: 4-11
Key Wins – FSU: BYU 34-10, Miami 45-17, Florida 31-7; USC: Alabama 35-21, Florida 36-14, Clemson 29-7
Key Losses – FSU: Oklahoma 47-17, North Carolina 37-35, Virginia Tech 44-33; USC: Auburn 35-27, Kentucky 31-28, Auburn 56-17

Both of these teams come into this game ranked. South Carolina is #20 and Florida State is ranked #23. Florida State has played well with a couple of close conference losses on their record. They played horribly in a game early in the year on the road at Oklahoma.

South Carolina had several good wins over ranked teams such as Georgia, Florida and #1 Alabama. They played two different Auburn teams early on in the season and in the SEC Championship game.

Points For/Game – FSU: 31.8; USC: 32.0
Points Against/Game – FSU: 19.8; USC: 22.9
Offensive Yards/Game – FSU: 387; USC: 391

These teams are nearly identical statistically to each other. Florida State’s defense holds teams to an average under 20 points.

Like a lot of the Peach/Chick-fil-A Bowls in the past, this matchup is very good and can definitely go either way.

Prediction

Since I’ve had such a sterling record with picking these close games recently (cough), it doesn’t much really matter who I think is going to win this one, because the opposite will probably happen. Steve Spurrier has to be pretty familiar with his old rivals at FSU. Both teams lost their chance at making it to a BCS bowl by losing their conference championship games.

I’m going to make this easy and take Florida State to win the game 31-27.

Bowl Game Results

From the blind squirrel finds a nut category. Hurray! Back to .500 again as I actually pick one right for a change. Florida State wins 26-17. Now lets keep this going into New Year’s Day.

2010 Bowl Record – 11-11

Highlights from Previous Peach Bowls

This year’s matchup is between two maligned teams as the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-6) go up against the UCLA Bruins (6-7). Kickoff will be at 3:30PM ET on Sunday night. It can be seen on ESPN or heard on ESPN Radio.

The Emerald bowl was always played in December, where all of these non-BCS post New Years day bowl games belong. The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was played very late in the bowl season last year. They have now moved it back up and are playing the game on New Years Eve.

Originally, the Mountain West conference played against the Big East in this bowl game. The ACC has participated in this game from AT&T Park in San Francisco since 2005 and the Pac-12 has tie-ins since 2006. This year, there were 10 bowl eligible teams from the Big Ten and Illinois received a bid to the last bowl game available.

Both of these teams should be hungry for this game. They both fired their head coaches after historic collapses. For Illinois, they started off the season 6-0 for the first time in half a century. They promptly lost their last 6 games although the only unforgivable loss was the blowout to Minnesota on the last game of the season.

For UCLA, they lost to their crosstown rival USC 50-0 and limped their way into the Pac-12 Championship game. They had to petition the NCAA to make this bowl game because there is a rule that no team under .500 can make a bowl game.

There is no way of knowing which team is going to show up in this matchup. Even though this bowl game is in California, there aren’t many UCLA fans in Northern California, so there won’t be a home field advantage here.

I am picking UCLA to win this game strictly based on the fact that they showed up in the Conference Championship game against Oregon.

Prediction

Illinois hasn’t scored more than 17 points in any of their losses. The offense has gone completely stagnant. I have UCLA winning this game 27-17.

2010 Fight Hunger Bowl

Previous Bowl Results

The ACC is 1-4 in the Kraft/Emerald bowl. Last year saw the USC Trojans play and win 24-13 against these very same Boston College Eagles. Boston College also won the San Francisco Bowl in 2003 as part of the Big East.

Boston College did lose in this bowl game last year when both squads entered the game 8-4. Meanwhile, Nevada has not been very good in bowl games recently; they’ve gone 3-7 in bowl games overall and lost 45-10 last year to SMU in the Hawaii Bowl.

Kraft Bowl Breakdown

Records – Boston College: 7-5; Nevada: 12-1
All Time Bowl Record – Boston College: 13-8; Nevada: 3-7
Key Wins – Boston College: Clemson 16-10, Syracuse 16-7; Nevada: Boise State 34-31, Fresno State 35-34, BYU 27-13
Key Losses – Boston College: Virginia Tech 19-0, Notre Dame 31-13, NC State 44-17; Nevada: Hawaii 27-21

Nevada is a big-time favorite in this bowl game (-7 points) because they are the only team in the past couple of season to defeat Boise State. They are the reason that we didn’t have to see another TCU vs Boise State BCS Bowl and another awkward non-champion. Their non-conference schedule was relatively weak and so is their conference overall.

Boston College had a rough start to the season. After beating a couple of easy teams, the Eagles lost 5 straight games to bowl eligible teams. They finished on a 5 game winning streak; but only two of those teams were any good.

Points For/Game – Boston College: 18.9; Nevada: 42.6
Points Against/Game – Boston College: 19.5; Nevada: 22.1
Offensive Yards/Game – Boston College: 308.5; Nevada: 535.5

Boston College has struggled all year on offense. They only scored 20 or more points 5 times and four of those were against bad teams (Weber State, Kent State, Duke and Wake Forest). They didn’t score more than 23 points in any conference game. Their defense has made up for this by holding teams to under 20 points per game.

That’s not going to be the case against Nevada. They have one of the best offenses in the country. They rank 3rd overall in rushing and 5th overall in points scored. However, they did not play a whole lot of good defenses this year; but they did score 34 points against the 2nd ranked Boise State defense.

Prediction

This one shouldn’t be that close. I envision this game being a two touchdown win for Nevada. You never know with a month and a half layoff how the teams will perform; but the Wolf Pack should be able to handle the Eagles this time around. I predict the score will be 31-17.

Highlights from Previous Emerald Bowls