2011 B50 Bowl Predictions

2011 Season: It was another fun year for our staff as we brought you our predictions each week. As always, we appreciate your support, comments and following of this feature on Buckeye50. In the seven years that we have done our staff predictions, this is by far the closest results ever. Over the 14 weeks of the regular season, this year's winner Rick DeSutter only managed to get a 7 game lead over last place. The standings were very close all year long which added to the fun for us. Rick took the crown in 2009 as well. One thing that was different this season as there was more picks against our Buckeyes then ever before. Let's hope we will not be tempted to pick against the Scarlet & Gray in 2012.

2011 Bowl Season: As we did the past two seasons, we will bring you our predictions for the 2011 BCS Bowl games and the games involving Big Ten teams. As usual, the Big Ten conference landed two teams in BCS bowls and a record eight additional teams made bowl games as well. And as with years past, the conference is not favored by Vegas oddsmakers to do very well in the bowls. In the past few years, our results have not given much ground to change critics opinions. For the first year since 2004, Ohio State will not be in BCS game. We will need to make our case in the Gator Bowl. Most Buckeyes will remember the last trip to Jacksonville resulted in the firing of Woody. But remember the next year the team went undefeated in the regular season. We know we will have a new coach again after our Gator Bowl, let's hope the next year results match 1979.

Here are our Big Ten/BCS Bowl Picks: Good Luck to All - Gregg

Final Record

2011

2010

Gregg's Picks

Nebraska

Michigan State

Ohio State

Oregon

Oklahoma State

Michigan

Clemson

Alabama

Joe-S-U's Picks

Nebraska

Georgia

Florida

Oregon

Oklahoma State

Michigan

West Virginia

And finally, I could give a crap who wins the title game. Oh, we can't have a rematch in the championship...uh, unless it's the precious SEC. I hope it's about a 7-3 game and has the worst ratings of any title game ever. So why am I picking Florida if I hate the SEC that much? Simple- any team OSU has played this year that has quick, speedy athletes has given our defense trouble. I don't care if they're not the Florida of old. And a big part of me wants Herron, Posey and Adams going out of here with their tail between their legs

Alright, fine, if I have to- LSU. I hate them, their coach and their conference, but they've been the best team in college football this season...

Dr. Mark's Picks

South Carolina

Michigan State

Ohio State

Wisconsin

Oklahoma State

Michigan

Clemson

LSU national Champs but I’m hoping Mount Union makes it to the BCS

Pia Pete's Picks

Capital One - Nebraska

Outback - Georgia

Gator - Ohio State

Rose - Wisconsin

Tostitos Fiesta - Oklahoma State

Allstate Sugar - Virginia Tech

Discover Orange -. Clemson

Allstate BCS National Championship - LSU

Rick's Picks

Capital One - South Carolina vs. Nebraska – Nebraska

Outback - Georgia vs. Michigan State – Michigan State

Taxslayer.com Gator - Florida vs. Ohio State – Ohio State

Rose - Oregon vs. Wisconsin – Oregon

Tostitos Fiesta - Stanford vs. Oklahoma State – Oklahoma State

Allstate Sugar - Virginia Tech vs. Michigan - Michigan

Discover Orange - West Virginia vs. Clemson – Clemson

Allstate BCS National Championship - Alabama vs. LSU – LSU

Steven's Picks

Capital One - South Carolina vs. Nebraska – Another tough one to pick. The SEC has been very good out of conference,

and Nebraska has shown itself to be inconsistent on both sides of the ball.

I’ll go with the “Ole Ball Coach” and experience in big games to bring it home.

Outback - Georgia vs. Michigan State – Two good defenses going at it here, (although MSU’s secondary wasn’t good in the second half of the B1G title game). I say Georgia continues the SEC dominance over the Big Ten.

Taxslayer.com Gator - Florida vs. Ohio State – This may be a homer pick, but truthfully, I haven’t seen enough good play out of Florida to make me think that OSU can’t win this one. OSU’s defense should be able to control the line of scrimmage, and if Braxton Miller continues to progress, he can be the difference maker. Out of all the SEC-B1G matchups, I like this one the best. OSU.

Rose - Oregon vs. Wisconsin – I’m not convinced Wisconsin is all that good. They lost to the Buckeyes for Pete’s sake.

I look at this as another tough road game where the Big Ten is ripe for the picking. Oregon should run all over Bucky.

Tostitos Fiesta - Stanford vs. Oklahoma State – I had been impressed with Stanford’s defense, but they have not been good down the stretch. The Cowboys are going to come out with something to prove and drill the Cardinal.

Watch out for a drunken Christmas tree out in the parking lot after this one.

Allstate Sugar - Virginia Tech vs. Michigan – Michigan should win this one easily. Denard Robinson will end up having

a career day and the Wolverines should have it on autopilot by the second half.

Discover Orange - West Virginia vs. Clemson – The Big East stinks so bad that they are importing teams from out West just to improve their winning percentage. Where has the NCAA been during all this realignment? You think this would be a prime situation for them to bring some sanity to the situation… but no, they’ll just keep on chasing the petty stuff while the important stuff is conveniently ignored. That being said, I look for Clemson to beat the ‘eers off of West Virginia.

Allstate BCS National Championship - Alabama vs. LSU – Who’s up for another snoozer?

LSU brings it home, (basically at home) again. Yawn.

2012 Bowl Record

(For Entertainment Purposes Only!)

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Brent

48 - 22

Dr. Mark

38 - 22

Joe-S-U

44 - 26

45 - 25

Steven

43 - 27

42 - 28

PJSBuck

48 - 22

26 - 19

Gregg

49 - 21

41 - 29

Buckeye 50 Yard Line

2011 Bowl Picks

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Rick

50 - 20

42 - 28

Pia Pete

44 - 26

47 - 23

2011 Little Caesars Bowl

Purdue (Big 10) vs. Western Michigan (MAC)

Ford Field - Detroit, MI

(12/27/11) -The first bowl appearance for the Broncos was in 1961 in the Aviation Bowl. They lost 28-12 to New Mexico and have failed in three additional attempts, most recently in the 2008 Texas Bowl. Purdue had to win two out of their last three games (including the overtime win over the Buckeyes) but Coach Hope probably needed the bowl appearance to get the two year contract extension he just signed. This is the Boilermakers first bowl appearance since 2007, when they beat another MAC team (Central Michigan) in this game in what was then called the Motor City Bowl.

Line: Purdue (-1 1/2)

Buckeye 50 Picks: Gregg, Joe-S-U, Dr. Mark, Pia Pete,

Rick and Steven pick Purdue

Final Score: Purdue 37 Western Michigan 32

2011 Insight Bowl

Iowa (Big 10) vs. #14 Oklahoma (Big 12)

Sun Devil Stadium - Phoenix, AZ

Attendance 54,247 (74%)

(12/30/11) - Both teams head into bowl season losing two of their last three games. These two coaches make way too much money (both in top ten in salary) to be playing in a December bowl game so they will both have a lot to prove. Steven sees this as a bad match-up for the Iowa and expects a solid win for the Sooners. Perhaps Stoops will allow them too much time at the In-n-Out Burger therefore slowing them down on the field.

Line: Oklahoma (-14 1/2)

Buckeye 50 Picks: Gregg, Joe-S-U, Dr. Mark, Pia Pete,

Rick and Steven pick Oklahoma

Final Score: Oklahoma 31 Iowa 14

Dr. Mark

9 - 4

Joe-S-U

9 - 4

Pia Pete

4 - 9

Gregg

9 - 4

Steven

8 - 5

Rick

8 - 5

2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl

Northwestern (Big 10) vs. Texas A&M (Big 12)

Reliant Stadium - Houston, TX

Attendance 68,395 (96%)

(12/31/11) - Northwestern played in their first bowl game in 1949. They beat Cal and it seemed like a trend they might continue. Unfortunately they have been to only eight more bowl games since then and have lost every one of them. Texas A&M is one of many teams that to the post season with an interim coach and they are a long losing streak in bowl games, so they have issues of their own as they prepare to make the jump to the SEC next season. One of them is going to have to break the trend and win.

Line: Texas A&M (-9 1/2)

Buckeye 50 Picks: Gregg and Pia Pete pick Northwestern

Joe-S-U, Dr. Mark, Rick and Steven pick Texas A&M

Final Score: Texas A&M 33 Northwestern 22

2011 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Illinois (Big 10) vs. UCLA (Pac 12)

AT&T Park - San Francisco, CA

Attendance 29,878 (71%)

(12/31/11) - Illinois starts the season 6-0 and their fans were excited. Then they went on another 6-game streak, only it was losing games. UCLA actually played in the Pac 12 championship game, then had to get an exemption just to be bowl eligible with a 6-7 record. Steven put it best"The battle of coachless teams. Is this what our bowl system has come down to, that two teams that were so bad that their coaches were fired, still get into bowl games? How sad."

Line: Illinois (-3 1/2)

Buckeye 50 Picks: Gregg, Dr. Mark, Rick and Steven pick Illinois

Joe-S-U and Pia Pete pick UCLA

Final Score: Illinois 20 UCLA 14

2012 TicketCity Bowl

#22 Penn State (Big 10) vs. #19 Houston (Big 12)

Cotton Bowl - Dallas, TX

Attendance 46,817 (51%)

(1/2/12) - Usually when the calendar turns to January, the bowl games finally get better. Yet for this game, we find Houston and Penn State. The Cougars were destroyed in their final game, which is nothing compared to what the Nittany Lions went through the final month of their 2011 campaign. The fans seemed to feel the same way, as even though this game was in Texas, the stadium was barely half full. Penn State never really had a shot against Houston when the Cougars, the nation's most prolific passing attack, put up numbers in the first half that were better than Penn State had allowed in most games.

Line: Houston (-6 1/2)

Buckeye 50 Picks: Gregg, Joe-S-U, Dr. Mark and Pia Pete pick Houston

Rick and Steven pick Penn State

Final Score: Houston 30 Penn State 14