Part 1:

Written by: Garett

This Saturday, December 15, we have our first six bowl games of the season. In this preview, I will go over the first three games of the day and make a prediction. Part 2 of the preview will be released tomorrow.

Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl

North Carolina A&T vs. Alcorn State

Noon ET

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

North Carolina A&T were the winners of the MEAC Conference and Alcorn State won the SWAC Conference. These two teams play at the FCS level, but are playing in the first bowl game of the season. This one is tough to predict because of the level of football they play. Alcorn State faced Georgia Tech and got demolished 41-0. The biggest school A&T played was East Carolina, who had a down year, and beat them by five. NC A&T has had a very good football program and have been on a roll in recent years. Because I used to live in Greensboro, and because one of my favorite NFL players Tarik Cohen is an Aggie, I am going with A&T to beat Alcorn State.

Prediction: North Carolina A&T 33 Alcorn State 29

New Mexico Bowl

North Texas vs. Utah State

2:00 p.m. ET

Branch Field at Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico

New Mexico, the state so special it gets its own bowl game. North Texas only went 5-3 in Conference USA this year, but went 9-3 overall and beat Arkansas 44-17. I know Arkansas was terrible this year, but North Texas still lit up an SEC opponent. Utah State is the second best team in the Mountain West Conference behind Boise State. Their big test this season was Michigan State, which they only lost by 7. This should be a very good match-up against two pretty even teams. North Texas coach Seth Littrell is considered one of the better coaches in the league, and was sought after by bigger schools such as Kansas State. But he turned them down to come back to the Mean Green. Therefore, they will be firing on all cylinders and win this game.

Prediction: North Texas 27 Utah State 25

AutoNation Cure Bowl

Tulane vs. Louisiana

2:30 p.m. ET

Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Tulane was 6-6 overall, and in my opinion, six wins shouldn’t qualify for a bowl game. I think it should be eight games, so the bowl games wouldn’t be so watered down. But I’ll save that for another blog. Louisiana wasn’t much better at 7-6, but the Rajun Cajuns were battle tested. They played Alabama and Mississippi St, not to mention the powerhouse of Appalachian State (my alma mater) twice. From watching Louisiana this year, they have a very dynamic offense that they must capitalize on to win this game. Tulane played some tough teams as well with Ohio State and Cincinnati. With a late-game touchdown to barely make the Green Wave eligible for a bowl, I feel like Tulane is coming into this bowl game on fumes. And I feel like Louisiana is the better overall team, so they will win.

Prediction: Louisiana 27 Tulane 18

Garett

College Football Bowl Preview: December 15: Part 1