College Football Bowl Preview: December 21

Written by: Garett

We have two bowl games featured on Friday, December 21.  There is nothing like Friday night lights, but the bowl makers decided to schedule these games during the day.  That one really doesn’t make any sense to me.  But, I will preview both of those games here and make a prediction for each.

Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl

FIU vs. Toledo

12:30 p.m. ET

Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas

Photo: Bac Totrong/Daily News

Man, what a place to be able to go this time of year, right?  The weather has been really cold and these two teams get to go to paradise to play football.  College football might want to be careful, a lot of other teams might get jealous and start tanking a quarter of their season just to try to get the opportunity to play in the Bahamas.  Let’s start with Florida International.  The Golden Panthers went 8-4 overall and 6-2 within Conference USA and are looking to set a school record by winning nine games in a season.  Coach Butch Davis has done great things for this program in his first couple of seasons.  They will be missing one of their running backs, however, as Shawndarrius Phillips got arrested on a domestic violence charge.  He has rushed for 393 yards this season, with four touchdowns.  Toledo went 7-5 overall this year and 5-3 in the MAC.  They really haven’t looked all that impressive this year to me, and their defense has struggled mightily.  They give up 430 yards on average each game.  It’s surprising they’ve won as many games as they have.  I believe their defensive woes will cost them in this one however.

Prediction: FIU 33   Toledo 27

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Western Michigan vs. BYU

4:00 p.m. ET

Lyle Smith Field at Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho

Photo: Isaac Hale/Daily Herald via AP

There’s not much interesting in the state of Idaho.  When this game is played, there still won’t be much interesting in the state of Idaho.  Western Michigan only went 7-5 on the season and is at most the 5th best team in the MAC.  They are also coming off losses in three out of their last four games.  To win this game, they will have to rely on MAC leading rusher LeVante Bellamy.  If BYU cannot stop him, or his running mate Jamauri Bogan, they will win this game.  BYU is even less interesting, coming into this game with only six wins on the season.  Teams with six wins shouldn’t get in because then we have watered down bowl games like this one.  Even though I’m throwing off on them, I think BYU will win this game because they have been better tested this season.  They have played Arizona, Cal, Wisconsin, Washington, and Utah.  Though some of those teams weren’t as good as usual, they are still better than the weaker MAC.  The win at #6 Wisconsin early in the season was very impressive, so it shows they have the potential to win plenty of games, even though they didn’t.

Prediction: BYU 16   Western Michigan 14

Garett