This is part one of the college football bowl games scheduled for Monday, December 31. With six games on the day, part one will cover the first three and part two (coming later) will cover the last three. We are nearing the end of the college football bowl season, with just two days of games left, plus the national championship, so be sure to enjoy these two days because it will be a long time before we have college football on all day again.

Military Bowl

Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech

Noon, ET

Jack Stephens Field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland

Photo: Kareem Elgazzar/Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati, out of the American Athletic Conference, had a great year winning ten games and going 6-2 within conference. While a very good team, they aren’t quite as good as their record indicates, as a product of playing in a weak conference. They lost to the two better teams within the conference, Temple and UCF, and didn’t play anybody better than those two teams. UCLA was their big non-conference game, but the Bruins had an awful season. Coach Luke Fickell has the Bearcat program back on the upswing though, and they have a really good chance to win 11 games for the first time since 2009. Virginia Tech had a down year, and was VERY close to not making a bowl game for the first time in 25 years. They had a game against ECU get canceled early in the season due to a hurricane, and scheduled a make-up game against Marshall after the last week of the regular season. They beat Marshall to earn their sixth win, and squeak into bowl season. The Hokies, in my opinion, just aren’t very good, especially for a program that takes so much pride in its football team. They went 4-4 in a weak conference, and their biggest win was against a Florida State team who didn’t even make a bowl game. Four out of their last six games of the season were losses too, which usually doesn’t bode well for teams heading into a bowl game. I believe Cincinnati is by far the better team and it will show on Monday.

Prediction: Cincinnati 37 Virginia Tech 24

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Stanford vs. Pittsburgh

2:00 p.m. ET

Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, Texas

Stanford went 8-4 on the season and 6-3 in the Pac-12. I’ve been saying the ACC has been a weak conference this season, but the one Power 5 conference that has been weaker is the Pac-12. So, it’s tough to get a feel for how good, or bad, certain teams are out of that conference. Stanford is one of them. Their biggest win on the season was against Oregon, who had about the same type of season Stanford did. Their losses came to the better teams out of the Pac-12, like the two Washington schools and Utah. They also were pretty easily handled by Notre Dame. They were paced all season long by quarterback K.J. Costello, who threw for nearly 3,500 yards and 29 touchdowns. Running back Bryce Love is not too shabby either, but he is skipping the bowl game to focus on his future in the NFL. Pittsburgh is coming in as the leader of the Coastal Division of the ACC, with a 6-2 conference record. They also squandered every opportunity for a big win this season with losses to Penn State, UCF, Notre Dame, and Clemson. They also had a bad loss to UNC, who had a very dismal season. The Panthers, to me, appear better than they are because of playing in the ACC. They are not a bad team, they just aren’t that good. I do think the Panthers will have a nice day on the ground, and because of Bryce Love skipping the game, that will be enough to carry them to victory.

Prediction: Pittsburgh 29 Stanford 23

Redbox Bowl

Michigan State vs. Oregon

3:00 p.m. ET

Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

Michigan State has been very good in football in recent years, but this year they took a step backwards. They still had a solid year, but by their standards they were down. They only went 5-4 within the Big Ten and 7-5 overall. The Spartans’ biggest victory on the year was the 21-17 win at Penn State. The biggest problem for this team is their offense that really struggles to put up points. They progressively got worse as the season wore on, and hit rock bottom when they only scored six points in a loss to Nebraska. Even in the last game of the regular season, they only scored 14 points in a narrow victory over a Rutgers team with only one win on the season. This can’t be comforting for Spartan fans going into this game. As for Oregon, they like to score points, per usual. The Ducks had 8 wins on the season, going 5-4 within conference play. By Oregon’s standards, this was a very disappointing season. This was one of those teams where fans didn’t know what to expect from their squad week in, and week out. They had a very good win against Washington, but a very bad loss getting blown out by Arizona. The Ducks are led by quarterback Justin Herbert, who passed for 2,985 yards and 28 touchdowns on the season. Wide receiver Dillon Mitchell is a big threat also, with over 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns. Michigan State has a very solid defense, but will certainly have their hands full in this one. At the end of the day, I believe the Ducks have too many weapons on offense and the Spartans won’t be able to score enough to hang.

Prediction: Oregon 34 Michigan State 18

Garett

College Football Bowl Preview: December 31, Part I