First, let’s see how my bets for the first round went. To recap, I picked Oklahoma, Miami, Ole Miss, and JMU to cover the spread. I went 3-1. Losing the first pick and then winning the rest. And, of course, losing the parlay. Nice back door cover by JMU though.
I didn’t watch Oregon/JMU or Ole Miss/Tulane. I thought Alabama and Oklahoma were semi-entertaining teams with some flaws. Oklahoma’s QB doesn’t appear to care if he lives or dies. Which is a good quality in a football player, I guess. But how in the world could he plausibly play 4 playoff games? He got killed every play. Bama is solid but I’m not sure if they have enough to take down Indiana.
Miami vs. Texas A&M was a… defensive battle? I haven’t watched either of these teams this season, except for the first half of A&M vs. South Carolina – a half where A&M looked like the worst team in football. Neither team could score. Both defenses seemed pretty good – or the offenses were bad, it’s hard to say. Miami has an awesome true freshman.
Games, in order.
Cotton Bowl Classic. Buckeyes vs. Hurricanes, 730PM, 12/31, ESPN.
Your Ohio State Buckeyes are favored by 9.5. The Bucks have the 1st Ranked defense and 16th ranked offense. Miami has the 4th ranked defense and the 28th ranked offense.
Miami is pretty good. The Texas A&M game was weird though. Maybe they looked a little worse than they really are. Anyway, I’m obviously not picking them. I am scared of Malachi Toney though. That dude is quick. And he threw 2 touchdowns. Watch out for that guy!
OSU 27, Miami 10.
Orange Bowl. Oregon vs. Texas Tech, NOON, 1/1/2026, ESPN.
Oregon is favored by 2.5. 9th ranked offense. 10th ranked defense. I have not seen Tech play. I can’t name one player or name their coach. By the numbers, they have the 2nd ranked offense and 3rd ranked defense. Whoa! Have they played anyone? They beat BYU twice and Utah once. And lost to unranked (but pretty solid) Arizona State. So, I guess we will see. I’m not picking against the Big 10 though. We’re crushing it this year in bowl games.
Oregon 33, Texas Tech 17.
Rose Bowl. Alabama vs. Indiana. 4PM, 1/1/2026, ESPN
IU is favored by 7. Indy has the 4th ranked offense and 2nd ranked defense. Bama has the 33rd ranked offense and 13th ranked defense. I just saw a headline that Indiana head coach Curt “Google Me!” Cignetti isn’t happy with his team’s prep for the game. So I will take Indiana, I guess. He’s getting out in front of the issues. Big game for Curt!
Indiana 21, Bama 20. A tight one! Indy will probably win by 25.
Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss vs. Georgia. 8PM, 1/1/2026, ESPN
Georgia is favored by 6 and its ranks are 31 for offense and 8 for defense. Ole Miss is 10th and 23rd, respectively. These teams played at Georgia on October 18th. Georgia mounted a comeback in the 4th quarter to win. So, the question is, how much does Mississippi miss their former coach, Lane Kiffin? Can they pull off an Ohio State-like run… a tune-up against a weak team and then the real tournament begins? Seems like a lot. Georgia is playing pretty well.
Georgia 31, Ole Miss 21
So, to cover the spread, I’ve got OSU, Oregon, Bama, Georgia. Let’s parlay those together. 5 bucks wins me 68. Let’s go!
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