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#19 BOISE STATE vs wASHINGTON

TIME/CHANNEL: Saturday, 12/21, 4:30 PM, ABC

SEASON RECORD: BSU (12-1) / Uw (7-5)

HISTORICAL RECORD: Lossington and Boise “State” have played each other four times and are currently tied at two wins apiece. In 2007, Chris Petersen and #22 Boise State lost to Ty Willingham’s Huskies 24 to 10, breaking the Broncos’ 14-game winning streak. Five years later, Petersen got his revenge with a 28-26 victory in the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl. The Huskies struck back the next season by beating the Broncos 38 to 6 in their season opener, and apparently the beatdown was bad enough to make Petersen take the ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ approach.

Their most recent matchup ended poorly for Petersen’s side once again as true freshman Jake Browning blew a close game, what a shocker.

NOTES: Chris Petersen takes on his old team in his final game as a football coach. Boise State only lost once this season (to BYU, a team that washington handled) and are looking to prove once again that they are better than a mediocre PAC-12 team. Will the Huskies be able to get motivated enough to send their coach off in style, or will they end their bad season on a bad note?

RESULT: Unfortunately, the Huskies looked disciplined on defense and were definitely the more talented team in their 38-to-7 victory over the Boise State Broncos in the Las Vegas Bowl. Jacob Eason looked mostly alright in his final game as a Husky and Chris Petersen beat his Broncos in the final game of his career.

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#22 USC vs #16 IOWA

TIME/CHANNEL: Friday, 12/27, 5 PM. FS1

SEASON RECORD: USC (8-4) / UI (9-3)

HISTORICAL RECORD: USC and Iowa have played each other nine times since 1925, and currently the Trojans hold a 7-2 series lead against the Hawkeyes. Three of those USC wins came in National Championship winning seasons (1962, 1974, 2003) and in 2003 beat #5 Iowa in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The Trojans are riding a six game winning streak over Iowa.

NOTES: To the chagrin of USC fans everywhere, and to the delight of other PAC-12 fans, Clay Helton remains the Trojans’ head coach. Their future rosters may be in jeopardy but USC’s current group of skill players could be enough to earn the win against Iowa, but the Hawkeyes have beaten better teams than the Trojans and are much more confident in their process... and coach.

RESULT: What an embarrassing display from the Trojans. The loss of Kedon Slovis was a terrible blow to USC, but their overall performance on defense was laughable, displaying a lack of effort highlighted by four straight successful qb sneaks in a row for Iowa. If USC can’t rely on their recruiting and talent advantages then what will stop them from truly bottoming out next season?

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AIR FORCE vs WASHINGTON STATE

TIME/CHANNEL: Friday, 12/27. 7:15 PM, ESPN

SEASON RECORD: AF (10-2) / WSU (6-6)

HISTORICAL RECORD: These teams have never played each other before.

NOTES: Air Force vs Air Raid - many believe this bowl game is guaranteed entertainment as styles make fights. Air Force will want to grind this out on the ground, while Washington State would love to throw the pigskin 60 times this game. This should be a fun one, if Wazzu can limit turnovers and find a way to get the Falcons’ offense off the field.

RESULTS: This game lived up to expectations; Anthony Gordon and the Wazzu offense picked up good yardage through the air and Air Force met no resistance on their mission to drain the clock and control the ball. The difference was that the Falcons came up with a handful of key plays on defense and the Cougar defense is probably still in Pullman. Air Force’s first drive of the game was a 98-yard, 20-play touchdown drive that burned over 12 minutes of clock, enough said.

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CALIFORNIA vs ILLINOIS

TIME/CHANNEL: Monday, 12/30, 1 PM, FOX

SEASON RECORD: CAL (7-5) / ILL (6-6)

HISTORICAL RECORD: Illinois and Cal have played against each other a total of ten times. The Fighting Illini have won seven of these games, including four in Berkeley starting with a 1955 20-to-13 victory, but the Golden Bears have won the last two.

NOTES: Chase Garbers makes this Golden Bears offense much more efficient, still not great, but more efficient. Cal has come up with a handful of promising wins this season while Illinois has just one big win - against Oregon’s bowl opponent Wisconsin. Justin Wilcox needs a bowl win to maintain his program’s momentum after whatever the Hell happened in last year’s Cheez-It Bowl.

RESULT: The PAC-12 was down 1-2 in the bowl race before Chase Garbers and the Cal Golden Bears re-established a shred of our dignity with a dominating win over the Fighting Illini! Justin Wilcox’s team was firing on all cylinders as both sides of the field made sure they ended their season on a high note.

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FLORIDA STATE vs ARIZONA STATE

TIME/CHANNEL: Tuesday, 12/31, 11 AM, CBS

SEASON RECORD: FSU (6-6) / ASU (7-5)

HISTORICAL RECORD: The Sun Devils won their first matchup against the Seminoles 45 to 38 in 1971 when they met in the Fiesta Bowl, but the last three games have gone to the Florida State. These two haven’t played since 1984 when FSU won 52 to 44 in Tempe.

NOTES: After what Willie Taggart did to this Florida State team (alright, it’s not really ALL his fault, but we can pretend it was) there’s no reason why the fighting Herm Edwards shouldn’t be able to win this one. FSU is one of the rare teams with a worse O-line than ASU’s, and Jayden Daniels has had a fantastic freshman season so far.

RESULT: Herm Edwards gets possibly the most Herm Edwards win of the year against the Taggartless Florida State. Christian Zendejas hit four field goals and the Sun Devils survived a third quarter push from the Seminoles to win 20 to 14. They were ggggggggggreat!

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#11 UTAH vs TEXAS

TIME/CHANNEL: Tuesday, 12/31, 4:30 PM, ESPN

SEASON RECORD: UU (11-2) / UT (7-5)

HISTORICAL RECORD: The Utes and Longhorns have only met once on the gridiron; in 1982, Utah lost to #18 Texas by a score of 21 to 12 in Austin Texas in the season opener. The Longhorns finished the season 9-3 and second in the Southwest Conference while the Utes failed to win half their games and finished seventh in the Western Athletic Conference with a 5-6 record.

NOTES: Neither of these teams want to be in this bowl game. Utah had their eyes on a potential national championship run before Oregon embarrassed them in the PAC-12 Championship game, knocking them out of the playoff race and stealing away the Rose Bowl. Texas, on the other hand, finished well below their expectations. A big game against LSU looked like a quality loss, until the Longhorns added four more to the L column when they faced the best teams in their conference.

RESULT: The Oregon Ducks apparently sucked the souls out of the entire Utah Utes roster, because their performance in the Alamo Bowl was lifeless. Ludwig’s offense was outscored 38 to 10 as Texas dismantled Utah. Not only did they make the conference look bad, but they also took some shine off our win in the Championship game.

#6 OREGON vs #8 WISCONSIN

TIME/CHANNEL: Wednesday, 1/1, 2 PM, ESPN

SEASON RECORD: UO (11-2) / UW (10-3)

HISTORICAL RECORD: Oregon has an opportunity to tie the series at three apiece when they take on Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. The series started in 1977 when Rich Brooks’ team lost to the Badgers at home, then lost again when they traveled to Madison the following season. Wisconsin extended their streak to three over the Ducks by winning 27 to 23 in 2000 at Madison, but Joey Harrington earned his eighth career fourth-quarter comeback with a leap on fourth down when the Badgers came to Autzen in 2001.

Then in 2012, Oregon won their first Rose Bowl since their 1917, 14-0 victory over the Penn Quakers. Russell Wilson played a great game, but Darron Thomas led a fantastic offensive squad to victory, punctuating one of Oregon’s greatest seasons in program history.

NOTES: The Ducks are in the freaking Rose Bowl!!!! Times are good, y’all. They’ll be facing a very Utah-esque team in Wisconsin, though a much more talented version of their PAC-12 foe. Oregon and Wisconsin have become similar teams now that the Ducks have transitioned to a power-running, defensive-minded team. So the question is, who’s tougher and who wants it more?

Comment below with your Rose Bowl predictions for a chance to win the coveted RESIDENT GENIUS award, like our previous winners Bill Musgrave and ShouldaBeenADuck.

Include:

• Final score.
• Who you think will win.
• Herbert’s touchdown tally and total yards thrown.