One of the things the Student Section strives to provide its readers with is a wide range of opinions about what’s going on in the worlds of college football and basketball.
Bowl season is no different, which is why we listed each staff member’s picks against the spread. The number in parentheses is the confidence rating assigned to each game. A “38” pick is essentially a lock, while a “1” is essentially a toss-up. “Confidence points” will be tallied at the end of the bowl season (which does not include the College Football Playoff’s title game on Jan. 12).
Here is a list of each staff member’s picks, along with their respective Twitter handles if you’d like to discuss:
Matt Zemek – Managing Editor (@SectionMZ)
Ryan Palencer – Staff Writer (@RyanPalencer)
Bart Doan – Associate Editor (@TheCoachBart)
Kevin Causey – Contributor (@CFBZ)
Scott King – Contributor (@BearcatsBlog)
Terry Johnson – Associate Editor (@SectionTPJ)
Note: Please keep in mind that these picks are against the spread. To find out which teams our staff members picked to win each game, go to our straight-up pick’em piece.
| Bowl | Matt | Ryan | Bart | Kevin | Scott | Terry |
| New Orleans Bowl Nevada (-1) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette |
LL (2) | LL (7) | NV* (21) | LL (1) | NV (38) | NV (28) |
| New Mexico Bowl Utah State (-11) vs. UTEP |
US (33) | US (30) | US (24) | UT (2) | US (37) | US (14) |
| Las Vegas Bowl Utah (-4) vs. Colorado State |
UT (3) | UT (38) | UT* (35) | UT (3) | UT* (36) | UT (11) |
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Western Michigan (-3) vs. Air Force |
AF (34) | AF (1) | AF (20) | AF (4) | WM (35) | AF (4) |
| Camellia Bowl Bowling Green (-1.5) vs. South Alabama |
SA (4) | BG (6) | BG* (19) | BG (5) | BG (34) | BG (5) |
| Miami Beach Bowl Memphis (-1) vs. BYU |
BY (5) | BY (29) | ME* (23) | BY (6) | ME (33) | ME (6) |
| Boca Raton Bowl Marshall (-11) vs. Northern Illinois |
NI (35) | MA (28) | MA* (34) | NI (7) | MA* (32) | MA* (7) |
| Poinsettia Bowl Navy vs. San Diego State (PK) |
NV (6) | NV (27) | NV (15) | SD (8) | SD (31) | NV (8) |
| Bahamas Bowl Western Kentucky (-1.5) vs. Central Michigan |
WK (7) | WK (26) | WK* (22) | WK (9) | CM (30) | WK (36) |
| Hawaii Bowl Fresno State (-2) vs. Rice |
RI (16) | FS (5) | FS* (37) | RI (10) | FS (29) | FS (10) |
| Heart of Dallas Bowl Louisiana Tech (-4) vs. Illinois |
LT* (8) | LT (24) | IL (11) | LT (11) | IL (28) | IL (3) |
| Quick Lane Bowl North Carolina (-3) vs. Rutgers |
NC (17) | RU (4) | RU (3) | RU (12) | RU (27) | RU (12) |
| St. Petersburg Bowl Central Florida (-3) vs. NC State |
CF (9) | CF (25) | CF* (27) | CF (13) | CF* (26) | CF (13) |
| Military Bowl Cincinnati (-3.5) vs. Virginia Tech |
CI (18) | CI (8) | CI (4) | CI (14) | CI (25) | VT (17) |
| Sun Bowl Arizona State (-9) vs. Duke |
AS (36) | AS (37) | AS (36) | AS* (15) | AS* (24) | AS (29) |
| Independence Bowl Miami vs. South Carolina (PK) |
MI (10) | MI (3) | SC (38) | MI (16) | MI (23) | SC (15) |
| Pinstripe Bowl Boston College (-2.5) vs. Penn State |
BC (26) | PS (10) | PS (25) | BC (17) | BC (22) | BC (16) |
| Holiday Bowl USC (-4) vs. Nebraska |
SC (32) | SC (23) | SC* (26) | SC (18) | SC (21) | SC (35) |
| Liberty Bowl West Virginia vs. Texas A&M (OFF) |
WV (12) | WV (22) | WV (2) | WV (19) | WV (20) | AM (18) |
| Russell Athletic Bowl Clemson vs. Oklahoma (OFF) |
OU (11) | CL (21) | OU (5) | OU (38) | CL (19) | CL (19) |
| Texas Bowl Arkansas (-5) vs. Texas |
AR* (19) | AR (20) | TX (1) | AR (20) | AR (18) | TX (20) |
| Music City Bowl LSU (-7.5) vs. Notre Dame |
LS (20) | LS (36) | LS (33) | LS (37) | LS (17) | LS (38) |
| Belk Bowl Georgia (-7) vs. Louisville |
LO (28) | GA (35) | GA* (29) | GA (21) | GA* (16) | GA (21) |
| Foster Farms Bowl Stanford (-13) vs. Maryland |
ST (38) | ST (19) | ST* (28) | ST* (22) | ST (15) | ST* (22) |
| Chick-Fil-A Bowl TCU (-3) vs. Ole Miss |
TC (29) | TC (18) | TC* (30) | TC (36) | TC (14) | TC (23) |
| Fiesta Bowl Arizona (-4) vs. Boise State |
AZ (30) | AZ (34) | AZ* (32) | AZ (23) | BS (13) | AZ (24) |
| Orange Bowl Mississippi State (-7) vs. Georgia Tech |
GT (21) | GT (17) | MS* (31) | MS* (24) | MS (12) | MS (25) |
| Outback Bowl Auburn (-6.5) vs. Wisconsin |
AU* (13) | AU (16) | WI (6) | AU (25) | AU* (11) | AU (37) |
| Cotton Bowl Baylor (-1.5) vs. Michigan State |
MS (31) | BA (33) | MS (8) | BA (34) | MS (10) | BA (26) |
| Citrus Bowl Missouri (-6.5) vs. Minnesota |
MN (27) | MI (2) | MI* (7) | MI (26) | MI (9) | MI (27) |
| Rose Bowl Oregon (-8.5) vs. Florida State |
FS (37) | OR* (15) | OR (18) | OR* (27) | OR* (8) | FS (2) |
| Sugar Bowl Alabama (-9) vs. Ohio State |
AL* (14) | AL (32) | OS (17) | AL* (28) | AL (7) | OS (1) |
| Armed Forces Bowl Pittsburgh (-2) vs. Houston |
PI (22) | PI (14) | UH (16) | PI (29) | PI (6) | PI (30) |
| TaxSlayer Bowl Tennessee (-3) vs. Iowa |
IO (15) | TN (12) | IO (14) | TN (30) | TN (5) | TN (31) |
| Alamo Bowl Kansas State (-2.5) vs. UCLA |
KS (23) | UC (13) | UC (13) | KS (31) | UC (4) | KS (32) |
| Cactus Bowl Washington (-5) vs. Oklahoma State |
UW (24) | UW (11) | UW* (12) | UW (32) | OS (3) | UW (33) |
| Birmingham Bowl Florida (-7) vs. East Carolina |
FL (25) | FL (31) | EC (10) | FL (33) | FL (2) | EC (34) |
| GoDaddy Bowl Toledo (-1) vs. Arkansas State |
TO (1) | TO (9) | AS (9) | TO (35) | TO (1) | TO (9) |
