Welcome back to the Funvee Tailgate BLOG, The THUNDERBLOG’s Weekly College Football Series. If you noticed the emphasis on BLOG, that is because this season we have the podcast tying in as well! Matty D and I broke everything down in the football world this week. Due to some technical issues with MPD’s computer, we haven’t recorded this week’s podcast yet. We’re going to try to record Saturday afternoon if Matt’s computer is fixed so here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. Regardless, BOWL SEASON starts on Saturday so we have some more picks to go through. LET’S FIIIIRE IT UP!

Conference Championship Week’s Record:

2-3-1 ATS, 76-83-6 in 2017. Bowl season is the perfect time to turn this thing around. JOIN OUR BOWL MANIA GROUP and see how you’ll stack up against Matty D, Greg “The Prophet” Piatelli, and yours truly.

Before we get rolling with the picks, here is the link to register for the 2018 PGA season at SportsGeek Fantasy. Like I said on the last pod, it is “Daily Fantasy. All season long.” Be sure to join to compete against Matty D and me. Matt’s a newbie as well so you’ll probably kick his ass.

Bowl Season, Week 1:

11 bowls between Saturday at noon and next Friday night. Not the biggest chunk that we will see, but some good opportunities in Pick’em:

• Celebration Bowl: Grambling vs. NC A&T, Saturday at noon on ABC: The only FCS game included in ESPN’s Bowl Mania such be a great way to kick off Bowl Season. Grambling features a very strong run game so I’m taking them. Grambling wins.
• R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Troy (-6.5) vs. North Texas, Saturday at 1:00 on ESPN: UNT features a high-flying offense but their defense leaves little to be desired. Troy is the opposite: an offense that barely averages 30 points per game but a defense that allows 17.5. Troy wins and covers.
• AutoNation Cure Bowl: Western Kentucky (+6) vs. Georgia State, Saturday at 2:30 on CBSSN: Both teams have negative scoring differentials. The difference maker will be WKU’s better pass game against a weak GAST defense. WKU wins outright.
• Las Vegas Bowl: #25 Boise State (+6.5) vs. Oregon, Saturday at 3:30 on ABC: Boise State comes in with a slight edge on defense but the Ducks make up for it with a much more prolific offense. Oregon wins and covers. Surprisingly, this is the first time these two teams have met in over a decade. Would’ve thought playing BSU was right up Chip Kelly’s alley.
• Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Marshall (+5) vs. Colorado State, Saturday at 4:30 on ESPN: CSU’s offense can FLY as they average over 500 yards per game but their defense gets FLOWN OVER. Marshall’s defense can trip the Rams up enough to keep it close and squeak it out. Thunderin’ Heard wins outright.
• Raycom Media Camellia Bowl: Middle Tennessee (+4) vs. Arkansas State, Saturday at 8:00: A pretty easy one here: MTSU is pretty much flat in both scoring and yard differentials while ARSU comes in well over positive. ARSU wins and covers.
• Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl: Akron (+23) vs. Florida Atlantic, Tuesday at 7:00 on ESPN VERY EASY pick straight up taking FAU. The question is whether or not they cover. Considering how big FAU has won down the stretch of the season, I’ll give the points. FAU wins and covers.
• DXL Frisco Bowl: Louisiana Tech (+5) vs. SMU, Wednesday at 8:00 on ESPN: LA Tech is a pretty bland team: doesn’t score a ton, barely positive on the differentials. SMU is HIGH FLYING. The key for this will be if the Mustang defense holds up–they should here. SMU wins and covers.
• Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl: Temple (-7.5) vs. FIU, Thursday at 8:00 on ESPN: Both teams come in negative for differentials but Temple’s played MUCH more quality competition en route to this bowl appearance. Owls win and cover.
• Bahamas Bowl: UAB (+7.5) vs. Ohio, Friday at 12:30 on ESPN: Another one where one team just out-classes the other. UAB, in their first season back, put together a GREAT season. Ohio, however, is simply MUCH better all-around. Ohio wins and covers.
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Wyoming (Pick’em), Friday at 4:00 on ESPN: OH BOY, A PICK ‘EM! Josh Allen (WYO QB) had an alright season that got cut short due to injury and is questionable for this game. Without him, the Wyoming offense loses a lot of skill. For that, I’m taking CMU.

Don’t forget to JOIN OUR BOWL MANIA GROUP to let us really know if you disagree with our picks. Go subscribe to the pod on iTunes and register for the 2018 PGA season at SportsGeek Fantasy.

(cover photo via)