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. No technical difficulties this week as we break down the first week of bowl season and the upcoming games through next Wednesday. We’re going to record the next episode that night as well. Matty D also gives his first look at his NFL Draft which you CANNOT miss. Here’s the iTunes link to go subscribe. BOWL SEASON week 2 features some bigger names and should be fun leading us through the Christmas holiday. LET’S FIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRREEEEEE IT UP!

Bowl Season Week 1 Record:

5-6 ATS, 81-89-6 in 2017.

Bowl Mania Records (Straight Up):

1. Greg “The Propet” Piatelli & Matty D – 7 Points
2. Jake Goldberg – 6 Points
3. Myself & JSB – 5
4. thirdandgirl.com‘s Emily – 4

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 2

11 more Bowls to be played now through Wednesday. More and more Power Five schools are making their appearances so we’re getting into the real nitty-gritty.

• Birmingham Bowl: Texas Tech (+2) vs. South Florida at noon on ESPN on Saturday–Ever the prototypical Big XII team, TTU can sling the football but has difficulties defending the pass. USF QB Quinton Flowers can both sling it and run it and HC Charlie Strong has handled TTU before. USF wins and covers
• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: San Deigo State (-6.5) vs. Army at 3:30 on ESPN–Army has had another solid season that finished up with a win over Navy. San Diego State is much better than the Midshipmen. SDSU RB Rashaad Penny is the real reason to tune as he ran for over 2000 yards and should run all over Army. SDSU wins and covers.
• Dollar General Bowl: Appalachian State (+6.5) vs. Toledo at 7:00 on ESPN–Both offenses can put up high scores but the Toledo offense edges App State’s by just a bit. Toledo QB Logan Woodside (baller name) should be the focal point for the offense as he has a CANNON. The over/under on this is 61 so watch out for a shootout. Toledo wins and covers.
• Hawai’i Bowl: Fresno State (+2) vs. Houston at 8:30 Christmas Eve on ESPN–Fresno State has a solid year that includes a win over Boise State. They’re a team who takes care of the football and holds offenses to low scores. Houston is a different opponent, though. The Cougars nearly knocked off Memphis and did hand USF their first loss. Look out a close score, but Houston gets it done. Cougars win and cover.
• Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl: Utah (-6.5) vs. West Virginia at 1:30 Tuesday on ESPN–Both schools have been streaky all season. Utah started off 4-0 before losing to Stanford and USC by a combined 7 points followed by blowout losses to Arizona State and Oregon. West Virginia has been and down through the chaotic Big XII season but they have ruled out QB Will Grier. The solid Ute defense should stifle the weakened WVU offense. Utah wins and covers.
• Quick Lane Bowl: Duke (-5.5) vs. Northern Illinois at 5:30 Tuesday on ESPN–Duke won their last two bowl games to finish 6-6 and become bowl eligible. NIU has been solid all season and can even tout a win over Nebraska. A solid defensive front solid trip up the Blue Devil offense. NIU wins outright.
• Cactus Bowl: Kansas State (-2.5) vs. UCLA at 9:00 Tuesday on ESPN–Another Big XII/Pac 12 matchup to close up Boxing Day, UCLA is led by NFL prospect Josh Rosen. A solid defense and a strong run game should carry KSU as UCLA has been up and down all year. KSU wins and covers.
• Walk On’s Independence Bowl: Southern Miss (+16.5) vs. Florida State at 1:30 Wednesday on ESPN–Well here’s a dud. FSU, while potentially ineligible for bowl season, should blow USM out of the water in Shreveport, LA. Noles win and cover.
• New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Iowa (-2.5) vs. Boston College at 5:15 Wednesday on ESPN–Both squads have VERY solid run games–BC’s might be a bit better but Iowa’s defense is much more solid. Lookout for a strong amount of running with Iowa QB Nathan Stanley sprinkling on a few air attacks. Iowa wins and covers.
• Foster Farms Bowl: Arizona (-3.5) vs. Perdue at 8:30 Wednesday on FOX–Arizona dual-threat QB Kahlil Tate is going to be the star here as Purdue doesn’t boast too much on offense but has a rock-solid defense. Rich Rod is an evil genius when it comes to dual-threat QBs in his spread offense so I’d expect he’ll figure out how to locate the Purdue weaknesses. Zona wins and covers.
• Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl: Texas (+2.5) vs. Missouri at 9:00 Wednesday on ESPN–Texas has had a very up and down season starting with their blunder of an opening weekend loss to Maryland to clinching their sixth win in mid-November only to lose their final game in embarrassing fashion to Texas Tech. The Longhorns’ roster will be a little lighter due to anything from suspensions to injuries to players sitting out to declare for the NFL draft. Missouri, on the other hand, features a high-flying offense led by QB Drew Lock who threw for nearly 3,700 yards and 43 touchdowns. Lock, a junior, hasn’t committed to either staying in college or declaring for the NFL draft but this game should be a great showcase for him. Mizzou wins and covers.

Keep an eye Wednesday for the newest podcast, either live on YouTube or on iTunes, and for the next blog featuring my picks for the final week of bowl games. Make sure to go subscribe to the pod on iTunes and definitely go register for the 2018 PGA season at SportsGeek Fantasy.

(cover photo via)