It’s time to recap Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s Bowl Special selections and preview Monday night’s National Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s Bowl Selections (All picks are ATS, starting with games on Saturday, December 23, utilizing point spreads taken from that day’s Chicago Tribune)
Birmingham Bowl : South Florida Bulls (-2) over Texas Tech Red Raiders – RESULT: South Florida won by 4 points, 38-34. WIN!
Armed Forces Bowl : San Diego St. Aztecs (-6.5) over Army Cadets/Black Knights – RESULT: San Diego St. lost by 7 points, 42-35. LOSS.
Dollar General Bowl : Toledo Rockets (-6.5) over Appalachian St. Mountaineers – RESULT: Toledo lost 34-0. WHAT!?! They were favored by 6.5 and lost 34-0? LOSS.
Hawaii Bowl : Fresno St. Bulldogs (+2) over Houston Cougars – RESULT: Fresno St. won as an underdog, 33-27. WIN!
Heart of Dallas Bowl : Utah Utes (-6.5) over West Virginia Mountaineers – RESULT: Utah won by 16 points, 30-14. WIN!
Quick Lane Bowl : Northern Illinois (+5.5) over Duke Blue Devils – RESULT: Duke won big, 36-14. LOSS.
Cactus Bowl : UCLA Bruins (+2.5) over Kansas St. Wildcats – * This pick is/was contingent on Josh Rosen playing. If he does NOT play, pick KSU. – RESULT: Josh Rosen DID NOT PLAY. Therefore, Gary’s pick was Kansas St. (-2.5). Kansas St. won big, 35-17. WIN!
Independence Bowl : Southern Miss Golden Eagles (+17) over Florida St. Seminoles – RESULT: Florida St. won by 29 points, 42-13. LOSS.
Pinstripe Bowl : Boston College Eagles (+2.5) over Iowa Hawkeyes – RESULT: Iowa won by 7 points, 27-20. LOSS.
Foster Farms Bowl : Arizona Wildcats (-3.5) over Purdue Boilermakers – RESULT: Purdue won by 3, 38-35. LOSS.
Texas Bowl : Missouri Tigers (-2.5) over Texas Longhorns – RESULT: Texas won 33-16. LOSS.
Military Bowl : Navy Midshipmen (-1.5) over Virginia Cavaliers – RESULT: Navy won 49-7! WIN!
Camping World Bowl : Oklahoma St. Cowboys (-4) over Virginia Tech Hokies – RESULT: Oklahoma St. won by 9 points, 30-21. WIN!
Alamo Bowl : Stanford Cardinal (+2.5) over TCU Horned Frogs – RESULT: TCU won by only 2 points, 39-37. This was as close as you get……WIN!
Holiday Bowl : Michigan St. Spartans (+1) over Washington St. Cougars – RESULT: Michigan St. won by 25 points, 42-17. WIN!
Belk Bowl : Texas A&M Aggies (+3) over Wake Forest Demon Deacons – RESULT: Wake Forest won a wild game by exactly 3 points, 55-52. DRAW.
Sun Bowl : N.C. State Wolfpack (-6.5) over Arizona St. Sun Devils – RESULT: N.C. State won by 21 points, 52-31. WIN!
Music City Bowl : Kentucky Wildcats (+7.5) over Northwestern Wildcats – “The Gut” has been ripping on Northwestern (9-3) all season. Why stop now? They’re not that good. They’re more like 6-3-3 ‘good’ with an easy schedule (3 wins were from OT’s, which are really glorified old-school ties). This game reeks of SEC dominance down in the Deep South city of Nashville, TN. Gary says “Pick Wildcats, the Kentucky fried version, especially as they’re getting 7 points PLUS the hook.” RESULT: Northwestern squeaked out a S/U victory by one point, 24-23. WIN!
Arizona Bowl : New Mexico St. Aggies (+4) over Utah St. Aggies – RESULT: New Mexico St. won in Overtime by 6 points, 26-20. WIN!
Cotton Bowl : USC Trojans (+7.5) over Ohio St. Buckeyes – RESULT: Ohio St. won by 17 points, 24-7. LOSS.
Taxslayer Bowl : Louisville Cardinals (-6.5) over Mississippi St. Bulldogs – RESULT: Mississippi St. won by 4, 31-27. LOSS.
Liberty Bowl : Memphis Tigers (-4) over Iowa St. Cyclones – RESULT: Iowa St. won 21-20. LOSS.
Fiesta Bowl : Penn St. Nittany Lions (-1.5) over Washington Huskies – RESULT: Penn St. won by 7 points, 35-28. WIN!
Orange Bowl : Miami Hurricanes (+5.5) over Wisconsin Badgers – RESULT: Wisconsin covered as they won by 10 points (34-24) with a surprisingly good performance by Alex Hornibrook. He threw for 4 TD and zero interceptions. That was just the 4th time in 14 games this season that Horni didn’t throw a pick. LOSS.
Outback Bowl : Michigan Wolverines (-7.5) over South Carolina Gamecocks – RESULT: Michigan blew a 16 point lead (19-3) and lost 26-19. LOSS.
Peach Bowl : UCF Knights (+9.5) over Auburn Tigers – Head Coach Scott Frost was just named AP Coach of the Year. Congratulations! He gets one last chance with UCF before heading off to Nebraska. His Knights are 12-0 and looking for a perfect season. Auburn is 10-3 and probably overconfident. The pregame trash talk has already begun and you wonder how this will play out. Gary says PICK UCF and enjoy all those points. RESULT: In one of the most satisfying Bowl games this season, UCF and Coach Frost and his staff backed up the talk and beat Auburn S/U 34-27!!! WIN!
Citrus Bowl : Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+3.5) over LSU Tigers – RESULT: ND won by 4 points, 21-17. WIN!
Rose Bowl (CFP Semifinal) : Georgia Bulldogs (-2) over Oklahoma Sooners – RESULT: In the greatest Bowl game of this season, Georgia came back from a 17 point deficit and got the game to OT. In the 2nd Overtime, Sony “Playstation” Michel won the game with a wildcat QB rushing TD to end it. Georgia won 54-48!!! WIN!
Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal) : Alabama Crimson Tide (-3) over Clemson Tigers – “The Gut” has a gut feeling. His gut tells us to PICK ‘BAMA. RESULT: Alabama rolled to an easy victory in a really boring game. ‘Bama won by 18 points, 24-6. WIN!
Add up all 29 Bowl games and we have Gary “The Gut” with 16 Wins, 12 Losses, and 1 Draw.
Season Record
- Week 1 : 3-0-1
- Week 2 : 1-3
- Week 3 : 3-1
- Week 4 : 3-1
- Week 5 : 0-4
- Week 6 : 1-3-1
- Week 7 : 1-4
- Week 8 : 3-1
- Week 9 : 2-2
- Week 10 : 2-2
- Week 11 : 4-3
- Week 12 : 3-3-1
- Championship Weekend : 5-2
- Bowls : 16-12-1
- Season Totals: 47-41-4
* My brother-in-law Jay submitted his Bowl Picks and finished 13-12-1. Nice work for an amateur! *
National Championship: Georgia Bulldogs (+3.5) over Alabama Crimson Tide – Both the “Dutch Lion” and Gary “The Gut” Goombah have Georgia not only covering this spread but winning straight up. That’s right! This ‘Bama is NOT a vintage ‘Bama team. Georgia, meanwhile, is excellent. Look at all these superstars: Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Roquan Smith, Trent Thompson, Lorenzo Carter, Davin Bellamy, Terry Godwin, Jake Fromm, Javon Wims, D’Andre Swift, Mecole Hardman, Rodrigo Blankenship, Jonathan Ledbetter, Tyler Clark, John Atkins, Domanick Sanders, D’Andre Walker, J.R. Reed…..the list goes on and on. This roster is amazing. This is their year. You read it way back in the preseason in the “Dutch Lion’s” College Football Spectacular. I just reread my column (posted September 1) and I believe it might be my greatest work ever. I beg you to check it out. Sure there were some clunker predictions but wow is it fun to see what went right and what went wrong. Here’s a quick sample:
- Georgia – That’s right! Georgia is #1! We’re picking the Georgia Bulldogs to win this year’s National Championship. UGA……Between the Hedges…….I know it’s crazy but you’ll remember this prediction, right or wrong. I’m not just doing this to make noise. I truly believe in what Georgia is doing. I watched A LOT of Georgia tape this Summer and I truly believe in them. Their schedule is easier than you’d think. The biggest obstacles are at Notre Dame in Week 2, Florida in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” in Week 9, at Auburn in Week 11, and of course the SEC West Champion in the SEC Championship, presumably Alabama, on December 2. Phil Steele has them at #22 but acknowledges that they have a “solid opportunity” to get back to the SEC Championship for the first time since 2012. They have the 2nd most experienced team in the SEC (#13 in the nation) and are in Coach Kirby Smart’s 2nd year. I know this is a longshot but trust me. Their recruiting has been outrageous the last couple of years. With Coach Kirby Smart bringing his Alabama style defense to Athens, the Bulldogs will thrive like they have in Tuscaloosa. Uber recruit Jacob Eason enters his Sophomore year at QB. They return both Senior RB’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. They have Uber recruit Isaac Nauta at TE. Over on defense, this swarming unit has 10 returning starters! Now that they’re in the 2nd year of Smart’s system, they should improve dramatically. Georgia will win the National Championship within the next 3 seasons, so why not this year? Go Dawgs! “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah…….!”
- Florida St. – Clemson may not be FSU’s biggest competition in the ACC this year. It might be Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech, or even N.C. State.
- Oklahoma St. – This team is rock solid. Big break with Bob Stoops retiring. The Cowboys should win the Big 12.
- USC – This team will be Pac 12 Champions. Sam Darnold, Ronald Jones, Deontay Burnett on offense. Cameron Smith, Iman Marshall, and Porter Gustin on defense. They are defending Rose Bowl Champions. They beat Pac 12 Champion Washington last year in Seattle. They have a hard schedule but no Washington until maybe the Pac 12 Championship game. Their toughest test might be Stanford in Week 2.
- Alabama – I’ll give the Crimson Tide two losses (at least) this year: the opener vs FSU and the SEC Championship vs Georgia.
So that’s it for Gary “The Gut” Goombah’s college football selections for this season. 47-41-4 ain’t bad, but he really wants win #48. Go Dawgs! Go UGA! And don’t forget what the “Dutch Lion” advised in September:
.……And remember……Georgia is #1!
Dutch Lion Sports 
Well, Gary “The Gut” won against the spread (just barely, the hook saved him) but lost straight up after Georgia blew that lead. Sad. Typical of Bama……they (almost) always seem to find a way to win. The “Dutch Lion” stands by his prediction on September 1 that “Georgia will win the National Championship” in the next 3 years. 2 years left to prove the “Lion” correct.
As for this year, “The Gut” finished 48-41-4. Not bad! Thanks for all the money Gary. Now I need to go spend it on some lavish decorations for my own mansion. 😉
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