Gary “The Gut” Goombah : 2018 Bowl Season
Gary enjoyed his biggest week of the year during Championship Weekend! In fact, “The Gut” won so much cash that he isn’t here right now to give me his Bowl picks. He took a quick trip to the Maldives to celebrate, so we had to get his picks via fax. Wait, there’s fax machines on the Maldives? Sure there are, but no cell phones or computers. Doh!
Before we get to our Bowl Special Selections, let’s recap our insane winning during Championship Weekend, including two for two on “Locks of the Year”.
Week 14 NCAA Selections – (All selections are ATS. Point spreads were from Friday’s Chicago Tribune.)
Friday Night Specials (2 games) – MAC Championship & PAC 12 Championship
Northern Illinois Huskies (+3.5) over Buffalo Bulls – PICK: Northern Illinois ………… FINAL SCORE: NIU 30, Buffalo 29……… Northern pulled off the upset. WIN!
Washington Huskies (-5) over Utah Utes – PICK: Washington …………… FINAL SCORE: Washington 10, Utah 3……. Washington won by 7…… WIN!
Championship Saturday (8 games) – Big 12, Sun Belt, Conference USA, AAC, SEC, Mountain West, ACC, & B1G
Oklahoma Sooners (-8) over Texas Longhorns – PICK: Oklahoma ………… FINAL SCORE: Oklahoma 39, Texas 27 …………… OU won the Big 12 by 12……. WIN!
Louisiana Rajin’ Cajuns (+16.5) over Appalachian St. Mountaineers – They used to be called “Louisiana-Lafayette”. They dropped the Lafayette suffix now that they’re big time. Check that…..they’re not THAT big-time. Nonetheless, PICK: Louisiana ……….. Appalachian St. 30, Louisiana 19 ………. Louisiana covered the huge 16 and a half points……. Another WIN!
UAB Blazers (+1) over Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders – The Blazers phenomenal defense will earn them this victory. (See Fun Fact #3 below for more info.) PICK: UAB ………….. FINAL SCORE: UAB 27, Middle Tennessee 25 ………….. UAB pulled off the upset…….. WIN!
Memphis Tigers (+3) over UCF Knights – I just don’t think UCF will be able to get over the loss of superstar QB McKenzie Milton. PICK: Memphis ……….. FINAL SCORE: UCF 56, Memphis 41 ………. We were wrong about UCF’s backup quarterback Darriel Mack. He was good. LOSS
THE GAME OF THE YEAR!!! OUR 3rd LOCK OF THE YEAR!!!
Georgia Bulldogs (+13.5) over Alabama Crimson Tide – If this game doesn’t get your blood boiling, what will? Remember last year? Georgia beat Auburn in the SEC Championship, then won the Rose Bowl to advance to the National Championship against…….Alabama. You might recall that ‘Bama won 26-23 in OT. Frankly, Georgia outplayed the Crimson Tide for much/most of that game. They blew the game. They blew the Championship. Well, now it’s time for Saban/Smart II. Gary “The Gut” and I expect a much closer game than the “experts” do. It wouldn’t surprise us to see Georgia win this game straight up. That is possible. Beating the thirteen-and-a-half point spread is probable. PICK: Georgia ……….. FINAL SCORE: Alabama 35, Georgia 28 …………. We won this 3rd Lock of the Year but once again Georgia blew this Championship game to ‘Bama. This time they led 28-14 before blowing it in the 4th quarter. Nonetheless, yet another huge ATS WIN!
Boise St. Broncos (-2.5) over Fresno St. Bulldogs – PICK: Boise St. ……… FINAL SCORE: Fresno St. 19, Boise St. 16 in OT ……….. Boise struggled. LOSS
Pitt Panthers (+27.5) over Clemson Tigers – PICK: Pitt ……….. FINAL SCORE: Clemson 42, Pitt 10 ………. A 32 point victory covered the spread for Clemson = LOSS
OUR 4th LOCK OF THE YEAR!!!!
Ohio St. Buckeyes (-14) over Northwestern Wildcats – Gary and I expect a blowout by a minimum twenty points. I could see something like Ohio St. 42, Northwestern 20. Perhaps it will get even worse. PICK: Ohio St. …………. FINAL SCORE: Ohio St. 45, Northwestern 24 …………. The Buckeyes won by 21 after we predicted a 22 point win. Not bad. That’s why we call them “Locks of the Year”. Fantastic WIN!
2018 Season Totals:
- Week 1 : 1-4
- Week 2 : 2-3
- Week 3 : 2-3
- Week 4 : 1-4
- Week 5 : 4-2
- Week 6 : 4-1
- Week 7 : 2-3
- Week 8 : 4-1
- Week 9 : 2-3
- Week 10 : 3-2
- Week 11 : 2-4
- Week 12 : 2-3
- Week 13 : 1-4
- Championship Weekend : 7-3
- TOTALS: 37-40 (including 3-1 on “Locks of the Year”)
2018 Bowl Selections – (All selections are ATS. Point spreads are from December 14’s Chicago Tribune.)
Saturday, December 15
AutoNation Cure Bowl : Louisiana vs Tulane (-3.5) – PICK: Louisiana
New Mexico Bowl : Utah State (-7.5) vs New Mexico St. – PICK: Utah State
Las Vegas Bowl : Arizona St. vs Fresno St. (-5) – PICK: Arizona St.
Camellia Bowl : Georgia Southern (-3) vs Eastern Michigan – PICK: Georgia Southern
New Orleans Bowl : Middle Tennessee vs Appalachian St. (-7) – PICK: Appalachian St.
Tuesday, December 18
Boca Raton Bowl : UAB (-2.5) vs Northern Illinois – PICK: UAB
Wednesday, December 19
Frisco Bowl : San Diego St. vs Ohio (-3) – PICK: San Diego St.
Thursday, December 20
Gasparilla Bowl : Marshall (-2.5) vs South Florida – PICK: South Florida
Friday, December 21
Bahamas Bowl : Florida International vs Toledo (-5.5) – PICK: Florida International
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl : Western Michigan vs BYU (-12) – PICK: BYU
Saturday, December 22
Birmingham Bowl : Memphis (-3.5) vs Wake Forest – PICK: Memphis
Armed Forces Bowl : Houston vs Army (-3) – PICK: Army
Dollar General Bowl : Buffalo (-2) vs Troy – PICK: Troy
Hawaii Bowl : Hawaii (-1) vs Louisiana Tech – PICK: Hawaii
Wednesday, December 26
First Responder Bowl : Boston College vs Boise St. (-3) – PICK: Boise St.
Quick Lane Bowl : Minnesota vs Georgia Tech (-3.5) – PICK: Minnesota
Cheez-It Bowl : California vs TCU (Pick ‘Em) – PICK: TCU
Thursday, December 27
Independence Bowl : Temple (-3.5) vs Duke – PICK: Duke
Pinstripe Bowl : Miami (-4) vs Wisconsin – PICK: Miami
Texas Bowl : Baylor vs Vanderbilt (-3.5) – PICK: Baylor
Friday, December 28
Music City Bowl : Purdue vs Auburn (-3.5) – PICK: Purdue
Camping World Bowl : West Virginia (-1.5) vs Syracuse – PICK: Syracuse
Alamo Bowl : Iowa St. vs Washington St. (-3.5) – PICK: Washington St.
Saturday, December 29
Peach Bowl : Florida vs Michigan (-7.5) – PICK: Michigan
Belk Bowl : South Carolina (-4) vs Virginia – PICK: South Carolina
Arizona Bowl : Arkansas St. (-1.5) vs Nevada – PICK: Nevada
CFB Playoff Semifinals
Cotton Bowl : #3 Notre Dame vs #2 Clemson (-11) – The Fighting Irish don’t seem to be getting much respect in this matchup. An 11 point spread seems high. I know Clemson is awesome. I know they have a dominant defense. However, Notre Dame’s defense is no slouch. (“Don’t sell yourself short Judge……You’re a tremendous slouch!” – Ty Webb in “Caddyshack”) But seriously, Gary “The Gut” believes that the Irish will keep it closer than the experts think, using that disrespect as fuel. They might not win but they should cover those 11 points. PICK: Notre Dame
Orange Bowl : #4 Oklahoma vs #1 Alabama (-14) – Nobody ever gives Alabama’s opponents much of a chance. Like Notre Dame, Oklahoma should be fired up and ready to prove the doubters wrong in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. I can’t wait for this matchup! Can ‘Bama stop Kyler Murray? Can OU stop either QB Tua Tagavailoa or Jalen Hurts? All Gary cares about is, can Oklahoma keep it within two touchdowns? He’s betting big that they can. PICK: Oklahoma
Monday, December 31 – New Year’s Eve
Military Bowl : Cincinnati (-5) vs Virginia Tech – PICK: Cincinnati
Sun Bowl : Stanford (-6.5) vs Pittsburgh – PICK: Stanford…..big!
RedBox Bowl : Michigan St. vs Oregon (-3) – PICK: Oregon
Liberty Bowl : Missouri (-8) vs Oklahoma St. – PICK: Oklahoma St.
Holiday Bowl : Northwestern vs Utah (-7) – PICK: Utah
Gator Bowl : N.C. State vs Texas A&M (-6) – PICK: Texas A&M
Tuesday, January 1 – New Year’s Day
Outback Bowl : Mississippi St. (-7) vs Iowa – PICK: Iowa
Fiesta Bowl : LSU (-7.5) vs UCF – PICK: UCF
Citrus Bowl : Kentucky vs Penn St. (-6.5) – PICK: Penn St.
Rose Bowl : Washington vs Ohio St. (-6.5) – PICK: Washington
Sugar Bowl : Texas vs Georgia (-11.5) – PICK: Georgia
Don’t bother to count how many games we just selected. There are 39 Bowls this year! That’s 39 chances to get rich quick. Then of course we’ll cap the season with the National Championship on Monday, January 7. Altogether, that will be 40 Selections added to our 37-40 season record. Can Gary go a perfect 40-0? Unlikely. Will he get over .500? Probably. Will you win some serious booty if you follow “The Gut”? Likely!
Have fun and enjoy the bowls. We’ll see you in 2019!
Dutch Lion Sports 