Last year I had a Bowl Confidence Contest that generated a lot of interest on our site and we had hundreds and hundreds of entries. Last year I was at a disadvantage as I posted my plays first and they were up for everyone to see before they made their plays but I was pleased to finish #15 in the contest with 450 total points. If you followed my forecasts on the site last year I hit 24 of the 34 bowls for 71%.

This year we will again have a “Bowl Confidence Contest” and I hope there will be even more participants! It is free to join and like last year I will update two categories after each bowl game. The first category is total points. If you picked a team and they won their bowl you receive the points that you risked. Sometimes the early leaders are the ones that risked the most on the early bowls and they fall by the wayside as the contest goes on. Sometimes the early leaders in this category will remain at the top through it all it all. I will also keep track of those that have the best win percentage of their points. The morning after each bowl game I will list the current leaders in two categories on the website. Like last year we will have great prizes with 1st place getting $250!! 2nd place receives $100 and a set of regional magazines and 3rd place $50 and a set of regionals!!

You can enter the contest by simply clicking on the Bowl Confidence Contest link on the homepage. Just pick who you think will win each of the 34 bowl games. You then award your confidence points to each game. The team you think will definitely win the game would get 34 points and the team who you picked at the bottom which was very tough for you to call would get 1. Please keep the bowl games in order, so we can have them updated every day. After you are done filling out the chart just copy it and past it into an email and then e-mail it along with your contact information to Brandon@PhilSteele.com. For each team that wins their bowl game that you picked correctly, you get the confidence points you assigned to them. Those with the highest points are the winners. The first bowl game takes place on December 19th at 4:30 EST and Good Luck!!

When making my picks, I used the Bowl Matchup section where where you will find all 34 bowl games with game-by-game stats, checklists, game recaps and much more. Click on the bowl logo for each game to get all the information you need to become an expert! Start doing your homework now and get your 34 bowl predictions done and email them in!

Also each day during bowl season in my daily blog I will post the current leaders of the contest and give you my forecasts on the bowls taking place that day. My forecasts will include a detailed write-up with a projected box score including rushing, passing and turnovers! Make sure to check the daily blog every day at PhilSteele.com!

Here are my 2009 Bowl Confidence Contest Picks!