Daily Blog • Tuesday, December 29th

Each day during bowl season in my daily blog, I will give you my forecasts on the bowl games taking place that day. My forecasts will include a detailed write-up with my computer’s projected box score including rushing and passing yards, points and turnovers along with a detailed write-up on each game.

Also check out the bowl matchup section to get the latest and greatest information on all the upcoming bowl games including, game by game stats, 2009 recaps, and checklists for every position and intangible.

EAGLE BANK BOWL
UCLA VS TEMPLE
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
UCLA 87
270
24
2.6
••
TEMPLE
158
115
19
3.1
–
 

In the bowl matchup checklist, UCLA has a big talent edge and despite giving 3 intangible checks to Temple, UCLA is still 6 checks (points) better. If this game were played in the regular season in California, UCLA would be favored by 10-14 points. However the wind and 35 degree temperatures in Washington DC will benefit the underdog Owls. Temple's big O-line and RB Bernard Pierce 1308 yards rush (5.8 ypc) will be suitable for the playing conditions. Both teams have excellent defenses however the California boys will be cold and chilly while the Pennsylvania boys will be used to this. Temple is excited to prove themselves against a marquee team. These factors will have the Owls keeping it closer than the big talent difference.
PHIL’S FORECAST: UCLA 24 TEMPLE 19

 

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL
WISCONSIN VS MIAMI, FL
Rushing
Passing
Points
TO’s
ST
WISCONSIN 157
190
25
2.3
–
MIAMI, FL
93
285
32
2.0
–
 

Last year Wisconsin was in this bowl game and got it handed to them by Florida St 42-13. Miami is similar to that FSU team and may be even better. The Hurricanes were hit hard by injuries this year with their DL and secondary hit especially hard. Perhaps their top defensive player LB Sean Spence only started 7 games due to injuries and now is back healthy for this game. Miami has a solid rush defense to take on the Badgers strength of running the ball. While I expect the Big 10 to do unusually well this bowl season, this is the classic size vs speed matchup with Miami having good size to go along with their speed and look for them to hand Wisconsin a tough bowl loss.
PHIL’S FORECAST: MIAMI 36 WISCONSIN 21


Conference Bowl Standings

Bowl Conference VS Conference Records
OVERALL
vs BCS CONF
W
L
%
W
L
%
MWC
3
0
100%
2
0
100%
BIG EAST
2
0
100%
1
0
100%
SUN BELT
1
0
100%
0
0
0
SEC
1
1
50%
1
1
50%
C USA
2
2
50%
0
1
0%
PAC 10
1
2
33%
1
0
100%
ACC
1
2
33%
1
2
33%
BIG 10
0
0
0
0
0
0
INDEP
0
0
0
0
0
0
MAC
0
1
0%
0
0
0%

WAC
0
1
0%
0
0
0
BIG 12
0
1
0%
0
1
0%


The MWC is off to a great start with a 3-0 record thanks to Wyoming's upset over Fresno St in the New Mexico Bowl and two big wins over the Pac-10 the last week. The Big East has picked up a couple of wins including Pittsburgh's win over North Carolina on Saturday. The SEC got its first victory of the bowl season last night with Georgia pulling away from Texas A&M 44-20. CUSA after starting 0-2 has won their last two including SMU's impressive win over Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. The PAC 10 and ACC picked up victories over the weekend while The Big 12 lost its only bowl game so far. The Big 10 conference has yet to play a bowl game this season but that will change tonight when Wisconsin plays Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Bowl Confidence Contest

Make sure to check the daily blog every day as we will be posting the standings here after every bowl game is played.

There will be two Top 50 leaderboards. The first one will be points won and the second is best win percentage of their points. 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 so that is why I will also keep track of those that have the best win percentage.

After 11 bowl games William Meleski continues to lead the contest for the sixth day in a row with 233 points won and an 81% win %. William extended his lead from 19 to 28 points yesterday with Georgia winning. Jeff Hamilton jumped up to #2 and Gene Winters who led the contest after the first few days moved up to #3. Dan Maurer is the new leader in win % with 123 points won and just 18 points lost (87%) which is only a half of a percentage point better than Gary Magnus.

After some early tough losses, I now have 129 points and there are still 23 bowl games left! Remember 1st place wins $250, 2nd place gets $100 and a set of regionals and 3rd gets $50 and a set of regionals.

Thanks again to all that have entered. If you have any problems with your points or do not see your name please email Brandon@philsteele.com. Here are the current leaderboards.

The Top 50 in Points Won

Rank
 Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
1
 William J Meleski
233
55
81%
12
2
 Jeff Hamilton
205
33
86%
4
3
 Gene Winters
202
79
72%
51
4
 Bob Knight
196
48
80%
13
5
 Lyell Marks
193
126
61%
209
6
 Goran Mili
189
83
69%
74
7
 Marc Ostrom
180
37
83%
9
8
 Michael Mancini
170
94
64%
140
9
 Mike Guzzo
169
69
71%
60
9
 Matthew Goodman
169
84
67%
107
11
 Chuck Kreiner
168
57
75%
38
11
 Ben Brin
168
57
75%
38
13
 Mitchell Sanpei
166
68
71%
61
13
 Tony Orioli
166
92
64%
143
15
 Natalie Lindsay
165
45
79%
17
15
 Sherry Shoup
165
154
52%
510
17
 Patrick Hilt
164
31
84%
6
17
 Adam Muscat
164
68
71%
63
17
 Eugene Mangino
164
71
70%
71
17
 Richie Thomas
164
75
69%
82
21
 Jerry Thornton
163
89
65%
133
22
 Don Seebold
161
46
78%
20
22
 Jack Hawn
161
54
75%
35
22
 Peggmon
161
65
71%
53
25
 Lisa DiBello
159
42
79%
14
26
 Rich Ribera
158
81
66%
116
27
 Dave Klaehn
156
102
60%
210
28
 Lance Ivy
155
90
63%
161
29
 Don Armstrong
154
45
77%
21
29
 Aaron Trauger
154
65
70%
66
29
 Craig Domingues
154
79
66%
117
32
 John Roberts
153
62
71%
57
33
 Dick Rosser
152
71
68%
87
33
 David Ruth
152
105
59%
249
35
 Josh Farnsworth
151
49
76%
31
35
 Don Deavers
151
70
68%
86
37
 Kevin Wise
150
68
69%
80
37
 Jarrett Singer
150
72
68%
97
37
 Bud Converse
150
106
59%
260
40
 Gary Grodin
149
79
65%
126
40
 Rusty Moreno
149
84
64%
150
42
 Ralph Snodgrass
148
87
63%
165
42
 Jerry Jesenko
148
97
60%
213
44
 Mike Hay
147
74
67%
108
44
 Gordon Goldbach
147
88
63%
170
46
 Phillip Mason
146
43
77%
23
46
 Jeremy Zinn
146
49
75%
36
46
 Walter Janz
146
59
71%
54
46
 Mike Connors
146
61
71%
64
46
 Butch Domann
146
76
66%
120
46
 Greg Rockers
146
80
65%
135
46
 Matthew Edmundson
146
97
60%
224
46
 Scott Marshall
146
110
57%
311
46
 Jesse Pazdernik
146
115
56%
346
46
 Pete Mackin
146
121
55%
387

The Top 50 in Win %

Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Dan Maurer
123
18
87%
1
Gary Magnus
91
14
87%
2
Jerry Bankhead
131
21
86%
3
Jeff Hamilton
205
33
86%
4
Patrick Hilt
164
31
84%
5
Frank Elia
132
25
84%
6
Frank Scott
112
22
84%
7
Marc Ostrom
180
37
83%
8
Timothy Zelek
92
19
83%
9
Matt Schupp
134
28
83%
10
William J Meleski
233
55
81%
11
Bob Knight
196
48
80%
12
Lisa DiBello
159
42
79%
13
Steve MacDonald
140
37
79%
14
Gary Cotton
104
28
79%
15
Natalie Lindsay
165
45
79%
16
Marc Caruso
116
33
78%
17
Anthony Marcello
130
37
78%
18
Don Seebold
161
46
78%
19
Don Armstrong
154
45
77%
20
James Marzano
51
15
77%
21
Phillip Mason
146
43
77%
22
Doug Mayfield
145
43
77%
23
Giovanni Sicurella
128
40
76%
24
James W Phillips
118
37
76%
25
Ray Wenrich
54
17
76%
26
Scott Jasinkowski
82
26
76%
27
Jeffrey Gans
106
34
76%
28
Bobby Welles
142
46
76%
29
Josh Farnsworth
151
49
76%
30
John Galliera
129
42
75%
31
Frank Hillman
70
23
75%
32
Jason Fry
127
42
75%
33
Jack Hawn
161
54
75%
34
Jeremy Zinn
146
49
75%
35
Louis Leiwalo
121
41
75%
36
Chuck Kreiner
168
57
75%
37
Ben Brin
168
57
75%
37
Scott Boyce
143
49
74%
39
Richard Specht
49
17
74%
40
Matthew Anderson
132
46
74%
41
Rick Perk
140
49
74%
42
Mike Magee
106
38
74%
43
Jay Maguire
119
43
73%
44
Jason Harris
112
41
73%
45
Paul Flatt
121
46
72%
46
Michael Kyle
134
51
72%
47
Jim Martindale
85
33
72%
48
Geoff Boyle
121
47
72%
49
Gene Winters
202
79
72%
50

Radio Contest Leaderboards

WKNR Cleveland, OH with Michael Reghi
Top 10 POINTS WON
Top 10 WIN %
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Dave Klaehn
156
102
60%
13
Mike Hay
147
74
67%
8
Chris Hicks
141
143
50%
39
Anthony Chapman
140
80
64%
11
Paul Becker
135
107
56%
29
Jason Johnson
133
118
53%
34
Frank Elia
132
25
84%
1
Carl Alleger
132
96
58%
20
David Dohar
132
112
54%
32
Anthony Marcello
130
37
78%
3
Mike Fraifogi
130
96
58%
22
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Frank Elia
132
25
84%
1
Marc Caruso
116
33
78%
2
Anthony Marcello
130
37
78%
3
Scott Jasinkowski
82
26
76%
4
Keith Fodar
97
41
70%
5
Marc Gargiulo
46
20
70%
6
Chris Haynes
106
50
68%
7
Mike Hay
147
74
67%
8
Mark Smith
116
62
65%
9
Gary Osborne
125
69
64%
10

The KNR group leader changes nearly every day as Dave Klaehn now leads the contest with 156 points. Mike Hay moved up to 2nd with 147 points. The top 4 in win % have remained the same the past few days. Frank Elia leads with 84%.

"All Bets Are Off" Sports Time Ohio Cleveland, OH
with Bruce Drennan
Top 10 POINTS WON
Top 10 WIN %
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Gene Winters
202
79
72%
2
Matthew Goodman
169
84
67%
6
Kevin Wise
150
68
69%
3
John McFarlane
139
108
56%
11
NICK SCHWEMBERGER
130
86
60%
10
Frank Elia
129
22
85%
1
TODD RUMMINS
129
117
52%
14
Jim Nalle
127
60
68%
5
Frank Cellura
116
75
61%
9
WILL BUTLER
115
72
61%
8
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Frank Elia
129
22
85%
1
Gene Winters
202
79
72%
2
Kevin Wise
150
68
69%
3
Tim Johnston
109
51
68%
4
Jim Nalle
127
60
68%
5
Matthew Goodman
169
84
67%
6
Opal
99
55
64%
7
WILL BUTLER
115
72
61%
8
Frank Cellura
116
75
61%
9
NICK SCHWEMBERGER
130
86
60%
10

Gene Winters has led the Sports Time Ohio group since day 1 with 202 points won and a 72% win %. Matthew Goodman continues to hold the #2 spot with 169 points.

ESPN Radio 94.1 Virginia Beach, VA with Tony Mercurio
Top 10 POINTS WON
Top 10 WIN %
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
David Crews
132
163
45%
13
Tony Mercurio
127
63
67%
2
Brad McMasters
126
90
58%
5
Richard Bidnick
125
57
69%
1
dcnev
118
122
49%
10
Phillip Todd
115
110
51%
7
Beau Boughamer
115
118
49%
9
George Trotman
113
125
47%
11
Nick Mataragas
111
68
62%
3
Daryl Baker
106
91
54%
6
Name
Pts Won
Pts Lost
Win %
% Rank
Richard Bidnick
125
57
69%
1
Tony Mercurio
127
63
67%
2
Nick Mataragas
111
68
62%
3
Rob Vanier
79
50
61%
4
Brad McMasters
126
90
58%
5
Daryl Baker
106
91
54%
6
Phillip Todd
115
110
51%
7
Dan Wagoner
85
86
50%
8
Beau Boughamer
115
118
49%
9
dcnev
118
122
49%
10

David Crews is #1 in the 94.1 group with 132 points. However host Tony Mercurio has been moving up the leaderboard the past couple of days and now is in 2nd with 127 points and does an advantage in win %.

The Sports Animal 790 AM Houston, TX
with Charlie Pallilo

Adam Muscat leads the 790 group with 164 points won and a 71% win %. Mike Miller is in 2nd with 118 points.