The Black Knights accomplished a major goal as they are back in a bowl for the 1st time S/’96 (lost to Aub in the Independence Bowl). The Mustangs were also lacking in the postseason until LY’s trip to the Hawaii Bowl where they destroyed Nevada and prior to LY the Mustangs had not been in a bowl S/’84. They had 2 common opponents this year (Tulane and Navy) with the Knights and Mustangs both beating Tulane: Army 41-23 and SMU 31-17. Both lost to Navy: SMU blew a 14-0 HT lead in a 28-21 loss while Army lost 31-17 despite a 337-325 yd edge as they all’d a 98 yd FR TD just before HT (14 pt turnaround).

Army’s option hit its stride in the 2nd season under Ellerson. They scored their most points in a season S/’96 when they last went to a bowl. LY QB Steelman became the 1st frosh QB to start the opener for Army in the modern era. He was the team’s leading rusher in ‘09 but is #2 TY as they added FB Hassin (originally at AF) who has a shot at breaking the 1,000 yd barrier here. HC Ellerson invented the “Desert Swarm” defense when he was DC at Arizona and brings the same attacking philosophy here that takes advantage of Army’s small but fast players. Army has my #55 special teams but they avg just 7.1 on PR’s and 19.5 on KR’s.

The Mustangs’ Run n’ Shoot offense has been more balanced in each of the L/2Y as they avg’d 27 ppg and 415 ypg and have my #68 ranking. After starting the L/6 (‘09), QB Padron finished his 1st full season as the starter in solid form leading SMU to the CUSA West Title. A year after the speedy Shawnbrey McNeal became HC Jones’ first 1,000 yd rusher, Line became the 2nd RB to accomplish that feat. The Mustang D has my #52 ranking, all’g 26 ppg and 362 ypg but the Mustangs have just my #95 ST ranking led by K/P Szymanski who did miss some time at the EOY (leg) but should be a full go here.

June Jones has taken the Mustangs from back-to-back one win seasons to 8 wins last year and playing for the CUSA Championship this year. This is a great matchup for them as they played Navy each of the L/3Y and have improved vs the option having only all’d 337 yds this year. It is fantastic to see Army in a bowl game but, truth be told, it was vs a very watered-down sked this year. They have not seen this type of offensive fire power and the extra prep time won’t help them in this matchup.

This is the inaugural year of the Pinstripe Bowl but the 3rd postseason matchup between the Orange and Cats. Both previous meetings took place in Arizona with Syracuse winning the ‘01 Insight.com Bowl 26-3 and Kansas St beating McNabb and Co, 35-18 in the ‘97 Fiesta Bowl. Syracuse earned its 1st bowl bid since ’04 and clinched its 1st winning ssn S/’01 at 7-5. Syracuse had trouble selling out their home games this year but should definitely have the crowd edge in this one.

Kansas St returns to the postseason for the 1st time S/’06 thanks to a solid run game led by 2nd Tm B12 RB Thomas who finished #9 in the NCAA. QB Coffman was benched the previous season and looked to be headed there again after struggling vs Nebraska. He kept the job until the Texas game when Snyder inserted the more mobile Klein. Klein set Kansas St QB rush records in 2 straight games before being injured vs Colorado and both QB’s played in the L/3. Kansas St runs a 4-2-5 defense which is ideal vs the Big 12’s many spreads. It is not ideal however vs physical rush attacks as the Cats finished #118 NCAA in rush D with their 229 ypg (5.9), the school’s most S/’90. The Cats have had some spectacular ST units and ‘10 was no different (#8). P Doerr’s net was #8 NCAA while KR Powell was #1 in the NCAA when he was injured while Quarles finished #3 in the Big 12.

HC Marrone has turned the Orange around in just 2 years. The team had gone just 10-37 overall and 3-25 in BE play from ‘05-’08 under Robinson and improved to 4-8 in ‘09 and now 7-5 TY with a 4-3 BE record, the most Big East games they have won S/’04. The Orange started the season hot at 6-2 but their lack of depth due to inj’s and low scholarship numbers resulted in a 1-3 record the L/4. RB Carter is #3 in the BE in rush yds with five 100+ yd gms and has topped 1,000 yds for the 2nd str yr. Whereas the offense fell from 330 ypg in ‘09 to 308 ypg TY, the #38 defense improved from all’g 337 ypg in ‘09 to just 295 ypg TY. Syracuse ranks #45 in my special teams rankings with 1st Tm BE K Krautman the most accurate K in the BE and P Long 2nd Tm BE with an excellent 38.9 net. Unfortunately Long will miss the bowl after having a benign brain tumor removed in early Dec.

Two teams whose strengths are on opposite sides of the ball while K-St’s strength is on offense, Syracuse’s is on defense. There are few coaches in the last 2 seasons that have done as much with their talent as Marrone. While the Orange limped down the stretch dropping 3 of L/4 gms, that trend should get turned around with the extra bowl practices. Syracuse has played better away from home winning all 4 conference gms while K-St had a tough end to the season playing 3 straight road games and struggled to get a win at North Texas.

Tennessee meets North Carolina for the 32nd time and holds a 20-10-1 edge (last meeting ‘61). This is the Vols 1st appearance in the nearby Music City Bowl (180 miles) and Orange should dominate the crowd. UT was politicking for the Gator Bowl, but is still happy as they won their L/4 to get here. Both teams faced LSU with NC mounting a late comeback but falling 30-24 (missing 13 to susp) and UT losing 16-14 due to a penalty for having too many men on the field.

NC’s season has been highly publicized with suspensions (and an assistant coach change) decimating the lineup and taking NC from a darkhorse Title contender to here. However QB Yates was one of the few bright spots. He entered the Miami gm with the FBS’s lowest int % but tossed 2 in the 2H and finished with a 7-7 ratio the L/6. Overall NC has my #27 rated D. The DL might have been the area hit hardest by the scandal as they lost 2 proj 1st Rd DC’s and their DL coach and the patchwork unit held opps to 139 ypg rush (3.9). NC was led by the ACC’s active leader in career FG, Barth, who hit the GW FG vs FSU w/:55 left. Their net Punting avg of 31.1 was #118 in the NCAA which helps account for the Heels #115 special teams finish.

Dooley took this ragtag bunch and by the end of the yr molded a solid team following in the footsteps of his dad (Vince) and mentor Nick Saban. Dooley named JC transfer Simms the starting QB coming out of Aug and he started the 1st 8 gms and the Vols sat at 2-6. True frosh Bray started the L/4 and UT swept the board. Bray avg’d 309 ypg (55%) with a 12-4 ratio in the L/4 but only faced 1 bowl tm in that stretch (6-6 UK). Overall UT has my #59 offense and #40 defense. The DL lost 3 key players in Aug and it took a while to recover while UT ranks #25 in my pass D rankings all’g 229 ypg (57%) with a 13-17 ratio. The Vols struggled on ST (#79) as they were unable to find a PR (3.6 avg) who could merely catch the ball without fumbling and PK Lincoln hit 7-7 FG before missing 5 gms w/inj (ret’d L/3).

A tumultuous season winds down for North Carolina and this team has impressed playing without numerous NFL caliber players. Tennessee went thru growing pains but the season finished just as I expected with a slow-learning start and then 4 str wins to become bowl eligible (check page 50 of my college preview). I'll go with the hotter team playing in their home state and the stadium will have a vast majority of Orange throughout.

The Huskies benefitted from a collapse by Cal and a late GW TD drive vs WSU to sneak into the postssn but now faces a Nebraska team which destroyed them in Seattle back in Sept, a game in which QB Locker hit just 4-20 passes in the 56-21 loss. Meanwhile NU began its final Big 12 season 5-0 and ranked in the Top 5 of both polls before being upset by nemesis Texas. Neb lost 2 of its L/3 incl blowing a 17-0 lead in the Big 12 Championship game to return to San Diego for a 2nd straight season after the Alamo and Insight Bowls surprisingly passed them up. NU destroyed Arizona 33-0 here LY. UW is in its 1st bowl since the ‘02 Sun Bowl (23-60 record from ‘03-’09).

UW has my #41 off avg 22 ppg and 364 ypg. QB Locker was unable to carry through on his preseason Heisman hype while also slipping on many NFL Draft boards after being projected #1 overall to begin the year. In Locker’s defense, he was nicked-up with inj’s at the beginning of the yr and dealt with a broken rib at the EOY (DNP vs Oreg). While Locker struggled, RB Chris Polk posted his 2nd consec 1,000 yd ssn. The UW defense (#56) had some issues of its own as they all’d 31 ppg and 401 ypg. The Huskies have my #92 ST’s and had to start with a walk-on punter for the final 10 games of the year after Mahan tore his ACL.

QB Martinez’s speed and ability to run the option gave NU a weapon they hadn’t had at the position since Osborne retired. When Martinez set a NU QB rush record vs K-St there was Heisman talk but that quieted when he was benched in the Texas loss. Martinez rebounded with a career high passing game vs OSU but inj’d an ankle vs Missouri and wasn’t the same the rest of the year and neither was the Huskers offense which finished #26. Pelini said he expects Martinez to return to the program in ‘11 despite constant transfer rumors. The Huskers D finished #5 led up front by All-B12 DL Crick and Allen. NU went to a 4-2-5 “Peso” base to get the versatile Hagg on the field on every play. While it helped vs the pass (#1 pass eff D all’g 160, 50%, 13-19), it made NU vulnerable vs the run (#52 FBS all’g 144, 3.8). The secondary is anchored by Top 10 NFL pick CB Amukamara and The special teams finished #5 led by 1 of the nation’s most powerful legs in P/K Henery who hit 10-11 FG from 40+.

This is the only rematch of a regular season gm TY and UW was embarrassed at home in a game that was Nebraska QB Martinez’s coming out party. This is Washington’s first bowl in 8 years so they will be thrilled while Nebraska is making an appearance in the Holiday Bowl for the 2nd straight season. Remember at the beginning of the year, Locker was projected to be the #1 overall draft choice and it would be no surprise if he finishes the season in style in what should be a very entertaining game.