Picking Every Bowl: Sun Bowl, Washington State vs. Central Michigan

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
December 31
Washington State (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (8-4), Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas, noon, CBS
Washington State -7 – O/U 57.5

Kudos to the Sun Bowl organizers for being creative in keeping this game alive. The Miami Hurricanes backed out of the Sun Bowl, while the Boise State Broncos were virused out of the Arizona Bowl. Both geography and necessity allowed Central Michigan to make the trip from Arizona to the Texas-Mexico border to play on New Year’s Eve. Honestly, Central Michigan might not be much worse than the Hurricanes. The Chippewas have a solid balance on offense, though they lack aggressiveness on defense. Washington State has been uneven throughout the season, though the Cougars did seem to pull together more as a team in the last four games, including convincing wins over Arizona State, Arizona and Washington. The lack of time to prepare for each other — and a few opt-outs for the Cougars — should make for a more competitive game. But the Cougars have more talent and depth overall, and this should allow them to pull away late in the game.
Prediction: Washington State 38-28
Prediction: Central Michigan 24-21

Record:
Bowl season: SU – 19-11; ATS – 16-14-0; O/U – 13-17-0
Overall: SU – 611-192; ATS – 383-334-6; O/U – 344-367-12

About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.

View all posts by Douglas Blaine →