darrell,

Below are the picks for the second "set" of bowl picks covering the games from the 26th through the 28th.

Wunderdog Picks Results Check out my 12-month performance here.

Please Tell A Friend about this newsletter and they'll thank you!

Good luck to you...

We rate each pick 1 to 5 units with 5 being the strongest play (read about units).
Risk 1% of your bankroll per unit (never risk more than 5% of total bankroll on any pick).

Game: Middle Tenn State vs. C Michigan (Tuesday 12/26 7:30 PM Eastern)
Pick: 5 units on Middle Tenn State +9.5

It has been a long time coming for C. Michigan as they have not been to a Bowl game since 1994. In their two Bowl appearances they have not yet earned a victory. Middle Tenn. State has earned its first ever Bowl bid, so one of these teams will leave with their first Bowl win in history. C. Michigan has had a great year, led by their offense and QB Dan LeFevour. LeFavour has thrown for 2,869 yards and 25 TD'S. He has spread the ball around nicely as five recievers have caught five TD passes each. If C. Michigan is to come away with a victory, it will more likely than not have to come through the air. It won't be as easy as perhaps it looks however, as Middle Tenn. has a much underrated defense. The numbers for this team need to be redefined because they played four games they had no chance in vs. some of the top teams in the country including Oklahoma, Louisville, Maryland, and SC - all top level programs and all major Bowl players. The end result is a Middle Tenn. team that is 7-5, but 7-1 vs. competition that is equal to themselves. The lone loss by yet another Bowl team Troy - by a single point. This is a team that takes care of the ball as in those 8 games they turned it over one time or less in six of the games, and outside of a 4 turnover game, coughed it up just 6 times in the other seven. The defense is the better side of the ball for MTSU. In those games they went 7-1 they outscored the opponent 31 to 11.5 on average. The fact is they only gave up an average of 263 ypg in those 8 games, and that number itself would rank them 7th in the entire country. This team can play and getting a double digit point-spread is just way too much. If things break the right way, it would not be a shocker to see them win the game outright.

UCLA got the ultimate win by defeating arch-rival USC 13-9 to end the Trojans hopes of playing in the National Championship game. Florida State is off of one of the worst seasons they have had in a long time, partially do to a tremendous amount of injuries, but also a team that is a bit down. The Seminoles did play a murderous schedule as no less than eight Bowl teams lined a schedule that finished just 6-6. The one thing they bring into this game is a great history in Bowl games and a very tough physical defense, ranked #20 in the country. Anytime you bring a top defense into a game, you have a chance to win. The only game Florida State was just not competitive in was Wake Forest where they were shut out 30-0. The other five games were all within a TD, so we like the idea of Florida State getting points here, especially since they are 4-0 ATS last four as a dog. The other thing we like about Florida State is that in 11 of their 12 games they have been consistent, as they were in every single one of them, even tied with Florida in the 4th quarter. This should be a game that goes into the 4th with the outcome in doubt, so the prospect of getting a FG+ here in a game we feel strongly that FSU can win, has gotten us feeling pretty good here. We wonder after such a big emotional game to end the season vs. USC, will UCLA be able to capture that intensity in this one vs. a 6-6 team? One of the hardest things to do in sports is to play at the same level it took to knock off a National Championship caliber team in the very next game regardless of how much time elapses in between. We will back Bowden's Boys here to claim a mild upset, so the points are welcomed.

There are two things for certain about this Oklahoma St. team. They are very good offensive team, with great balance running, and passing the ball. They are also equally balanced defensively, as they are poor against both the run and the pass. The bottom-line is they need to put up points to win football games. That may present a problem vs this Alabama team. Alabama needs to play against a team with a poor defense to score a great deal of points, and they found their perfect match, a team that needs to score to win, but doesn't defend well. Alabama suffered 6 losses this season, all were vs teams with a defensive rank of 65 or higher, four of them actually 40 or higher. They competed well in most of those games losing at Tenn. by 3, and at Ark.by 1. The problem wasn't stopping the other teams, it was getting on the scoreboard. Alabama was able to average just 15.7ppg vs good defenses. The difference is, in their 6 wins, which were against teams in with defenses in t he bottom 50% of all teams they won them all!. The scoring went from 15.7ppg, to 29ppg! The defense is something this team brings every game. You want evidence of that? here it is. Alabama plays in a very tough conference, and over the last 3 years, covering 36 games, they have not allowed a single opponent to score over 28 points in any game. Ask the high scoring Texas Tech team from last year that averaged over 42ppg, and squared off with Alabama in a Bowl game, and didn't find the endzone for 57 minutes, in a loss. So we have an Oklahoma St. team that has given up an average of 32.6ppg away from home this season, and ranks 116th defensively, and an Alabama team that averages 29ppg vs teams with a better defense than this in the lower 50% of all defenses. An Oklahoma St. team that averages 31ppg, but an Alabama team that has allowed no team over 28 in 36 games, and kept the best offense in the country last year out of the endzone for 57 minutes. It looks to us like the point s are good in this one.

Texas A&M used to put out some very good football teams, and this is one of their best in quite awhile. This team has quietly snuck under the radar all season, because they don't have a prolific player, just a solid group on both sides of the ball. let's take a look at just how close this team was to being in the National Championship game, yet they go unrecognized. They lead Oklahoma by 6 with under :30 seconds to go, and a 9 yd. TD pass later sends them away a 1 point loser. They lead Nebraska by 6 with under :30 seconds to go, and a 37 yd. TD pass sends them away a 1 point loser. Texas Tech they trail by 7 with 3 minutes to go, and opt for a FG from the 22 instead of going for it on 4th down, and end up falling 4 points short. A total of 3 losses, by a combined 6 points and now they are a +5 vs California? California entered the season with great expectations, to not only unseat USC in the Pac-10, but to challenge for a National Championship. They lost their opener to Tennessee, but began to look like one of the best teams in the country. They ran off an impressive 8 straight wins, and absolutely destroying some very good football teams along the way. They took out 5 Bowl teams by 25,28,28,21, and 14 points, an average of 23.2ppg! Everyone is thinking this is the team to knock off USC, but then the unthinkable. They lay an egg before the USC game at Arizona , then lose by 2 TD'S vs USC, and then home against a horrible Stanford team, they win by just 9 as a 30+ point favorite. So the disappointment after losing to Arizona has manifested itself as omni-present, as they just can't get off the deck. They averaged 38.6ppg during the 8 game win streak, 5 of which were vs top teams, and just 18.3ppg last 3. We have a team in the disappointment Bowl mentality, thinking National Championship, playing like it, and when that dream died, so did everything that has happened since, and the level of play has shown it. Texas A&M had no such expectations, but could be 12-0. The fact is they played well enough to win every game on their schedule, backing down to noone, and at +5 here, having not lost to anyone by that margin, vs a team that has lost its edge, we will grab the points here.

What can you say about Rutgers. This team has had one of those Cinderella seasons, and came within a failed 2pt. conversion, of finding their way into a BCS Bowl game. That creates a huge question for this game vs Kansas St. We have to wonder what the emotion is going to be like for Rutgers in this one. They kept their season of miracles together with an exciting come from behind victory at home vs Louisville, and then went to Cinncinati, and off of those high emotions from a week ago, fell hard to an average Cinncinati team 30-11. They regrouped to beat Syracuse, and then played at a high emotional pitch at W. Virginia only to come up 2 points short. Kansas St is a team that is like some of the Big East middle of the pack type teams (S. Florida, and Cinncinati). They don't do anything real well, nor do they do anything poorly, which is typical of these type of teams, that find their way into a Bowl. When they play well, which we would expect from them here, they are capeable of playing with anyone, including Texas, who they beat this season. Rutgers, as good as they were this year, still leaves question marks behind along the way. S. Florida almost beat them before losing by 2. N.C. lost to this team by just 5. UCONN was within a score late, and pounded out over 200 yards on the ground. We have seen this team play at a very high level, but we have also seen this team, after playing at a high level, become very ordinary. We don't see this team coming off a big emotional game with W. Virginia, having the same fire in their belly, thinking about where they should, or could be, as opposed to where they are. Kansas St. is not going to create that high emotional energy this team seems to need to play at their peak, and with a TD in the bank, we will play on Kansas St. to keep this one, at the very least, close.