The bowl games start tomorrow and with all of the competition already signed up, you cannot miss any games. To sign up, go to the Fun Office Pools’ website. If you haven’t already registered there, take a second and make a username with a password that is unique to only you.

This year’s contest will be a bit different than the last two years. This year you have to pick a winner for each game and assign a confidence factor to each game and those are the points you will accumulate if you win that pick.

Prizes
Prizes will be handed out for the people who finish in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th as laid out below. Remember to do the tiebreaker because that will break all ties for bowl games.

1st Place: $60 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
2nd Place: $35 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
3rd Place: $25 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
4th Place: A copy of one of the following books, The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, Sports Illustrated: The College Football Book, or The Maisel Report: College Football’s Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions.

Good luck!

For the third year in a row, In The Bleachers will be sponsoring a Bowl Bonanza where readers and bloggers can pick the winners of bowl games and win prizes from the In The Bleachers College Football Blog. For those wanting to join, we are going to use the Fun Office Pools software that we used for the Pick Em contest that ran through out the season.

This year’s contest will be a bit different than the last two years. This year you have to pick a winner for each game and assign a confidence factor to each game and those are the points you will accumulate if you win that pick.

To sign up, go to the Fun Office Pools’ website. If you haven’t already registered there, take a second and make a username with a password that is unique to only you.

Next on the front page click on the Join Pool button under the College Bowl Pick ‘Em logo. You should be taken to a page that looks like this…

Pool Type: College Bowl Pick ‘Em
Pool Name: In The Bleachers Bowl Bonanza (make sure you type it in exactly like I did) UPDATE: If you are having issues with Fun Office Pools finding the pool, add a space at the end of the word Bonanza.
Password: bleachers
Selection Name: (This is the name that your picks will be given in the pool (not necessarily the same as your username you used to sign up with), so something like My Great Picks, or Sure Winners, or simply Kev’s Picks. You can have different selection names for each different pool you join.)

Prizes
Prizes will be handed out for the people who finish in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd as laid out below. Remember to do the tiebreaker because that will break all ties for bowl games.

1st Place: $50 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
2nd Place: $25 Dollar Gift Card to any of the stores listed here.
3rd Place: A copy of one of the following books, The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia, Sports Illustrated: The College Football Book, or The Maisel Report: College Football’s Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions.

Good luck! Sign up and get your picks in early! The first games begin on December 20th!

Each week we’ll have about 5-9 games for you to pick straight up. To participate, just join our pool. It’s free to play, and FunOfficePools.com is spam-free as well. The pool is open now to join, and first picks are due by August 28th - so sign up now. The pool will run the whole regular season, concluding on December 6th with, among other games, the conference championship games.

We’ll be giving away some prizes periodically as well as a grand prize to the overall winner.

Pool Type: College Football Pick em.
Pool Name: In The Bleachers Operation Pick Em
Password: bleachers
Selection Name: [Insert Your Name]

Announcing the In The Bleachers Operation Pick’em Game

We are excited to announce a new feature here at In The Bleachers! In conjunction with FunOfficePools, we will be running a college football office pool. Let’s find out who is really the best prognosticator of the pigskin. Each week we’ll have about 8 games for you to pick - we’ll be picking the winners only - no spreads. We’ll be picking games that include the best matchups each week. Last year’s winner Lorena, will be looking to defend her title again.

The prizes I have so far are Ivan Maisel new book “The Maisel Report: College Football’s Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Coaches, Teams, and Traditions” and also the USA Today is sending me three books called The USA TODAY College Football Encyclopedia. I am in talks with a few other sponsors to get some more prizes.

To participate, just join our game . It’s completely free to play, and FunOfficePools.com is spam-free as well. The pool is open now to join, and first picks are due by August 28th - so sign up now. The pool will run the whole regular season, concluding on December 6th with, among other games, the conference championship games.

If you’ve already signed up, click here to go to the FunOfficePools main page and log in.

Pool Type: College Football Pick em.
Pool Name: In The Bleachers Operation Pick Em
Password: bleachers
Selection Name: [Insert Your Name]

Well the stomach flu might have kept me out for two days, but I have finally tallied the results for the 2nd Annual ITB Bowl Bonanza. In the Bloggers category we had to go down to a tiebreaker since both Kansas It’s Business time and ITB Charlie Swager both finished with a 25-7 record. Kansas It’s Business Time said that the total score of the BCS title game would be 33 points while ITB Charlie Swager predicted 45 points, so Charlie wins the tiebreaker and the overall title since, as you will see, he had a better record than the readers.

In the reader category we also had to go to the tiebreaker between Greg Gowins and Pete Boivin who both finished with a 23-9 record. Unfortunately for Greg he didn’t fill out tiebreaker points so Pete wins by default. Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to the winners. I will be in contact with you about your prizes.

LSU 11-2 (6-2), 1st Southeastern - West
vs
Ohio State 11-1 (7-1), 1st Big Ten

January 7, 8:00 pm, FOX

For the second time in as many years, the Ohio State Buckeyes are playing in the BCS Championship game. But unlike last year they come into the game as the underdog even though they have only 1 loss. LSU backed into the title game after Missouri and West Virginia lost on the last week of the season. But even so, many think that LSU has been the best team all year based on their difficult schedule. This will be the first time since the inception of the BCS title game, that we will have a repeat winner. LSU and Ohio State both have BCS titles in their resume.

As I said before, LSU played on of the toughest schedules in the nation and they rely on a defense that is built on speed. The Tigers are ranked 10th against the run, 9th against the pass, 3rd in total defense, and 16th in scoring defense, allowing a little over 19 points per game. The main guy of the Tigers’ defense is their All-American defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey. Matt Flynn has had an up and down year but overall a solid one. Flynn has thrown for over 2200 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He has made some outstanding throws in pressure situations. Jacob Hester has run for 1017 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s a tough runner who you give the ball to in short yardage situations. Brandon LaFell, Demetrius Byrd, and my favorite Early Doucet are LSU’s top 3 receivers.

Ohio State is another solid team on the defensive front. The Buckeyes are 3rd against the run, 1st against the pass, 1st in total defense, and 1st in scoring defense only giving up a little over 10 points per game. Todd Boeckman is the quarterback, he does nothing flashy but he is consistent quarterback. In 2007, Boeckman has thrown for 2171 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Running back Chris Wells, has it all as a runner. He can run you over, or beat you to the corner. This year he ran for over 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns. At receiver Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline have combined for 15 touchdowns and 1500 yards. What impresses me most about Ohio State, is the strength of the offensive line. And they will face their biggest test trying to keep Dorsey out of the backfield.

Out of all the teams that Ohio State could’ve played in the championship game, I think that they match up best against LSU. LSU does not have a flashy offense that runs the spread. For LSU to win, they have to do what Illinois did, keep the ball out of Ohio State’s hands and control the clock. With the strengths of these teams being the defenses, turnovers will play a huge part in this game. I know I’ll get blasted for this, but I really believe Ohio State wins this game. They have been told since the beginning that they don’t belong, and most are crowning LSU as champions. I think the Buckeyes overcome the hostile crowd in Louisiana and win a close one. Ohio State 20 LSU 17

Picking LSU to Win (84%)
ITB Charlie Swager, Football Frontier, The LSC Scoop, Corn Nation, Pitch Right, Kansas It’s Business Time, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, Sportsbone TV, Rizzo Sports, MizzouRAH, MidWest Coast Bias, The Enlightened Spartan, Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks, Greg Gowins, Sunny Verma, Lorena The Dodgerchick, Pete Boivin, Cyril Tircuit, Rodney Polston, Jeff Brancolini, Richard Dixon, Mrs Corn Nation, Brian Isaacson, Logan Jaffe, Matt Kieta, Lou Nemec, Timmy B

Picking Ohio State to Win (16%)
ITB Brian Sakowski, ITB Ron Juckett, Jason Stiver, Brant Chruscial, Dan Schoonover

Bowling Green 8-4 (6-2), 1st Mid-American - East
vs
Tulsa 9-4 (6-2), 1st Conference USA - West

Jan 6, 8pm ESPN

Okay, rough weekend here and I am not able to do my full preview of the GMAC Bowl. To check a good preview out check out the one on Yahoo Sports. The picks of the game are below.

Picking Bowling Green to Win (22%)
Rizzosports, The Enlightened Spartan, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, Lorena The Dodgerchick, Rodney Polston, Jeff Brancolini, Lou Nemec

Picking Tulsa to Win (78%)
ITB Brian Sakowski, Sportsbone TV, MizzouRAH, MidWest Coast Bias, Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks, ITB Ron Juckett, ITB Charlie Swager, Football Frontier, The LSC Scoop, Corn Nation, Pitch Right, Kansas It’s Business Time, Greg Gowins, Sunny Verma, Pete Boivin, Jason Stiver, Cyril Tircuit, Richard Dixon, Mrs Corn Nation, Brian Isaacson, Logan Jaffe, Brant Chruscial, Matt Kieta, Dan Schoonover, Timmy B

Rutgers 7-5 (3-4), 5th Big East
vs
Ball State 7-5 (5-2), 2nd Mid-American - West

January 5, Noon, ESPN2

The International Bowl in Toronto is one of the filler bowls between now and the championship game on Monday. Rutgers comes into the game after losing their last one against Louisville. The Scarlet Knights did not have the magical season, like in 2006, but going to another bowl is only helping the team on the recruiting front. Ball Stater comes into the game riding a two game winning streak, but if you examine their schedule you will see that none of their 7 wins came against teams from BCS Conferences. This will be the their first meeting since their 1989 game, which ended in a tie.

On offense, the Scarlet Knights are led by Junior Ray Rice, who ran for 1732 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. Rice only needs 62 yards to break his career high for yards in a season. To be honest, he should have no problem doing that against a Ball State team that gives up over 192 yards per game on the ground. Rice is the meat of the offense, but quarterback Mike Teel’s play usually tells you if it will be a win or a loss for the Knights. This season has been a bit better for Teel as he threw for 2844 yards with 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, down from last year. But not all the blame could be placed on Teel, he has some help now with quality receivers like Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood. Both of which had over 1000 yards receiving and a combined 13 touchdowns. On defense, the Knights are 2nd in the country against the pass and 13 in total defense. Gaining yards will be tough for Ball State in this game.

Ball State’s offense relies on their passing game, and they’ll be going up against the strength of the Rutgers defense. Nate Davis is the Cardinals’ quarterback and this year he has thrown for 3376 yards and 27 touchdowns. His two top targets are Dante Love and Darius Hill who have combined for 2100 yards and 18 touchdowns. But unless Ball State can get a running game established in this game, they are going to have a tough time moving the ball on Rutgers. On defense I already mentioned that Ball State is not good against the run, but they are second in the country in turnover margin and have 18 interceptions within their secondary. So they could force Teel to make some bad decisions and capitalized on them.

In five bowl games Ball State is 0-4-1 while Rutgers is going to its third consecutive bowl game after only going to one before that in their existence. We all remember the Cardinals coming one extra point away from beating Nebraska in Lincoln, but we found out later that Nebraska wasn’t very good, while Rutgers has some impressive wins on their resume over South Florida and Navy. I expect Rutgers to win mainly because of their balance and the fact that Ray Rice will have a field day against this porous Ball State run defense. The only question remaining is, will this be Ray Rice’s last game at Rutgers? Rutgers 35 Ball State 17

Picking Rutgers to Win (97%)
ITB Brian Sakowski, Sportsbone TV, Rizzo Sports, MizzouRAH, MidWest Coast Bias, The Enlightened Spartan, Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks, ITB Charlie Swager, ITB Ron Juckett, Football Frontier, The LSC Scoop, Corn Nation, Pitch Right, Kansas It’s Business Time, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, Greg Gowins, Lorena The Dodgerchick, Pete Boivin, Jason Stiver, Cyril Tircuit, Rodney Polston, Jeff Brancolini, Richard Dixon, Mrs Corn Nation, Brian Isaacson, Logan Jaffe, Brant Chruscial, Matt Kieta, Dan Schoonover, Lou Nemec, Timmy B

Picking Ball State to Win (3%)
Sunny Verma,

Kansas 11-1 (7-1), 1st Big 12 - North Division
vs
Virginia Tech 11-2 (7-1), 1st Atlantic Coast - Coastal

January 3, 8pm, FOX

Predicting Hawaii making a BCS game was not that much of a stretch when you consider the talent they had coming back and the schedule, but if you were to have predicted Kansas to be playing in a BCS game, I’d have to call you a genius. Kansas’ only loss this season was their season finale against, Missouri, and since the Jayhawks have been dogged because their schedule was ranked 109th out of 119th in the country, they feel they have a lot to prove against Virgina Tech. The Hokies started out the year a little rough, winning their first game but getting killed by LSU. That loss stuck with them, but they worked their way back up the rankings and lost a heart breaker to Boston College at home. Tech got revenge in the ACC Title game against Boston College, and that is why they are playing in this game. For more on this game check out the three part series over at Kansas It’s Business Time.

The Jayhawks have the 2nd ranked scoring offense in the country (4th in total offense), scoring 44 points per game, and a main reason for that is their quarterback Todd Reesing. Reesing leads the 14th ranked passing offense by throwing for 3259 yards with 32 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. As a whole, the Jayhawks don’t turn the ball over, boasting the number 1 ranked turnover margin. Brandon McAnderson and Jake Sharp have combined to rush for 1800 yards and 25 touchdowns, but if you watched the Missouri game, you will realize that this offense feeds off of Reesing. His two main receivers are Marcus Henry and Dexton Fields as the two combined to catch 15 touchdowns passes. On defense the Jayhawks are also tough ranking 6th in rushing defense, 14th in total defense, and 4th in scoring defense giving up only 16 points per game.

The Hokies have gone through a bit of a transformation on offense. Sean Glennon has matured throughout the year and has come a long way. He was injured half way through the season which allowed for Freshman Tyrod Taylor to get some reps. Coach Beamer has done a good job keeping both happy, using mainly Glennon, but Taylor will come in for a change of pace and to use his feet to create plays. The two have combined for 2600 yards and 16 touchdowns. Also coming along is their running back Branden Ore. A lot of people in Blacksburg were excited for Ore, but he productivity has not lived up to expectations. Although in his last few games he has regained some of his old flash and power. But enough with the offense, we all know the Hokies are built around defense and a strong special teams unit. The defense is once again one of the best in the country ranking 5th in rushing defense, 28th against the pass, 5th in total defense, and 2nd in scoring defense, allowing a little over 15 points per game. They are hoping that their linebacker Vince Hall, who is a game time decision, will play.

These two teams are very similar on the defensive side of the ball, but I don’t think Kansas has seen a team this season with the size speed combination that Virginia Tech will throw at them tonight. Kansas struggled offensively when they played against Missouri and I think they will encounter much more pressure from the Hokies. The Hokies offense is no juggernaut themselves, so they must protect the ball because Kansas is very good at causing turnovers. Unlike last night, I think this game is going to be a low scoring affair. I give the Hokies the edge on special teams and when their defense is going up against Kansas’ offense. So with that I am taking the Hokies. Virginia Tech 24 Kansas 14

Picking Kansas to Win (22%)
Kansas It’s Business Time, Pitch Right, Rizzo Sports, MizzouRAH, The Enlightened Spartan, Mrs Corn Nation, Jason Stiver

Picking Virginia Tech to Win (78%)
ITB Brian Sakowski, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, Sportsbone TV, MidWest Coast Bias, Bastard Sons of Pinfall Marks, ITB Ron Juckett, ITB Charlie Swager, Football Frontier, The LSC Scoop, Corn Nation, Richard Dixon, Brian Isaacson, Logan Jaffe, Brant Chruscial, Matt Kieta, Dan Schoonover, Lou Nemec, Timmy B, Greg Gowins, Sunny Verma, Lorena The Dodgerchick, Pete Boivin, Cyril Tircuit, Rodney Polston, Jeff Brancolini

Including tonight’s game, there are 5 bowl games remaining. Therefore, only a few people are still in the hunt for the Bowl Bonanza championship. The overall leader is in the Bloggers category, but there are a few people right on his tail. Remember a prize is awarded to a winner in each the Blogger and Reader category. The standings are below.