Bowl Picks - Ralph Virus

(I just received this email from Virus who can't make these picks himself because he's travelling at the moment and his computer won't connect with blogger so I'm going to post it exactly as I gets it.)

Hey, I can't connect to blogger so I can't post my picks and I'm about to head to the airport. I'm sending them to you so you can either post them or at least know that I made them before the games started. I think it has something to do with blogger being switched over to google. I moved my account, but I can't move the blog because you're the founder of it. Can you switch it over?

Anyway, you were +10 on the New Orleans bowl (+30 on the over, -20 on Rice to cover) if you want to chalk yourself.

Papajohns.com bowl
I want 50 on South Florida to cover
40 on the OVER
Comments: South Florida had a winning record in a very tough conference this year and mostly flew under the radar. Even in their losses, they were still competitve. Stack that up against an overmatched ECU team that did not exactly excel in a weak CUSA, and is also coached by Lou Holtz's son, Skip, and I think South Florida runs away with this one.

New Mexico Bowl
50 on San Jose State money line (+145)
Comments: New Mexico gets this game at home, but I'm not sold. This team lost to Portland State (not a D-1A school) and only has 2 victories on the year of 10 points or more (they were also the only 2 games of the season where New Mexico would have covered this spread, since all 4 of their other wins were by 3 points or less). They're very unimpressive on both sides of the ball. San Jose State played Boise State very close and were only really blown out by Hawaii in Honululu. I'm not sure what New Mexico is playing for here, but San Jose State doesn't want to end this remarkable turaround season (they were 2-9 last year) on a sour note, so I think they come out and pull off the upset.

Armed Forces Bowl
No money line posted for this game, I don't think it matters.
50 on Tulsa to cover
30 on the UNDER
Comments: Utah is riding a hot bowl streak coming into this game, but stats like that are meaningless in college football. Utah lost a heartbreaker to BYU recently while Tulsa was blown out earlier, but BYU vs Utah is a rivalry game, so comparing performance across teams there can be misleading. Overall, I like Tulsa's QB play a little more than Utah's, and I think their offense is a little more consistent and even. Utah's defense can be stingy, and Tulsa has lost 3 of their last 4 (after starting 7-1) but I can't go for another Mormon school in the bowl season, especially one that used to employ Urban Meyer. I like Tulsa for the upset here.

Hawaii Bowl
In case I can't get to a computer before Sunday night, I'll make this pick now.
70 on Hawaii to cover
Comments: Hawaii just lost a game to another Pac-10 opponent in Oregon State, but Arizona State isn't playing nearly as well as the Beavers right now. On top of that, Az St. just fired their head coach, and they have to make the trip to Hawaii on Christmas Eve to play this game. The Hawaii offense is just sickeningly effective and Colt Brennan puts up video game numbers in June Jones's offense. If the over/under were just a bit lower I'd be tempted to put a full 100 on the over, but I'm too ambivalent about the number as it is. I don't see how Arizona State has the firepower to keep up in this game, especially since everybody knows that Pac-10 teams don't play defense anyway. This game may be entertaining for a little while, but I think Hawaii runs away with it late.