Runway Challenge Week 13: Happy Thanksgiving

There's been a lot of bowl buzz around the Big East, a welcome late-season topic in Connecticut. Last fall, it became apparent before Halloween the Huskies would be home for the holidays. Not this year. It's a tight race around the league, with four teams fighting it out for the two good bowls. Discussion is hot, and the ol' blog entries and New Haven Register stories on the Sun Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl and UConn's potential place in them have helped fuel the chatter. Your trusty Runway blog has been linked to newspaper and fan websites around the conference, and it's always great to see cynicism and misinterpretation of my articles from other parts of our great country. Yours truly has been disparaged from 'Joisey (Oh! Not for nuttin', but dis' guy dun'no iz azz frum iz elbo!) to Tampa (where apparently not everyone is feasting on the Early Bird special before hitting a Bingo hall) to Cincinnati (they are happy to divert as much attention from the Bengals' records...both police and won-loss).

I've been making predictions on bowls the past few weeks, and it seems to me everything is still a muddled mess. Any team can wind up just about anywhere. Here's my post-turkey take.

IF WEST VIRGINIA
goes 2-0: BCS national championship game vs. LSU
goes 1-1: Fiesta Bowl vs. Texas
goes 0-2: Pat White, Steve Slaton and the Mountaineer mascot are being held hostage and Ace Ventura, Pet Detective is on the case.

IF UCONN...
beats West Virginia: Orange Bowl vs. Virginia Tech
loses to West Virginia: Meineke Car Care Bowl vs. Florida State

IF CINCINNATI
beats Syracuse and UConn wins: Sun Bowl vs. Oregon
beats Syracuse and UConn loses: Sun Bowl vs. Oregon
loses to Syracuse: Pigs actually will fly in Cincinnati

My predictions:

BCS championship: LSU vs. West Virginia
Sun Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Oregon
Meineke Car Care Bowl: UConn vs. Florida State
International Bowl: Rutgers vs. Bowling Green
Papajohns.com Bowl: South Florida vs. Southern Mississippi

And the weekly picks. I'm still woozy from the 16 pounds of turkey and stuffing I've consumed today, not including the turkey sandwich I'm about to eat at 10:15 p.m.

Game 1: Maryland (+2) over NC STATE
Game 2: South Florida (-10.5) over PITT
Game 3: Virginia Tech (-3.5) over VIRGINIA
Game 4: Wake Forest (pick 'em) over VANDERBILT
Game 5: GEORGIA TECH (+4) over Georgia
Game 6: UCLA (+1.5) over Oregon
Game 7: Florida State (+14) over FLORIDA
Game 8: WEST VIRGINIA (-17.5) over UConn
Game 9: Clemson (-3) over SOUTH CAROLINA
Game 10: Cincinnati (-20) over SYRACUSE
Game 11: AUBURN (-6) over Alabama
Game 12: KANSAS (-1.5) over Missouri

Last week's results
1. Sammy 8-4
2. Chip 7-5
Dan 7-5
PJ 7-5
Kooch 7-5
6. SeanO's Ghost 6-6
Pete 6-6
Will 6-6
9. Mitch 4-8
Caleb 4-8
11. Ian 3-9
12. Vinny 2-10

Overall standings
1. SeanO's ghost 83
2. Kooch 82
3. Sammy 80
4. Ian 73
5. Will L 72
6. Chip 71
7. Pete 67
8. Vinny from East Haven 64
9. Caleb Mandrake 61
10. Dan 59
11. DetroitTigersHater 47
12. Sturge-Rock 42
13. Mitch Kumpstein 41
14. Kevin 37
15. P.J. 29
16. Alex 16
17. Steve P 8
18. Luc 7
Jerry 7
Tonto Kowalski 7

We're down to the final two weeks, and it's a three-horse race! SeanO's Ghost, still in post-Shelton Gaels playoff berth celebration mode, needs to hold off Kooch and Sammy. Get your picks in. Click "comments", then cut and paste.

I've got a plane to catch in the morning (from JFK. What was I thinking?) See you in Morgantown.