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The bowl season starts with a bang when our Baylor Bears take on the UCLA Bruins on December 27 and culminates with perhaps the best matchup of the entire slate with the Snydercats facing the Oregon Ducks. My initial response to that game is that Oregon should be heavily favored, but I've underestimated Bill Snyder before, and this time he has basically an entire month to prepare for Chip Kelly's offense. That game will be one involving as diametrically-opposed teams as the Pac12 and Big 12 can offer. That's not actually the last game of the Big 12 season, however, with OU paired up the next day against the Aggies. A&M is a five point favorite as of this writing, and that sounds right.
Thursday, December 27
Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl, San Diego, Calif.:
Baylor vs. UCLA, 8:45 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Friday, December 28
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Houston, Texas:
Texas Tech vs. Minnesota, 8:00 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Saturday, December 29
New Era Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, N.Y.:
West Virginia vs. Syracuse, 2:15 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Valero Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, Texas:
Texas vs. Oregon State, 5:45 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Tempe, Ariz.:
TCU vs. Michigan State, 9:15 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Monday, December 31
AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Memphis Tenn.:
Iowa State vs. Tulsa, 2:30 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Tuesday, January 1
Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dallas, Texas:
Oklahoma State vs. Purdue, 11:00 a.m. CT (ESPNU)
Thursday, January 3
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, Ariz.:
Kansas State vs. Oregon, 7:30 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Friday, January 4
AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, Dallas, Texas:
Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M, 7:00 p.m. CT (FOX)
Overall, I like how things worked out for the Big 12. If asked to predict outcomes this far out (and I wasn't, but I will, anyway), I'd say Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, West Virginia, and TCU win their games, while Texas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma lose. I'm sure the fanbases involved with the latter games won't really appreciate that, but there it is. What are your thoughts?