Hey Tex, You’re Gonna Need A Bigger Six-Shooter

Tonight at 9:00 PM in a game carried on ESPN, No. 22 LSU takes on unranked Texas Tech in the Advocare Texas Bowl.  The last time these two schools met on the gridiron was 58 years ago.  LSU won that game 19-14.

My friend Diogenes is a rabid Tigers fan and even though I am a Bama fan, I’ll be rooting hard for LSU tonight.  I feel strongly that the Bayou Bengals are going to maul the Red Raiders and here’s why:

It’s only a little more than a 4-hour drive down I-10 from Baton Rouge to Houston, so expect NRG Stadium to be filled to the rafters with fans dressed in purple and gold.  Tigers fans want their 2015 season to end on a high note after losses to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss.

The sports “experts” claim the Red Raiders have an advantage over LSU with quarterback Patrick Mahomes who is touted as “one of the best in the nation.”  Brandon Harris stumbled badly for LSU towards the end of the season but Head Coach Les Miles has had a month to build Harris’ confidence back up.

Look out for Leonard Fournette to run wild against a Texas Tech defensive liNe that has more holes in it than Swiss cheese.  Heisman committee, you’ll regret not inviting Fournette to your little trophy party in New York.  No. 7 is going to take his anger out tonight.

If LSU’s offensive line can avoid being penalized and protect their passer, they can wreak havoc on the Red Raiders.  Malachi Dupre was one of Harris’ favorite receivers and though the advantage goes to Texas Tech for wide receivers and tight ends LSU can be explosive.

Finally, LSU players love ‘em some Les Miles.  This will be the first game for Miles and the Tigers since the dramatic regular-season finale against Texas A & M in which Miles’ job status was in jeopardy before athletic director Joe Alleva announced afterward that Miles would continue at LSU as head coach.

I don’t dare predict the final score of tonight’s game, but rest assured this game will be a slobberknocker and that is, after all, why we love the game of college football.

GEAUX TIGERS!

WRECK TECH!

Yes, Football: Indiana Vs Duke

Honestly, the only college football game I give a fig about is the New Year’s Eve game from the Cotton Bowl between my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan State Spartans.  Meanwhile, there’s a seemingly unending string of meaningless bowl games to be played before we get to the big game.

As Christopher Gasper noted in the Boston Globe, “’Tis the season for irrelevant and superfluous college football games.”  Gasper compares bowl games to Christmas tree ornaments—you always collect more than you need and piling too many on turns the look from appropriately festive to annoyingly tacky.”  The bowl games have literally been willed into existence. 

Nothing, in my opinion, is tackier than two schools celebrated for their basketball prowess playing in the most famous baseball stadium playing an inconsequential football game.

I’m referring to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.  The game will be aired at 3:30 PM on ABC.  As a rabid Duke Basketball fan, I was surprised at Duke’s fairly successful football season. 

Because the time is fast approaching when true college football fans will face desolate Saturdays without their favorite sport, I will tune in to watch the Duke Blue Devils take on the Indiana Hoosiers.

Who will win?  The Hoosiers won their four opening games and lost six games.  Duke won six games to open their season and lost four straight.

PREDICTION:  Duke wins by a basket in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Other games on the slate:

Connecticut vs Marshall 11:00 AM ESPN St. Petersburg Bowl

Miami vs Washington St 2:00 PM CBS Hyundai Sun Bowl

Washington vs Southern Mississippi 2:20 PM ESPN Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl

Tulsa vs Virginia Tech 5:45 PM ESPN Camping World Independence Bowl

UCLA vs Nebraska 9:15 PM ESPN Foster Farms Bowl

That'll do it in Yankee Stadium! Duke 44 Indiana 41! #GoDuke #PinstripeBowl pic.twitter.com/IMhIrumfox

— Duke Football (@Duke_FB) December 27, 2015