BOWLNANZA!: The Emerald Bowl

Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5)

Florida State and Miami entered the season as favorites in the ACC, and darkhorses in the national title chase. Florida State and Miami ended the season at 6-6. Miami axed their head coach, while the blame at FSU was laid upon offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden, who resigned late in the year. The change didn't really help though, as the Seminoles offense barely broke 250 yards against Western Michigan, and didn't even do so in the season-ending game against Florida. Though the sad thing is, it may still be an improvement over where it was, as the team only gained 226 against Clemson, 179 in beating Miami, and 180 against Wake Forest. A few big games against the likes of Rice, Troy, and Duke help inflate the season numbers to a respectable 322 yards/game, but those paltry Western Michigan numbers don't suggest the offense will fare that well against UCLA.

The UCLA Bruins had a great year last year, but took an expected step back this season. The season started off well, with an impressive win against Utah and some easier games against Rice and Stanford, but QB Ben Olson got knocked out for the year in game #5 against Arizona. Backup Patrick Cowan's played well, but either the yardage or score was close in losses to Notre Dame, Oregon and Cal, and one wonders if Olson could've been the difference. Still, it wasn't a lost year, head coach Karl Dorrell finally beat a team with a winning record on the road, as UCLA took out Arizona State late in the year. Oh yeah, plus they ended the season by beating top rival USC and knocking them out of the national title game in one of the big upsets of the year.

Fun fact: Florida State actually outgained UCLA this year, 322 yards/game to 321.4. And really, UCLA's offense isn't that great either, as the Bruins didn't even crack 250 in that upset against USC, though they did put up 529 in losing to Cal. UCLA will probably be favored because of that upset and Florida State's poor perception right now, but you almost have to pretend the USC game didn't happen -- these teams are about even. The game's in San Francisco, so the crowd should essentially make this a home game for UCLA. That's almost enough to make me pick the Bruins, but Dorrell doesn't have a good history in big games (outside of that one huge recent example), and FSU has a lot more talent. A lot more talent that's gone to waste this year, but still. Don't prove me wrong, Noles.

My Pick: Florida State
Confidence (out of 5): 1