BOWLNANZA!: The International Bowl

Cincinnati (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (8-4)

Not much was expected of Cincinnati this year. The Bearcats were sliding in C-USA, and a move to the tougher Big East brought a 4-7 record. More of the same was forecasted, especially with games at Virginia Tech and Ohio State on the out of conference slate. Well, Cincy may have lost those games, but they still finished a surprising fourth in the Big East, and did it by skill, rather than luck. Coach Mark Dantonio parlayed this into the Michigan State job, but Cincy may have upgraded by hiring Brian Kelly, who'll be coaching this game, away from MAC champions Central Michigan. I've often criticized Cincinnati for being the most boring team alive, and statistically, that's pretty true. About the most notable thing is a top-3o rushing defense, and other than that, the Bearcats do nothing excellently or horribly.

Western Michigan was a surprise team in the MAC last year, and after graduating two second-round picks (WR Greg Jennings and TE Tony Scheffler), the Broncos have somewhat surprisingly kept it up again this year. The offense is led by QB Ryan Cubit, son of coach Bill, who had a decent year with 1954 yards and a 15/11 TD/INT ratio. RB Mark Bonds also ran for 1082, but he's been demoted to third-string for the game for disciplinary reasons and likely won't see the field. No matter, the Broncos strength is their defense, ranked a surprising 11th in yardage, and the unit that memorably derailed Garrett Wolfe's Heisman hopes.

WMU may be missing their starting running back, but Brian Kelly apparently having yet to know his starting running back's name isn't a good sign, at least for this game. Or maybe he's just as bored by the Bearcats as everyone else. The Broncos' top-ten rush defense probably means the game will be up to the two-headed Cincinnati QB, and, well, one of them (Dustin Grutza) doesn't even have more TDs than picks (9 vs. 13.) Under Dantonio, it'd be a crapshoot, and I might still lean towards Western, but with the Broncos being a solid team and the Bearcats' coach yet to get settled in, I'm going for the moderate upset, Mark Bonds or not.

My Pick: Western Michigan
Confidence (out of 5): 1