There is no game on the weekly NFL schedule like Monday Night Football, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are keeping close tabs on all of the MNF games this year and taking our weekly look at the Monday Night Football game this week!

Note: All Monday Night Football games can be seen on ESPN, and all MNF kickoffs are slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET), except where noted.

This Week’s Monday Night Football Game Preview
Minnesota Vikings +3.5
New York Giants -3.5
Over/Under 46.5

With just one win between the two teams, the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants definitely aren’t providing the sexiest matchup on the docket, especially not for a Monday Night Football game. However, this is the game that we are tasked with this week, and we don’t expect it to be pretty.

Three of the main players in this game that will be racking up stats were free agents earlier this year. QB Josh Freeman for Minnesota is obviously the big one, as he is going to be making the start on Monday for the first time in his career outside of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, some forget about RB Brandon Jacobs and the newly acquired RB Peyton Hillis. These are really the only two guys in the backfield for the Giants that can carry the football, and as long as they keep two arms around the rock and don’t put it on the ground, Head Coach Tom Coughlin isn’t going to care.

The recipe for both these teams is very simple. Minnesota has to run the ball and force turnovers, real weaknesses of the Giants. The G-Men absolutely cannot stop turning the ball over, and the end result is game after game of disappointment. The ground attack ranks 26th in the league on the defensive side, and we don’t see things getting any better against RB Adrian Peterson. On the other side of the ball, the Giants have to put pressure on Freeman and make him use some of the playbook to beat them. There can’t possibly be that much chemistry between Freeman and his receivers. Playaction bombs seem to be the most effective play in the arsenal, and the only way to take that away is by taking away All Day. If AP goes off for 30 carries and 220 yards, this game won’t even be remotely close, and it will be the third in a row in which the boo birds are gawking at the Giants the whole night at home.

Minnesota has won four of the last five games in this series, including taking two straight here in the Meadowlands. However, the Giants won the most recent meeting 21-3, and they held the Vikes down to just 161 yards in the game in 2010. If that’s what happens again, New York will surely get its first victory of the campaign.

As always, the games on the Sunday Night Football schedule are the best of the bunch to end a full weekend of football, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are taking care of our Sunday Night Football preview each and every week, as well as providing you with an up to date schedule of all of the Sunday Night Football games on the docket for the 2013 season.

Note: All Sunday Night Football games can be seen on NBC, and all SNF kickoffs are slated for 8:30 p.m. (ET). The ability to flex games starts in Week 10.

This Week’s Sunday Night Football Game Preview
Denver Broncos -6.5
Indianapolis Colts +6.5
Over/Under 56

We have seen every single Sunday Night Football game this year feature at least 29 points scored by the winner, and we can just about darn near guarantee that that is going to be what happens in this one once again in Week 7. The Denver Broncos are scoring points at a ridiculous clip this year, and they’ll take on the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Field.

Of course, the headline here is going to be about QB Peyton Manning coming back to Indy, the city that he essentially built from a football perspective. Manning now is leading the best offense he has arguably ever had, and that’s saying a lot, knowing that he had a season where he threw for the most touchdowns in NFL history at the time. However, what is really getting to us is the fact that this defense isn’t all that great. Some of it is the circumstance of always playing from ahead, and that means lots of soft zones and such, but we have seen this unit look horrid against QB Tony Romo and the Cowboys and now at times against QB Chad Henne and the Jaguars. One of those is excusable. The other isn’t. There are definitely flaws in this undefeated side.

Indy is far from perfect as well, and the argument could be made that this team was fortunate to beat both Seattle and Oakland at home this year. However, the Colts are the worthy AFC South leaders in our eyes, and we have to imagine that they are going to want to stretch out this lead even more. Indy is already a game up on the Titans and two up on the Texans, and both teams are big underdogs this week. QB Andrew Luck is taking over for the departed Manning, and he is going to try to be the next great Colts quarterback to lead this team for a decade. Luck is another one of these once-in-a-generation types of talent, and he’ll go far, but is he ready to really take down a man that has already carved out a Hall of Fame career?

Watching the NFL betting trends here is sickening. Do you care that Manning has five straight wins and covers in this series or the fact that the Colts have five straight wins and covers in this series? The truth of the matter is that Luck was still a frosh at Stanford the last time that these two teams played, and that really probably prompts you to throw out the record books.

Our Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers picks are set and ready to go at Bankroll Sports, but if you’re looking for a bit of a different way to take advantage of some of the Monday Night Football prop bets, you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re going to be breaking down some of the best NFL props on the board for Monday Night Football, all of which come courtesy of Diamond Sportsbook.

Andrew Luck Under 280.5 Passing Yards – We’re really not all that sure at what the oddsmakers have been looking at here with Luck. He hasn’t come anywhere near this total of passing yards but once all season long in a game, and though he is going against a bad secondary, he also is only throwing the ball right around 30 times per game on the season. If Luck is only going to put the pill in the air 30 times in this game, he is going to have to average right around nine yards per attempt, and we know that he isn’t going to do that more often than not. Especially at +100 odds, we have to think that this is a winning bet more than half the time to make us winners.

Coby Fleener To Score a Touchdown (+125) – Fleener has had himself a good second season, and without TE Dwayne Allen there to steal his targets, the Stanford grad is really shining. He has scored a touchdown in two of his three games this year, but he has been targeted in the end zone in four of the five. Luck is going to complete more of his shots into the end zone than you’d think, and we have to remember that this San Diego defense has had no luck whatsoever defending against tight ends this year. Remember Monday Night Football the first time that the Chargers played on it this year? They allowed three touchdowns to the tight ends of the Houston Texans. We only need one in this one, and we think that Fleener is going to be the man that gets it in at least half of his games.

Philip Rivers Under 290.5 Passing Yards – Rivers has put up three games with at least 400 passing yards this year, but this is a very good Indianapolis secondary that he is going up against that ranks fifth in the NFL against the pass. Sure, Rivers could rack up a bunch of garbage yards, and that might end up beating us, but we are believers that this is going to be a close game one way or the other. Remember that in the two games where Rivers didn’t throw for 400 yards, he also didn’t even throw for 200 yards. Eventually, he’ll settle somewhere in the middle, and we have to think that right around 250 yards is about right for the man from NC State.

Keenan Allen Over 4 Receptions – Asking Allen to get to four receptions to push and five to win seems like a decent bet to us at this point. The rookie out of Cal has had 11 receptions, but more importantly 19 targets in his last two games, proving that he is the man that Rivers is going to love to throw the rock to when he gets the chance to do so. Some of the shots have been deep that Allen has gotten, and though that isn’t really going to help us in terms of receptions, we do think that quantity in this case will be good enough to outshine the lack of quality that some of the throws have had to Allen over the course of the last two weeks.

Antonio Gates To Not Score a Touchdown – It’s only a pick ’em prop, and we think that “no” should be the favorite here by a sizeable margin. The Colts haven’t allowed a tight end to find the end zone against them this year, and in most of the games that they have played, tight ends have caught two passes or fewer. Gates has had himself a good season, but he isn’t getting all of the looks from Rivers in the end zone as he used to. We think that this is a man that could be in for a decent night, but the end zone isn’t in the cards more often than not in all likelihood.

The Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers are left standing as the two teams to battle it out on the ALCS odds in 2013. Which one will advance to fight it out on the World Series lines? We have all of the answers for you here at Bankroll Sports!

The Boston Red Sox (AL Championship Odds: 1.05 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) have officially come back from the dead. They were all but down 2-0 in the ALCS before getting some more Red Sox magic. We’ve seen this team do it time and time again, but in this case, they got a grand slam from DH David Ortiz to save this series. Ortiz went on to ultimately win the game in the ninth inning. We think that this one proved for sure that the Sox have the better bullpen and the better clutch hitting in this series. The question is going to be whether the starting pitching can really keep up. The truth of the matter is that every single game in this series is going to feature better starting pitching for the Tigers than the Red Sox. They’re going to have to find ways to keep these games close down the stretch and ultimately win them late on, because they aren’t likely to get the better starting pitching. That said, it really feels like that win in Game 2 might be what propels this team to the next level once again. The World Series might be beckoning once again in Beantown, and you can bet that the fans there are going to make life a living hell on Detroit if this series goes back to Fenway Park.

The Detroit Tigers (2013 Odds To Win AL Championship: 1 to 1.25 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) though, do have the home field advantage in this series from here, and that can’t be forgotten. It also can’t be forgotten that the team should be up 2-1 at the end of the night on Tuesday, knowing that RHP Justin Verlander is going to be on the mound. Verlander has put up 28 straight zeroes, and not only is he slated to pitch Game 1 of this series, but Game 7 as well if it gets that far. Detroit would like to think that winning two games here in Motown would be good enough to have this series at least in command up 3-2. However, there are still some issues. This offense hasn’t had a remarkable game in this postseason yet, save for Game 4 against the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS, and inevitably, this is going to have to be what picks this team up. It has to be nice to know that a ton of pitchers combined on a no-hitter in Game 1 of this series, but it has to be just a demoralizing that four relievers each gave up one run apiece against the Sox in Game 2 to blow what should have been the game to go up 2-0. The Tigers have a lot of work to do, but they are the favorites for the time being in this fantastic series.

2013 MLB Odds to Win AL Championship @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 10/14/13):
(Get a HUGE 50% Bonus at 5Dimes.com When Using This Link)
Boston Red Sox Win AL Pennant +105
Detroit Tigers Win AL Pennant -125

The 2013 NFL season and schedule are here, and that means that there are going to be some big time games over the course of the whole campaign. Join us for the 2013 Thursday Night Football schedule and check out all of the NFL games on the NFL Network this year!

Note: All Thursday Night Football games can be seen on the NFL Network except where noted, and all kickoffs are slated for 8:20 p.m. (ET).

This Week’s Thursday Night Football Game Preview
Seattle Seahawks -6
Arizona Cardinals +6
Over/Under 41

The Seattle Seahawks are starting to pull away from the rest of the pack in the NFC West, and there is no reason not to think that they won’t win the division title from here. They have the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football this week, and this battle is going to be stingier than you are probably thinking.

Head Coach Bruce Arians has the Cardinals really believing that they belong to be playing in games like these. They really had a chance against the San Francisco 49ers last week, and if not for four turnovers, they probably would have won the game. Instead, they are just 3-3, and though they are on the outside of the playoffs looking in, there is a real chance to make some noise over the course of these next three games. The team doesn’t leave home now for a month, and it has to capitalize even though it might be an underdog in all three of these clashes ahead with Seattle, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Houston Texans. QB Carson Palmer has turned the ball over a ton this year, as he is responsible for 11 picks and a good chunk of the team’s 15 turnovers.

That has to really have this Seattle defense smiling. The Seahawks have forced nine interceptions this year, many of which have come in the fourth quarter of games. DB Richard Sherman has a knack for the big play at the big moment, and you can bet that Palmer is going to want to stay away from him. Seattle hasn’t played nearly as well on the road as it has at home, but the truth of the matter is that the team really has only played one tremendously impressive game this season, that being the 29-3 win over the 49ers in Week 2. A win over the Jacksonville Jaguars was no great shakes, and a victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 wasn’t phenomenal either. Since then, there are three games against AFC South teams, and all three of those games could have been lost, yet all three really should have been won.

The Seahawks have had no luck whatsoever going on the road to the desert. The Cardinals have won and covered six of the last seven meetings between these two. Most remember the fact that Seattle won 58-0 when these two teams met last December, but they don’t remember the fact that a significantly worse Arizona team than this one came away with a win when these two hooked up here at University of Phoenix Stadium in September.

The 2013 college football season is now halfway over with, and here at Bankroll Sports, we are going to be taking a look at all 35 of the bowl games and trying to project which 70 of the teams in college football are going to be playing in bowl games when push comes to shove in December and January.

Be sure to Bookmark This Page (Internet Explorer Only), as this will also act as your 2013-14 bowl schedule, with the bowl dates and times for all of the biggest games of the postseason!

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List of Bowl Eligible Teams By Conference (through Week 7)
AAC: Louisville Cardinals
ACC: Clemson Tigers, Virginia Tech Hokies
Big XII: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Big Ten: Ohio State Buckeyes
MAC: Ball State Falcons, Northern Illinois Huskies
Pac-12: Oregon Ducks
SEC: Missouri Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, LSU Tigers

Right now, there are only 11 bowl eligible teams, but that list is clearly going to be growing as the season wears on, as there are even a few conferences that have not been accounted for the season yet when it comes to bowl eligibility.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl – Saturday, December 21st, 2:00 ET
Utah Utes vs. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (Pac-12 #7 vs. MWC #5)
New Mexico Bowl Projection: Utah’s win over Stanford puts it back on the Pac-12 bowl ladder, and it gives the team the assurance that it is absolutely going to be playing in the second season this year. UNLV already has four wins, and it is on the best run that Head Coach Bobby Hauck has been on in his coaching tenure in Sin City. The Las Vegas Bowl might reach to keep the Rebs at home, but if not, this is a logical spot to be falling to.

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl – Saturday, December 21st, 3:30 ET
Boise State Broncos vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (MWC #1 vs. Pac-12 #5)
Las Vegas Bowl Projections: Arizona State has earned its way up the Pac-12 bowl ladder, but the bottom line is that this conference is so good that something has to give. QB Taylor Kelly and the crew are awesome, and it would be a shame if it were to lose in the Pac-12 title game and end up getting dropped all the way here to Las Vegas as a result. This is about the best that Boise State can hope for, though winning out and winning the Mountain West keeps the door to the BCS at least slightly ajar.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Saturday, December 15th, 5:30 ET
San Jose State Spartans vs. Bowling Green Falcons (MWC #6 vs. MAC #3)
Potato Bowl Projections: It’s not a great matchup by any stretch of the imagination, but it would be interesting to see QB David Fales take on this Bowling Green defense, which is quietly one of the better ones amongst mid-major teams in the country. The Spartans have a lot of work to do in the second half of the season to get to six wins, but it has enough winnable games on the docket where it shouldn’t be a massive problem. The hope is that that last game of the year against Fresno State isn’t the maker or breaker.

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – Saturday, December 21st, 9:00 ET
Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns vs. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (Sun Belt #1 vs. C-USA #7)
New Orleans Bowl Projections: The Cajuns have a tough game early this week on the road against Western Kentucky. Win that game though, and it could be clear sailing to the Sun Belt title and the bid to the New Orleans Bowl. MTSU has a long road ahead of it in Conference USA just to qualify for a bowl game, but we have held firm with this being one of the top teams in the conference.

Beef O’Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl – Monday, December 23rd, 2:00 ET
Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Tulane Green Wave (AAC #6 vs. C-USA #5)
Beef O’Brady’s Bowl Projections: The Green Wave back in a bowl game! Tulane has been one of the pleasant surprises this year in Conference USA, and though we don’t think that it is going to last, this is a nice spot for them to be going for a bowl game after a 7-5 season. Rutgers has only had two losses this year to Fresno State and Louisville, and this is surely one of the better teams in the AAC. It’s just not good enough to win more than eight or nine games at the most in front of QB Gary Nova.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl – Tuesday, December 24th, 8:00 ET
Rice Owls vs. Wyoming Cowboys (C-USA #2 vs. Hawaii/MWC #5)
Hawaii Bowl Projections: It wouldn’t be the prettiest Hawaii Bowl ever, but at least it would be a plausible one. East Carolina and Tulsa feel like they are always contenders for the Hawaii Bowl, and this year is going to be no exception on both accounts. Wyoming played out of its mind against Nebraska, and it ended up snaring a win last week to level itself at 1-1. The Cowboys are going to be a tough sell to get to six wins in the Mountain West, but someone is going to do it, and the boys from Laramie are a real possibility.

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl – Thursday, December 26th, 6:00 ET
Arkansas State Red Wolves vs. Toledo Rockets (Big Ten #8/Sun Belt #3 vs. MAC #2)
Little Caesars Bowl Projections: Arkansas State is really only the third best team out of the Sun Belt, as we think that there is a real drop from Western Kentucky and Louisiana Lafayette down to the rest of the pack. The Red Wolves have the easiest schedule left of the bunch and are the most likely to get to eight wins, though seven will probably be enough. Toledo’s losses at the start of the year to Florida and Missouri don’t look all that bad now. The Rockets are legitimately one of the best teams in the MAC and will get some respect for sticking with both of the SEC East teams.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl – Thursday, December 26th, 9:30 ET
Army Black Knights vs. San Diego State Aztecs (Army/At Large vs. MWC #2)
Poinsettia Bowl Projections: Keeping San Diego State at home still makes the most sense for as long as it is a team that we think is going to reach bowl eligibility. It’s going to take one upset this year for the Aztecs to get the job done, but we think they’ll reach six. Army too, needs to go 3-2 in its last five games to get into the Poinsettia Bowl, and it very well could come down to the Army/Navy Game to determine whether the Cadets are bowling or not. We think they’ll be good, with or without the win over the Middies.

Military Bowl – Friday, December 27th, 2:30 ET
Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs. Arizona Wildcats (C-USA #6/MAC #4 vs. ACC #8)
Military Bowl Projections: All of these teams in the Pac-12 have to end up somewhere for bowl games, and replacing the ACC seems like a logical choice in the Military Bowl. It’s not an ideal bowl spot for the boys from Tucson, but bowl bids are bowl bids. That’s sort of what Tulsa would feel like at this point as well. This very well could end up being an at large vs. at large game when push comes to shove, especially if two of the three of Clemson, Miami, and Florida State end up in the BCS and the ACC perhaps doesn’t end up represented this deep down the ladder.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas – Friday, December 27th, 6:00 ET
TCU Horned Frogs vs. Northwestern Wildcats (Big 12 #6 vs. Big Ten #6)
Meineke Car Care Bowl Projections: You’ll notice that our projections for Big Ten bowl teams stop here. Perhaps Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, or Illinois will become eligible, but all of those teams are going to need at least one massive upset to keep the bowl dream alive. Northwestern, which probably is legitimately one of the Top 25 teams in the land won’t need any help to get in. It just has to take care of business. TCU too, is one of these teams that we think is very good, though pushing Oklahoma and LSU yet coming up short in both games doesn’t prove a ton.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl – Friday, December 27th, 9:30 ET
BYU Cougars vs. USC Trojans (BYU/ACC #9 vs. Pac-12 #6)
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Projections: We have a really good feeling that this is going to be what the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl looks like this year. BYU has already beaten one of the big boys of college football in Texas, and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl would love to bring a big name here to this bowl game this year to take on the Cougs. USC is about as big of a name as it gets, and with new Head Coach Ed Orgeron leading this team back in the right direction again, the hope for going bowling is increased.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Saturday, December 28th, 12:00 ET
Kansas State Wildcats vs. Houston Cougars (Big 12 #7 vs. AAC #4)
Pinstripe Bowl Projections: Head Coach Bill Snyder has a team that is going to have to struggle just to get into a bowl game this year. With just two wins in its first six games and no wins in its first three in conference play, the Cats have some work to do, though the schedule pretty much gives them five wins for sure. It’s a question as to whether that sixth will get scratched out. Houston is quietly 5-0 this year, and there is no way that the AAC is going to keep this team from winning at least eight or nine.

Belk Bowl – Saturday, December 28th, 3:20 ET
Duke Blue Devils vs. UCF Knights (ACC #5 vs. AAC #3)
Belk Bowl Projections: Once we get down to the sixth team in the ACC, we’re doing a lot of guessing. None of the rest of these teams strike us as teams that are absolutely going to bowl games this year. Duke is already at four wins, and we have to think that it is going to scratch out two more somewhere in the second half of the season to qualify for a bowl game. UCF has played tough this year, and it is one gaffe against South Carolina away from being perfect to this point in the season. Still, we have to assume that the team is going to lose to Louisville, which would pretty much end any BCS dreams in the first year in an automatic qualifying conference.

Russell Athletic Bowl – Saturday, December 28th, 6:45 ET
Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Virginia Tech Hokies (AAC #2/Notre Dame vs. ACC #3)
Russell Athletic Bowl Projections: V-Tech is very quietly a 6-1 team this year, and that one loss came at the hands of Alabama. We aren’t sure whether the Hokies or the Hurricanes will get the nod here, and odds have it, the winner will go to Atlanta, while the loser will come to Orlando. For as much as we would love to see Notre Dame drop, we have to imagine that the Russell Athletic Bowl is going to take the Fighting Irish unless it wants to keep the hometown team in UCF. The Knights have a lot of work to do to move up from here, though.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl – Saturday, December 28th, 10:15 ET
Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. Michigan Wolverines (Big 12 #4 vs. Big Ten #5)
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Projections: Points would surely be aplenty in this one, as the Wolverines would take on the Cowboys in a wild Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on the final Saturday of the year. We’re projecting both of these teams to be beaten at least twice over the course of the rest of the year, which is going to be a sin for both teams. Both had to think that the BCS was a great accomplishment this year, but both are now stuck in the middle rung of their respective conferences bowl ladders.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl – Monday, December 30th, 11:45 ET
Navy Midshipmen vs. Utah State Aggies (Navy/C-USA #3 vs. MWC #4)
Armed Forces Bowl Projections: Not a lot is changing right now on the MWC bowl ladder, as we still think that Utah State is going to be third best in the Mountain Division. QB Chuckie Keeton has done a great job this year, but this defense still isn’t good enough to beat the big boys in conference play as we see it. Navy just needs to get to six wins, and it should be alright, even without the Army/Navy Game at the end of the year. There are enough cupcakes left on the schedule, though the Commander-In-Chief Trophy would be the biggest reward of the season.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – Monday, December 30th, 3:15 ET
Pittsburgh Panthers vs. Missouri Tigers (ACC #6 vs. SEC #7)
Music City Bowl Projections: Missouri is the ninth best team as we see it right now in the conference, and that’s saying something considering the fact that it is still undefeated and just went on the road and beat a Top 10 team in Georgia. However, losing QB James Franklin for the rest of the regular season is going to be a killer for this team. Pitt only has two losses this season to Florida State and V-Tech, and this is a team that is going to be happy to be going anywhere but Birmingham for its bowl game after three consecutive trips to the BBVA Compass Bowl the past three seasons.

Valero Alamo Bowl – Monday, December 30th, 6:45 ET
UCLA Bruins vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders (Pac-12 #2 vs. Big 12 #3)
Alamo Bowl Projections: Both of these teams are undefeated at this point in the season, and both are going to try to convince us that they are worthy of being BCS teams. UCLA can prove it this week on the road against Stanford, while Texas Tech’s only road into the biggest bowl games of the year is by winning the Big XII, something that is definitely at least plausible at this point. If this was the game at the Alamo Bowl, it would be a heck of a showdown in which a ton of points would be put on the board for sure.

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl – Monday, December 30th, 10:15 ET
Washington Huskies vs. Texas Longhorns (Pac-12 #3 vs. Big 12 #5)
Holiday Bowl Projections: The Huskies have dropped to 4-2, but we still think that they are amongst the best 25 teams in the land this year. Their losses to Oregon and Stanford can’t be considered the end of the world, and winning out might even keep a slight door open for the BCS to at least consider, especially if Stanford slides again. Texas made a huge step in the right direction when it won the Red River Rivalry, and a few more big wins like that, and Head Coach Mack Brown will be talking about the BCS as perhaps the Big XII champs.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl – Tuesday, December 31st, 12:30 ET
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. Wyoming Cowboys (ACC #7 vs. MWC #3)
Independence Bowl Projections: The Cowboys can definitely ball this year, and their 2-0 start in the Mountain West is going to help out quite a bit. Imagine how good this team could have been had QB Austyn Carta-Samuels not transferred to Vandy! Meanwhile, Georgia Tech’s triple option has been causing all sorts of problems in the ACC, and though this team won’t be back in the ACC title game once again this year, it will have enough to comfortably get into a bowl game.

Hyundai Sun Bowl – Tuesday, December 31st, 2:00 ET
Maryland Terrapins vs. Oregon State Beavers (ACC #4 vs. Pac-12 #4)
Sun Bowl Projections: Does anyone realize that Oregon State hasn’t lost a game since losing to Eastern Washington to start off the season? The Beavers are legit, and they could still be a surprising player in the race in the Pac-12 North this year. Maryland’s chances of winning the ACC title went up in smoke when the team was beaten by seemingly 100 against Florida State on the road last week, and though the Terps are going to have more troubles at the quarterback position this year, they’ll still figure out how to get to at least seven wins to ensure a spot in a game no worse than the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Tuesday, December 31st, 4:00 ET
Marshall Thundering Herd vs. SMU Mustangs (C-USA #1 vs. SEC #8/AAC #7)
Liberty Bowl Projections: The Thundering Herd are already the only team on the East side of Conference USA to not lose a game, and save for East Carolina, this is the only team worth a hoot on this side of the conference. SMU only has one win, and asking it to win five more is going to be tough. Head Coach June Jones will get this figured out though, as the rest of the season isn’t nearly as bad as what we have seen early on in the season.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl – Tuesday, December 31st, 8:00 ET
Miami Hurricanes vs. Ole Miss Rebels (ACC #2 vs. SEC #5)
Chick-fil-A Bowl Projections: Head Coach Gus Malzahn has done a remarkable job with the Tigers this year, and they could be set for one of the big time bowl games this year. Ole Miss has been fighting all year long against one of the toughest schedules in the land. The next five games are all at home though, and there isn’t another game played outside of Mississippi. Finishing 8-4 is a distinct possibility, and we think that would be good enough to land the SEC #5 spot.

Heart of Dallas Bowl – Wednesday, January 1st, 12:00 ET
North Texas Mean Green vs. East Carolina Pirates (Big Ten #7 vs. C-USA #4)
Heart of Dallas Bowl Projections: If North Texas gets to six wins this year, the Mean Green could find themselves with a spot in a bowl game. They have a better fan base that will probably travel, especially in the Lone Star State than some of these teams from the Mountain West that might have bigger enrollments. It’s a gutsy pick to make, but for now, we love what UNT is bringing to the table. East Carolina is bringing a lot of offense to the table, but a horrifyingly bad defense. The points would be flying onto the board if this was how this panned out.

Gator Bowl – Wednesday, January 1st, 12:00 ET
Michigan State Spartans vs. Florida Gators (Big Ten #4 vs. SEC #6)
Gator Bowl Projections: The final score of this game might legitimately be 7-3. Michigan State and Florida are all about their defense, and neither team has an offense whatsoever, especially with both starting quarterbacks from the outset of the year now sitting on the bench. Michigan State could quietly make it to the Big Ten Championship Game. Florida could still win the SEC East as well, but that looks significantly less likely. A 7-5 season is a lot more likely in Gainesville as we see it.

Capital One Bowl – Wednesday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Wisconsin Badgers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (Big Ten #2 vs. SEC #2)
Capital One Bowl Projections: South Carolina is the one team that hasn’t lost to a team that it probably had no business losing to, and as a result, it deserves its spot in the Capital One Bowl. Wisconsin has only been beaten twice this year, and the bowl selection committees are going to have no problem overlooking the game against Arizona State as a game that should have been won and the game against Ohio State as one that could have been won. The Badgers probably aren’t being beaten again this year, and this would be a fitting bowl game to go to.

Outback Bowl – Wednesday, January 1st, 1:00 ET
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Georgia Bulldogs (Big Ten #3 vs. SEC #4)
Outback Bowl Projections: Nebraska is once again going to be one of the best teams in the Big Ten, and once again, that probably isn’t going to be good enough to seriously challenge for the Rose Bowl bid. QB Taylor Martinez has been out, and the truth of the matter is that few outside of Lincoln have even noticed. This team will be remembered for its collapse against UCLA. Georgia meanwhile, was shocked at home by Mizzou last weekend, and that is really going to knock it down the bowl ladder. The good news is that the toughest games are now all said and done with, though there are a few games which could provide trips ahead.

Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio – Wednesday, January 1st, 5:00 ET
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Stanford Cardinal (BCS vs. BCS)
Rose Bowl Projections: Though Stanford was beaten by Utah, it still has every chance to get into the BCS. The Pac-12 is going to bring two teams in all likelihood, and one of those teams is going to have two losses. Regardless of whether the Cardinal lose to the Ducks or not, Pasadena is probably the location due to the fact that Oregon would be in the National Championship Game if it wins that game, and probably in the Sugar Bowl if it lost. Ohio State has beaten Wisconsin and Northwestern, but you can already see in the polls that it is going to be the fourth best of the undefeated teams this year after Alabama, Oregon, and the winner of the Clemson/Florida State game. The Buckeyes need three teams to lose in front of them to get into the Promised Land.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Wednesday, January 1st, 8:30 ET
Baylor Bears vs. Fresno State Bulldogs (BCS vs. BCS)
Fiesta Bowl Projections: And here we have our non-AQ school busting the BCS! Fresno State has eight more wins that it needs to get in order to be in the BCS, but it is clear that this is going to happen for either Fresno State or Northern Illinois this year if this is how it pans out. These two are in the Top 25 early enough in the season to continue to matriculate their way up the rankings, and we don’t think that the Big XII is going to have a team in the Top 14 this year, which will make it very easy to get a team like Fresno in. Baylor is the best of the worst right now in the wide open Big XII, and though this conference might be very good from top to bottom, it has nothing in terms of being top heavy, and that is going to cost the conference. It’s going to be fun to watch Head Coach Art Briles’ team in whatever bowl game it goes to.

Allstate Sugar Bowl – Thursday, January 2nd, 8:30 ET
LSU Tigers vs. Florida State Seminoles (BCS vs. BCS)
Sugar Bowl Projections: We’re flipping in LSU at this point even though the Bayou Bengals were beaten by Georgia “Between the Hedges” a few weeks ago. QB Zach Mettenberger and the gang have proven that they are the real deal, and even though this team isn’t going to win the SEC West, going 10-2 and losing to Georgia and Alabama is good enough to stay in the BCS race as we see it. FSU probably needs to beat two of the three of Clemson, Miami, and Florida to get into the BCS this year, though if it beats Clemson, odds have it, it will be in the ACC Championship Game and will get into the ACC title game regardless of what happens against the Canes. The story of QB Jameis Winston continues to grow.

Discover Orange Bowl – Friday, January 3rd, 8:30 ET
Clemson Tigers vs. Louisville Cardinals (BCS vs. BCS)
Orange Bowl Projections: Even though the Tigers are underdogs this week to Florida State, we are still projecting them as the ACC champs, as we think that they have a great chance of winning that game. We have no reason to believe that either Clemson or Louisville are slipping at this point in their own conferences. The Cards will probably run the table and put up a stink for the National Championship Game, but the BCS isn’t going to allow it. The Tigers have a loss coming to South Carolina, but we think they have proven to be the best team in the ACC this year thus far.

AT&T Cotton Bowl – Friday, January 3rd, 7:30 ET
Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas A&M Aggies (Big 12 #2 vs. SEC #3)
Cotton Bowl Projections: We’re getting closer to a Texas/Texas A&M Cotton Bowl, but instead, we think that there is going to be a rematch of last year’s game. The Aggies could still be thinking about the BCS, but we think that they are going to be losing at LSU later this year to drop out of the game. There are a lot of great teams in the SEC West, but none are more logical to bring to the Lone Star State than A&M. Oklahoma’s loss to Texas was shocking, and it probably took it right out of the BCS picture for the time being. There’s a lot of work to do to win this conference, but someone with two Big XII defeats will probably ultimately take the automatic bid to the Fiesta Bowl.

BBVA Compass Bowl – Saturday, January 4th, 1:00 ET
Auburn Tigers vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (SEC #9 vs. AAC #5/Sun Belt #4)
BBVA Compass Bowl Projections: Auburn would be carrying the hometown crowd here to the Compass Bowl, and we would have no doubt that this would be a great game. Cincy could be a factor in the AAC this year, but things are going to really have to get going under QB Brendon Kay if that is going to turn out to be the case. This would also be an interesting matchup between Bearcats’ Head Coach Tommy Tuberville and the Auburn team that he helped put on the map for a good chunk of his coaching career.

GoDaddy.com Bowl – Sunday, January 5th, 9:00 ET
Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (MAC #1 vs. Sun Belt #2)
GoDaddy.com Bowl Projections: If the Hilltoppers can beat ULL this week on national television, our perception changes of this club quite a bit. It might all of a sudden become the favorite to win the conference. There are clearly only going to be a few bids up for grabs in the Sun Belt, and WKU is going to want to make sure that it snares one of them. Northern Illinois might be a BCS team once again this year, but it is going to need both Boise State and Fresno State to lose once again in all likelihood to have any chance of that happening.

Allstate BCS National Championship Game – Monday, January 6th, 8:30 ET
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Oregon Ducks (BCS #1 vs. BCS #2)
National Championship Game Projections: We’re halfway through the season, and the plan that we had at the start of the year really has no choice but to stay in place. Oregon might have the best team in the nation, but it is never going to hop Alabama to be the #1 team in the land for as long as the Crimson Tide are alive and kicking. This would be the National Championship Game for the ages, as this would be the best Oregon team that we have seen in quite some time with a potential Heisman Trophy winner in QB Marcus Mariota going against a team going for its third straight National Championship and the fourth in the last five seasons. We’re not so sure that it won’t be Oregon against the ACC winner or Ohio State this year though, as we do think that Alabama could trip at some point. We aren’t replacing the Tide until they do, though.

We are just two weeks into the college football season, and it is very clear that some of the coaches that were on the hot seat are once again really in some deep trouble when push comes to shove. Join us today at Bankroll Sports as we look at our college football coaches on the hot seat in 2013.

FIRED Lane Kiffin, USC Trojans – Kiffin’s days were numbered before this season ever started. It really is clear that this is a man that shouldn’t be leading a major college football program. It wasn’t Kiffin’s fault that he was handcuffed by scholarship limitations the entire time that he was at USC, but the bottom line is that his 65 guys should be more talented than the 85 guys on the other side of the field more often than not. Expectations were higher than what ever could have reasonably been expected, and they eventually blew up in USC’s face with Kiffin being shown the door.

FIRED Don Treadwell, Miami (OH) Redhawks – We really didn’t see this one coming. The Redhawks have been bad for quite some time, but they were epically bad at the start of this season. Something had to be changed, and what ended up happening was the dismissal of both the head coach and the offensive coordinator of the team. Has anything gotten better since Treadwell’s dismissal? Not really. The team is still one of the worst at the FBS level this year, and we know FCS teams that would scoff at how bad this unit really has turned out to be.

FIRED Paul Pasqualoni, Connecticut Huskies – This UConn team might be the worst of all of the automatic qualifying schools in the entire country. Pasqualoni inherited a team that had just gone to the BCS and was at its height. There was no way that that expectation could have become the regular in Storrs, but at least staying competitive was a reasonable goal. That’s all that was asked of Pasqualoni, and he couldn’t even do that. This team was losing far too many games to teams like Towson, Buffalo, and South Florida to warrant anyone in this football program keeping their jobs.

Charlie Weis, Kansas Jayhawks – Weis is still very much so in some trouble this year, though at least he has some competitive games under his belt and an offense that looks like it is starting to get its act together. Still, a couple Big XII wins is the minimum expectation this year in Lawrence, and if not, expect this team to fire its third coach in the last five years.

Ron English, Eastern Michigan Eagles – English knows that his days in Ypsilanti are numbered. Eastern Michigan just never got better during his tenure, and time is out to prove that he is really the man to lead this team to the next level. Forget about a bowl game and forget about the idea that this could be a competitive team in the MAC. No competitiveness will surely send him out the door in the first week of December at the latest.

Mack Brown, Texas Longhorns – Is Brown going to be asked to step down at the end of the season? Almost certainly. We just don’t see how the regents in Austin are going to tolerate any more mediocrity out of Brown. However, this is a man that did just upset Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, and getting that Gatorade bath might be the last great memory that we have of him as a coach. Just the thought of perhaps bringing in Nick Saban to coach this team in 2014 is enough to want to get Brown out the door as soon as possible.

Norm Chow, Hawaii Warriors – Hawaii was atrocious last season, and what we are seeing is that the team is once again atrocious. This pro style offense is at least tolerable to watch, but the Warriors don’t have the talent to execute, especially in the trenches. This team is getting killed both along the OL and the DL, and Chow has no answers. At just 3-15 in two seasons with the Warriors, Chow is clearly in a lot of trouble.