Thursday Bowl Pick ‘Em Update and Schedule

Well, I skipped the update yesterday and today... the Anchor of Gold Bowl Pick ‘Em standings look quite a bit different.

With seven bowl games over the past two days, some users at the bottom of the standings — who’d apparently been holding back their big picks — are starting to make a charge. Your Uncle Mike went 7-0 between Tuesday and Wednesday and as such finds himself shooting up the standings — and with the third-highest maximum points total on the board. And Import’s sterling overall picks record is starting to pay off. Definitely do not fade Import in the bowl pick ‘em. (Myself, I went 6-1 over the last two days, missing on the Cheez-It Bowl but nailing everything else.)

That said, would you rather be Import or Your Uncle Mike right now — playing from behind, but with a lot of points still on the board — or RSFarley or jeturn — with a lot of points already in the bank, even if you don’t have as much still on the board? I’d rather be leading now and betting against Import’s hot streak continuing, myself.

Anyway, on to Thursday’s bowl schedule. So far, nothing’s been cancelled.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: North Carolina (6-6) vs. South Carolina (6-6) (10:30 AM CT/ESPN, Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina)

Ho-hum, a six-win SEC team against a six-win ACC team, in a venue that’s close to both schools. So at least there should be a good crowd, but in terms of these two teams, it’s hard to imagine different situations. South Carolina, which went 2-8 last year and wasn’t expected to do much in its first year under Shane Beamer, is absolutely thrilled to be here. North Carolina, on the other hand, was a preseason top 10 team and being a 6-6 team playing in Charlotte is a massive disappointment. Then again, the Tar Heels are almost certainly the better team here.

Music City Bowl: Purdue (8-4) vs. Tennessee (7-5) (2:00 PM CT/ESPN, Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee)

This, on the other hand, is the rare second-tier Power 5 bowl matchup where both teams are probably happy to be here. Because if you told either Purdue or Tennessee before this season that they would win, respectively, eight and seven games and play in the Music City Bowl, they’d absolutely take that. As for this game, our rooting interests are clear. Hammer up.

Peach Bowl: Michigan State (10-2) vs. Pitt (11-2) (6:00 PM CT/ESPN, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia)

This matchup suddenly looks a lot less enticing with the respective opt-outs of Michigan State RB Kenneth Walker and Pitt QB Kenny Pickett. I would actually bet on this being a less compelling game than the Music City Bowl earlier in the day.

Las Vegas Bowl: Arizona State (8-4) vs. Wisconsin (8-4) (9:30 PM CT/ESPN, Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada)

Arizona State feels like the most anonymous 8-4 Power 5 team out there. Like, I legitimately did not realize they went 8-4 this year, because they just completely fell off everyone’s radar after dropping October games to Utah and Washington State. (Get a better TV deal, Pac-12.) Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s probably not thrilled with 8-4, even after a 1-3 start; they won seven in a row before dropping the regular season finale at Minnesota. I don’t know what to think of this game, but I probably won’t stay up for it.