Will take Utah + 9 1/2 and ML and Ole Miss (+4) and ML today.
There's a lot of angles that can go into why a team is selected over another. I believe in a few but rely on my own two eyes first then I take into consideration angles. For the 1st pick Utah, they play well enough to win. They have two victories this year that can't be overlooked, TCU and Org State. Seeing Ore State beat USC (not a fluke) and then again Pitt the other day gives credibility to Utah that, for example, Hawaii, another non-BSC school, didn't have last year when they were routed by Ga. This Utah matchup reminds me more of Boise St beating Oklahoma the previous year than anything else. Now for Alabama, they come from the best conference in college football, the SEC, however Alabama doesn't have the kind of offense that can put a lot of distance between them and good teams..they tend to play tight games...forget about beating the Auburn's of the world, ..they have a methodical wear you down kind of team..but I think Utah has the kind of offense that they, like Boise two years ago, can respond.. Saban's a great coach but have to think this game means a lot more to Utah than Bama....Bama's season ended in the SEC title game. see a back and forth game with Utah winning by a field goal, 27-24 in the one big upset in the Bowl games.
Now for the 2nd game....like the Rebels to win this one straight up as well. Texas Tech wide open offense will be matched by Miss excellent and underrated QB who's really as good as the Texas Tech QB. Both teams can score and will. In a similar way as I give Utah much credit for beating Or State and TCU, I can't ignore Miss legitimately beating Florida, (they or USC are the best teams in the nation)...this win wasn't a fluke...they outmuscled Florida and if they can outmuscle Florida, they certainly can do the same with Texas Tech. Texas Tech has played really no one outside their conference..and the Big 12 sure looks like a "no D" conference to me...to me, the Offenses are even in this game..the D goes to Miss...Miss 45 Texas Tech 31.
There's a lot of angles that can go into why a team is selected over another. I believe in a few but rely on my own two eyes first then I take into consideration angles. For the 1st pick Utah, they play well enough to win. They have two victories this year that can't be overlooked, TCU and Org State. Seeing Ore State beat USC (not a fluke) and then again Pitt the other day gives credibility to Utah that, for example, Hawaii, another non-BSC school, didn't have last year when they were routed by Ga. This Utah matchup reminds me more of Boise St beating Oklahoma the previous year than anything else. Now for Alabama, they come from the best conference in college football, the SEC, however Alabama doesn't have the kind of offense that can put a lot of distance between them and good teams..they tend to play tight games...forget about beating the Auburn's of the world, ..they have a methodical wear you down kind of team..but I think Utah has the kind of offense that they, like Boise two years ago, can respond.. Saban's a great coach but have to think this game means a lot more to Utah than Bama....Bama's season ended in the SEC title game. see a back and forth game with Utah winning by a field goal, 27-24 in the one big upset in the Bowl games.
Now for the 2nd game....like the Rebels to win this one straight up as well. Texas Tech wide open offense will be matched by Miss excellent and underrated QB who's really as good as the Texas Tech QB. Both teams can score and will. In a similar way as I give Utah much credit for beating Or State and TCU, I can't ignore Miss legitimately beating Florida, (they or USC are the best teams in the nation)...this win wasn't a fluke...they outmuscled Florida and if they can outmuscle Florida, they certainly can do the same with Texas Tech. Texas Tech has played really no one outside their conference..and the Big 12 sure looks like a "no D" conference to me...to me, the Offenses are even in this game..the D goes to Miss...Miss 45 Texas Tech 31.