The early game (Humanitarian Bowl) features the blue turf above. The later game (Holiday Bowl) will show the whale below, a lot. EDSBS suggests that you not center a drinking game around seeing the whale.

Bowling Green (7-5) v. Idaho (7-5)-Humanitarian Bowl. If you can stand looking at that blue turf, I assume it won't be snow covered (latest weather forecast said 40% chance of snow in Boise for the afternoon and cloudy and cloudy and really cold for the nighttime), take a look at this game. 7-5 teams from the MAC and the WAC might not seem all that appealing on the face of it. These are teams going in different directions. Idaho became bowl eligible early and slumped and dropped their last three games coming into this matchup. Bowling Green comes into the bowl game on a four game win streak. Both teams have great players to watch on offense whom you might not have heard of. Bowling Green's Freddie Barnes has 138 receptions, this year, not for his career. The NCAA record for grabs in one season is 142 (set by Houston's Manny Hazard in 1989). Both teams pass the ball well, but Idaho also has a solid ground game. Idaho's QB Nathan Enderle, much improved this season in reducing his INTs, is sporting a QB rating of 155.75. His counterpart for the Falcons is no slouch. Tyler Sheehan has thrown for over 3600 yards this season along with 23 TDs to only 6 INTs. Idaho's running game is a three-headed monster of DeMaundray Woolridge, Princeton McCarty and Deonte Jackson. These three backs help the Vandals rush for over 160 yards per game. Bowling Green has struggled against the run all season and allow almost 200 yards rushing per game. Idaho's secondary has been regularly shredded by the opposition's passing. Looking at total defense, BGSU is 83rd in the country and Idaho is 105th. Whether or not we have a replay of the Georgia v. Texas A&M matchup might depend somewhat on the weather. However, I think this game mostly comes down to Idaho getting their run game established. The ball control provided by 125 plus yards on the ground will help them limit the fireworks of the Falcons passing game. I think the Vandals will be able to run the ball well and win the game. Lincoln is also picking Idaho.

While the early game features offenses first, the Holiday Bowl is going to come down to defense. Arizona's Coach Mike Stoops and Nebraska's Bo Pelini have pretty good pedigree when it comes to the defensive side of the ball as both have won a national championship as an assistant at Oklahoma and LSU, respectively. The Cornhuskers have the House of Spears, also known as Ndamukong Suh. This guy is better than some teams' whole defensive line. See the comparison here. The Arizona Wildcats don't have any player quite like Suh, but they play good team defense. Arizona and Nebraska aren't going to wow you offensively, but Arizona is a little more adept at this facet of the game. The key matchup in the game is Suh versus the offensive line of Arizona. If Wildcats QB Nick Foles has time in the pocket he might be able to do more damage than the one dimensional (running the ball with Roy Helu) Cornhuskers attack can make up. Suh destroyed the O-line of Texas by himself and the Longhorns gave up 9 sacks in the Big 12 Championship game. I'm picking Nebraska for that reason and because Arizona is favored. Bo Pelini likes the underdog role and he's 2-0 at Nebraska in bowl games. Lincoln's choice is also Nebraska--this has nothing to do with the capital of the State being named for him.

News to chew on during the bowl games: Mike Leach has been fired by Texas Tech. Craig "Pony" James (father of Adam James--the Red Raiders player who made allegations against Coach Leach of being improperly treated following a concussion) will be part of the Holiday Bowl broadcast team.