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Predicting Who Plays the Toughest Schedule

Phil Steele — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:31:12 +0000

The question arises each year, “Who plays the toughest schedule?” At the beginning of the season, the NCAA usually releases a rating of each team’s schedule based on their opponents’ win/loss record from the previous season. This is a good method but it does have its obvious flaws.

The first flaw is basing the ratings on opponents’ records from the previous season. Let’s look at a couple of examples. At the start of 2007 I had Illinois rated as one of the top teams in the Big Ten and they went on to knock off #1 Ohio St and play in the ROSE BOWL. My ratings had them as an above avg opponent at the start of the year and they finished the regular season #13 (AP). Using 2006’s record as the criteria for determining the strength of an opps’ schedule, however you would count them as a 2-10 team!

The second flaw is basing it on pure overall records. If a team plays a FCS (IAA) school that was 11-1 in 2007, that would have counted as a MUCH tougher game in the NCAA ratings than facing a team like Alabama who was 7-6 in ‘07 but #1 at the end of ‘08 regular season! My ratings had Bama ranked as a much tougher team than an FCS foe.

Let’s first look at the NCAA rankings. Below is a chart of all 120 teams and the combined 2008 opponents’ records from last year. It is ranked in order of highest % of opponent wins (or toughest schedule) to lowest % of opponent wins (or easiest schedule). This is the same chart that was printed on page 317 in last year’s college preview magazine.

2009′s Opponent Winning % Preseason NCAA Method

(Based on 2008 Records)

rk	name	foe wins	foe loss	foe win %
1	Florida St	101	55	64.70%
2	Oklahoma St	97	55	63.80%
3	Syracuse	98	57	63.20%
4	S Carolina	98	58	62.80%
5	Auburn	96	58	62.30%
6	Baylor	95	58	62.10%
6	Miss St	95	58	62.10%
8	Wyoming	94	59	61.40%
9	Texas Tech	91	59	60.70%
10	Miami, Fl	93	61	60.40%
11	Minnesota	91	61	59.90%
12	Oklahoma	91	62	59.50%
13	Maryland	92	63	59.40%
14	New Mexico	89	63	58.60%
15	Clemson	90	64	58.40%
15	Virginia	90	64	58.40%
17	Louisville	89	65	57.80%
17	NC State	89	65	57.80%
19	Virginia Tech	90	66	57.70%
20	San Jose St	87	64	57.60%
21	UNLV	88	65	57.50%
21	Vanderbilt	88	65	57.50%
23	Arkansas	87	65	57.20%
23	Georgia Tech	87	65	57.20%
23	USF	87	65	57.20%
26	Iowa	87	66	56.90%
27	Indiana	85	65	56.70%
28	Illinois	86	66	56.60%
28	Michigan St	86	66	56.60%
30	Duke	87	67	56.50%
31	Nebraska	85	67	55.90%
31	West Virginia	85	67	55.90%
33	N Carolina	86	68	55.80%
33	Tennessee	86	68	55.80%
35	Oregon	83	68	55.00%
35	Utah St	83	68	55.00%
37	Miami, Oh	84	69	54.90%
37	Wake Forest	84	69	54.90%
39	East Carolina	85	70	54.80%
39	Pittsburgh	85	70	54.80%
41	Kansas	82	68	54.70%
41	Michigan	82	68	54.70%
43	Georgia	83	69	54.60%
44	Florida	82	69	54.30%
44	Kentucky	82	69	54.30%
46	UCF	83	70	54.20%
46	Wisconsin	83	70	54.20%
48	Colorado	81	70	53.60%
48	Colorado St	81	70	53.60%
50	Kansas St	80	70	53.30%
51	LSU	81	71	53.30%
51	Washington	81	71	53.30%
53	Boston College	82	72	53.20%
54	Missouri	79	70	53.00%
55	BYU	80	71	53.00%
55	Tulsa	80	71	53.00%
57	Arizona	79	71	52.70%
57	Texas	79	71	52.70%
59	Stanford	80	72	52.60%
60	Air Force	77	70	52.40%
61	Memphis	79	72	52.30%
62	Tulane	78	72	52.00%
63	Bowling Green	79	73	52.00%
63	Connecticut	79	73	52.00%
63	Purdue	79	73	52.00%
66	C Michigan	80	74	51.90%
67	Rice	79	74	51.60%
68	Texas A&M	76	73	51.00%
69	Cincinnati	77	74	51.00%
69	Houston	77	74	51.00%
71	SMU	78	75	51.00%
72	New Mexico St	82	79	50.90%
73	Rutgers	70	68	50.70%
74	Iowa St	75	73	50.70%
74	San Diego St	75	73	50.70%
76	California	76	74	50.70%
77	Washington St	77	75	50.70%
78	Utah	75	74	50.30%
79	UTEP	77	76	50.30%
80	Fresno St	76	76	50.00%
80	Nevada	76	76	50.00%
80	Ohio St	75	75	50.00%
80	Oregon St	75	75	50.00%
80	Toledo	75	75	50.00%
85	Navy	82	83	49.70%
86	Notre Dame	76	77	49.70%
87	FIU	75	76	49.70%
87	USC	75	76	49.70%
89	North Texas	74	76	49.30%
89	TCU	74	76	49.30%
91	WKU	73	75	49.30%
92	Mississippi	68	70	49.30%
93	Hawaii	80	83	49.10%
94	Arizona St	74	77	49.00%
95	Penn St	73	76	49.00%
96	UAB	74	78	48.70%
97	Temple	73	78	48.30%
98	E Michigan	72	78	48.00%
98	UCLA	72	78	48.00%
100	Louisiana Tech	71	77	48.00%
101	Marshall	72	79	47.70%
102	Ohio	70	79	47.00%
103	Boise St	77	87	47.00%
104	ULM	68	80	45.90%
105	Buffalo	66	80	45.20%
106	Southern Miss	68	83	45.00%
107	Akron	67	82	45.00%
108	Louisiana	66	81	44.90%
109	Idaho	68	84	44.70%
110	Alabama	67	83	44.70%
111	Northwestern	66	83	44.30%
112	N Illinois	65	83	43.90%
113	Arkansas St	64	83	43.50%
113	Troy	64	83	43.50%
115	W Michigan	65	86	43.00%
116	Army	64	85	43.00%
116	Middle Tenn	64	85	43.00%
118	Ball St	63	85	42.60%
119	Kent St	63	86	42.30%
120	Florida Atlantic	61	86	41.50%

Now let’s take a look at my rankings which were included on page 318 in last year’s magazine and are listed below.

These rankings take two major factors into account. The first is my 9 sets of Power Ratings. This ensures that an FCS team is rated much lower than Miami, Fl which was 7-6 in 2008.

The second factor is the amount of home and away games played. As an example, this year some teams will have as many as 8 home games, while others play as many as 8 on the road.

Phil Steele’s 2009 Toughest Schedules Preseason

Rank	Team	Rk	Team	Rk	Team	Rk	Team
1	S Carolina	31	Missouri	61	Iowa St	91	Southern Miss
2	Florida St	32	Indiana	62	NC State	92	Fresno St
3	Oklahoma	33	Purdue	63	Kansas St	93	Louisiana Tech
4	Mississippi St	34	Florida	64	East Carolina	94	Nevada
5	Minnesota	35	Nebraska	65	San Jose St	95	E Michigan
6	Arkansas	36	Notre Dame	66	USF	96	New Mexico St
7	Georgia	37	Wake Forest	67	UAB	97	C Michigan
8	Virginia Tech	38	UCLA	68	Alabama	98	WKU
9	Tennessee	39	Ohio St	69	Rice	99	Toledo
10	Michigan St	40	Texas	70	Cincinnati	100	Hawaii
11	Oregon	41	Texas A&M	71	BYU	101	Louisiana
12	Miami, Fl	42	Illinois	72	Penn St	102	San Diego St
13	Virginia	43	Connecticut	73	New Mexico	103	ULM
14	Oklahoma St	44	Wyoming	74	UNLV	104	Temple
15	Auburn	45	Clemson	75	FIU	105	North Texas
16	Washington	46	Colorado	76	Tulane	106	Rutgers
17	USC	47	Boston College	77	Mississippi	107	Idaho
18	Baylor	48	Arizona St	78	Colorado St	108	Arkansas St
19	Texas Tech	49	Louisville	79	Houston	109	Troy
20	Washington St	50	N Carolina	80	Utah St	110	Buffalo
21	LSU	51	California	81	Utah	111	Middle Tenn
22	Stanford	52	Kentucky	82	UTEP	112	N Illinois
23	Vanderbilt	53	Wisconsin	83	Bowling Green	113	Akron
24	Arizona	54	Pittsburgh	84	Marshall	114	W Michigan
25	Maryland	55	Oregon St	85	Northwestern	115	Ball St
26	Kansas	56	UCF	86	Miami, Oh	116	Florida Atlantic
27	Georgia Tech	57	Memphis	87	Navy	117	Boise St
28	Iowa	58	Duke	88	TCU	118	Army
29	Michigan	59	West Virginia	89	Air Force	119	Ohio
30	Syracuse	60	Tulsa	90	SMU	120	Kent St

Below is the final Opponent Winning % based on 2009 records. I have taken out the teams record in these rankings. For example, Ohio St’s opponents actual record were 82-70 (53.9%) on the season but when you take out the Buckeyes 11-2 record, the opponent record jumps to 80-59 (57.5%) On the flip side, Western Kentucky opponents finished 75-75 (50%) on the season but when you take out the Hilltoppers 0-12 record it falls to just 63-75 (45.7%). I don not think good teams should be penalized for beating a majority of their opponents while weaker teams get rewarded for not winning a majority of their games.

Final 2009 Opponent Winning % Preseason

(based on 2009 Records)

Rank	Team	Foe Wins	Foe Losses	Foe Win %
1	Miss St	97	47	67.36%
2	Florida St	91	50	64.54%
3	S Carolina	91	51	64.08%
4	Arkansas	89	52	63.12%
5	Minnesota	86	53	61.87%
5	West Virginia	86	53	61.87%
7	IOWA	85	53	61.59%
8	Virginia Tech	88	55	61.54%
9	Miami, Fl	86	54	61.43%
10	Georgia	86	55	60.99%
11	Syracuse	85	55	60.71%
12	Pittsburgh	83	54	60.58%
13	Virginia	87	57	60.42%
14	Oregon	84	56	60.00%
15	Michigan St	82	55	59.85%
16	Arizona	83	56	59.71%
16	Auburn	83	56	59.71%
16	Oklahoma	83	56	59.71%
19	Alabama	81	56	59.12%
20	Illinois	81	58	58.27%
20	LSU	81	58	58.27%
22	Louisville	81	59	57.86%
22	Oklahoma St	81	59	57.86%
24	Miami, OH	82	60	57.75%
25	Clemson	79	58	57.66%
26	Ohio St	80	59	57.55%
27	Connecticut	79	59	57.25%
27	N Carolina	79	59	57.25%
29	Baylor	80	62	56.34%
29	Wake Forest	80	62	56.34%
31	Florida	77	60	56.20%
32	Washington	79	62	56.03%
33	Tennessee	80	63	55.94%
34	Georgia Tech	76	60	55.88%
34	USF	76	60	55.88%
36	Wisconsin	77	61	55.80%
37	Colorado	79	63	55.63%
38	Penn St	76	61	55.47%
38	Texas	76	61	55.47%
38	Wyoming	76	61	55.47%
41	East Carolina	77	62	55.40%
42	Missouri	76	62	55.07%
43	Marshall	77	63	55.00%
44	TCU	75	62	54.74%
45	Texas Tech	76	63	54.68%
45	UNLV	76	63	54.68%
47	Notre Dame	77	64	54.61%
47	Utah St	77	64	54.61%
49	Mississippi	74	62	54.41%
50	Fresno St	75	63	54.35%
51	Kansas	76	64	54.29%
51	Tulane	76	64	54.29%
53	Oregon St	74	63	54.01%
54	Colorado St	75	64	53.96%
54	Maryland	75	64	53.96%
56	Memphis	76	65	53.90%
56	San Jose St	76	65	53.90%
56	Washington St	76	65	53.90%
59	Kansas St	74	64	53.62%
59	Kentucky	74	64	53.62%
59	USC	74	64	53.62%
62	Cincinnati	73	64	53.28%
63	FIU	74	65	53.24%
63	Purdue	74	65	53.24%
65	Vanderbilt	75	66	53.19%
66	Indiana	72	64	52.94%
67	NC ST	73	65	52.90%
68	Bowling Green	74	66	52.86%
69	Louisiana Tech	75	67	52.82%
70	Nebraska	71	64	52.59%
71	Air Force	72	65	52.55%
72	UCLA	72	66	52.17%
73	SMU	73	67	52.14%
74	Duke	71	66	51.82%
75	Buffalo	72	67	51.80%
75	San Diego St	72	67	51.80%
75	UCF	72	67	51.80%
78	Navy	76	71	51.70%
79	Rutgers	69	65	51.49%
80	California	71	67	51.45%
81	New Mexico	72	68	51.43%
82	Michigan	69	66	51.11%
83	Boston College	70	67	51.09%
83	BYU	70	67	51.09%
85	Arizona St	71	68	51.08%
86	Iowa St	69	67	50.74%
87	Texas A&M	70	68	50.72%
88	Rice	72	70	50.70%
89	Akron	70	69	50.36%
90	Utah	68	68	50.00%
91	Stanford	68	69	49.64%
92	Hawaii	75	77	49.34%
93	New Mexico St	73	75	49.32%
94	Ball St	69	72	48.94%
94	UAB	69	72	48.94%
96	Boise St	72	76	48.65%
97	Nevada	66	72	47.83%
98	Troy	65	71	47.79%
99	Temple	66	73	47.48%
100	Tulsa	66	74	47.14%
101	Louisiana	64	72	47.06%
102	ULM	63	73	46.32%
103	Idaho	63	75	45.65%
103	North Texas	63	75	45.65%
103	WKU	63	75	45.65%
106	E Michigan	62	76	44.93%
106	Florida Atlantic	62	76	44.93%
108	Arkansas St	61	75	44.85%
109	Houston	58	76	43.28%
109	Southern Miss	58	76	43.28%
111	C Michigan	57	75	43.18%
112	UTEP	60	79	43.17%
113	Northwestern	58	77	42.96%
114	Toledo	58	80	42.03%
115	Ohio	55	79	41.04%
116	Kent St	56	81	40.88%
117	N Illinois	55	81	40.44%
118	Army	52	85	37.96%
119	Middle Tenn	50	84	37.31%
120	W Michigan	50	85	37.04%

So who is more accurate the NCAA or Phil Steele when it comes to predicting strength of schedule?

Pre-Season Rankings Compared to Final	Phil Steele	NCAA
# of Predicted Rankings Exact	7	2
# of Pred Rank +/- 3	22	17
# of Pred Rank +/- 5	31	26
# of Pred Rank +/- 10	47	44
Overall Phil Steele 64-54-2

As you can see I predicted 7 teams’ schedule strength exactly right (Arkansas St, Army, Florida St, Louisiana, Minnesota, Virginia and Virginia Tech) compared to just 2 for the NCAA. I also came within 3 final ranking spots of 22 teams compared to just 17 for the NCAA and overall my preseason predictions ended up being more accurate than the NCAA for 64 teams (54%)!

Here are a couple of examples which prove why my rankings are superior. In the preseason the NCAA had New Mexico facing the 14th toughest schedule based on 2008 opponent records. The Lobos faced a grand total of 2 BCS conference teams! There are 65 BCS conference schools and ALL 65 would love to have traded their schedule for New Mexico’s, which my ratings ranked as the 73rd toughest schedule. When the 2009 season concluded New Mexico finished with the 81st toughest schedule based on opponent win % which was 67 spots lower than the NCAA predicted but just 8 spots below where I had them ranked in the preseason!

Also According to the NCAA’s method, NCSt played the 17th toughest schedule and Alabama faced the 110th toughest (11th easiest). Coming into the season Alabama’s opponents 2008 records were 67-83 (44.47%) while NC St opponnents were 89-65 (57.8%) in 2008. The two teams did have 2 mutual opponents in South Carolina and Virginia Tech but Alabama played in a much tougher conference. When the 2009 season concluded my schedule strength was far more accurate than the NCAA. Alabama opponents finished 81-56 (59.1%) while NC St opponents finished 73-65 (52.9%). The Crimson Tide finished with the 19th hardest schedule which was 91 spots higher than what the NCAA predicted! NC St meanwhile finished with 67th hardest schedule just 5 spots lower than what I predicted but 50 spots lower than what the NCAA predicted!

Ohio St opponents were just 75-75 in 2008 and the NCAA ranked the Buckeyes schedule as the 80th hardest in the preseason while I had them facing the 39th toughest schedule. When the season concluded Buckeye opponents went 80-59 (57.6%) and finished with the 26th toughest schedule which was 54 spots higher than the NCAA but just 13 spots higher than my rankings.

This year when you are looking at your favorite teams schedule make sure to check my rankings compared to what the NCAA has and see for yourself who is more accurate. I will be be back on Wednesday to take a look at this year’s toughest schedules.

NCAA Stats for Players in Bowls

Phil Steele — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:57:15 +0000

Each and every day at PhilSteele.com I will be giving you more information and stats on all 34 bowl games so you can become an expert on each bowl matchup. Today’s blog will break down NCAA Statistics for Players participating in bowls.

Don’t forget to join my “Bowl Confidence Contest”that has great cash prizes!! Check out the homepage for more details. Picks are due by Saturday December 19th at 4:30 pm EST.

Also make sure to check PhilSteele.com everyday for complete information and coverage on all the bowl matchups. On the homepage click on the Bowl matchups link, where you will find all 34 bowl games. Click on the bowl logo for each game to get all the information you need to become an expert!

QB PASS EFFICIENCY

Rank	Player, Team	Gm	Att	Comp	%	Int	Int %	Yds	Ydspatt	TD	TD %	Rating
1	Kellen Moore, Boise St	13	392	254	64.8	3	0.77	3325	8.48	39	9.95	167.35
3	Max Hall, BYU	12	379	256	67.55	14	3.69	3368	8.89	30	7.92	160.93
4	Andy Dalton, TCU	12	279	174	62.37	5	1.79	2484	8.9	22	7.89	159.59
5	Case Keenum, Houston	13	659	468	71.02	9	1.37	5449	8.27	43	6.53	159.27
6	Ryan Mallett, Arkansas	12	367	210	57.22	7	1.91	3422	9.32	29	7.9	157.81
7	Nathan Enderle, Idaho	10	284	177	62.32	9	3.17	2666	9.39	18	6.34	155.75
8	Tim Tebow, Florida	13	279	182	65.23	5	1.79	2413	8.65	18	6.45	155.59
9	Tony Pike, Cincinnati	9	293	184	62.8	6	2.05	2350	8.02	26	8.87	155.36
10	Dan LeFevour, Central Mich	13	401	285	71.07	6	1.5	3043	7.59	27	6.73	154.04
11	Bill Stull, Pittsburgh	12	297	192	64.65	8	2.69	2470	8.32	21	7.07	152.45
13	Levi Brown, Troy	12	448	290	64.73	9	2.01	3868	8.63	22	4.91	149.44
14	Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech	12	226	126	55.75	4	1.77	2102	9.3	13	5.75	149.32
15	Sean Canfield, Oregon St	12	406	284	69.95	6	1.48	3103	7.64	21	5.17	148.26
18	Christian Ponder, Florida St	9	330	227	68.79	7	2.12	2717	8.23	14	4.24	147.71
19	Colt McCoy, Texas	13	468	330	70.51	12	2.56	3512	7.5	27	5.77	147.46
20	Martevious Young, Southern Miss.	9	196	114	58.16	1	0.51	1590	8.11	13	6.63	147.17
21	Chris Todd, Auburn	12	297	178	59.93	6	2.02	2377	8	21	7.07	146.45
22	Daryll Clark, Penn St	12	346	214	61.85	10	2.89	2787	8.05	23	6.65	145.67
23	Kirk Cousins, Michigan St	12	301	185	61.46	7	2.33	2460	8.17	18	5.98	145.2
24	Chandler Harnish, Northern Ill	9	198	131	66.16	5	2.53	1540	7.78	11	5.56	144.78
25	Ryan Colburn, Fresno St	12	279	168	60.22	11	3.94	2333	8.36	18	6.45	143.86
26	Andrew Luck, Stanford- inj	12	288	162	56.25	4	1.39	2575	8.94	13	4.51	143.47
27	Colin Kaepernick, Nevada	12	253	151	59.68	5	1.98	1875	7.41	19	7.51	142.77
29	Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin	12	302	192	63.58	10	3.31	2445	8.1	16	5.3	142.44
30	Greg McElroy, Alabama	13	314	192	61.15	4	1.27	2450	7.8	17	5.41	142.01
31	Blaine Gabbert, Missouri	12	414	247	59.66	7	1.69	3302	7.98	23	5.56	141.61
32	Jacory Harris, Miami (FL)	12	377	226	59.95	17	4.51	3164	8.39	23	6.1	141.56
34	Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M	12	439	267	60.82	6	1.37	3217	7.33	28	6.38	140.69
35	Terrance Cain, Utah	12	215	137	63.72	5	2.33	1624	7.55	11	5.12	139.4
36	Joe Cox, Georgia	12	303	170	56.11	14	4.62	2426	8.01	22	7.26	138.08
38	Jordan Jefferson, LSU	11	272	169	62.13	6	2.21	1964	7.22	16	5.88	137.79
41	Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee	12	358	209	58.38	12	3.35	2565	7.16	26	7.26	135.83
42	Taylor Potts, Texas Tech	10	427	280	65.57	12	2.81	3068	7.19	20	4.68	135.76
43	B.J. Daniels, USF	12	205	108	52.68	9	4.39	1766	8.61	12	5.85	135.58
44	Zac Robinson, Oklahoma St	11	270	167	61.85	8	2.96	1966	7.28	15	5.56	135.42
46	Tyler Sheehan, Bowling Green	12	528	340	64.39	6	1.14	3664	6.94	23	4.36	134.79
49	Jeremiah Masoli, Oregon	11	285	168	58.95	5	1.75	2066	7.25	15	5.26	133.7
50	Brett Hodges, UCF	11	301	184	61.13	11	3.65	2263	7.52	15	4.98	133.42
52	Nick Foles, Arizona	11	380	251	66.05	8	2.11	2438	6.42	19	5	132.23

The Fiesta has the best matchup of top QB’s in Boise St’s Kellen Moore who ranks #1 in the NCAA in Pass Efficiency with a 167.35 rating against TCU’s Andy Dalton who ranks #4 with a 159.59 rating. Moore has a great 39-3 TD/Int ratio while Dalton has a 22-5 ratio.

Another marquee matchup involving two top passers is the Sugar Bowl which features Florida QB Tim Tebow (#8) who has a 155.59 rating against Cincinnati QB Tony Pike (#9) who has a 155.36 rating.

While the GMAC Bowl may get overlooked as the BCS Championship is played the next day, it does feature a matchup of two good quarterbacks. Central Michigan has Dan LeFevour who is #10 in the NCAA with a 154.04 rating and Troy has Levi Brown (#13) with a 149.44 rating.

Rushing

Rank	Player, Team	Gm	Carries	Net	TD	YPC	YPG
1	Ryan Mathews, Fresno St.	11	245	1664	17	6.79	151.27
2	Toby Gerhart, Stanford	12	311	1736	26	5.58	144.67
3	Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh	12	297	1640	16	5.52	136.67
5	Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech	12	268	1538	19	5.74	128.17
8	LaMichael James, Oregon	12	215	1476	14	6.87	123
9	Vai Taua, Nevada	11	172	1345	10	7.82	122.27
11	Bernard Pierce, Temple	11	224	1308	15	5.84	118.91
12	Mark Ingram, Alabama	13	249	1542	15	6.19	118.62
13	Darius Marshall, Marshall	9	207	1054	11	5.09	117.11
14	John Clay, Wisconsin	12	265	1396	16	5.27	116.33
17	Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon St.	12	255	1377	20	5.4	114.75
18	Montel Harris, Boston College	12	285	1355	13	4.75	112.92
19	Montario Hardesty, Tennessee	12	264	1306	12	4.95	108.83
20	Noel Devine, West Virginia	12	225	1297	12	5.76	108.08
23	Ben Tate, Auburn	12	243	1254	8	5.16	104.5
24	Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech	13	221	1346	14	6.09	103.54
25	Keith Toston, Oklahoma St.	12	217	1177	11	5.42	98.08
26	Brynn Harvey, UCF	11	248	1077	14	4.34	97.91
28	Colin Kaepernick, Nevada	12	148	1160	16	7.84	96.67
29	Jahvid Best, California	9	141	867	12	6.15	96.33
30	Alexander Robinson, Iowa St.	11	210	1058	6	5.04	96.18
31	Jordan Todman, Connecticut	12	226	1152	14	5.1	96
34	Shawnbrey McNeal, SMU	12	224	1125	9	5.02	93.75
35	Dominique Lindsay, East Carolina	11	206	1029	5	5	93.55
37	Harvey Unga, BYU	11	184	1016	10	5.52	92.36
38	Evan Royster, Penn St.	12	188	1104	6	5.87	92
39	C.J. Spiller, Clemson	13	201	1145	11	5.7	88.08
40	Roy Helu Jr., Nebraska	13	217	1139	10	5.25	87.62
41	Jeremy Avery, Boise St.	13	197	1130	6	5.74	86.92
42	Luke Lippincott, Nevada	12	134	1034	9	7.72	86.17
43	Eddie Wide, Utah	12	182	1032	12	5.67	86
44	Damion Fletcher, Southern Miss.	11	202	937	8	4.64	85.18
47	Joe McKnight, USC	12	164	1014	8	6.18	84.5
48	Ricky Dobbs, Navy	11	252	913	23	3.62	83
50	Dexter McCluster, Mississippi	12	147	985	6	6.7	82.08
51	Andre Dixon, Connecticut	12	206	967	13	4.69	80.58
52	Vince Murray, Navy	11	159	884	6	5.56	80.36
53	Dwight Dasher, Middle Tenn.	12	198	953	11	4.81	79.42
54	Chad Spann, Northern Ill.	12	159	945	19	5.94	78.75
58	Adam Robinson, Iowa	10	167	775	5	4.64	77.5

The Hawaii Bowl will feature four of the top rushers in the NCAA. Nevada had three rushers reach the 1,000 yard mark this season. RB Vai Taua led the Wolfpack in rushing and was #9 in the NCAA averaging 122.27 ypg (7.82 ypc). QB Colin Kaepernick (#28) averaged 96.67 ypg (7.84 ypc) and RB Luke Lippincott avg 86.17 ypg (7.72 ypc). Despite June Jones pass happy offense, RB Shawnbrey McNeal had a great season with 1125 yards avg 93.75 ypg (5.02 ypc).

The Chick Fil-A bowl will also have a great matchup of top rushers. While Virginia Tech has true frosh Ryan Williams who was #5 in the NCAA this year avg 128.17 ypg (5.74 ypc) Tennessee has Senior Montario Hardesty who avg 108.83 ypg (4.95 ypc).

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player, Team	GM	Catches	Yds	TD	Rec/Gm	YPC	YPG
1	Danario Alexander, Missouri	12	107	1644	13	8.92	15.36	137
2	Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green	12	138	1551	16	11.5	11.24	129.25
6	James Cleveland, Houston	11	101	1182	14	9.18	11.7	107.45
7	Jordan Shipley, Texas	13	106	1363	11	8.15	12.86	104.85
8	Emmanuel Sanders, SMU	12	91	1215	6	7.58	13.35	101.25
10	Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati	12	80	1150	11	6.67	14.38	95.83
14	David Reed, Utah	12	75	1085	5	6.25	14.47	90.42
15	Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh	12	54	1080	8	4.5	20	90
16	Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech	13	46	1154	8	3.54	25.09	88.77
18	Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma	11	76	964	12	6.91	12.68	87.64
19	Tim Brown, Rutgers	12	51	1051	8	4.25	20.61	87.58
22	Max Komar, Idaho	12	62	1036	10	5.17	16.71	86.33
23	Shay Hodge, Mississippi	12	63	1023	8	5.25	16.24	85.25
24	James Rodgers, Oregon St.	12	87	1004	9	7.25	11.54	83.67
25	A.J. Green, Georgia	9	47	751	6	5.22	15.98	83.44
29	Jerrel Jernigan, Troy	12	62	947	4	5.17	15.27	78.92
30	Antonio Brown, Central Mich.	13	97	1020	9	7.46	10.52	78.46
33	Tyron Carrier, Houston	13	86	998	7	6.62	11.6	76.77
34	Patrick Edwards, Houston	13	81	985	5	6.23	12.16	75.77
37	Damian Williams, USC	11	58	821	6	5.27	14.16	74.64
38	Titus Young, Boise St.	13	71	969	10	5.46	13.65	74.54
41	Blair White, Michigan St.	12	64	876	8	5.33	13.69	73
44	DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss.	10	43	720	7	4.3	16.74	72
45	Greg Childs, Arkansas	12	45	862	7	3.75	19.16	71.83
46	Ryan Whalen, Stanford	12	54	861	4	4.5	15.94	71.75
48	Armon Binns, Cincinnati	12	56	859	10	4.67	15.34	71.58
49	Darvin Adams, Auburn	12	48	855	10	4	17.81	71.25
50	Marcus Easley, Connecticut	12	44	853	8	3.67	19.39	71.08
52	Austin Pettis, Boise St.	12	62	850	14	5.17	13.71	70.83
53	Dwayne Harris, East Carolina	13	79	914	6	6.08	11.57	70.31
54	Jared Perry, Missouri	10	46	696	6	4.6	15.13	69.6
59	Andrew Brewer, Northwestern	12	49	792	7	4.08	16.16	66
60	Alex Torres, Texas Tech	12	65	791	6	5.42	12.17	65.92
61	Dennis Pitta, BYU	12	57	784	7	4.75	13.75	65.33
62	Nick Toon, Wisconsin	12	52	779	4	4.33	14.98	64.92
64	Zeke Markshausen, Northwestern	12	79	774	3	6.58	9.8	64.5
65	Leonard Hankerson, Miami (FL)	12	44	773	6	3.67	17.57	64.42
68	Rich Gunnell, Boston College	12	54	750	6	4.5	13.89	62.5
69	Derrell Johnson-Koulian, Iowa	11	41	687	2	3.73	16.76	62.45
72	Joe Adams, Arkansas	9	28	553	7	3.11	19.75	61.44

The Humanitarian Bowl will feature two of the top Wide Recivers in Bowling Green’s Freddie Barnes who had 1551 yards (11.24 ypc) and 16 TD’s avg 129.25 ypg and Idaho’s Max Komar who had 1036 yards (16.71 ypc) and avg 86.33 ypg.

The Texas Bowl will feature two contrasting styles with the NCAA’s leading receiver Missouri’s Danario Alexander who averaged 137 ypg this season against Navy’s run oriented attack that avg just 71 ypg as a team.

Punt Returns

Player	AVG	KR’s	YDS	TD’s
Greg Reid, Florida St.	18.42	19	350	1
Trindon Holliday, LSU	17.72	18	319	1
Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma	16.48	27	445	1
Javier Arenas, Alabama	16.34	29	474	1
Emmanuel Sanders, SMU	15.44	16	247	1
Damian Williams, USC	15.41	22	339	2
Tracy Lampley, Southern Miss.	15.35	20	307	1
LaVon Brazill, Ohio	15.04	23	346	3
Da’Norris Searcy, N Carolina	15	22	330	1
Robert McClain III, Connecticut	14.8	15	222	1
Jeremy Kerley, TCU	14.32	34	487	2
Jerrard Tarrant, Georgia Tech	14.32	19	272	2
Antonio Brown, Central Mich.	13.5	20	270	2
Randall Cobb, Kentucky	13.48	23	310	1
David Leonard, Wyoming	13.47	15	202	0
Jordan Shipley, Texas	12.96	24	311	2
Delano Green, Temple	12.72	18	229	2
Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati	12.63	16	202	1
Price Miller, Georgia	11.89	19	226	0
Jayron Hosley, Virginia Tech	10.93	28	306	1
Kyle Wilson, Boise St.	10.45	20	209	0
Perrish Cox, Oklahoma St.	10.42	19	198	1
Niles Paul, Nebraska	10.34	35	362	1
Luke Matthews, Utah	10.12	17	172	0
Kyle Williams, Arizona St.	9.96	23	229	0
Jock Sanders, West Virginia	9.67	18	174	0
Austin Zouzalik, Texas Tech	9.55	20	191	0
Devon Wylie, Fresno St.	8.92	12	107	0
Colin Sandeman, Iowa	8.73	11	96	0
Terrence Austin, UCLA	8.45	29	245	0
Ray Small, Ohio St.	8.27	33	273	0
Tommy Davis, Northern Ill.	8	17	136	0

Florida St’s Greg Reid led the nation in punt returns avg 18.42 per return as the underdog Seminoles may need him to make a play in the return game to upset the Mountaineers.

The BCS Championship game features two of the top returners in the country. While Alabama has #4 Javier Arenas avg 16.34 per return, Texas has #17 Jordan Shipley who has 2 punt return TD’s this year.

Kickoff Returns

Rank	Player	Avg	KR’s	YDS	TD’s
2	D.J. Monroe, Texas	35.79	14	501	2
3	Dyrell Roberts, Virginia Tech	34.47	15	517	1
4	C.J. Spiller, Clemson	33.71	21	708	4
5	Chris Owusu, Stanford	32.53	34	1106	3
6	Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati	31.59	34	1074	2
7	Keshawn Martin, Michigan St.	30.35	17	516	1
8	Derrick Locke, Kentucky	29.63	19	563	1
9	Tracy Lampley, Southern Miss.	29.6	15	444	1
10	James Nixon, Temple	29.24	17	497	2
11	Javier Arenas, Alabama	29	19	551	0
14	Titus Young, Boise St.	27.82	28	779	2
15	Tyron Carrier, Houston	27.48	33	907	3
16	Dwayne Harris, East Carolina	27.41	34	932	3
17	Jamaal Jackson, North Texas	27.24	17	463	0
19	Chris Garrett, Ohio	27.04	25	676	1
20	Jeremy Kerley, TCU	26.88	17	457	0
23	Freddie Parham, Southern Miss.	26.29	34	894	1
24	Warren Norman, Vanderbilt	26.25	40	1050	3
25	Brandon James, Florida	26.07	29	756	1
26	Travis Cobb, Arizona	26.04	28	729	1
27	Dennis Johnson, Arkansas	26.03	39	1015	1
28	David Oku, Tennessee	26	30	780	0
29	Eric Stephens, Texas Tech	25.9	29	751	0
31	Jesse Grandy, Mississippi	25.72	29	746	2
32	Cameron Saddler, Pittsburgh	25.7	23	591	0
35	Tavon Austin, West Virginia	25.63	16	410	1
36	O’Neill Chambers, BYU	25.58	19	486	0
37	Cyrus Gray, Texas A&M	25.53	19	485	1
42	Terrence Austin, UCLA	25.11	38	954	0
43	Reggie Rembert, Air Force	25.07	14	351	0
44	Jordan Todman, Connecticut	25.05	19	476	1
45	Justin Veltung, Idaho	25	14	350	1
48	Mike Ball, Nevada	24.69	26	642	0
51	Bryan McCann, SMU	24.48	33	808	0
52	Brandon Boykin, Georgia	24.47	36	881	2

Again the Championship game has a great matchup as Texas has #2 DJ Monroe who avg 35.79 per return with 2 TD’s while Alabama again has Arenas who avg 29 per return.

Another great matchup of returners takes place in the Music City Bowl. Clemson’s CJ Spiller avg 33.71 per return with 4 TD’s this season. Kentucky meanwhile has Derrick Locke who avg 29.63 per return with 1 TD.

All Purpose

Rank	Player, Team	Gm	Rush	Rec	PR	KR TTL	Yards	Yds/Gm	Plays	YDS PP
2	Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati	12	16	1150	202	1074	2442	203.5	135	18.09
4	C.J. Spiller, Clemson	13	1145	445	210	708	2508	192.92	263	9.54
5	James Rodgers, Oregon St.	12	289	1004	151	769	2213	184.42	187	11.83
9	Darius Marshall, Marshall	9	1054	25	0	474	1553	172.56	238	6.53
11	Antonio Brown, Central Mich.	13	319	1020	270	570	2179	167.62	183	11.91
12	Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas	11	19	1337	0	432	1788	162.55	105	17.03
13	Ryan Mathews, Fresno St.	11	1664	122	0	0	1786	162.36	256	6.98
15	Tyron Carrier, Houston	13	109	998	73	907	2087	160.54	135	15.46
17	Jerrel Jernigan, Troy	12	227	947	0	740	1914	159.5	128	14.95
18	Jacquizz Rodgers, Oregon St.	12	1377	509	0	0	1886	157.17	329	5.73
19	Toby Gerhart, Stanford	12	1736	149	0	0	1885	157.08	321	5.87
20	Dwayne Harris, East Carolina	13	149	914	7	932	2002	154	145	13.81
21	Chris Owusu, Stanford	12	72	665	0	1106	1843	153.58	80	23.04
22	Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh	12	1640	190	0	0	1830	152.5	321	5.7
23	Jordan Todman, Connecticut	12	1152	184	0	476	1812	151	265	6.84
24	Derrick Locke, Kentucky	11	843	254	0	563	1660	150.91	221	7.51
26	Randall Cobb, Kentucky	11	537	427	310	345	1619	147.18	157	10.31
28	Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green	12	75	1551	115	0	1741	145.08	171	10.18
30	Titus Young, Boise St.	13	122	969	0	779	1870	143.85	111	16.85
31	Mark Ingram, Alabama	13	1542	322	0	0	1864	143.38	279	6.68

The Music City Bowl has three of the top All Purpose players in the NCAA. Clemson’s Spiller ranks #4 avg 192.92 ypg (2508 total) while Kentucky has #24 Derrick Locke and #26 Randall Cobb who together average nearly 300 ypg!

Total Tackles

Rank	Player, Team	GM	Solo	Ast	Total	TPG
2	Luke Kuechly, Boston College	12	81	61	142	11.83
3	Greg Jones, Michigan St.	12	62	79	141	11.75
4	Lawrence Wilson, Connecticut	12	76	60	136	11.33
5	Pat Angerer, Iowa	12	41	94	135	11.25
6	Brian Hendricks, Wyoming	10	41	69	110	11
9	Chris Prosinski, Wyoming	12	67	63	130	10.83
11	Jesse Smith, Iowa St.	12	66	62	128	10.67
12	Noah Keller, Ohio	13	60	78	138	10.62
13	Chase Kennemer, SMU	12	76	50	126	10.5
14	Marcus McGraw, Houston	13	69	64	133	10.23
15	Rennie Curran, Georgia	12	64	58	122	10.17
18	Gabe Knapton, Wyoming	12	36	81	117	9.75
20	C.J. Cavness, Houston	13	56	70	126	9.69
25	Korey Williams, Southern Miss.	12	43	69	112	9.33
25	Lee Campbell, Minnesota	12	65	47	112	9.33
25	Rico McCoy, Tennessee	12	69	43	112	9.33
29	Stephen Anderson, Army	9	41	42	83	9.22
30	Josh Hull, Penn St.	12	40	70	110	9.17
31	Shiloh Keo, Idaho	12	70	39	109	9.08
33	Nick Bellore, Central Mich.	13	62	56	118	9.08
36	Ronnie Thornton, Southern Miss.	12	42	65	107	8.92
39	Sean Lee, Penn St.	9	43	37	80	8.89
40	Mario Harvey, Marshall	12	40	65	105	8.75
40	Mike Mohamed, California	12	64	41	105	8.75
44	Cam Robinson, Middle Tenn.	12	52	52	104	8.67
44	Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri	12	70	34	104	8.67
46	Kelvin Sheppard, LSU	12	47	56	103	8.58
48	Andre Revels, Cincinnati	12	41	61	102	8.5
53	Weston Johnson, Wyoming	12	43	58	101	8.42
57	Navorro Bowman, Penn St.	10	45	39	84	8.4
58	Micah Johnson, Kentucky	12	46	54	100	8.33
58	Travis Lewis, Oklahoma	12	55	45	100	8.33
61	Taylor Mays, USC	11	46	45	91	8.27
61	Greg Lloyd, Connecticut	11	53	38	91	8.27
63	Cody Grimm, Virginia Tech	12	44	55	99	8.25
63	Cory Hogue, UCF	12	56	43	99	8.25
63	Daryl Washington, TCU	12	61	38	99	8.25
68	Kion Wilson, South Fla.	12	40	58	98	8.17
68	Vincent Rey, Duke	12	44	54	98	8.17
73	Lee Renfro, Ohio	13	43	62	105	8.08

While Wyoming has been discussed in the past couple of bowl blogs as having some of the worst stats of any bowl team, they do feature three of the top 20tacklers in the NCAA led by Brian Hendricks who ranks #6 in the NCAA avg 11 tackles per game (110 total)

SMU’s Chase Kennemer who ranks #13 in the NCAA avg 10.5 tpg (126 total) will have plenty of opportunites in the Hawaii Bowl to add to his total as the Mustangs face the nation’s top rated rush offense in Nevada.

Tackles For Loss

Rank	Player	Total	PG	Solo	Ast	Yds
1	Brandon Graham, Michigan	26	2.17	23	6	127
2	Josh McNary, Army	22.5	2.05	20	5	132
3	Brian Price, UCLA	22.5	1.88	21	3	94
3	O’Brien Schofield, Wisconsin	22.5	1.88	20	5	116
5	Von Miller, Texas A&M	21	1.75	20	2	125
6	Chris McCoy, Middle Tenn.	20.5	1.71	19	3	75
7	Justin Houston, Georgia	15	1.67	11	8	59
8	Dontay Moch, Nevada	19.5	1.63	17	5	92
9	Robert Quinn, North Carolina	19	1.58	17	4	120
10	Navorro Bowman, Penn St.	15.5	1.55	14	3	55
11	Aldon Smith, Missouri	18.5	1.54	18	1	122
14	Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska	19.5	1.5	16	7	92
14	Adrian Clayborn, Iowa	18	1.5	15	6	91
14	Jeremy Beal, Oklahoma	18	1.5	14	8	95
17	Brandon Sharpe, Texas Tech	16	1.45	15	2	106
18	Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech	18	1.38	16	4	96
19	Bruce Miller, UCF	16.5	1.38	13	7	122
23	Antonio Coleman, Auburn	15.5	1.29	11	9	68
28	Ryan Winterswyk, Boise St.	16.5	1.27	13	7	67
29	Ernest (Mick) Williams, Pittsburgh	15	1.25	13	4	62
29	Jerry Hughes, TCU	15	1.25	11	8	76
31	Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri	14.5	1.21	14	1	45
31	Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma	14.5	1.21	13	3	66
31	Tom Keiser, Stanford	14.5	1.21	12	5	83
31	Jason Pierre-Paul, South Fla.	14.5	1.21	12	5	47
37	Chris Campa, Louisville	14	1.17	12	4	64

The Independence Bowl features two of the top players. Texas A&M has Von Miller who ranks #5 in the NCAA with 21 TFL’s and Georgia has Justin Houston who ranks #7 avg 1.67 TFL’s per game.

Both North Carolina and Pittsburgh are aggressive defensively and they have two of the top players here in NC’s Robert Quinn and Pitt’s Mick Williams which should give both offenses in the Car Care Bowl problems.

Sack Leaders

Rank	Player, Team	Solo	Asst	Total	Sk/gm	Yds
1	Von Miller, Texas A&M	16	2	17	1.42	115
2	Brandon Sharpe, Texas Tech	14	2	15	1.36	104
3	Josh McNary, Army	11	3	12.5	1.14	105
5	Bruce Miller, UCF	10	4	12	1	114
6	Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech	12	1	12.5	0.96	81
7	Lindsey Witten, Connecticut	11	1	11.5	0.96	66
7	Jerry Hughes, TCU	10	3	11.5	0.96	72
9	Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska	10	4	12	0.92	77
10	Aldon Smith, Missouri	11	0	11	0.92	95
10	Robert Quinn, North Carolina	11	0	11	0.92	94
10	Jarvis Geathers, UCF	10	2	11	0.92	72
10	Adrian Robinson, Temple	10	2	11	0.92	57
15	Ricky Elmore, Arizona	10	1	10.5	0.88	62

The Holiday Bowl which has a history of being one of the top scoring bowl games will feature some great defensive players. Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh had 12 sacks this year while Arizona’s Ricky Elmore had 10.5. The Holiday probably will not be the high scoring matchup it usually is.

Passes Defended

Player, Team	PBU	Int	Total	PG
Perrish Cox, Oklahoma St.	15	4	19	1.73
Brian Logan, BYU	14	3	17	1.42
Earl Thomas, Texas	10	8	18	1.38
Rahim Moore, UCLA	7	9	16	1.33
Brandon Harris, Miami (FL)	14	2	16	1.33
Mark Barron, Alabama	10	7	17	1.31
Marquis Johnson, Alabama	16	1	17	1.31
Patrick Peterson, LSU	13	2	15	1.25
Prince Amukamara, Nebraska	11	5	16	1.23
Brandon Brinkley, Houston	12	4	16	1.23
Sherrick McManis, Northwestern	7	4	11	1.22
Emanuel Davis, East Carolina	11	2	13	1.18
Josh Robinson, UCF	8	6	14	1.17
Deunta Williams, North Carolina	8	6	14	1.17
Trevin Wade, Arizona	9	5	14	1.17
Bryan Willis, Troy	10	4	14	1.17
Josh Gordy, Central Mich.	11	3	14	1.17
Jamar Wall, Texas Tech	13	1	14	1.17
Shaun Prater, Iowa	8	2	10	1.11
Sterling Moore, SMU	10	1	11	1.1
Myron Lewis, Vanderbilt	8	4	12	1.09

The BCS Championship again has a great matchup that features two of the best secondaries in the country. Texas’ Earl Thomas is #3 in the NCAA with 18 passes defended this year while Alabama’s Mark Barron and Marquis Johnson combined for 34 passes defended.

Punters

Rank	Player, Team	Punt	Yds	Avg
1	Drew Butler, Georgia	50	2442	48.84
2	Matt Dodge, East Carolina	62	2838	45.77
4	Tress Way, Oklahoma	57	2591	45.46
5	Derek Epperson, Baylor	54	2420	44.81
6	Scott Kozlowski, West Virginia	61	2733	44.8
8	Zoltan Mesko, Michigan	52	2312	44.46
9	Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma St.	59	2621	44.42
12	Jeff Locke, UCLA	62	2728	44
13	Brent Bowden, Virginia Tech	54	2370	43.89
17	Tyler Campbell, Mississippi	38	1655	43.55
18	Austin McCoy, Wyoming	77	3351	43.52
19	Kyle Delahooke, Navy	45	1958	43.51
20	Jeremy Boone, Penn St.	46	2001	43.5
23	Sean Sellwood, Utah	64	2760	43.13
24	Desi Cullen, Connecticut	57	2457	43.11
26	Brandon Geyer, Air Force	48	2065	43.02
29	Bryan Anger, California	61	2609	42.77
31	Jake Harry IV, Missouri	57	2436	42.74
32	Matt Bosher, Miami (FL)	45	1923	42.73
34	Teddy Dellaganna, Rutgers	64	2715	42.42
35	Brad Nortman, Wisconsin	44	1861	42.3
39	P.J. Fitzgerald, Alabama	51	2146	42.08
40	Chad Cunningham, Tennessee	49	2057	41.98
41	Blake Haudan, Minnesota	57	2391	41.95
43	Spencer Lanning, South Carolina	62	2594	41.84
44	Ryan Quigley, Boston College	72	3006	41.75
45	Matt Szymanski, SMU	67	2795	41.72
46	Alex Henery, Nebraska	73	3045	41.71
47	Keenyn Crier, Arizona	48	1989	41.44
50	Aaron Bates, Michigan St.	59	2440	41.36
51	Anthony Santella, Illinois	63	2600	41.27
52	Ryan Donahue, Iowa	57	2352	41.26
53	Johnny Hekker, Oregon St.	47	1939	41.26
54	Will Goggans, Troy	54	2212	40.96
56	Delbert Alvarado, South Fla.	53	2167	40.89
57	Matt Rinehart, Kent St.	74	3025	40.88
58	Clinton Durst, Auburn	58	2359	40.67
59	Mike Brandtner, Iowa St.	61	2481	40.67
60	Ryan Tydlacka, Kentucky	60	2440	40.67
61	Ryan Erxleben, Texas Tech	41	1667	40.66

East Carolina’s Matt Dodge who ranks #2 in the NCAA avg 45.77 per punt may be counted on in the Liberty Bowl to pin back the high-powered Arkansas offense.

The Cotton Bowl features two of the top punters in the country in Oklahoma St’s Quinn Sharp who avg 44.42 per punt and Ole Miss’s Tyler Campbell who avg 43.55 per punt.

Again don’t forget to join my “Bowl Confidence Contest”that has great cash prizes!! Check out the homepage for more details. Picks are due by Saturday December 19th at 4:30 pm EST.