New Year's Eve boasts four bowl games - and the Liberty and Chick-fil-A Bowl are the final two to be played in 2010.
The 25th-ranked Central Florida Knights come into Memphis for the Liberty Bowl riding a three game winning streak. The Knights, who went 10-3 and 7-1 in Conference USA, feature a fairly balanced team: UCF is 24th in scoring and 12th in opponents points per game. Freshman quarterback Jeffrey Godfrey enjoyed an extremely successful freshman campaign, passing for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns while rushing for over 500 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground.
The Knights' opponent in the Liberty Bowl is the Georgia Bulldogs - who finished the season a disappointing 6-6 while going 3-5 in SEC play. The Bulldogs average over 34 points per game and are led by junior 6'4" wide receiver A.J. Green.
Three of Georgia's five losses came without Green in the lineup at the beginning of the year - and that's why I'll take the Bulldogs in the Liberty Bowl over UCF.
Chick-fil-A prediction after the jump.
The final bowl game of 2010 is the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which pits Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks against the Florida State Seminoles.
South Carolina (9-4, 5-3 in SEC) made it to the SEC title game before being crushed by Auburn, 56-17. Junior quarterback Stephen Garcia threw for over 2,800 yards and 20 touchdowns for the Gamecocks, whose passing game ranks 46th in the FBS.
Florida State (9-4, 6-2 in ACC) similarly lost to Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. The Seminoles were without starting quarterback Christian Ponder in title game, but Ponder is likely to suit up for the Chick-fil-A bowl. It will be the senior quarterback's final game as a Seminole.
I'll take Florida State and Ponder to win the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Ponder will come out looking to improve his draft stock and will want to go out a winner for Florida State. Ponder began the year as a likely first round pick, but injuries have taken a toll on his draft stock. We'll see if Ponder can improve that tonight with a good showing against South Carolina.