Christmas Week - In Review & Bowl Picks for Week of 12/28

Quick congrats to the Dirty Birds for gettin the W over the Rams this afternoon (though I apologize on behalf of the Saints for not completing a 4th-quarter comeback against the Panthers that would have locked up the #2 seed in the NFC, which would have meant at least one home game and a first-round bye).

Christmas week was awesome.  With the exception of some rain, Christmas day was lots of fun...opening presents (my favorite gift was Bill Curry's book, 10 Men You Meet in the Huddle - I'd highly recommend it), then went with the paren

ts to see Valkyrie (pretty solid).  Then my cousin and his girlfriend came in Friday night from Vicksburg and left about an hour ago.  We had a great time, including seeing two movies yesterday (Seven Pounds GOSEEITNOW and Valkyrie).  I'm sad they had to leave...and Daniel if you're reading this, remember that I'm 2-0 against you in ping-pong ;)

So now for a recap of last week's bowl games...after a bad start to the week, I finished strong by going 3-0 yesterday to finish 4-3.  Here goes the picks for this week, which include the bulk of the games...

SUNDAY

• Independence: Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois

MONDAY

• Papajohns.com: Rutgers vs. NC State
• Alamo: Northwestern vs. Missouri (lock)

TUESDAY

• Humanitarian: Nevada vs. Maryland
• Holiday: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
• Texas: Rice vs. Western Michigan

WEDNESDAY

• Armed Forces: Houston vs. Air Force
• Sun: Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh
• Music City: Vanderbilt vs. Boston College
• Insight: Kansas vs. Minnesota
• Chick-Fil-A: Georgia Tech vs. LSU

THURSDAY

• Outback: Iowa vs. South Carolina
• Capital One: Georgia vs. Michigan State*
• Gator: Nebraska vs. Clemson
• Rose: USC vs. Penn State
• Orange: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech

FRIDAY

• Cotton: Texas Tech vs. Ole Miss (upset special)
• Liberty: Kentucky vs. East Carolina
• Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah

SATURDAY

• International: UConn vs. Buffalo

*I am absolutely confident that UGAy will destroy Sparty, but I will not go on record as picking the pups in any game ever.  

Great verse from this morning's sermon posted below.  I feel like I have recently been comforming to the world view associated with the "me first" attitude.  But God clearly asks us to help others and put others before ourselves.  It's a personal battle I've been fighting for a while now, and I'm not sure if "winning" is possible.  But I'm comforted by the fact that God has won the ultimate victory on my behalf, and so thankful for that...

I'll publish a preview and prediction for our game sometime on Tuesday.  Until then, have a great Monday!