Diner Football Predictions, Bowl Edition, Part III

Yesterday, I balanced my miss on Utah with FAU's win, making me 1-1 early on in the bowl season.

Today's picks:

Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss (+10.5) in the Papajohns.com Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati is ranked. The Bearcats have won 9 games, too. Southern Miss just got rid of their long-time coach Jeff Bower, and I can't imagine they're terribly excited about traveling to Birmingham...although that is a step up from Hattiesburg. Bowl games often come down to who is more excited to be there, and my guess is that Cincinnati's happier about all this. Diner Prediction: Cincinnati 28, Southern Miss 17.

New Mexico vs. Nevada (+2.5) in the New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico hasn't won a bowl game in 46 years. Not to mention they're 0-4 under their current head coach Rocky Long. They're playing without their leading rusher who didn't make grades, too. But Nevada's only 6-6. I can't decide if the negative vibe will inspire or deflate the Lobos, but my guess is that it'll deflate them. Diner Prediction: Nevada 24, New Mexico 21.

Brigham Young vs. U.C.L.A. (+6) in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl: I'd think that if you're going to a pre-Christmas bowl game, then Vegas would be a nice reward. UCLA beat BYU in the regular season...but the difference is that the Cougars found themselves to go 10-2 and UCLA still hasn't found a quarterback. That's right. They're debating on who's starting in their 13th game of the season. UCLA has more talent, but Brigham Young has revenge, improvement and coaching all on their side. Diner Prediction: Brigham Young 27, UCLA 14.