Canzano: A deep look as the bowl games pick up
Pac-12 bowl projections, thoughts and picks.
I ran into one of the Fiesta Bowl representatives before kickoff in late November at the Oregon vs. Oregon State regular-season finale at Autzen Stadium. The guy introduced himself. We shook hands.
Then the guy smiled and said: “Maybe we’ll see Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.”
I couldn’t hide my confusion.
I had imagined a bigger stage for Oregon’s bowl game. The Ducks were flirting with a berth to the College Football Playoff, after all. There was a Pac-12 Championship game that still needed to be played. The Fiesta Bowl felt like a fall-back option. And so I mustered a less than enthusiastic “yeah, maybe” and we parted ways.
The poor guy was right.
Oregon is indeed in the Fiesta Bowl against Liberty. Washington is in the playoff against Texas. A bunch of other teams are preparing for their bowl games as the Pac-12 is tying a bow on the final season as we knew it.
Also, a drove of players have jumped into the transfer portal or have declared for the NFL Draft. So in some cases, the depth charts for the bowl games don’t look all that deep. Still, I did a careful analysis of the remaining bowl games and made my official picks. Plus, I offered one bonus pick.
My 2023 straight-up record: 71-19 (79 percent).
My 2023 season record vs. the spread: 40-40-1 (50 percent).
Onto my bowl-game picks, projections and thoughts…