The bowl games finally start this weekend. Fellow GetSportsInfo.com writer, Jeremy Fischer, and myself have put together our picks including how confident we are in them. In case you've never done a pick 'em game like this before, here's how it works. In addition to picking who you think will win the game, you assign a number to that pick as to how confident you think that pick is going to be right. There are 34 bowl games this year (way too many in most people's opinion, but that's beside the point), so the max number of confidence points you can give to one game is, yep, you guessed it, 34. The game you are least confident in you assign one point too, and fill in everything in between.

A lot of office pools are done like this and make it much more challenging than simply picking a winner for each game. As J-Fish states when it comes to doing a pick 'em game like this, "I have seen many strategies and I prefer the one that calls for using the higher confidence points on the bigger BCS games." He goes on to give his reasons as to why.

"Right or wrong, the larger conference teams get more coverage. The more information that is out there, the better informed pick you can make. The more informed you are, the more confident you'll be about a particular selection." Makes sense right? So picking the BCS bowl games really isn't as difficult as picking some of the more obscure games like the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl between Southern Mississippi and Troy that provide more difficulty in not only picking who will win, but deciding how confident you are in that pick.

J-Fish goes on to say, "Unless you fancy yourself as the next Jimmy the Greek, don't over analyze. The amount of games will definitely lead to paralysis-by-analysis." In my opinion, when it comes to picking some of the lower level bowl games, its almost more of a gut feeling when making that selection than anything else.

With all that said, let's get to the picks. What you'll find below is the bowl schedule starting with the first game on the docket all the way to the National Championship game on January 8th. With each pick you'll see both J-Fish's pick as well as my own with a little bit of analysis and how many confidence points (#) we have assigned to the pick we've made. Let's get to it with a look at the BCS games.

January 1st
ROSE - Penn State vs. USC
JFISH: USC (34) - Too much defense.
DICO: USC (32) - Too much USC! PSU hasn't seen anything like the Trojans this year. Ask OSU how things worked out for them. Plus this is a "home game" for the Trojans.

FEDEX ORANGE - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
JFISH: Cincinnati (22) - 1st BCS bowl berth will drive the Bearcats.
DICO: Cincinnati (10) - Special teams could be the difference in this game. Mardy Gilyard for the Bearcats is one of the best in the country in the return game. A chance to finish the season in the Top 10 will push the Bearcats to a win.

January 2nd
ALLSTATE SUGAR - Utah vs. Alabama
JFISH: Alabama (32) - Utah hasn't faced a defense like this.
DICO: Alabama (33) - See JFISH's comments...the Utes will have a hard time stopping the 'Bama offense as well.

January 5th
TOSTITOS FIESTA - Ohio State vs. Texas
JFISH: Texas (33) - Too much speed on defense, and the Horns will be playing angry because of the whole BIG XII, BCS screw job.
DICO: Texas (31) - QB Colt McCoy will be too much even for a good Buckeyes' defense. Terrelle Pryor will see what team speed on defense is all about against the Longhorns.

January 8th
FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Florida vs. Oklahoma
JFISH: Florida (26) - Tebow/Harvin will find a way.
DICO: Oklahoma (22) - Bradford leads the most potent offense in the country. Even with the loss of DeMarco Murray at RB, the Sooners won't miss a beat. Expect a high scoring affair.

COMPLETE PICKS (ALL 34 GAMES) 

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I will be avoiding College Gameday this week like the plague.  I don't want to get caught in another (what I'm now calling) "Herbie Goes Bananas" situation.  In last week's Wrap, I noted that Herbstreit had said that "the only thing that can beat USC, is USC", and for the first time in four years I actually agreed with Herbie.

No more.  No sooner than I agree with Herbstreit does USC goes out and get beat by Oregon State.  Or by themselves, should I say.  That wasn't the only surprise last Saturday either, as we got the first major shakeup in the Power Rankings.

1. Oklahoma:  I have noted several times in this column that I am a proud Texas graduate.  Since Week 1, I have said how much it has pained me to say that the Sooners were the legitimate No. 2 team in the nation.  So you can imagine how placing them at No. 1 in the nation is especially painful.

2. Missouri:  DNP.  We're about to find out how good these guys are.  Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas all in a row, starting this weekend.

3. Alabama:  I said two weeks ago that the SEC needed to watch out for the Crimson Tide because Saban's boys were coming, and coming hard.  I should have said coming fast.  That beat-down of the 'Dawgs was very, very impressive.

4. LSU: The Tigers playing Florida and Georgia in two of the next three weeks looked a lot more impressive before last Saturday.  Now November the 8th needs to be circled on your calendars.  The Tigers and the Crimson Tide should be a barnburner.

5. Texas:  My beloved Longhorns are quietly lurking in the shadows.  If the 'Horns get by Colorado this Saturday, then you have a Top 5 Red River Rivalry with Boomer Sooner in two weeks.  Texas, Texas, Yeee-haw!

6. Penn State: Call me officially intrigued.  Another nice game against a ranked Illinois team.  Then take into account that the Nittany Lions rolled up 45pts. on an Oregon State team that just beat USC, and I'm starting to believe that Penn State might have enough to get the Big Ten crown this year.

7. BYU:  DNP.  Let's be honest here.  You need to start paying attention to the Cougars.  They will be your BCS Buster for 2008.  So  you may now start asking yourselves which major conference team will get the shaft.

8. USC:  The 'Men of Troy' looked more like the Trojan Women, especially when it came to stopping Oregon State RB Jacques Reeves.  But I still think that USC will be rearing it's mohawked helmet near the top of the rankings again by year's end.

9. Georgia:  Most have the 'Dawgs right at No. 10 or lower.  But I believe this butt-whupping was a huge wake-up call.  They just have too much talent to go into the tank now.

10. South Florida:  Talk about a team that went under the radar for the first month of the season.  An unblemished record, a quality win against Kansas and three of the first five on the road.  Nice work.

DORM NOTES

--You might notice that all major rankings have Texas Tech in the Top 10, yet the Wrap does not.  Sorry, but I can't take any Mike Leach coached team seriously when the first four games on the schedule are Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and UMass.  Seriously?  This is college football, not college basketball Mike.

--What a disappointing turn-of-events for ECU.  Another unexpected loss this past weekend, and now, after a promising start, they're out of the Top 25.

--Anybody seen the conference formerly known as the Pac 10?

--It's good to see that Bobby Petrino didn't let that brief stint in the NFL change him.  His teams still can't play any defense.  In their only two games against quality opponents (Alabama and Texas), they allowed 49pts and 52pts respectively.

--Lastly, a special salute to Oregon State RB Jacques Reeves for his performance against the Trojans.  For those who aren't in the know, Reeves is a supremely talented kid out of Houston, Texas (my hometown).  Although he put up mind-boggling stats in high school, he was never recruited by any of the big boys.  That was an especially hard pill to swallow when he  was told by all the in-state schools that his services weren't needed.  Why, you might ask, wasn't he recruited?  Hidden medical condition?  Off field shenanigans?  Nope.  He committed the incredibly horrendous offense of being short.  No one wanted him because Jacques Reeves is only 5'6" tall.  Or small, I should say.  I'm guessing that after his 189-yard, 2 TD performance against USC, some of those coaches are now kicking themselves (preferably in the groin). As NBA superstar, LeBron James, said when asked recently about Davidson guard Stephen Curry's stature, "if you can play, you can play."  Jacques Reeves can play.

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It was a weekend (plus Thursday) of upsets in college football. In one weekend a handful of possible national title contenders (USC, Wisconsin, Florida) saw their hopes (possibly) crushed. A Cinderella story (East Carolina) went back to just that, a fairy tale, but this one is without a happy ending. Teams that were on the rise (Wake Forest and Clemson) were slapped back down. A team on the cusp of the top 25 was "upset" at home as well when Miami (FL) lost to North Carolina. College football is a crazy game and with the BCS still structured the way it is, one loss can kill a season, which makes every game matter during the season. A lot of teams found that out the hard way this weekend.

UPSET SPECIALS

Oregon State def. No. 1 USC 27-21
Sanchez throws a costly interception at the Beavers' 30 yard line with less than three minutes left. Jacquizz Rodgers runs all over the Trojans for 186 yards and two scores. Result is a loss for the number one team in the country.

Ole Miss def. No. 4 Florida 31-30
Blocked extra point and a big stop of Tim Tebow by the Ole Miss defense on a 4th and one helped them pull out the victory.

Michigan def. No. 9 Wisconsin 27-25
Wisconsin jumped out ahead of the Wolverines, but Michigan scratched and clawed their way back. A big illegal procedure penalty on a successful two point conversion by the Badgers kept them from tying the game and taking it to overtime.

Navy def. No. 16 Wake Forest 24-17
The Demon Deacons were a team on the rise, starting the season unranked. They'll still compete for the ACC title, but any hopes of a BCS bowl game may be lost now.

Maryland def. No. 20 Clemson 20-17
The Terps went into the half down 17-6 and with just 99 yards of offense. The second half was a different story as they outscored the Tigers 14-0 and put up over 200 yards of offense. Maryland is a team on the rise and will likely be in the top 25 when the new rankings are released. The Tigers, on the other hand, could be out after being ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the season and now having suffered their second loss of the season.

Houston def. No. 23 East Carolina 41-24
The Cinderella season for ECU may have come to an end last week with the loss to NC State. This week, it just came crushing down on them. From BCS buster to busted, the Pirates will be out of the top 25 after this weekend, and will likely not make it back in this season.

There is also an "upset" in the making taking place as I write this as Alabama is crushing Georgia 31-0 at halftime. I expected that to be one of the best games of the weekend and other than the UC game this afternoon, this was the game I was looking forward to watching the most today. Fortunately there is a good game taking place right now as Penn State is leading Illinois 21-14 just before halftime.

Top 5 going into this week
1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Florida
5. LSU

Top 5 after this week (in my opinion)
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama (assuming they hold on to win vs. Georgia)
3. LSU (assuming they hold on and beat Miss. St.)
4. Missouri
5. Texas

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Let's get right to it, before Hurricane Ike forces me to reschedule this column. 

1. USC:  Didn't play last week, but will prove their dominance this week vs. the Buckeyes

2. Oklahoma:  Rolled up 5 TD passes on a good Cincinnati secondary.  Then broke UC quarterback Dustin Grutza's leg for good measure.

3. Georgia:  Expectedly beat up on Central Michigan.  More importantly, didn't have any significant injuries.

4. Florida:  Miami win moves them up one notch.

5. Ohio State:  O-line doesn't dominate anyone.  That will get them killed against USC Saturday night.

6. Missouri:  Southeast Missouri State was nothing more than a break after having tough Week 1 tilt vs. ranked Illinois team

7. LSU:  Didn't play.

8. Texas:  Good road start to the season against UTEP.  Horns will get unexpected off week this week as game with Arkansas has been rescheduled due to Ike.

9. Alabama:  SEC take note.  Crimson Tide's defense is back, and very good.  10pts. allowed to Clemson, only 6pts to Tulane, and they don't have to run the gauntlet like a Georgia does.

10: Wisconsin:  The Wisconsin Winnebago, P.J. Hill, might be the best runner you never hear about.

BCS Busters:  East Carolina (another huge win vs. West Virginia), BYU

Dorm Room Notes

West Virginia:  Rich Rod leaves for the maize and blue, and the Mountaineers still manage to lose a game per year they have no business losing. 

SEC:  Two weeks in, they are still the best conference in the land.

East Carolina:  These guys are for real.  I guess when Lou Holtz said his son Skip was the best coach in the Holtz family, he wasn't joking.

Cincinnati:  The injury to Dustin Grutza was truly grusome looking.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

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