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Fiesta Bowl historically has been a high-scoring affair. This year Ohio State (35 PPG, 28 or more in 8 of the last 9 games) faces Notre Dame (34.8 PPG, 24 or more in 6 of the last 7 games). Both teams usually play in bad weather but indoors at the fast surface of Cardinals Stadium this will be no problem. Notre Dame suspended one of their top CBs for breaking the curfew which should open some holes in the secondary but welcome back RB C.J. Prosise. For Ohio State Fiesta Bowl is a good opportunity to showcase RB Ezezkiel Elliott and QB Cardale Jones for the interested NFL scouts so I expect a lot of offense.

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Tar Heels are tenth in FBS in scoring offense (40.9 PPG) and one of only 11 schools in the country with more than 200 YPG rushing and 250 YPG passing. In four of their last five games NC went over 35 including 37 against #1 Clemson. Baylor (27.5 PPG) is middle in the pack defensively but only one ranked team (Oklahoma St.) has allowed more points than the Bears.

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The Falcons have scored an opening quarter TD in 9 out of 13 games in 20156, while California has allowed one in 8 out of 11 games against FBS opposition. The worst for the Golden Bears is that they haven't faced a triple option team in a long time and never with Sony Dykes as a head coach. California is ranked 103rd in in the country against the run (203.5 YPG, 21 TDs) while Air Force is second in FBS on the ground on offense (322.1 YPG, 42 TDs). After all this is Armed Forces Bowl and like yesterday with Navy - California is a hand-picked opponent for the service academy to has a chance to compete.

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Three of the last four Pitt opponents finished with 29 or more points while Army and Notre Dame are the only teams that held Navy under 28. And the Midshipmen average in Anapolis? Healthy 40.5 PPG!

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First half has been a struggle for Pitt the whhole year. Panthers have a 163-190 point differential while Navy is 241-133 before the interval. Pitt is 2-2-2 at halftime in away games while Navy is 6-0 in Anapolis after 30 minutes of play.

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It's the final game of Keenan Reynolds' college career. Navy is playing at home in the Military Bowl against a hnd picked opponent. What other outcome can you expect? Pitt struggled mighty against the triple option of Georgia Tech and were gashed for 404 rushing yards. Navy is third in FBS in rushing (319.2 YPG) and second in TDs on the ground (48). Why should the Panthers stop them?

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An interesting dynamic formed after Seattle's loss. Minnesota loses and two more games in Week 17 become meaningful. This keeps Atlanta alive and San Francisco - St. Louis is also a meaningful one. So I'll take a punt and put some faith in already eliminated Giants.

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My conspirace model says: If Patriots win the home-field advantage in AFC is decided and the chase for wild cards is practically over. And all but two or three games next weekend have no intrigue. If Jets win there will be a lot of permutaions for Week 17 and just a few meaningless games.

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Steelers are evarging 35 PPG since the beginning of November and over that stretch only one of their games finished with less than 53 points. With the leaking holes in Pittsburgh defense Ravens should be able to contribute enough for the over.

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It's the final game in Frank Beamer's illistrious carrer and Hokies will try and send him with a bang. Tuls doesn't bother playing defense. The Golden Hurricane allowed an average of 38.6 PPG ranking them 120th in the country. Virginia Tech is by no means an offensive juggernaut but if UCF (third worst offense in the country) can score 30 against Tulsa why can't Hokies?

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Indiana's offense is ranked #1 in Big Ten (36.2 PPG) and if you can have such average in a conference full of excellent defenses (3 in Top 10, 4 in Top 20 in FBS) you can score against anyone. Facing a team that allowed 38.3 PPG over the last six games Hoosiers should have scoring at will.

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Only three teams failed to find the endzone against Cincinnati in the first 15 minutes this season. And it happened only once since the middle of October - against UCF ranked 126th in scoring offense in FBS. Opponents are averaging 8.5 PPG against the Bearcats and at the same time San Diego State is averaging 9.4 PPG on offense in Q1. Aztecs scored a TD in 11 of 13 games this year and failed only against South Alabama in September and in the MWC final against Air Force.

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Nation's ninth best ground attack (235.3 YPG, 30 TDs) against Cincinnati's rushing defense ranked 92nd in FBS (190.3 YPG, 19 TDs). San Diego State on a nine-game winning streak averaging 39.3 PPG against a team that allowed 152 points in the last four games combined. And in two bowl games under Tommy Tuberville Cincinnati is yet to show up (17:39 against North Carolina in 2013, 17:33 against Virginia Tech last year).

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After yesterday's offensive struggles it's time for some points. GoDaddy Bowl was an extremely boring game in previous three editions but in January Toledo and Arkansas State lit up the scoreboard. Bowling Green is fifth in scoring in FBS (43.4 PPG) and operates in the highest possible tempo. Georgia Southern operates a triple option offense that averaged 38.5 PPG in Sun Belt play. And despite the dud against Georgia State in last regular season game the Bulldogs are still #1 in the nation in rushing with 355.6 PPG and second in TDs on the ground with 47.

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Conventional wisdom says: Northern Illinois doesn't have a QB and will be crushed. However Boise State is terrible in finishind drives. Advanced metrics place Broncos 88th in the nation while Huskies' defense sits at #12. If Boise State is kicking field goals they'll be in trouble. And I'm not sure about their motivation. They started the year projected to play in New Year's six but ended in a San Diego bowl after home losses to New Mexico and Air Force. Huskies have a down year too but with the QB injuries that was expected. Still their rushing offense is ranked 25th in yards and 15th in TDs scored.

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Akron is playing in a bowl game for the first time in 10 years and for only the second time in school history. While Utah State plays for the fifth consecutive year and is 3-1 since 2011.
Akron is 7-0 against non-bowl opponents and 5-0 against teams that didn't go bowling. And the combined record of beaten opponents is 20-62.
Utah State faced only three non-bowl invited teams (beat them all) and finished 3-6 against teams in bowl games.
Both teams are bad on offense (Utah State 74th in YPP and 89th in YPG; Akron 93rd in both categories) and good on defense (Utah State 34th in YPP and 26th in YPG; Akron 24th in YPP and 19th in YPG) so don't expect a lot of points. But with the return of senior QB Chuckie Keeton Utah State will definetely have an edge.
And don't forget that this is Akron's first game at the blue turf in Boise while Utah State has been there a number of times.

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Only two teams held Hilltoppers under 35 this season - Vanderbilt and LSU. And the both play in SEC. Against other competition WKU averaged 49.2 PPG. USF is 27th in scoring defense but the stats were inflated by the level of competition. They faced offenses that are ranked 126, 24, 52, 76, 21, 73, 118, 77, 7, 95 and 48th in FBS.
WKU QB Brandon Doughty (4594 yards, 45 TDs) needs three TD passes in his final college game to break the all-time school record and playing in his hometown (Miami) I expect him to light up the scoreboard.

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This is a strange line as most of the bookies has it at 277.5. The last time Rivers threw for so many yards was November 29th in Jacksonville. The last time he did it at home - October 25th against the Raiders. These days Rivers has nobody to throw to. Receiving corps are so depleted his targets are mostly to players promoted from the practice squad. And with no threat from the running game teams move more players in coverage.

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The league needs Jacksonville to win to keep the intrigue in AFC South. Otherwise the winner of Colts - Texans practically wraps up the division and the last two weeks will be meaningless. Plus: how can you thrust the Falcons who lost six straight and haven't beaten a team with a winning record in 2015? Plus their best LB Paul Worrilow is out with a knee injury.

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Since the inception of AFC South in 2002 Colts are 13-0 at home to the Texans. There were some close calls (like last year), mostly blowouts but neve a Houston victory. The time has come. Both teams will start back-up QBs but at least TJ Yates is healthy unlike ailing Matt Hasselbeck. And Colts are a total mess with a fraud secondary that was exposed last week by the Jaguars.