The Fiesta Bowl & Other, Less Important, New Year's Eve Picks

8 years after the Fiesta Bowl ended in a cheerleader
accepting a marriage proposal will history repeat itself?

I'm going up to Glendale for the Fiesta Bowl, & after that I imagine I'll be drinking* a fair bit, so who knows if I'll have time to write up anything on the New Year's day games, but here's today's picks.

*For the holiday, not the game, & that's especially true if Arizona loses. As Reese Witherspoon once told Paul Rudd in a mediocre romantic comedy, "Never drink to feel better; only drink to feel even better."

Fiesta Bowl: #10 Arizona vs. #20 Boise State

Any Arizona fan feeling confident the team will easily handle the Mountain West champs should remember that the last time the Wildcats played they were left severely humbled. That's not to say the Broncos are going to come out & demolish the Cats like Oregon did, but a reminder that Arizona's #10 ranking still feels a little inflated to this Arizona alum.

Over half of Arizona's games came down to one score, three of them to the final play, & Arizona finished 6-1 in those games. Now it's fun to claim that they accomplished that through grit, toughness, & clutch play, but those cliches aren't just lazy, but untrue. Now the Wildcats pace may have warn some teams out but ultimately one score games come down to luck as much as anything, and while Arizona has been skating by on magic Boise has played only a single one possession game all year (51-46 over Nevada). Part of that is, obviously, playing in a less difficult conference but Boise has handled their business & should not been overlooked.