Weekend Picks

Lots of big games this weekend. The bowl season is wrapping up and the NFL playoffs are starting.

LSU finally gets to play their bowl game, the longest layoff they've had since playing in the BCS national championship game. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the Cotton Bowl is that it's held in the new Cowboys Stadium, so LSU gets to preview the venue before opening up next season there against Oregon. There is some intrigue with the Tigers. I'll be especially interested in seeing if the extra practice time has been beneficial to the QBs, but the most intrigue could come after the game with the almost annual Miles to Michigan talk.

The Saints will start their Super Bowl defense on the road at 7-9 Seattle. Lucky for the Saints that they get the worst playoff team in NFL history because the injury bug has bitten the team hard. RBs Pierre Thomas and Chris Ivory are on IR and starters Malcolm Jenkins and Jimmy Graham are likely out as well. On a normal day, Drew Brees will be enough to beat the Seahawks, but the game will be in rainy Quest Field, one of the NFL's toughest venues, and the Saints will be shorthanded. Also, to tempt fate a little more, the team has chosen to wear their awful black pants (the same pants that they repeatedly play bad in). Why not hang it all out there and really stack the odds against a Super Bowl repeat?

There are lots of other great games this weekend, including the BCS Championship on Monday.

Here are my predictions:

Cotton Bowl:
LSU 19
Texas A&M 14

Wild Card Weekend:
Saints 28
Seahawks 14

Jets 23
Colts 32

Ravens 31
Chiefs 16

Packers 20
Eagles 17

BCS National Championship:
Auburn 31
Oregon 38