Altemus 2008 Alamo Bowl Picks

Last night those of you subscribed to the bowl picks offered by Evan Altemus were treated with yet another winner, as he played Northwestern over Kentucky.  Take a look at his reasoning below to find out just why when he looked at the bowl game odds this year, he had this game circled:

Missouri had a resurgence season last year, which included a Big 12 title game appearance, as well as a blowout Cotton Bowl win over Arkansas.  This season the Tigers had Big 12 and national championship aspirations.  However, Missouri was simply overmatched and out coached in losses to Oklahoma State, Texas, and Oklahoma.  Then they ended the season with a lackluster effort against Kansas in another loss.  Missouri will probably get up for this game, but they still won’t be able to beat Northwestern by margin.  The Tigers were vastly over-rated coming into and during this season.  They simply are not a dominant team that most people think they are.  Northwestern’s quarterback C.J. Bacher is an excellent runner and presents defenses with problems.  The Wildcats played very well this season, despite losing Bacher for an extended period.  Their worst loss of the season was to Ohio State, but Bacher wasn’t able to play in that game, which severely affected the offense.  One of the reasons for the Wildcats success this year was due to their vastly improved defense.  They allowed opposing offenses to only 19 points and 330 yards per game.  While Northwestern doesn’t have a dominant defense, they will be able to slow down Missouri enough to keep this game close.  Look for this game to be very close throughout with Northwestern having a chance to pull out the outright win.
3 UNIT SELECTION