Adams: Bowls will get rolling with great matchups

If that doesn't quicken your pulse, maybe you're holding out for the California-Texas Tech Holiday Bowl, which will feature the fifth- and sixth-best offenses in the country. That could be a defensive struggle compared to Memphis' Liberty Bowl, which will showcase the nation's top two offenses.

Louisville leads the nation with a 50.3-point per-game average. Boise State averages 49.7 points per game.

Bottom line: You don't need a BCS stamp of approval to have an entertaining bowl game. And higher stakes and bigger payouts don't necessarily equate to better entertainment.

Here's my take on the pre-New Year's Day bowls:

Champs Sports Bowl

Syracuse 27, Georgia Tech 23: Not every school is in a rush to fire its coach. Syracuse's Paul Pasqualoni just muddled through his 14th season with the Orange and already has been cleared for a return in 2005. That tells me Syracuse boosters are either the most patient or apathetic in college football.

GMAC Bowl

Memphis 41, Bowling Green 34: Can you believe recruiting legend Albert Means is about to play his last college game? Why, it seems like just the other day his school coach was auctioning him off to the highest bidder.

The former highly touted, highly priced Alabama recruit ended his controversial college career as a first-team, All-Conference USA defensive lineman. Litigation lingers.

Fort Worth Bowl

Marshall 34, Cincinnati 30: Next to Michigan State, the Bearcats are the most enigmatic team in college football.

They lost to Louisville by 63 points and to 2-9 Army by 19 points. They also handed Memphis (39 points) and Southern Mississippi (28) their worst losses of the season.

Las Vegas Bowl

UCLA 30 Wyoming 23: UCLA coach Karl Dorrell be forewarned: Wyoming is underrated as a coach killer. And I'm not talking about the coaches it hires.

The Cowboys beat Ole Miss, which fired coach David Cutcliffe. They also beat UNLV and coach John Robinson, who has since retired.

Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii 37, UAB 31: A matchup of Tennessee's opening-season opponent (UAB) for 2005, and the team I wish it had for an opening opponent (on the road).

Arm-chair UT scouts should keep an eye on UAB sophomore defensive end Larry McSwain, who has 11.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss, and junior quarterback Darrell Hackney, who threw for 24 touchdowns.

MPC Computers Bowl

Fresno State 30, Virginia 24: The Blue Christmas special.

Blue as in the turf at Bronco Stadium. Blue as in the mood of the Cavaliers after they're upended by one of the hottest teams in the country.

The Bulldogs (8-3) have won their last five games by an average of 40 points.

Motor City Bowl

Toledo 41, Connecticut 40: You can't stop quarterbacks Bruce Gradkowski of Toledo and Dan Orlovsky of UConn. You can only hope to pronounce their last names.

Gradkowski and Orlovsky have combined for 6,590 yards passing (and 13 consonants).

Independence Bowl

Miami (Ohio) 27, Iowa State 23: The Cyclones have one of the smartest teams in the country. They proved that by placing nine players on the Big 12 all-academic first team and by losing their last regular-season game to Missouri (so they wouldn't be embarrassed by Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game).

Insight Bowl

Oregon State 41, Notre Dame 20: Does that "41" look familiar? That's how many points the Irish gave up to Oregon State in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.

That's also how many points they gave up to Southern California in their last game and to Pittsburgh in the game before that.

Oregon State's only loss in its last six games was to No. 1 Southern California by eight points.

Houston Bowl

UTEP 31, Colorado 30: Who says bowl matchmakers don't have a sense of humor?

You have UTEP coach Mike Price, who lost his head-coaching job at Alabama for consorting with strippers. You have Colorado, which was accused of using sex to lure recruits.

The Miners will win - but barely.

Alamo Bowl

Ohio State 27, Oklahoma State 24: Cowboys coach Les Miles would have a better chance if he let Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton coordinate his defense.

Sutton's Cowboys held Washington State to 29 points in a 52-point victory. Oklahoma State gave up more points than that in four of its last six football games.

Continental Bowl

North Carolina 34, Boston College 32: The Tar Heels saved John Bunting's job by winning three of their last four games, but they didn't do much for first-year defensive coordinator John Gutekunst's reputation. North Carolina ranked 109th in the country in total defense, 108th against the run.

New Mexico 34, Navy 24: Navy is averaging 291.6 yards rushing, or about 200 yards more than New Mexico gives up per game. The running star of this game will be the Lobos' DonTrell Moore.

Holiday Bowl

California 45, Texas Tech 30: The worst bowl site in the country for launching a Mack Brown Fan Club.

The Texas coach didn't win any friends at California when he lobbied for votes before the Longhorns passed the Golden Bears in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings. He didn't win any friends at Texas Tech when Texas routed the Red Raiders 51-21.

Silicon Valley Bowl

Troy 24, Northern Illinois 22: The Trojans' 7-4 season could have been even better. Their four losses were by a total of 22 points.

They're one of three Division I-A programs in Alabama with a better record than the University of Alabama.

Music City Bowl

Alabama 24, Minnesota 20: If you grow weary of all those high-scoring, prolific-passing bowls, you might welcome this change of pace. Alabama ranks 112th in passing offense; Minnesota ranks 78th.

If you really want to appreciate this matchup, watch Minnesota's strong offensive line against Alabama's defensive front seven.

Liberty Bowl

Louisville 63, Boise State 45: If you haven't grown weary of all those high-scoring, prolific-passing bowls, you've come to the right place. Louisville has scored 55 or more points in its last five games; Boise State has scored 55 or more points in its last four games.

Elvis might come back for this one.

Sun Bowl

Purdue 31, Arizona State 17: The Boilermakers, who have lost four games by 10 points, won't have to worry about another close call.

Purdue has quarterback Kyle Orton, who has passed for 28 touchdowns. Arizona State doesn't have Andrew Walter, who threw for 30 touchdowns before he was injured in the last game against Arizona.

Peach Bowl

Miami 27, Tennessee 23: The Hurricanes' defense will Oops, sorry about that. Tennessee isn't in the Peach Bowl.

Miami 27, Florida 23: Wonder how Illinois boosters will feel about new coach Ron Zook if the Gators look better without Zook than with him?

Record: 210-42 (.833); overall, 144-108 (.571) against the spread.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.