Sports fans have nine college bowl games to look forward to

Sports fans have nine college football bowl games to look forward to during the coming week and here are my predictions for that slate of games.

I look for BYU to beat San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl, which will kick off today (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

I expect Central Florida to defeat Ball State in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl, which will start tomorrow (Friday) at 6:30 p.m. at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

I figure Louisiana-Lafayette will outgun East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl, which will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Superdome in New Orleans.

I predict that Boise State will outpace Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl, which is set to kick off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas.

I look for Fresno State to whip SMU in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, which will start Monday at 7 p.m. at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

I expect Western Kentucky to upend Central Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Ford Field in Detroit.

I predict that San Jose State will down Bowling Green in the Military Bowl on Thurs., Dec. 27, at 2 p.m. at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

I figure Cincinnati will defeat Duke in the Belk Bowl on Dec. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

Last, but not least, I look for Baylor to beat UCLA in the Holiday Bowl Dec. 27 at 8:45 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

ESPN will broadcast all nine of the games mentioned above.

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Also during the past week, The Courant received a note from the University of Alabama’s National Alumni Association saying that Alabama head coach Nick Saban will pay a visit to Andalusia in May.

If you’ve ever wanted to meet Saban, this will be a good opportunity to do so when his “Crimson Caravan” visits Andalusia on Tues., May 14. The event will be held at the Andalusia Kiwanis Center, and tickets are $50 each.

Tickets to this event would make a great gift for the Alabama fan on your Christmas list. You can order them by mailing a check to:

Keron Kyzer, Vice President

Dist. 12, Alabama National Alumni Association

108 Third Ave.

Andalusia, AL 36420.

Make checks payable to the University of Alabama and be sure to include your name, e-mail address, mailing address and phone number.

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Also during the past week, the Alabama Sports Writers Association published its second-annual Super 25 football poll, which ranks teams statewide regardless of class. Class 6A Hoover, which won the Class 6A state title, was ranked No. 1. Teams from Southwest Alabama that made the Top 25 included Spanish Fort at No. 2; UMS-Wright of Mobile, No. 3; Brantley High School, No. 7; St. Paul’s of Mobile, No. 13; Washington County High School of Chatom, No. 15; and McGill-Toolen of Mobile, No. 21.