Cougars vs. Nittany Lions – Gators vs. Buckeyes Free Pics

It’s a New Year and the TopBet.com online sportsbook has a new slate of NCAA College Football Bowl Betting optons up on the big board. Today we get #19 Houston vs. #22 Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl – followed by Florida vs. Ohio State in the Gator Bowl.

Kickback and bet on this exciting NCAA Bowl action prior to the major Bowl Championship Series games that begin later today. Up first, the defensive minded Nittany Lions and high scoring Cougars get us going!

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Cougars vs. Nittany Lions: TicketCity Bowl Preview

Kickoff for the TicketCity Bowl featuring the Houston Cougars vs. Penn State Nittany Lions is scheduled for Monday, January 2, 2012, at 12:00 PM ET from Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.

#19 Houston  (12-1 OA 8-0 C-USA) is not in the Bowl Game of their preference as they head to the TicketCity Bowl. The Cougars were riding a perfect season until they were stunned, 49-28 by Southern Mississippi, in the Conference USA Championship Game back on December 3, 2011.

Houston #6 in the nation and most certainly assured of an elite BCS Bowl bid. Following the loss to the Golden Eagles – they face Penn State as the #19 ranked team in Country.

#22 Penn State (9-3 OA 6-2 Big Ten) off-field issues aside, the Nittany Lions had a solid season of football. Led by their #5 ranked scoring defense Penn State recovered from a Week 2 loss to #3 Alabama to win their next seven contests.

Once the well-publicized sex scandal hit the front pages, the Nittany Lions slumped as they closed the season at 1-2 to start the post-Joe Paterno era. All three of the  Penn State loses were to ranked opponents as they also lost to #19 Nebraska and #16 Wisconsin.

We can’t see the Nittnay Lions getting up for the Cougars. The Penn State kids just want to get their nightmare season over with. Houston wants to show that they belong in the Big Leagues. They won’t hesitate to run up the score to impress the BCS Brass in this one.

Nittany Lions vs. Cougars Free Pick: Cruise with the Cougars at -7 (-110) at TopBet!

Florida Gators vs. Ohio State Buckeyes: Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl Preview

Up next we have the Florida Gators vs. Ohio State Buckeyes in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl. Kickoff is slated for at 1:00 PM ET from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, FL

Florida (6-6 OA 3-5 SEC) beat up on four unranked teams to start the season before the wheels came off in a 17-6 loss to then #3 Alabama. The Gators had a free fall from there as they went on 2-6 run to close out the season. Facing #1 LSU, plus #13 South Carolina and #22 Georgia, didn’t help their cause but in reality, the Gators were not a very good football team this season.

Ohio State (6-6 OA 3-5 Big Ten) was rocked by off-season scandals and then got rocked in the regular season. After cakewalks through Akron and Toledo at the ‘Shoe, the Buckeyes got beat 24-6 by unranked Miami and dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time in almost seven years. A win over Colorado was followed by a 3-5 record including a 40-34 season ending loss to hated Michigan.

Oh how the mighty have fallen! Back in 2007, this match-up was for the National Championship as the Buckeyes were blasted 41-14 by Florida. Ohio State will want to impress their new boss as former Gators coach Urban Myer in set to take over the reigns of the Buckeyes in 2012.

Due to NCAA sanctions, the Buckeyes won’t be back in Bowl Game until the 2013-14 season. They’ll want this one! Plus, they will be looking to extract a small measure of revenge from Florida.

Buckeyes vs Gators Free Pick: Back the Buckeyes at +110 ML at TopBet!

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Stayed Tuned For Our Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl Predictions Later Today

!! Good Luck and Happy New Year !!