I was working on my Bowl Pick 'Em this morning and found myself less-than-confident about my alma mater's chances in Detroit. Funny thing though, many others are pretty sure Purdue will beat CMU. In fact, 86% of the Yahoo Bowl Pick 'Em participants believe Purdue will beat CMU. Here's why I tend not to agree with them...
-Purdue's poor Big Ten finish was not something that instilled confidence in me. In a four-week span, my favorite team went from a potential Jan. 1 bowl to barely making a D-level bowl. One of Tiller's calling cards over the past few seasons was beating teams that were bad and mediocre. Our Boilers couldn't even do that down the stretch of the '07 regular season.
-The second half of the CMU game at Ross-Ade showed me that Purdue is not the easy pick that the uneducated fan seems to think they are. Despite Purdue's sizable cushion in that contest, CMU got within one score during the second half. Plus, Lefevour's shaky first half was one of, if not his worst half of football during the season.
-CMU's coach was just getting to know his team when they played Purdue previously. As the season progressed the team seemed to get better and better...conversely...
Big Ten Network.com interviewed Tiller about his bowl preparation...I'm glad to hear that Joe and Co. seem to have changed their tune about the importance of trying to win bowl games...but I'm not sure if that will mean Purdue will be victorious in a little over a week from today.