The big dish on the bowls

You can study pie charts and team tendencies and make your 2006-07 bowl picks.

Or you can read this:

* Poinsettia, Tuesday, Texas Christian (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5).

TCU is famous for football stars Sammy Baugh, Davey O’Brien and LaDainian Tomlinson. DeKalb, the city in which Northern Illinois is located, is famous for being the birthplace of barbed wire.

The pick: TCU.

* Las Vegas, Dec. 21, Oregon (7-5) vs. Brigham Young (10-2).

Oregon offensive coordinator Gary Crowton was once fired as BYU coach and he may still take offense to that.

The pick: Oregon.

* New Orleans, Dec. 22, Troy (7-5) vs. Rice (7-5).

Patient Rice fans expect a postseason victory once every 53 years and the Owls haven’t won since beating Alabama in the 1953 Cotton Bowl.

The pick: Rice.

* PapaJohns.com, Dec. 23, South Florida (8-4) vs. East Carolina (7-5).

South Florida beat West Virginia this year and almost beat Rutgers; East Carolina is coached by someone named Skip.

The pick: South Florida.

* New Mexico, Dec. 23, New Mexico (6-6) vs. San Jose State (8-4).

Always go with the home team in a bowl when it applies and, believe it or not, San Jose State has been designated as the home team.

The pick: San Jose State.

* Armed Forces, Dec. 23, Tulsa (8-4) vs. Utah (7-5).

Utah strong safety Eric Weddle, college football’s multi-tasker, spends more time on the field than the refs. Too bad Utah only has one Weddle.

The pick: Tulsa.

* Hawaii, Dec. 24, Arizona State (7-5) vs. Hawaii (10-3).

Dirk Koetter will coach this game despite being fired last month and replaced this week by Dennis Erickson. Word is Koetter purchased a one-way ticket to Hawaii and will stay there after the game and buy a get-away home with the $2.8 million Arizona State owes him.

The pick: Hawaii.

* Motor City, Dec. 26, Central Michigan (9-4) vs. Middle Tennessee (7-5).

Didn’t know until yesterday that Rick Stockstill was the coach at Middle Tennessee or that the school’s nickname is the Blue Raiders.

The pick: Central Michigan.

* Emerald, Dec. 27, Florida State (6-6) vs. UCLA (7-5).

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden walks on the field before the game and says, “If I lose this one the boosters will want me to hold my press conference on the Golden Gate Bridge.”

The pick: UCLA.

* Independence, Dec. 28, Oklahoma State (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6).

In terms of its coaching search, Alabama has been turned down more than the sheets at the Fairfield Inn in Tuscaloosa.

The pick: Oklahoma State.

* Texas, Dec. 28, Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5).

A month ago, people were talking about Rutgers playing in the Rose, Orange or, gasp, BCS national title game. Instead, the Scarlet Knights ended up in this ten-gallon-hat comedown, to be televised, oddly, on the NFL Network, which isn’t available in many areas of New Jersey.

The pick: Kansas State.

* Holiday, Dec. 28, Texas A&M; (9-3) vs. California (9-3).

Texas A&M; might not be the same after losing a key architect of defense, former school president Robert Gates.

The pick: Cal.

* Music City, Dec. 29, Kentucky (7-4) vs. Clemson (8-4).

Kentucky is happy to be back in a bowl after seven years, but this isn’t music to Clemson’s ears.

The pick: Clemson.

* Sun, Dec. 29, Missouri (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-4).

Oregon State has lost once, to UCLA, since Oct. 10 while Missouri went 2-4 down the stretch even though a blown official’s call cost the Tigers a win against Iowa State.

The pick: Oregon State.

* Liberty, Dec. 29, Houston (10-3) vs. South Carolina (7-5).

If quarterback Kevin Kolb and his 27 touchdown passes were playing for Steve Spurrier’s team we’d go with South Carolina. But Kolb is Houston’s quarterback.

The pick: Houston.

* Insight, Dec. 29, Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5).

Minnesota isn’t very good against the passing game while some at Texas Tech think Mike Leach has reinvented it.

The pick: Texas Tech.

* Champs Sports, Dec. 29, Purdue (8-4) vs. Maryland (8-4).

Purdue this year didn’t beat a team with a winning record. Maryland has a winning record.

The pick: Maryland.

* Meineke Car Care, Dec. 30, Boston College (9-3) vs. Navy (9-3).

Tom O’Brien, a former Marine, bailed out on his Boston College troops to take the job at North Carolina State, which is closer to his vacation home in Charleston. Glad it worked out for him.

The pick: Navy.

* Alamo, Dec. 30, Texas (9-3) vs. Iowa (6-6).

The strong urge to think Texas might not want to be here is overcome by the notion that Iowa does not belong here.

The pick: Texas

* Chick-fil-A, Dec. 30, Virginia Tech (10-1) vs. Georgia (8-4).

Georgia’s top two quarterbacks have combined for nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

The pick: Virginia Tech.

* MPC Computers, Dec. 31, Nevada (8-4) vs. Miami (6-6).

You talk about Dysfunction 101. Miami fired Larry Coker and then conducted a nationwide search for his replacement only to hire Randy Shannon, the defensive coordinator standing next to him.

The pick: Nevada.

* Outback, Jan. 1, Penn State (8-4) vs. Tennessee (9-3).

Willis Reed, on a bad leg, once hobbled into the arena to inspire the New York Knicks to a win over the Lakers.

The pick: Penn State.

* Cotton, Jan. 1, Nebraska (9-4) vs. Auburn (10-2).

Nebraska Coach Bill Callahan voted his team lower in the USA Today coaches’ poll than the Cornhuskers actually finished.

The pick: Auburn.

* Gator, Jan. 1, Georgia Tech (9-4) vs. West Virginia (10-2).

The Alabama newspaper that reported Rich Rodriguez had agreed in principle to take the Crimson Tide job also likes Georgia Tech in this game.

The pick: West Virginia.

* Capital One, Jan. 1, Arkansas (10-3) vs. Wisconsin (11-1).

Running back Darren McFadden is asking that stats from this game be counted toward next year’s Heisman Trophy campaign.

The pick: Arkansas.

* Rose, Jan. 1, USC (10-2) vs. Michigan (11-1).

Pete Carroll is almost unbeatable when you give him a month to prepare for the Arizona Cardinals job.

The pick: USC.

* Fiesta, Jan. 1, Oklahoma (10-2) vs. Boise State (12-0).

It will be a shocking upset if a couple of Oklahoma players don’t giggle when they see Boise State run out for pre-game introductions.

The pick: Boise State.

* Orange, Jan. 2, Wake Forest (11-2) vs. Louisville (11-1).

Wake Forest doesn’t have enough students to do “The Wave” but is working on something called “The Ripple.”

The pick: Louisville.

* Sugar, Jan. 3, LSU (10-2) vs. Notre Dame (10-2).

Notre Dame has lost eight straight bowl games and is playing a speedy LSU team in New Orleans, on artificial turf.

The pick: LSU.

* International, Jan. 6, Western Michigan (8-4) vs. Cincinnati (7-5).

This game in Toronto could end up being about gross ticket sales.

The pick: Western Michigan.

* GMAC, Jan. 7, Southern Miss (8-5) vs. Ohio (9-4).

Note the date, Nebraska fans. Ohio Coach Frank Solich got his team closer to the national title game.

The pick: Ohio.

* BCS National Championship Game, Jan. 8, Ohio State (12-0) vs. Florida (12-1).

Ohio State needs this win to stay alive in the NFL playoffs.

The pick: Ohio State.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com