Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl: St. Petersburg, FL, USA, 12/21/10, 5pm

Southern Mississippi (8-4) v. Louisville (6-6)
Louisville favored by 2.5

It's a shame when two teams you like square off in a bowl game. Personally, I'd much rather have the good-bad dichotomy gauging my rooting interest. I don't know how many of you are UFC fans, but my friend of Whoop Deee Woop fame, Brian!, has a set of rules to guide him when rooting for two guys who are, in his book, about the same thing. First of all, if they are black, he's in. Next, if they are of any sort of Asian/Pacific Islander descent, he's in. If the two still fall outside of these, he goes for whoever is foreign. Finally, if they're both white American Irish dudes (which is roughly 53% of the time) he goes for the one with the least crappy tattoos.

Similarly, in this game, I find it hard to root for these teams when facing off against one another. I like the Golden Eagles because they always seem to be competitive and I like Louisville because, well, look at the rest of the Big East in football. Plus, Louisville had Michael Bush a few years ago, and he was sick.

This year, Louisville's Bush (what am I, in sixth grade?) is Bilal Powell. This guy is averaging over 6 yards a carry and could devastate a lackluster Southern Miss D. But that will certainly not spell the end for the Geagles. Their offense is among the top of the pack in terms of running (21st), passing (31st) and scoring (15th). Junior QB Austin Davis (no relation) is efficient in the air (just shy of 2900 yards with 18 TDs against 6 INTs) and on the ground (10 rushing TDs and nearly 500 yards). Doesn't this sound like a high-scoring, fun game? Well, not if Louisville's stifling, at times, defense shows up.

So, I must use an outside set of parameters to select my winner: root for whichever of these teams plays in Conference USA.

The Pick: Southern Miss - though it could be a long night if their offense falters, they haven't yet this season and I don't expect them to. If not for two one-point losses (one in OT), this team would surely be in the top 25.

The Line: Well, I have to take points with my pick, right? And for the record, Beef 'O' Brady's is a chain of Irish Pub Restaurants back east. So before you agree with all these idiots making fun of bowl game names, tell me that you wouldn't like to eat there.