Picking the Big 12 Football Bowl Games
By Chip Rouse
![Dec 3, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners celebrate winning the Big 12 Conference Championship after defeating the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports Dec 3, 2016; Norman, OK, USA; The Oklahoma Sooners celebrate winning the Big 12 Conference Championship after defeating the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/1de0052fbc10d5faeb027c713515732f81e70fc1913b0997d86659b639ea0fd0.jpg)
Dec. 30, 2016
Liberty Bowl
TCU Horned Frogs (6-6) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (7-5)
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tenn.
This contest is likely to be played SEC style: Run the ball and stop the other team’s run game.
Historically, TCU plays fundamentally sound defensive football, but this season they have been gashed by the run as well as through the air. In Nick Chubb, Georgia has one of the best in the country toting the rock in the run game, and the Horned Frogs have not shown much consistency being able to stop teams on the ground.
TCU will try to stop Chubb and put enough pressure on Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason to disrupt his rhythm and force him into bad decisions with the ball.
I’m betting that TCU’s more wide-open, Big 12-style of offense will be better than Georgia’s defense and that offense will win the day in this low-scoring battle in the trenches.
Prediction: TCU 24, Georgia 20
If my picks come out as projected, the Big 12 will be 3-2 by year’s end, with the New Year’s Six battle between Oklahoma and Auburn remaining and giving the Big 12 a chance at a 3-0 sweep against teams from the SEC this bowl season.