Rexrode: Picking all the bowls, with confidence and sarcasm

College football’s “Selection Sunday” will never match college basketball’s, not unless there’s a full-blown tournament field to reveal. That won’t happen until about 2050, by which time we’ll be talking about flag football rules, robot officials and $20 million salaries — for coordinators.

No one sheet of paper can match the fun of the NCAA bracket, but picking the bowl games by confidence level isn’t half bad. There are 41 games including the CFP semifinals, so you put 41 points on the predicted winner you’re most confident in, all the way down to a single point for the game you find toughest to choose.

If you don’t already do this, try it with your friends. But please remember, don’t gamble. And if you do, please investigate some of my past predictions before using this as a guide.

Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl

Grambling State over North Carolina Central

Confidence points: 24

Comment: Grambling State has one loss, by 10 at Arizona.

College football bowl schedule, results 2016

Gildan New Mexico Bowl

New Mexico over Texas-San Antonio

Confidence points: 29

Comment: Bowl game rule: If a team is playing on its home field, go with that team.

Las Vegas Bowl presented by Geico

Houston over San Diego State

Confidence points: 18

Comment: The Cougars just changed coaches and lost a tough game to Memphis, but the guess here is a prideful response for the superior team.

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl

Appalachian State over Toledo

Confidence points: 23

Comment: The last time I saw Appalachian State, they should have beat top-10 power and destined SEC East champ Tennessee, so I’m going with Appalachian State.

AutoNation Cure Bowl

UCF over Arkansas State

Confidence points: 36

Comment: Scott Frost has engineered quite a turnaround at UCF and will cap it with a win in a virtual home game.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Louisiana-Lafayette over Southern Mississippi

Confidence points: 7

Comment: Gotta go with the Ragin’ Cajuns in New Orleans. That’s my analysis.

Miami Beach Bowl

Tulsa over Central Michigan

Confidence points: 28

Comment: The state of Oklahoma gets Central Michigan back for the way that Oklahoma State game ended.

Boca Raton Bowl

Memphis over Western Kentucky

Confidence points: 14

Comment:Memphis has momentum and Western Kentucky just hired a new coach. Both offenses will have a ton of success.

Memphis to face Western Kentucky in Boca Raton Bowl

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

BYU over Wyoming

Confidence points: 17

Comment: It’s too bad the electric and injury-plagued Taysom Hill won’t get to play in the final game of his career, but BYU is still better.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Idaho over Colorado State

Confidence points: 3

Comment: How do you pick against Idaho in the Potato Bowl?

Popeyes Bahamas Bowl

Old Dominion over Eastern Michigan

Confidence points: 35

Comment: Popeyes chicken, football and the Bahamas — matches made in paradise.

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Louisiana Tech over Navy

Confidence points: 13

Comment: Rough finish for a banged-up Navy team that is coming off two losses.

Dollar General Bowl

Ohio over Troy

Confidence points: 2

Comment: Tickets may actually go for less than the cost of a mop head at Dollar General.

Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii over Middle Tennessee State

Confidence points: 1

Comment: Slight, slight edge to the home team, which isn’t excited to be there, over the very-excited-to-be-there visiting team with the quarterback nursing a broken collarbone. Hawaii should get the Pinstripe Bowl some year, just so it can have a better appreciation for having to stay home.

MTSU to play Hawaii in Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve

St. Petersburg Bowl

Mississippi State over Miami (Ohio)

Confidence points: 27

Comment: The Bulldogs surged late, though they have nothing on the Redhawks — who have won six straight after an 0-6 start!

Quick Lane Bowl

Maryland over Boston College

Confidence points: 6

Comment: What do you mean, Detroit won’t care about this matchup? That’s Big Ten country, ready to embrace Maryland’s rich Big Ten tradition.

Camping World Independence Bowl

Vanderbilt over N.C. State

Confidence points: 12

Comment: Although a win in the Poulan Weed-Eater Independence Bowl would mean a cooler trophy, the Commodores gladly take a 7-6 season and a vault toward an exciting 2017.

Must be the shoes: Derek Mason celebrates bowl in style

Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl

North Texas over Army

Confidence points: 34

Comment: If you’re wondering just how bloated the bowls have become, here’s a matchup of a 5-7 team (North Texas) against a 6-5 team that it already beat 35-18 on the road this season.

Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman

Temple over Wake Forest

Confidence points: 37

Comment: Temple football, legitimate program. It’s a thing these days.

National Funding Holiday Bowl

Washington State over Minnesota (or Northern Illinois, depending on whether this Minnesota boycott happens — the good thing is, Minnesota and Northern Illinois are basically the same team)

Confidence points: 26

Comment: We’re inching closer and closer to a bowl game sponsored by The Human Fund.

Motel 6 Cactus Bowl

Boise State over Baylor

Confidence points: 33

Comment: To Baylor fans who are still crying about Art Briles: Locate a clue. We’ll leave a light on for you.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl

Pittsburgh over Northwestern

Confidence points: 22

Comment: Pat Narduzzi has a win over a playoff team (Clemson) and the closest non-playoff team (Penn State), and he’ll get No. 9 against the Wildcats.

Russell Athletic Bowl

Miami over West Virginia

Confidence points: 5

Comment: Give it to the Hurricanes in Orlando, despite their erratic body of work — which includes a blowout of Pittsburgh and a loss to notorious doormat Notre Dame.

Foster Farms Bowl

Utah over Indiana

Confidence points: 39

Comment: This is a bad matchup for the Big Ten, and not just because the most successful Indiana coach in a quarter century just got fired.

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl

Kansas State over Texas A&M

Confidence points: 11

Comment: Kansas State is nothing special and the game is in Houston, but how can you believe in the Aggies after four losses in six games (including an ugly 23-10 win over Texas-San Antonio)?

Birmingham Bowl

South Florida over South Carolina

Confidence points: 38

Comment: South Florida is on a hot streak. Also, Muschamp (to be pronounced in sad trombone style, “womp-womp.”)

Belk Bowl

Virginia Tech over Arkansas

Confidence points: 32

Comment: Bret Bielema is probably grateful to get away from such SEC powers as Missouri and Texas A&M, but the Hokies won’t offer much of a break.

Valero Alamo Bowl

Colorado over Oklahoma State

Confidence points: 21

Comment: Anyone else reminiscing over Barry Sanders, Eric Bieniemy and the old Big 8?

Autozone Liberty Bowl

Georgia over TCU

Confidence points: 4

Comment: Highly disappointing seasons for both, but you figure Georgia will at least get some fans to Memphis. Kirby Smart could use a win heading to the offseason.

Armour: Why a bigger College Football Playoff field would be even better

Hyundai Sun Bowl

Stanford over North Carolina

Confidence points: 31

Comment: A reputation for academic excellence vs. a reputation for academic … creativity.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl

Tennessee over Nebraska

Confidence points: 16

Comment: Despite the unpleasant experience they just had in Nashville, Vols fans will show up again and watch their team end up on the right side of this shootout.

Tennessee, Nebraska take similar paths to Music City Bowl

Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl

Air Force over South Alabama

Confidence points: 20

Comment: Air Force is another team that may soon need a new coach, but that’s because Troy Calhoun has done a great job of coaching Air Force.

Capital One Orange Bowl

Michigan over Florida State

Confidence points: 10

Comment: Strangely, there were national pundits touting Michigan’s chances of hanging with Alabama in a playoff game shortly after the Wolverines exploded for 13 points against Iowa. Look for Jim Harbaugh to win a good game here, or calmly explain why it was the officials’ fault if he doesn’t.

Rexrode: Questions for 4 Tennessee teams in bowls, but not for Alabama

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl

LSU over Louisville

Confidence points: 19

Comment: It will be fun to watch Heisman winner Lamar Jackson against LSU’s defense. It will be more fun for LSU’s offense to get to play against Louisville’s defense.

TaxSlayer Bowl

Georgia Tech over Kentucky

Confidence points: 25

Comment: If you like rushing offense, this one’s for you! Look for around 800 combined rushing yards, 80 combined points, no punts and two hours of elapsed time.

Outback Bowl

Florida over Iowa

Confidence points: 9

Comment: If you like final scores of 9-7, this one’s for you!

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic

Wisconsin over Western Michigan

Confidence points: 40

Comment: Western Michigan under P.J. Fleck is a great story about to encounter a terrible matchup. The Badgers are just too strong up front.

Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual

USC over Penn State

Confidence points: 8

Comment: Penn State’s second-half turnarounds have been incredible, but USC has the horses to get ahead and stay ahead.

Snubbed: Penn State made a good case for College Football Playoff

Allstate Sugar Bowl

Oklahoma over Auburn

Confidence points: 30

Comment: A red-hot Oklahoma team against the second-best team the SEC has to offer sounds great. In most years.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl semifinal

Alabama over Washington

Confidence points: 41

Comment: There may be less-competitive matchups out there and Washington may be able to hang in for quite a while. But I just can’t see Alabama losing this in a virtual home game in Atlanta.

Peach Bowl: How Alabama and Washington match up

Playstation Fiesta Bowl semifinal

Clemson over Ohio State

Confidence points: 15

Comment: If you’ve watched Ohio State all year, you’ve seen a young, inconsistent team with an unreliable offense. Yes, there have been outbursts, most notably against Oklahoma and Nebraska. But Deshaun Watson and Clemson will make more big plays and earn a title-game rematch.

Fiesta Bowl: How Clemson and Ohio State match up

BONUS

National championship

Alabama over Clemson

Comment: It would be great to think something unpredictable will happen in the playoff. But it just isn’t sound to think so.