Bowl guide for Wed., Dec. 28: Pinstripe, Russell Athletic, Foster Farms and Texas Bowl

Bowl week keeps barreling along with a full slate of games on Wednesday to keep everyone busy through the last hump day of 2016. If you're on vacation this week, today is one of the best afternoons football this December. If you're stuck in the office, well, odds are you work for a Northwestern grad and they're going to be so happy someone is willing to talk football with them they're not going to notice you haven't submitted a TPS report in over a month.

Pinstripe Bowl
Pittsburgh (8-4, Atlantic Coast Conference) vs. Northwestern (6-6, Big Ten)
Location: Yankee Stadium, New York
Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT
Channel: ESPN

If Pitt manages to handle Northwestern, can we say the program is finally back? Yes, the Panthers lost four games this year, but they also have two of best wins in the entire country, topping Big Ten champion Penn State in Week 2 and ACC and College Football Playoff participant Clemson.

Shiloh Carder: They'd be on the right track. Pitt did beat both Penn State and Clemson, but their losses weren't that bad either. They lost to North Carolina in the final seconds, hung around with Oklahoma State and lost on a touchdown in the final minutes, and lost to Virginia Tech by three points. Sure, getting blown out at Miami looks bad, but that may just be the outlier.

A win in the Pinstripe Bowl would be a great step in the right direction for Pitt. The ACC Coastal Division has long been wide open, and running back James Conner probably has one more season. They will lose quarterback Nathan Peterman to graduation, but again, this could be a program on the rise in the ACC.

Sam Greszes: As Yardbarker's resident insufferable Northwestern fan, it is my duty to say thee NAY. In fact, if Northwestern wins, we can say THEIR program is finally back. So there.

In all seriousness, however, I don't think a win against Northwestern really gives Pitt the legitimacy they're looking for. I do think Pitt is back and deserves to be taken very seriously. And despite a strong Northwestern season, with the notable exception of losses to Western Michigan (which is kind of understandable) and Illinois State (which is not), a bowl win against them won't convince any naysayers. I think they'll need to stay ranked well into next season to really be taken seriously.

Daniel Tran:  Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Pittsburgh got a couple nice wins against some top competition, but until they bring it every single week like Jackie Sherrill and Dan Marino are on the on the team, they are not “back.”

They needed three straight wins at the end of the year to finish fourth in the ACC Coastal Division. That might be good for a program that just made the jump to Division I, but not for a team with the history of the Panthers.

Mascot edge: In the battle of cats, who really would win between a panther and wildcat? I say the Panthers because 50 percent of the time they win 100 percent of the time.

Russell Athletic Bowl
West Virginia (10-2, Big 12) vs. Miami (FL) (8-4, ACC)
Location: Camping World Stadium, Orlando
Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT
Channel: ESPN

Which coach would make a better Russell Athletic pitch man, the successful if boring Mark Richt or balding-mullet-craziness of Dana Holgorsen?

Shiloh Carder: Holgorsen. Richt has the brand name of The U backing him, but Holgorsen has the personality and the connections to have Mike Gundy and Mike Leach — and with Oliver Luck as his AD, maybe he could score Andrew Luck. Richt may be better suited for Men's Wearhouse.

Sam Greszes: It's Russell freaking Athletic. Of course they're going to go with Richt. See, Russell Athletic isn't like a Nike or a Reebok, or even an Adidas or Fila. They're not trying to win the big one. They're looking for stability, gosh-darn-it, and if that means hiring a balding man who will lead the company to fall just short of its goals every single fiscal year, then so be it. 

The more I think about it, the more Richt is a perfect fit. He even looks like the company's target market: stiff white dads.

Daniel Tran:  If you’re an executive at Rolex or Bugatti, having a boring pitchman is irrelevant because the brand speaks for itself. But if you’re Russell Athletic, you need someone loud and brash to push you into the public conscience. Dana Holgorsen fits the bill.

Not only does he have the look of someone that just came back from getting kicked out of their six-year-old child’s soccer game, he coaches like it too. Holdorsen has thrown some epic tantrums at referees and audibly told an entire stadium that his team had “bigger balls” than the opposition.

Color me curious.

Mascot edge: It sure seems like Hurricanes do more damage away from mountains, so the Mountaineers get the edge here, particular against that odd bird Sebastian as Miami's actual mascot.

Foster Farms Bowl
Indiana (6-6, Big Ten) vs. Utah (8-4, Pac-12)
Location: Levi Stadium, Santa Clara
Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT
Channel: Fox

How can each school stop the bleeding — Utah being losers of its last two games and three of the last four, Indiana healing from the wounds the recently axed head coach left behind?

Shiloh Carder: Indiana's wounds will heal after the game – win or lose – as the Tom Allen era begins. Utah had some high expectations this season that didn't pan out. Winning the Foster Farms Bowl is big for them. They are the better team here and have won 12 of their last 13 bowl games, so a loss would really signal that there are problems a bit deeper with this team. The defense has been sloppy and has struggled over the last half of the season and could struggle against Indiana's offense. 

Sam Greszes: Oh jeez, this is a rough one. Obviously, a bowl win here would do a lot to help things out from a morale standpoint, but at the end of the day, these are exhibition games. Winning one won't fix the damage that Kevin Wilson allegedly did by forcing hurt players back out on the field or make up for a late-season collapse by the Utes. 

So in short, I guess I'm saying nothing can stop the bleeding in the short term. The two of them will just have to hang tight and hope they don't die of blood loss before the wounds scab over and start to heal over the offseason.

Daniel Tran: Utah has been close to victory, but hasn’t been able to close out games for one reason or another. They turned the ball over four times against Colorado and they gave up 575 yards and 20 points in the fourth quarter to Oregon.

Indiana on the other hand, just needs to move forward. The Kevin Wilson era of football wasn’t exactly defined by success. Maybe a change in regime is what this team needs in order to come together and win for each other.

Mascot edge: The Utes refers to the American Indian tribe for which the state of Utah is named. Hoosiers are inhabitants of Indiana. Neither name is very original, and for some reason Indiana had a bulldog as a mascot in the '60s, while Utah has a red-tailed hawk named Swoop as the mascot for some reason. I say neither team has an edge here.

Texas Bowl
Texas A&M (8-4, Southeastern Conference) vs. Kansas State (8-4, Big 12)
Location: NRG Stadium, Houston
Time: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Channel: ESPN

Few teams in the rankings this year had a drop-off like the Texas A&M Aggies did, losing four of their last six games after a 6-0 start, while the Kansas St. Wildcats were able to turn their season around after a mediocre kickoff to win five of their last six games of the season. Does momentum matter for the Wildcats, or will the battered and bruised Aggies be able to salvage their season?

Shiloh Carder: K-State does have momentum, but look at who they beat: Iowa State, Kansas, Texas, TCU and Baylor. Still, the momentum does matter since Texas A&M has really fallen apart just as Texas, TCU and Baylor did. The ability to pounce on an opponent that is down has been a key part of what Bill Snyder's squad has done to get here. The Aggies are more talented, but that hasn't meant much to either team.

Sam Greszes: I'm not personally a big believer in the concept of momentum. Usually, when a team turns a losing season around, it's because they're gelling as a team or otherwise improving. When the reverse happens, it's usually because the team was never really that good in the first place.

Again, trust me on this, I'm a Northwestern fan. I'm used to November collapses.

If you're asking me to predict this game, I do think that K-State wins this game and continues their decade-plus-long win streak against the Aggies.

Daniel Tran: The Aggies have some of the best talent in the country, but they just can’t get all the pieces together to play consistently. Despite having a monster in Myles Garrett, Texas A&M’s defense has been terrible. In their last three games against SEC competition, they have allowed an average of 562 yards. Kansas State on the other hand has been hot, averaging 450 yards their last three games.

Even if the Wildcats weren’t coming into the game this hot, the Aggies don’t have the defense to stop a team with this much momentum.

Mascot edge: Aggies refers to agriculturalists for the agriculture history of Texas A&M. I have a feeling the Wildcats could give farmers fits, but then again, A&M's mascot itself is a dog named Reveille, and cats revile dogs.