Game 13: Virginia Tech

Bowl games often come down to who wants to be there and who doesn't. Rutgers could easily have no motivation in this game, since it is a consolation prize for them after blowing their chances of playing in a BCS game, but there is still plenty on the line today. A Rutgers win would give them their 10th win of the season, something they have only achieved twice before before in school history (1976 and 2006). A win would also extend the nation's longest bowl winning streak, send the seniors off the right way, and build positive momentum for the program heading into the 2013 season. With the way Rutgers has handled playing in less than premium bowl games after a dispointing end to the regular season in the past, I don't expect motivation to be a problem for them. If anything, Virginia Tech could be the unmotivated team, since they may just want their first disappointing season in while to end.

As Andy Staples points out, teams have used the Russell Athletic Bowl (formerly the Champs Sports Bowl, Tangerine Bowl, Blockbuster Bowl and Mazda Bowl) as a "launching pad" to greater things. Florida State and Notre Dame played in this bowl a year ago, and the Irish are now in the national championship game and the Seminoles are in the Orange Bowl. Two years ago, West Virginia played in this bowl and they parlayed that into an Orange Bowl win last year. Wisconsin played in this game in 2009, and they have won three consecutive Big 10 titles in the wake of that. Hopefully Rutgers will be the next school to join that group with a big 2013 season, and a win today would build momentum towards that.

Injuries
Rutgers is pretty healthy coming into this game. Brandon Jones will be able to go after missing the second half of the Louisville game with an injury and Jawan Jamison and Andre Civil are back to 100% after playing hurt at the end of the season. Kicker Nick Borgese had a minor back problem this week, but he will kick today over the now healthy Kyle Federico.

Prediction- Rutgers 16 Virginia Tech 13
I'm fairly confident that this will be a close game and I think Rutgers will be able to make a big play on special teams or force a big turnover to swing the game in their favor.