Birmingham, AL plays host to the Compass Bowl on January 7th with the Pitt Panthers facing the Mustangs. The Pitt Panthers come in following the 1-year Todd Graham experiment at head coach. After taking the head coaching job at Arizona State, Graham resigned his post on December 14th. Defensive Coordinator Keith Patterson will put on the headset for the Pitt Panthers in this clash of titans. SMU enters into competition with the specter of the “Death Penalty” handed down in the 1980’s still being discussed today. Former Nfl and Hawaii coach June Jones is currently in his fourth year on the sidelines of Southern Methodist University. The wagering line has this set at Pittsburgh (-3) with the over-under of 47 points.

The Steelers are matched up vs the Broncos in the nfl Playoffs. The Broncos ended up with an 8-8 record narrowly claiming champs of the AFC West, whilst the Steelers concluded as a wild card with an extraordinary record of 12-4 in the AFC North division. The Pittsburgh steelers will be visiting Denver to compete vs them at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

It all boils down to this as the #1 rated LSU Tigers face the #2 rated Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS National Championship Game at the Superdome in New Orleans, LA on January 9th. After winning the national championship in 2009 and furthermore winning it with LSU as a head coach in 2003, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is no stranger to this match. LSU head coach Les Miles is furthermore no stranger at this instant as he has won the national championship in 2007. Two excellent squads and head coaches coming together on a collision course in what will certainly be an awesome game. The odds makers presently have this at Alabama (-1) with the over-under set at 40 points.

Perhaps the Lions just are unlucky with regards to scheduling. 1st, they finish their regular season versus their division rival Green Bay Packers, who additionally possess the league’s top record. They then follow that up by pulling the Saints in the 1st round of the playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons trust that slipping into the playoffs undetected in 2012 will offer them greater results, after finishing with the top record in the league a year ago, and getting terminated in the 1st round by the Packers. Atlanta ended 10-6 this season, earning them a 1st round wild-card contest with the NFC East winning Giants (9-7).

The Cincinnati Bengals will be competing against the Houston Texans in the nfl playoffs. The Bengals will travel to Reliant Stadium in Houston for the match up. Cincinnati concluded their season with a record of 9-7 and attained the playoffs this season as a wild card in the AFC North division. After coming out ahead as the leading team in the AFC South this season, Houston concluded with a record of 10-6.

The Seahawks (7-8) will be traveling to challenge the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) in an NFC West divisional contest. There’s a little bit of reason that a victory will allow either team a winning record despite the fact that each respective team has dropped just shy of playoff competition this season as they were looking for a wild card berth. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has yet to lose a match versus the Cardinals in his stint, but Arizona qb Kevin Kolb may return and start for his team after recuperating from a concussion.

This game between the Pittsburgh steelers and the Cleveland Browns will showcase 2 squads who have different goals for the last 2 matches of the year. The Pittsburgh steelers are presently in the playoff contest and are simply only getting prepared for the playoffs. On the flip side, the Browns are only attempting to salvage their year with a couple of more victories after having had a pretty negative year. Both squads nevertheless will be competing hard despite the difference in their records. If both squads play hard, it will likely be a pretty close game.

The Philadelphia Eagles (7-8) are going to visit the Washington Redskins (5-10) in an NFC East divisional contest in their final game. Both squads are at the bottom of the division standings and have been eliminated from playoff competition this year. Philadelphia had a ton of press buzz before the start of the year being tagged the dream team with their impact in the free agent market.

Week 17 of the nfl Year is always full of trap contests. The match between the Lions and Green Bay Packers in Green Bay is one of this sort of game.