Hawaii Rainbow Warriors vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Honolulu
Aloha Stadium
Wednesday, Dec. 24
ESPN, 8 p.m. ET
Spread:  Hawaii -1.5
Total:  48

My Pick: There is no more pressure on Charlie Weis as he has already been confirmed as the Irish coach in 2009, but if he wants a bonus he really needs to break that 9 bowl game losing streak they have going.  It may be possible against the home team Rainbow Warriors who have issues of their own.  On paper Hawaii doesn’t look half bad, but when you consider their conferance and really dig into their stats you see that they are a mess on offense, especially the O line which couldn’t block a pack of angry women leaving Jenny Craig on their way to Dunkin Donuts.  The Irish will have to take advantage of this if they want to establish control of the game early by keeping constant pressure on QB Greg Alexander and stuffing the run which will force the pass.  Irish QB Jimmy Clausen needs to relax, he has just about as many INT’s as he does TD’s, Ol Charloe Weis will need him to slow down and make good decisions in the pocket as not to force the issue and cause a turnover.  I think Sophomore RB Armando Allen will step up in a big way and take pressure off of Clausen if the play callers let him.  The -1.5 spread is a joke, the only reason it is set that way is because Hawaii is the home team, but this not the same Hawaii team led by Colt Brennen and I think Weis and co. have the crew to get the job done.  Take the points.  

Click here for Live College Football Bowl Betting Lines

Not a GambersPalace.com member yet?  Click here for a FREE membership