It could be a significant game for both teams. Last year, South Florida (8-4) made its first bowl appearance since starting the program from scratch a decade ago, losing 14-0 to North Carolina State in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. East Carolina (7-5) hasn’t been back to a bowl since a 64-61, double-overtime loss to Marshall in the 2001 GMAC Bowl which remains the highest scoring bowl game in history. Both teams would like to avoid repeats of those experiences in today’s inaugural Papajohn’s.com Bowl at Legion Field starting at 1pm est, a bowl site for the first time since 1990′s All-America Bowl.

The two former Conference USA rivals have more in common than just those frustrating bowl experiences, including hot streaks. The SF Bulls have won six of their last seven games, including that West Virginia win; the EC Pirates are on a 5-1 roll, capped by a win at North Carolina State.

East Carolina is 0-3 in Birmingham and has lost all nine of its games played in the state of Alabama, including two GMAC Bowl defeats. The Pirates also lost 17-12 earlier this season at UAB after losing a late fumble inside the 5-yard line. East Carolina have veteran James Pinkney, whose 37 consecutive starts ranks fifth among active Division I-A quarterbacks. While the Bulls are led by quarterback Matt Grothe, the Big East freshman of the year. He passed for 2,495 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 607 yards and nine TDs.

The New Mexico Bowl between home team New Mexico playing against San Jose State will also be great matchup today starting at 4:30pm est.

New Mexico (6-6) is looking for its first bowl victory in 45 years and is playing on its home field. The Lobos were 3-4 at home this season, including a season-opening 17-6 loss to Division I-AA Portland State. They did rebound from a 2-4 start to make it to a bowl for the fourth time in the last five seasons. Last season, the Lobos lost to Navy, 31-19, in the Emerald Bowl. They have not won a bowl game since a 28-12 victory over Western Michigan in the 1961 Aviation Bowl. The offense is led by sophomore running back Rodney Ferguson, who rushed for 1,132 yards this season, the fifth-highest total in school history. He is coming off a career-best 210 yards in New Mexico’s 41-14 victory over San Diego State in the season finale.

The Spartans (8-4) are playing their first bowl game since a 48-24 victory over Central Michigan in the 1990 California Raisin Bowl. Last season, San Jose State finished 3-8 after winning just two games in 2004. A strong running game has been the key to San Jose State’s success. The Spartans rank 15th in the country in rushing at 183.8 yards per game.

Tonights Armed Forces Bowl between Utah and Tulsa will be starting at 8:00pm est.

Tulsa is in its third bowl and has a 29-21 record for coach Kragthorpe. The Golden Hurricane won only two games in the two seasons before he arrived, and hadn’t played in the postseason since 1991. Tulsa was 7-1 this season before starting November with a 27-10 loss to eventual C-USA champion Houston. The Hurricane followed with a double-overtime loss to Rice, even though they outgained the Owls by 212 yards. They had a minus-six turnover margin in their three-game losing streak.

Utah stretched its bowl winning streak to five in a row since 1999 with a 38-10 victory over Georgia Tech in the Emerald Bowl last year to end coach Whittingham’s first season. The Utes overcame a midseason struggle this year that included a 36-3 home loss to Boise State. They won three straight games before a heartbreaking 33-31 loss to Mountain West Conference champion BYU in the regular-season finale. The Armed Forces Bowl means a return to the stadium where the Utes‘ 18-game winning streak ended.

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The Chiefs aim to revive their fading postseason hopes when they visit the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night in a clash between AFC West Division rivals. The Kansas City Chiefs will need a lot of help to reach the playoffs this season and that can be achieved with a victory tonight. Since the 19-10 victory over the Denver Broncos on Thanksgiving, Kansas City has lost three straight games and trails four 8-6 teams Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Denver and the New York Jets in the wild-card race. The Chiefs struggled offensively for the second consecutive week in a 20-9 loss at San Diego last Sunday night. Trent Green was sacked six times by the Chargers, while Larry Johnson managed just 84 yards on 19 carries for Kansas City.

The Raiders have been shut out three times this season, including a 20-0 loss to St. Louis last week, and are averaging a league-low 11.1 points per game. Oakland and the Detroit Lions are tied for the worst record in the NFL and the top overall pick in the draft. The Raiders expect to have Randy Moss on Saturday. The five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver missed last week’s game with an ankle injury. Moss has just 42 catches for 553 yards and three touchdowns this season.

NFL Week 16 continues tonight and SkytowerCasino and Sportsbook has all the NFL action, check the Live Odds for the game.

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The Rice Owls will make their first postseason appearance in 45 years when they battle the Troy Trojans in the sixth-annual New Orleans Bowl, from the Superdome. It has been a long time since the Owls have had the luxury of playing a postseason matchup. It is a bit surprising how Rice was able to sneak into the postseason, especially considering how the team opened the season with four consecutive losses. Fortunately first year head coach Todd Graham was able to lead his team to victory in seven of its last eight games, including six in a row.

As for the Trojans, they are also new to this whole postseason extravaganza, as the team will be making just its second-ever bowl appearance. The team’s first and only bowl game came in 2004 as the team suffered a 34-21 loss to Northern Illinois in the Silicon Valley Bowl. The Trojans finished with a 7-5 ledger this year, and capped off the regular season with its first Sun Belt Conference title. Much like the Owls, Troy opened its campaign with losses in four of its first five games, but fortunately the Trojans were able to regroup, closing out the season with six wins in their last seven games. A victory over Rice would give the Trojans their first-ever Bowl win.

Don’t miss tonights game between the Trojans and Rice Owls starting at 8pm est. Check out the Live Odds for the game at SkytowerCasino and Sportsbook, special Promotions are available.

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Both teams clinging to slim playoff hopes, Favre and the Green Bay Packers host Tarvaris Jackson and the Minnesota Vikings tomorrow night in an NFC North matchup of 6-8 teams likely needing to win out to have any shot at the postseason. This could be the last time Brett Favre plays Lambeau Field hopes of being in the playoffs have vanished right after Sunday’s home win 17-9 over Detroit, even though the Packers won their game was awful including Favre’s who had three turnouvers from the teams four. Favre has made a quarterback-record 255 consecutive starts, and he’s been at his best at home, Green Bay is 40-5 under Favre at home.

Minnesota will give QB Jackson his first NFL start tomorrow night, turning the season over to the untested quarterback from Division I-AA Alabama State after a series of inconsistent performances from Brad Johnson. Jackson will be given the chance to prove himself and show the rest what he has learned under starter Johnson. Minnesota squandered a good opportunity on Sunday. The team took an early 7-0 lead, but gave up 26 unanswered points before Jackson directed a late scoring drive. He finished 14-of-23 for 177 yards with one touchdown and an interception in the 23-13 loss to the Jets.

Green Bay and Minnesota can still make the playoffs as a wild card, but both teams need help. They’re one game behind the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons, who at 7-7 are tied for the NFC’s final wild-card spot.

NFL Week 16 starts tomorrow night be sure to find the Live Odds for the game at SkytowerCasino and Sportsbook and all of Week 16.

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The 19th-ranked Cougars look into playing in the Las Vegas Bowl for a second straight season when they face Oregon tomorrow at Sam Boyd Stadium. QB John Beck returns to the site where last season ended with a loss on a costly interception. As the Cougars seek to end a four-game bowl losing streak and record their first postseason victory in 10 years, Beck will oppose the person who brought him and coach Bronco Mendenhall to BYU. Current offensive coordinator for Oregon Gary Crowton, who coached BYU from 2001-04 before he was forced out, recruited and coached Beck and hired Mendenhall as his defensive coordinator in 2003.

The Ducks (7-5) will also look to avoid a fourth straight loss overall and in bowl games. They haven’t won one since beating Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl five years ago. Their only appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl was a 41-13 rout of Air Force in 1997. Avoiding turnovers could be a key for Oregon, which tied for the ninth-most giveaways in Division I-A with 30. Eighteen of those turnovers came in the team’s five losses. While both teams have high-scoring offenses BYU is ranked sixth in Division I-A with a 36.7 scoring average and Oregon is 17th at 31.3 the Ducks quarterback situation is unsettled. QB Dennis Dixon struggled with six total interceptions and no more than 130 yards in his last three games, Brady Leaf made his first start in the regular-season finale at Oregon State. Leaf completed 25 of 42 passes for 274 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but the Ducks allowed a go-ahead field goal with 1:12 left and their 44-yard attempt 40 seconds later was blocked as they lost 30-28. Dixon did not play. Both quarterbacks played in Oregon’s 17-14 defeat to Oklahoma in last year’s Holiday Bowl when Leaf threw an interception at the 10-yard line with 33 seconds left.

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Erik Chopin, who dropped 214 pounds to win NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” was prepared to undergo surgery to slim down before he was chosen for the weight-loss competition.

“That’s how hopeless I felt,” Chopin, a family man and deli owner from West Islip, N.Y., told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. “I felt like I needed to go for the surgery but, really, I’m so glad I didn’t. … I knew the whole time, I honestly knew, I was copping out, I was quitting.”

He added: “Now, there’s no stopping me.”

Chopin, who weighed 407 pounds at the start of “The Biggest Loser,” said he had considered gastric band surgery to shrink his stomach.

Instead, he went to a weight-loss ranch in California to film the reality show with 49 other contestants. On the finale earlier this week, he weighed in at 193 pounds to win the title and the $250,000 grand prize.

“It’s surreal. I’m on top of the world,” he told the AP. “It was such a long journey, probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But it’s just so rewarding. I’m getting paid now for something I needed to do. You know, I needed to get healthy.”

Chopin, 36, was diagnosed with diabetes and other obesity-related problems while on “The Bigger Loser.”

“Everything fits great and I’m comfortable and I need to stay right here,” he said.

Chopin said he’ll continue to run Emma’s Delicatessen and will use his prize money to “pay some bills” and maybe get a new car. Another plan is a long-delayed trip to Disneyworld with his wife and two daughters.

“I see a big guy somewhere and in my mind I’m not critical of him,” he said. “I’m more like, `I need to help this person.’ I like to help them, because I know what it’s like and how awful it feels to be obese. And I was morbidly obese.”

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