Our 2013 bowl predictions continue on Tuesday, January 1st with the Gator Bowl, and we are set to make our Gator Bowl predictions, tips, and keys to the game for the duel between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Northwestern Wildcats.

2013 Gator Bowl: Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Northwestern Wildcats
2013 Gator Bowl Location: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
2013 Gator Bowl Date/Time: Tuesday, January 1st, 12:00 p.m. (ET)
2013 Gator Bowl On TV: ESPN2, Watch ESPN

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2012-13 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

Key #1: The Wildcats have to get Kain Kolter involved in all facets of the game
QB Kain Kolter is really a quarterback in name only. He is the prototypical “Slash” type of player, and he’ll line up against anyone in any position on the field. He’s just that great of an athlete. Kolter isn’t the best passer in the world, but he will take some snaps under center and in the shotgun and throw the ball. He had 796 passing yards with eight TDs and just two picks, but at this point, it is almost a bit more of a gimmick for him to throw the ball than anything else. Still, he is the Wildcat quarterback and is quick as the wind, and his 12 rushing touchdowns this year were no mistake. He had 820 yards as well and averaged 5.2 yards per carry, and that number includes all of the times that he was sacked as well. Kolter was also frequently split out wide at the receiver position as well. He caught 16 passes for 169 yards on the outside. This is the type of man that really can mess with the game plan that the Bulldogs have defensively, and the SEC reps have to be prepared to see anything and everything out of Kolter.

Gator Bowl Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
Mississippi State Bulldogs +1.5
Northwestern Wildcats -1.5
Over/Under 53.5
Click Here to Bet Your Gator Bowl Picks!

Key #2: Venric Mark has to have a big time game
Those in Evanston really thought that Mark should have been considered for the Heisman Trophy at some points this year. Just a junior, Mark is going to have another chance to flash his skills next year. He had 213 carries for 1,310 yards on the ground in his primary trade, but he also proved to be a decent receiver with 101 yards and a great return man as well. All told, Mark ended the season with the most all-purpose yards in the Big Ten with 2,048, and he is going to have the chance to get the ball in his hands a solid 20-25 times in this game between offense and special teams. The Mississippi State defense is going to have to be all over the field, knowing exactly where Mark is with the football, because one misstep, and the junior could be off to the races. This is the man that has the ability to blow this game out of proportion if the Wildcats get ahead.

Key #3: Tyler Russell has to take care of the football and hit some big plays to Chad Bumphis
Northwestern had a defense this year that made some big time plays against the run, but this secondary is absolutely suspect at best. The Cats ranked just 97th in the country, allowing 261.6 passing yards per game, and that came against a Big Ten conference that just didn’t have all that many great passers in it this year. The time is clearly here for QB Tyler Russell to be a playmaker in this, the final game of his junior season. An ankle injury has slowed down Russell just a bit, but there is a clear difference in his stats between his wins and his losses. In wins this year, Russell threw for 19 TDs and just one pick. In four losses, he had three scores and five INTs. Those latter numbers just aren’t going to cut it, and it is a clear indication that this team is only going to go as far as Russell takes it. WR Chad Bumphis is the big play man and the favored receiver that Russell has to work with, and if he makes some big time plays, as he has done sporadically over his whole career in Starkville, the Bulldogs are going to have a real chance at the mild upset.

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The 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl picks are going to be difficult to make, as the Purdue Boilermakers and Oklahoma State Cowboys are set to do battle with one another in a Big XII vs. Big Ten battle. Check out our Heart of Dallas Bowl predictions and the keys to the game for Purdue vs. Oklahoma State.

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2012-13 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl: Purdue Boilermakers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys
2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl Location: Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas, TX
2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl Date/Time: Tuesday, January 1st, 12:00 p.m. (ET)
2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl Television Coverage: ESPNU, Watch ESPN

Key #1: The Boilermakers have to believe that they can keep up
We have seen this time and time again in Oklahoma State games. The Cowboys have the goods to race right out of the blocks and put a ton of points on the board in bunches. However, they also have a defense this year that allowed 285.7 passing yards and 29.4 points per game as well. Teams like the Baylor Bears and Oklahoma Sooners had success trying to move the ball up and down the field against this team, and the Boilermakers have to believe that they can do that as well. There really isn’t much in the way of tangible stats that suggest that the Boilers can hang in this game, as there isn’t a receiver with even 700 yards or a rusher with even 800 yards, and even the quarterback play has been suspect all year long. However, it all looked just as bad for the Minnesota Golden Gophers of the Big Ten, and they were able to stick around in a very comparable game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Okie State will go on a 21-0 run at some point in this game in all likelihood. It’s just a matter of how the Boilermakers respond to that adversity.

Heart of Dallas Bowl Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
Purdue Boilermakers +17
Oklahoma State Cowboys -17
Over/Under 70
Click Here to Bet Your Heart of Dallas Bowl Picks!

Key #2: The Cowboys have to prove that they can win a close one
Maybe this will end up being a close game. Maybe it won’t. But if it is a close call, Head Coach Mike Gundy has to be a bit cautious about how his team finishes games. There was a chance to beat both the Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma Sooners in the last two weeks of the year, but both games were ultimately lost. The Kansas State Wildcats were right there with the Cowboys for the full 60 minutes and ultimately won by two touchdowns, while the Texas Longhorns were able to come to Stillwater and win a controversial 41-36 game. There were only five games all year long that were decided by two touchdowns or fewer that Okie State played in, and the men in white and orange were on the wrong end of all of those games. Whether it be an untimely penalty, a mistake of a throw, a botched snap… Something has always kept the Pokes from winning those close ones, and this is going to be a game to be careful with for sure.

Key #3: Akeem Shavers absolutely has to score at least one touchdown
Here’s a heck of a stat for all of you Purdue fans that has to give you some cause for hope in this game. RB Akeem Shavers had six games this year in which he rushed for a touchdown. The team went 6-0 in those games. There were six games this year in which he didn’t rush for a touchdown. The Boilers went 0-6 in those games. Oh sure, it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than just one rushing touchdown from the Boilermakers’ top running back to have any chance of winning the Heart of Dallas Bowl, but it’s a good start. Figure that Purdue has to figure out how to score at least three touchdowns offensive in this game to have a chance, and we have to think that for that to happen, Shavers is going to have to find the end zone at least once, and potentially a few more times than that to ultimately give the Boilers a fighting chance of staying in this game.

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A fresh crop of rookies are here in the NBA, and this was considered to be one of the deepest classes that we have seen in quite some time. The depth is great for the league, but it makes it tough here for us to handicap the odds to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. However, here at Bankroll Sports, we are going to be picking out the top rookies this year, and making our 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year picks!

There clearly is nowhere else to start than with the man who was the top pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Hornets’ Anthony Davis (Current Rookie of the Year Odds: 1.55 to 1 at BetOnline Sportsbook). The problem that Davis has this year is that he is going to be a defensive stopper, not necessarily an offensive star. Davis prides himself on his defense, and that is what the media is going to take into consideration quite a bit. The good news is that New Orleans is badly going to need to get itself some more offensive firepower, and the truth of the matter is that Davis isn’t exactly inept. In the event that Davis can pull down a dozen boards per game and can block four shots or so per game, the possibility is there that he can get into double digits in scoring as well. If he does that, Davis is probably going to win the Rookie of the Year Award.

The key this year is going to be which rookies are going to get enough playing time to put up some big time stats. After a great summer, the man that is going to be running the point this year the Portland Trail Blazers is Damian Lillard (NBA Rookie of the Year Lines: 5.50 to 1 at BetOnline Sportsbook). The Weber State standout was a Top 10 pick in the NBA Draft for a reason this year, and there really isn’t a heck of a lot standing in the way of him and a ton of minutes this year, knowing that Raymond Felton is gone and there isn’t much to keep him from being the starting point guard for a team that wants to run up and down the court. Over the course of four games in the Summer League, Lillard averaged 26.5 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game. It would be unrealistic to think that he can do that against the big boys this year, but in the end, he really could average over a dozen points and five or six assists per game, and if he ultimately does that, he is going to be a star for sure.

We’re also willing to take a bit of a shot with the Golden State Warriors’ Harrison Barnes (Current NBA Rookie of the Year Odds: 10 to 1 at BetOnline Sportsbook). Barnes is going to find scoring to be tough in Golden State if he doesn’t end up getting past the likes of Klay Thompson and Richard Jefferson on the depth chart, but he has made himself a great case for some big time playing time with a team that is going to score a ton of points this year. Barnes is an athetic freak, and he is going to be able to do a whole heck of a lot when push comes to shove in his NBA career. Built a bit like LeBron James, Barnes is able to shoot from the outside, rebound the basketball, and be a real pain defensively. Whether he starts the year as a sixth man or as a starter, it is only a matter of time until the North Carolina Tar Heel gets a ton of playing time as Jefferson gets phased out. Barnes averaged over 10 points per game and really looked sharp as he got more accustomed to the speed of the game in the preseason. If he can keep this up in the regular season, Barnes definitely has at least a 1 in 10 chance to claim Rookie of the Year honors.

NBA Rookie of the Year Odds @ BetOnline Sportsbook (as of 10/28/12):
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Andre Drummond 18 to 1
Andrew Nicholson 25 to 1
Anthony Davis 1.55 to 1
Arnett Moultrie 80 to 1
Austin Rivers 25 to 1
Bernard James 125 to 1
Bradley Beal 6.50 to 1
Damian Lillard 5.50 to 1
Darius Millers 50 to 1
Dion Waiters 13 to 1
Doron Lamb 65 to 1
Draymond Green 100 to 1
Even Fournier 100 to 1
Fab Melo 75 to 1
Festus Ezeli 125 to 1
Harrison Barnes 10 to 1
Izzet Turkyilmaz 100 to 1
Jae Crowder 100 to 1
Jared Cunningham 100 to 1
Jared Sullinger 20 to 1
Jeffrey Taylor 100 to 1
Jeremy Lamb 12 to 1
Joel Freeland 125 to 1
John Henson 15 to 1
John Jenkins 20 to 1
Justin Hamilton 150 to 1
Kendall Marshall 15 to 1
Kevin Murphy 125 to 1
Khris Middleton 150 to 1
Kim English 100 to 1
Kostas Papanikolaou 100 to 1
Kyle O’Quinn 100 to 1
Marquis Teague 15 to 1
Maurice Harkless 25 to 1
Meyers Leonard 28 to 1
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 6 to 1
Mike Scott 65 to 1
Miles Plumlee 125 to 1
Orlando Johnson 100 to 1
Perry Jones III 30 to 1
Quincy Acy 80 to 1
Quincy Miller 100 to 1
Royce White 15 to 1
Terrence Jones 25 to 1
Terrence Ross 20 to 1
Thomas Robinson 7.50 to 1
Tomas Satoransky 150 to 1
Tony Wroten 65 to 1
Tyler Zeller 30 to 1
Tyshawn Taylor 100 to 1
Victor Claver 125 to 1
Will Barton 80 to 1

The 2013 NFL season is only in its infant stages, and we have a lot of coaches that are already starting to sweat some bullets as to whether they will have jobs coming through the end of the season or from the point that the campaign is over with. Check out the list of the NFL hot seat and the coaches on the hot seat through a couple of weeks in the 2013 NFL season.

Rex Ryan, New York Jets – Like it or lump it, Rex is on his way out at the end of the year if he doesn’t get this team to the postseason. GM John Idzik was more or less stuck with Ryan as the head coach of this team, and it is clear that he doesn’t want Ryan there any longer. For now though, ownership has told Idzik that he’s stuck for at least this season, and Ryan is once again proving that he has a defense that is capable of winning games. But does he have an offense that is capable? QB Geno Smith at least is a bit of an upgrade over QB Mark Sanchez as we see it, and that could help out the team, but the rest of the talent surrounding Smith is awful. It’s time for a change in the Big Apple.

Greg Schiano, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Had you asked us at the beginning of the season, we would have told you that Schiano would get at least one more season after this one to prove that he is the man that can really take this team to the next level. That said, the disdain that his players have for him is growing, and both QB Josh Freeman and DB Darrelle Revis have taken issue with Schiano. That’s not good for a man that is already looked upon as a hyper aggressive coach that overcoaches his players. Schiano wants more control of the team. GM Mark Dominik isn’t giving it up. In the end, situations like this usually end with the head coach getting canned.

Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys – Why? Because the head coach is always on the hot seat in Dallas. GM/Owner Jerry Jones isn’t going to tolerate another one of these 8-8 type of seasons that ends in Dallas watching the playoffs, and after taking playcalling duties away from Garrett, the next step is sending him packing. We get the feeling that Garrett is a good enough head coach to make this work, and he very well could have the best team in the NFC East this year. But even getting into the playoffs and crashing out in the first round would have JJ gritting his teeth quite a bit. The line has been drawn in the sand. QB Tony Romo is staying. Garrett might be going if he can’t make Romo work.

Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans – We aren’t crazy to think that Kubiak’s job could be in some danger this year. Yes, he has finally gotten the team over the hump and gotten it to two straight AFC South titles, and this year should be a third. But if the Texans can’t figure out how to get past one of these big time teams in the AFC, there is a chance that the team might ultimately go the route of the Chargers, who canned Marty Schottenheimer after a number of great regular seasons and no playoff success. We think that the Texans would be crazy to fire Kubiak, and we do think that there is a real sentiment of continuity being important in this franchise, but GM Rick Smith isn’t going to wait forever. The window is only open so far in Houston, and eventually, it’s going to shut.

Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers – Again, this might be another one where we are stretching just a bit. The Steelers are in bad shape right now, and they aren’t even going to remotely contend for a playoff spot if they can’t get their offensive line in order. This is another one of these teams that preaches continuity, as the Steelers never, ever fire their head coaches. However, a disaster of a 3-13 season a year after missing the playoffs might have Tomlin at least worrying a little bit about his job. We think that he’ll find a way to win five or six games this year and ultimately be alright, but the seat he is on is getting a little toasty.

Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers – Rivera’s seat is going to be the hottest in the game is his Panthers lose on Sunday to the Giants. Starting at 0-3 isn’t going to cut it again for a man that was tasked to get this team into the playoffs. This is the third year that Rivera has had control of this team, and between his arrival and the emergence of QB Cam Newton as a real franchise changer, the playoffs shouldn’t be an unreal expectation. Unfairly to Rivera though, the NFC South is an awesome division, and getting into the playoffs in the NFC as a whole is going to be extremely tough. We’d bet that this season is the last that we see of Rivera on Tobacco Road.

Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions – It’s tough to fire the guy that brought you to your first postseason in eons, but the Lions are going to have to make a move if they end up being a 5-11 type of team once again this year. QB Matthew Stafford, WR Calvin Johnson, and RB Reggie Bush are just too talented to be wasting away like this, but the real sign of bad coaching turns up in all of the penalties that Detroit takes that aren’t the aggressive types of holding or pass interference penalties. Far too many offsides. Far too many false starts. Far, far, far, far, far too many personal fouls. Schwartz has done well turning around a team that had just finished 0-16, but there is a lot of work for someone else to do if Schwartz can’t get some of it done over the course of the next four months.

Mike Munchak, Tennessee Titans – If the Titans keep showing the grit that they did in Weeks 1 and 2, Munchak will be fine for another season. The expectation is not to get the Titans to the playoffs this year, but to position them to get into the postseason in 2014. So far, things look okay, and the team might arrive a year earlier than scheduled with the way that the AFC is looking. With this revamped offensive line and DC Gregg Williams running a tight ship on that side of the ball, this could be a team that is fundamentally ready to challenge in the AFC South.

The New York Giants just won the Super Bowl for the second time under QB Eli Manning. But do the Giants 2013 Super Bowl odds justify backing them again? Check out the answer to the question: Will the Giants repeat as Super Bowl champions?

2012 New York Giants Offense
The biggest thing that the G-Men have going for them this coming season is that Manning has clearly jumped into that elite status of NFL quarterbacks. He has probably surpassed his brother, and really with the exception of perhaps Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees, there probably isn’t another quarterback that you would put on the list ahead of the younger Manning. He threw for 4,933 yards this year with 29 TDs against 16 INTs. Sure, the pick total was high, but Manning made up for it by having a knack for winning games at the end when all looked lost.

The emergence of WR Victor Cruz was key this year. That gave Manning a solid set of receivers to throw the pigskin to. He had 1,536 yards, while WR Hakeem Nicks had 1,192 yards, and WR Mario Manningham had 523 yards. TE Jake Ballard suffered a knee injury during the Super Bowl, but assuming that he is okay, he is going to one of the sneakier tight ends in the league next year. Ballard averaged 15.9 yards per catch and had 604 yards.

RBs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs were both hurt for pieces of the season, and the two only ended up rushing for a total of 1,230 yards with 16 scores. Both averaged under 4.0 yards per carry, and that shows that the offensive line is clearly going to need some work going forward.

2012 New York Giants Defense
Defensively, it is all about the pass rush. The play of rookie DB Prince Amukamara improved as the season went on, but he will look like a great starter next year as long as the trio of DEs, Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul continue to be dominating. The questions that are to be asked of this defense, which ranked No. 27 in the league at 376.4 yards per game and No. 25 in scoring at 25.0 points per game in the regular season, are going to be at linebacker, where the team just isn’t all that great.

2012 New York Giants Contracts & Free Agents
Free agency shouldn’t be all that bad on the Giants this year. Ballard is a free agent, as is Manningham, and they will probably be the top priorities on offense to resign. OLs Stacy Andrews and Kareem McKenzie are both free agents to be. On the other side of the ball, DB Aaron Ross is sure to be in for a big payday from someone, while S Deon Grant is free as well. LB Chase Blackburn is likely in line for a new contract, and the team is also going to have to address the situation with at punter and backup quarterback if QB David Carr and P Steve Weatherford are not resigned.

2012 New York Giants Schedule
The schedule next year for the Giants is going to be brutal. The team is obviously going to have to play a first place schedule, meaning the Green Bay Packers will once again be on the slate. The other non-divisional home games are against the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers. The non-divisional road games are against the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Raven, and Cincinnati Bengals. Needless to say, it is going to be a heck of a lot different now that the Giants have to play against the NFC South instead of the NFC West, and those games against the teams in the AFC North are certainly not going to be easy.

2012-2013 New York Giants Super Bowl Odds
The Giants Super Bowl odds are 15 to 1 at Bovada.lv, making them the eighth favorite. They were never really the favorites at any point over the course of this season either, especially with the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles in the same division with them. In the end, this is a brutal schedule for New York to have to play, especially if it isn’t going to win games like the two against the Washington Redskins that it was defeated in this past year. We aren’t even all that sure that the Giants are going to make the playoffs next year, and at this point, we wouldn’t want to back a team at these types of 2013 Super Bowl odds, especially when the team was brutally inconsistent all season long.