Birmingham, AL plays sponsor to the Compass Bowl on January seventh with the Pittsburgh Panthers facing the Southern Methodist University Mustangs. The Pitt Panthers come in just after the one-year Todd Graham experiment at head coach. Graham resigned his post on December 14th to take the head coaching job at Arizona State. Defensive Coordinator Keith Patterson will don the headset for the Pitt Panthers in this clash of titans. SMU comes into competition with the specter of the “Death Penalty” passed on in the 1980’s still being debated today. Former Nfl and Hawaii coach June Jones is already in his 4th year on the sidelines of Southern Methodist University. The betting line has this established at Pittsburgh (-3) with the over-under of 47 points.

The Steelers are matched up vs the Denver broncos in the nfl post-season. The Denver broncos concluded up with an 8-8 record narrowly claiming champions of the AFC West, whilst the Steelers concluded as a wild card with an outstanding record of 12-4 in the AFC North division. The Steelers will be visiting Denver to face off vs them at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

It all comes down to this as the #1 ranked Tigers face the #2 ranked Crimson Tide in the BCS National Tournament Game at the Superdome in New Orleans, LA on January ninth. After winning the national tournament in 2009 and additionally winning it with LSU as a head coach in 2003, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is no stranger to this game. LSU head coach Les Miles is additionally no stranger at this time as he has won the national tournament in 2007. Two fantastic teams and head coaches clashing on a collision course in what will certainly be a great game. The sportsbooks presently have this at Alabama (-1) with the over-under established at 40 points.

When it comes to scheduling, maybe the Lions just are unlucky. First, they end their regular season vs their division foe Green Bay Packers, who also possess the league’s greatest record. They then follow that up by drawing the New orleans saints in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Following finishing with the greatest record in the league a year ago, and getting sacked in the first round by the Green Bay Packers, the Atlanta Falcons hope that slipping into the playoffs undetected in 2012 will give them better results. Atlanta finished 10-6 this year, earning them a first round wild-card match-up with the NFC East winning Giants (9-7).

The Cincinnati Bengals will be competing vs the Houston Texans in pro football playoffs. The Cincinnati Bengals will travel to Reliant Stadium in Houston for the game. Cincinnati concluded their season with a record of 9-7 and reached the playoffs this season as a wild card in the AFC North division. Following coming out ahead as the leading squad in the AFC South this season, Houston concluded with a record of 10-6.

The Seahawks (7-8) are going to be traveling to challenge the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) in an NFC West divisional game. There’s a little bit of reason that a victory will grant either squad a winning record although each particular squad has dropped just shy of playoff competition this season as they were looking for a wild card spot. Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has yet to lose a match versus the Cardinals in his tenure, but Arizona qb Kevin Kolb might come back and start for his squad after recouping from a concussion.

This match between the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns will feature two teams who have different goals for the last two competitions of the year. The Steelers are presently in the playoff competition and are basically just getting set for the playoffs. On the other hand, the Browns are just trying to save their year with a few more victories after having had a quite negative year. Both teams however will be playing hard in spite of the difference in their records. It will likely be a quite near game if both teams play hard.

The Philadelphia Eagles (7-8) will be visiting the Redskins (5-10) in an NFC East divisional contest in their final game. Both squads have been removed from playoff competition this year and are at the bottom of the division rankings. Philadelphia had a lot of media hype previous to the start of the year being labeled the dream team with their splash in the free agent market.

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