December 23rd 2009, 8:00 ET - ESPN. 

This year's Poinsettia Bowl will be a second of two MWC vs. PAC 10 bowls. Last year's game featured this year's Fiesta Bowl participants.

This year we have the Utah Utes vs. the California Golden Bears.  Utah will make their second appearance in the fifth Poinsettia Bowl. Their first visit, the only one for either team, was a 35-32 win over Navy in 2007.

Utah currently owns the longest bowl winning streak with eight.  Six of those are in consecutive years with wins over teams from six conferences, including four automatic qualifying conferences.

California leads the all time series 4-2.  Utah won the last meeting in Salt Lake City in 2003 by a score of 31-24.  Utah has won two of the last three games.

Who is the better team in 2009?

General

I must say that this year has a growing trend of close games.  California's extra loss comes with a more challenging schedule.  They have lost games they should not have and played far worse against their one common opponent Oregon.

 Utah's Ball

These numbers are indicative of what we should expect.  California has been strong against Utah's preferred run, but Utah has the options through the air to hurt California's weak secondary.

California's Ball

I think these numbers are close, maybe a bit slanted towards the Utah column.

Prediction

This game should be competitive and could come down to the final drive.  I tried not to be overly biased in this pick, but my avatar stakes where my allegiances align.  Sagarin favors California by 1.  The line favors California by 3.

I've got Utah 27 California 24.