Bowl Rankings: Just Bowls
It was college football played after the regular season. They were bowls – just bowls. No more, no less.
29. Guaranteed Rate Bowl
Minnesota 18, West Virginia 6
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 26
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 19
It was the perfect bowl game to put you to sleep – ending in the wee hours of the morning for those on the East Coast.
Minnesota dominated this from jump, West Virginia barely got over 200 yards of total offense and only had the ball for 21:31, and it was all about the Gopher offense grinding and grinding some more. However, we did get to see 380-pound offensive lineman Daniel Faalele ruin lives with his two-yard touchdown run.
28. Goodyear Cotton Bowl
Alabama 27, Cincinnati 6
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 8
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 22, 2019: 11
– 5 Thoughts: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Analysis
This was over just over five minutes in.
Alabama went 75 yards in 11 plays, finishing up with a short Bryce Young touchdown pass. Cincinnati fired a spitball at a battleship with a field goal, and that was about it for the fun.
No, Cincinnati wasn’t embarrassed, and Alabama certainly did worse things in the CFP past to teams with bigger names, but the final score was 27-6 because the SEC Champion didn’t want it to be a whole lot worse.
27. Quick Lane Bowl
Western Michigan 52, Nevada 24
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 30
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 9
There were lots of points, a slew of home runs hit by Western Michigan, and it was all totally maddening.
It wasn’t close after the first 20 minutes. The wildly inconsistent Western Michigan team played like it should’ve – and probably could’ve – all season long with over 500 yards of total offense, partly because Nevada was without star QB Carson Strong, head coach Jay Norvell, and was a shadow of its regular season self performance-wise.
26. Camellia Bowl
Georgia State 51, Ball State 20
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 24
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 7, 2019: 17
Good early, blowout late.
It was a strong back-and-forth fight with Ball State taking a 20-13 lead into the locker room, and then Georgia State flexed up with 31 straight points. QB Darren Grainger went off, Antavious Lane came up with a pick six, and things got out of hand. It was breathtaking to see, though – it was a bit more entertaining than the blowout final score.
25. Myrtle Beach Bowl
Tulsa 30, Old Dominion 17
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 27
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 25, 2019: NA
It went like it was supposed to, and it was hardly a memorable bowl, but it wasn’t all that bad a game considering it was a relative blowout.
Tulsa was able to control the game throughout with its running game, and it was able to pull away late, but Old Dominion – who started the game with a kick six – was at least able to keep this in range until late in the third quarter.
Bowl Rankings 2021-2022
Cancel Culture | “Too Many Bowls”
Just Bowls | “Bowl Games Matter” | Great Bowls
Classic Bowls No. 5 | No. 4 | No. 3 | No. 2 | No. 1