Bowl Game Rankings: Restaurant Quality Bowls
Now we’re getting somewhere. A few of these bowls are going to be the best of the season, and at the very least, these should be solid matchups and the ones we’re all talking about.
16. Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl
Fresno State vs Washington State
Saturday, December 17, 2022
3:30, ABC
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
Last Year: Utah State 24, Oregon State 13
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 18, 2020: NA, 2019: NA
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 21, 2020: NA, 2019: NA
It can’t be worse than last year’s LA Bowl clunker, and it might turn into one of the best of the early bunch. The only concern here is the Washington State defense – it’s too good. It got rocked by Michael Penix Jr. and Washington, but it’s been able to keep most offenses under wraps. There’s a chance Jake Haener and Fresno State get the O going, and overall this should be a good, even battle.
15. TaxAct Texas Bowl
Texas Tech vs Ole Miss
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
9:00, ESPN
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Last Year: Kansas State 42, LSU 20
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 33, 2020: NA, 2019: 14
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 38, 2020: NA, 2019: 14
The Texas Bowl owes us. Last year’s Kansas State win over a shell of an LSU team might have been the poster game for how bowl games can go wrong in in the modern era, but there shouldn’t be too many problems here. Both offenses will push for 40, the good Texas Tech defense won’t be able to hang with the Rebel running game, and it’ll be well worth staying up late for.
14. Allstate Sugar Bowl
Alabama vs Kansas State
Saturday, December 31, 2022
12:00, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Last Year: Baylor 21, Ole Miss 7
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 7, 2020: 2, 2019: 11
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 29, 2020: 10, 2019: 25
Absolutely no offense to Kansas State – this team always, always shows up strong in big moments – but this is about Alabama. Either 1) Alabama loses a bunch of players to opt-out/transfer, and the story is about this not being Alabama. That’s not fair to Kansas State, who, again, might be that good.
Or 2) Alabama gets enough back, puts it all together – really, for one of the first times this season – and tries to prove to the world it should’ve been playing Georgia in Atlanta as it comes up with an ugly beatdown. Or 3) neither one, Alabama just is okay, and social media melts down further trying to comprehend that this team wasn’t that great this year. Or 4) all of the above in some way.
No matter what it’s Alabama vs the Big 12 Champion. It’ll be one of the most talked about bowls of the season.
13. San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
Oregon vs North Carolina
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
8:00, FOX
Petco Park, San Diego, CA
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 6, 2020:NA , 2019: 7
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: T40, 2020: NA, 2019: 26
Offense, offense, offense. Oregon is cycling through players in the transfer portal, the defense has been a bit too hit or miss, and it’s going to be hard to pick it up after missing out on a chance to play in the Pac-12 Championship. Don’t worry, the points will be there against the Tar Heel D.
North Carolina will try to pull up out of the late season nosedive with three straight losses thanks to bit of an offensive power outage. The quarterbacks are playing – Drake Maye and Bo Nix will make this worth paying attention to.
12. Union Home Gasparilla Bowl
Missouri vs Wake Forest
Friday, December 23, 2022
6:30, ESPN
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Last Year: UCF 29, Florida 17
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 23, 2020: NA, 2019: 30
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 20, 2020: NA, 2019: 30
It’s impossible to not have fun with a Wake Forest game. Missouri will care after gacking away last year’s bowl game to Army, Wake Forest will care because it’s Wake Forest and it’ll put up 30 points on the board because that’s what it does. It’s one of the better early Power Five vs Power Five matchups as long as the good Mizzou defense doesn’t spoil the fun.
11. Military Bowl
Duke vs UCF
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
2:00, ESPN
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 21, 2020: NA, 2019: 27
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021:T40 , 2020: NA, 2019: 33
It’s a strong enough matchup to finally revive a bowl game that’s back after being canceled over the last two seasons and was horrendous in 2019 – a North Carolina 55-13 win over Temple.
UCF has the talent, and no one loves to stick it to the Power Five more than this program. Duke, though, has been shockingly terrific and will hardly take this lightly. Both sides will score at least 30, there will be momentum swings, and it should be good until the final snap.
10. CFP Semifinal: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Michigan vs TCU
Saturday, December 31, 2022
4:00 ESPN
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ
Last Year: Oklahoma State 37, Notre Dame 35
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 11, 2020: 14, 2019: 1
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 6, 2020: 15, 2019: 1
It’s this high only because it sort of has to be. It’s a playoff game. We can dream of greatness.
Of course we want the College Football Playoff semifinal undercard to be entertaining, but seven out of the eight were next-level awful. The Georgia-Oklahoma Rose Bowl in the 2017 season was a classic, but the other seven were decided by 17 points or more.
Maybe TCU is able to hold up in the second half against Michigan – almost no one else has. Maybe this game will break the trend. Maybe every affluent Michigan fan has a tripped booked to LA for a reason. Or maybe its TCU that pulls off the stunner. No matter what, the trend of this bowl slot isn’t kind.
9. Duluth Trading Cure Bowl
Troy vs UTSA
Friday, December 16, 2022
3:00, ESPN
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, FL
Last Year: Coastal Carolina 47, Northern Illinois 41
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 14, 2020: 1, 2019: 28
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 5, 2020: 1, 2019: 24
It’s about as good a bowl matchup as we’re going to get. The opt-outs and transfers shouldn’t affect these two conference champions, they’re both on a tear offensively, and there’s no such thing as a boring UTSA game. QB Frank Harris is always worth the price of admission.
– Deep Cuts (32-41) | It’s Football. You’ll Watch (25-32)
– Bowls. Just Bowls (17-24) | Restaurant Quality (9-16)
– Watch or Die (1-8) | Initial Thoughts, Picks on all 41