20. AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Navy vs Kansas State
Tuesday, December 31st, 3:45 PM
These are two teams that love to run the ball, but both can throw it too. This is the best Navy team of the decade–which is saying something, because we’ve seen some good ones recently. Kansas State is no slouch, either. This should be a quality football game between two quality teams.
19. Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force vs Washington State
Friday, December 27th, 10:15 PM
Last year’s Cheez-It Bowl was a beautiful mess. The most beautiful of possible messes. Seriously. If you don’t remember, try not to burst out laughing while reading this recap. You won’t be able to. I guarantee it. What does this year’s game have in store? I have no idea. But it’s Mike Leach’s “air raid” offense against the U.S. Air Force, so something crazy has to happen.
18. SoFi Hawaii Bowl: BYU vs Hawaii
Monday, December 24th, 8:00 PM
First of all, the Hawaii Bowl is always fun. Second, if you haven’t seen him, don’t miss Hawaii’s quarterback Cole McDonald. He is both incredibly talented and incredibly turnover-prone. Every snap is an adventure with him. Also, both of these teams are pretty talented, and it should be an overall pretty good game.
17. TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Indiana vs Tennessee
Thursday, January 2nd, 7:00 PM
This might be an unfairly low spot for this game. It’s a good game between a Big Ten and SEC team. It should be a lot of fun. But I have no idea what to expect from Indiana. The Hoosiers played Penn State close, but not Michigan or Ohio State. Nothing else they did during the year tells us much. Tennessee, meanwhile, started this season in awful form but has really played well down the stretch. There’s a chance this is just a blowout.
16. Walk-On’s Independence Bowl: Miami (FL) vs Louisiana Tech
Thursday, December 26th, 4:00 PM
It’s hard to get too hyped for this game, just because you don’t know what Miami will bring. The Hurricanes collapsed at the end of the season, and it’s hard to know if they’ll bring their all for a bowl game. If they do, this game should be a pretty good one, because Louisiana Tech is no slouch. If Miami comes out flat, well, it’s always kinda fun to see a Power 5 team get blown out by someone from Conference-USA.
15. Ticketsmarter Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati vs Boston College
Thursday, January 2nd, 3:00 PM
The Bearcats deserved a better game, but this should be a good matchup that Cincinnati likely wins. Assuming he’s still the coach in the future, Luke Fickell needs to find a way to get the offense on the same level that the defense is. A game against a mediocre Power 5 team–and a chance at a ranked season–is a great way to start moving forward on that.
14. Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl: Texas A&M vs Oklahoma State
Friday, December 27th, 6:45 PM
This should be a pretty good game between two pretty good teams. Oklahoma State was probably a bit overrated by the selection committee at the end, but it’s definitely a top 40 team. Texas A&M, meanwhile, is an enigma. The Aggies lost to five really good teams, and looked decent in some of those games. They also beat seven pretty bad teams, and only looked decent in some of those games. What will happen in this game? Who knows? But it should be fun.
13. Valero Alamo Bowl: Utah vs Texas
How good is Utah, really? The Utes did an excellent job of manhandling teams they were better than, but failed against the two very good teams they faced. Will Texas do the same as USC and Oregon? Or are the Longhorns limping into bowl season and won’t really come out firing for the game? I have no idea, but that’s part of what makes it fun.
12. Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech vs Kentucky
Tuesday, December 31st, 12:00 PM
A bowl game between two talented and equally-matched Power 5 teams? I’ll never complain about that. As long as both come out motivated, we should get a really good football game. It’s also the final game for legendary defensive coordinator Bud Foster, so don’t miss your last chance to watch him scheme a perfect game.
11. Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl: FAU vs SMU
Saturday, December 21st, 3:30 PM
Not only does this game also have a sponsor with a funny name (the announcers will almost certainly mispronounce it at least once), but it should be a really good football game. FAU may have just lost its coach, but this is a strong and talented team. So is SMU, who likely is starting to worry about losing its coach. Still, both teams have tons of playmakers on offense and decent defenses. As long as both teams show up fully, this should be a good and high-quality game, and the winner has a chance to end the year ranked in the Top 25.