Tag: bowl rankings

Bowl Game Rankings. How Good Were All The Bowls From Worst To Best?

Bowl game rankings – how good were they? Ranked from the worst to the best, here’s our review of all the bowl games.

How good were all of the games in the 2022-2023 bowl season? Ranking all the bowl games from the worst to the best.

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You spent the time to watch them – or at least have them on in the background at work, holiday parties, and everywhere in between.

How good were the bowl games? Which ones were worth your while, which ones were instantly forgettable, and which bowls made the finish to the college football season great?

There’s one big one to go – and hopefully the College Football Playoff National Championship is the best of the bunch. Until that’s done …

Bowl Game Rankings 2022-2023

Bowl Rankings 2022-2023
Bowls of Sad | Instant Memory Dumped Bowls
Just Bowls | Very Good Bowls | Great Bowls
Classic Bowls No. 8 | No. 7 | No. 6 | No. 5 | No. 4
No. 3 | No. 2 | No. 1 | Bowl Scoreboard

Bowl Rankings: Bowls of Sad

These bowls made the world a lesser place and were an affront to all humanity.

43. TransPerfect Music City Bowl

Iowa 21, Kentucky 0
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 29
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 12, 2020: NA, 2019: 26
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 3, 2020: NA, 2019: 22

This was supposed to be awful with every key offensive player opting out, and wow did it overdeliver on that.

No, it doesn’t quite beat out the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl – TCU over Cal 10-7 in overtime – for the honor of being the ugliest sporting event or athletic contest in the history of competition, but it made a big push.

Iowa went 0-for-11 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth downs, and it won because of one decent drive and two pick-sixes. Kentucky amassed 185 yards of total offense and was 2-of-18 on third downs.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

42. Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

LSU 63, Purdue 7
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 6
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 15, 2020: 19, 2019: 12
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 12, 2020: 14, 2019: 16

The final score was 63-7 only because LSU didn’t want it to be 84-7. Even so, it was the biggest blowout in the history of the bowls … until Georgia took that title against TCU.

Both LSU and Purdue had massive issues with opt-outs and transfers, but Purdue had it far worse. It showed from the start, LSU came out roaring and sharp, and this was brutal in a hurry. The only saving grace was the production from the Tigers – they played great – but Purdue couldn’t do anything until late in the third quarter when the game was all but done.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

41. SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl

Oregon State 30, Florida 3
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 20
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 31, 2020: NA, 2019: 15
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 17, 2020: NA, 2019: 36 

There were players out there wearing Florida Gator uniforms, but that was about it for this looking like a big-time SEC school against a solid Pac-12 program having a strong year.

How bad was it? The Gators kicked a field goal in the final minute down 30-0 just to find something positive – the program is on a record-setting non-shutout streak. But give credit to an Oregon State team that came to play on both sides of the ball to make this a snoozer from the start.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

40. Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Louisville 24, Cincinnati 7 
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 34
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 41, 2020: NA, 2019: NA
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 36, 2020: NA, 2019: NA

This was every bit as meh as expected. Both teams put up a fight with great effort, but Cincinnati just didn’t have enough to do anything offensively, the two teams combined for six turnovers, and there was little drama.

Scott Satterfield left one team and was waiting in the wings to coach the other, major parts weren’t present, there were about 19 fans in the stands outside of friends and family, and the novelty of the game being played in a baseball stadium wore off quickly.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

39. Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl

Fresno State 29, Washington State 6
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 16
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 18, 2020: NA, 2019: NA
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 21, 2020: NA, 2019: NA

You know it’s an awful bowl when the guy it’s named after goes into the booth and can’t stop yapping about how boring it was. It didn’t help that this was going on about the same time as Indianapolis was in epic meltdown mode against the Vikings.

There was some redeeming value in Fresno State’s combination of QB Jake Haener and RB Jordan Mims going off against a Washington State defense missing a slew of key players, but there wasn’t much offense on the other side to make this competitive.
What Happened, Player of the Game, Fun Stats, What it Means

Bowl Rankings 2022-2023
Bowls of Sad | Instant Memory Dumped Bowls
Just Bowls | Very Good Bowls | Great Bowls
Classic Bowls No. 8 | No. 7 | No. 6 | No. 5 | No. 4
No. 3 | No. 2 | No. 1 | Bowl Scoreboard

NEXT: Bowl Rankings: Instant Memory Dumped Bowls

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13

College Football Bowl Games: Ranking All 41. How Good Is Your Bowl?

Ranking all 41 bowl games. How good is each bowl game going to be and how do they all rank from 1 to 41?

How good are all the bowl games? How good are the matchups? We rank all 41 from the best-looking to the worst. How good is your bowl game?

College Football Bowl Games: Ranking Every Bowl, Pre-Bowls

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– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

We’re not getting an expanded College Football Playoff until the 2024 season – that’s going to supercharge this time of year – and now college football is in this strange sort of holding pattern.

The transfer portal is gutting some teams. Players are opting out of the bigger bowls to get ready for the NFL. Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba isn’t able to go in the CFP semifinal against Georgia. Coaches are switching teams, injuries are an issue, and …

Reality has come to breakfast. The business of college football no longer jibes with the exhibition aspect to the end of the season.

Whatever.

We’re getting 41 bowl games – assuming some teams don’t opt out if they just don’t have the personnel – and that means at least half will be awful-to-meh, a  bunch will be fun, and there will be a few that pop up here and there that restore your faith in humanity.

Yes, you may quibble with the interest you might have in the various bowls – OF COURSE you’re watching Michigan vs TCU no matter what. This is all based on what the best games should potentially be.

And with that, here’s our ranking of how good these bowl games should be. The hope is that most of the ones on the bottom rise up and rock, all while knowing that a slew of the top-ranked bowls will fizzle badly.

Here’s how the bowls are categorized as we ask the question. How good is your bowl? (We’ll revisit at the end and rerank based on how good they actually were.)

– 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

Bowl Game Rankings: Deep Cuts

Here’s the plan. It’s a bowl game so you have to at least turn it on. If it’s awful, get out and save yourself for later because they keep throwing the bowls at you. However, check back once in a while to make sure you’re not missing anything.

41. Camellia Bowl

Buffalo vs Georgia Southern
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
12:00, ESPN
Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL
Last Year: Georgia State 51, Ball State 20
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 24, 2020: 10, 2019: 29
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 27, 2020: 7, 2019: 17

It’s all about Buffalo. Georgia Southern has a big-time offense that’s going to push for 40 points. The Bulls have to prove they can keep up, and the first guess is no, they won’t be able to. That doesn’t mean this can’t be entertaining for a while, but it might mostly be a showcase for the Eagles and former UB QB Kyle Vantrease.

40. HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl

UAB vs Miami University
Friday, December 16, 2022
11:30 am, ESPN
Line: UAB -11.5, o/u: 43.5
Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
Last Year: Middle Tennessee 31, Toledo 24
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 10, 2020: NA, 2019: 28
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 42, 2020: NA, 2019: 24

The Bahamas Bowl almost never goes according to plan. It’s right out of the gate, teams know in advance that they’re going to make travel plans, and in a crazy way it’s been in a pattern of great-awful-great-awful. Last year’s was great. It’s a toss-up, though, with the coaching change at UAB offsetting the talent level a bit.

39. LendingTree Bowl

Rice vs Southern Miss
Saturday, December 17, 2022
5:45, ESPN
Hancock Whitney Stadium, Mobile, AL
Last Year: Liberty 56, Eastern Michigan 20
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 34, 2020: 23, 2019: 37
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 34, 2020: 23, 2019: 28

Okay, so Rice is here because it went to class – it was on top of the APR rankings so it was able to go bowling at 5-7. It’s going to be fired up to have an extra game, Southern Miss hasn’t been all that great over the last part of the season, and it should all combine for a hard-fought, tight bowl that should be more entertaining than it’ll get credit for.

38. Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

Houston vs Louisiana  
Friday, December 23, 2022
3:00, ESPN
Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA
Last Year: UAB 31, BYU 28
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 35, 2020: NA, 2019: 34
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 11, 2020: NA, 2019: 20

Houston will always play up or down to its competition, but it’ll bring the offense when it has to. There’s a problem, though – it might not have to crank up the attack against a Louisiana offense that hasn’t done much of anything against anyone good. This is a true focus bowl – it’s not going to be pretty if the Cougars care. However, it’s going to be a Ragin’ Cajun-friendly crowd.

37. RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl

Toledo vs Liberty
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
7:30, ESPN
FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL
Last Year: WKU 59, Appalachian State 38
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 2, 2020: 5, 2019: 16
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 15, 2020: 20, 2019: 23

Toledo might have won the MAC Championship, but it’s been AWFUL in bowl games over the last four years. Liberty was AWFUL over the late part of the season before Hugh Freeze finally took the Auburn gig. The talent is there on both sides to make this fun, but the Boca Raton has been just okay lately.

36. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Eastern Michigan vs San Jose State
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
3:30 ESPN
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, ID
Last Year: Wyoming 52, Kent State 38
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 13, 2020: 13, 2019: 31
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 14, 2020: 17, 2019: 31

It’s been a few years since we’ve had a good Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, but Eastern Michigan keeps every game close. It comes in on a bit of roll, and the chilly weather won’t be a problem. San Jose State is entertaining – QB Chevan Cordeiro is a baller who’s worth the watch.

35. Cricket Celebration Bowl

North Carolina Central vs Jackson State
Saturday, December 17, 2022
12:00, ABC
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Last Year: South Carolina State 31, Jackson State 10
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: , 2020: , 2019:
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: , 2020: , 2019: 

The man is still there. Deion Sanders has made Colorado the coolest school going, but he’ll still be around to finish the job at Jackson State. North Carolina Central can play and isn’t going to be a pushover, but after last year’s blowout Celebration Bowl loss, Coach Prime’s team should put on a show.

34. Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Louisville vs Cincinnati
Saturday, December 17, 2022
11:00 am, ESPN
Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 41, 2020: NA, 2019: NA
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 36, 2020: NA, 2019: NA

Neither team has its head coach with Scott Satterfield leaving from Louisville to Cincinnati, both programs are in a bit of a holding pattern, and with both teams looking to show off who’s still around for next year. Even so, this should be an entertaining dead-even game with the Cardinal defense a fun watch if it’s taking the ball away.

33. Frisco Bowl

Boise State vs North Texas
Saturday, December 17, 2022
9:15, ESPN
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
Last Year: San Diego State 38, UTSA 24
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 37, 2020: NA, 2019: 32
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2021: 22, 2020: NA, 2019: 8

Uh oh. North Texas fired head coach Seth Littrell even after getting to the Conference USA Championship. Boise State might be too good for this bowl, and if it brings the focus, it’s combination of running game and defense could make this ugly fast. Let’s put it this way – North Texas already played one Mountain West team and lost to UNLV 58-27.

– 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

NEXT: Bowl Game Rankings: Bowls. Like You Have Anything Better To Do.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Cheez-It Bowl viewed as one of the best matchups by College Football News

The Cheez-It Bowl looks like one of the better matchups this bowl season, landing inside the top 10 of College Football News bowl rankings.

When the Cheez-It Bowl kicks off, college football fans should be in for a high-scoring affair. The matchup between the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida State Seminoles on Dec. 29 will serve as an appetizer to the College Football Playoff.

Florida State had a resurgent season, finishing 9-3, and it had a top-20 offense and defense this season. Led by Jordan Travis and Jared Verse, the Seminoles rattled off five straight wins to close the regular season, winning by an average margin of victory of 28.2 points per game.

Oklahoma had a disappointing season. It went 6-6 and 0-4 in one-score games. It was a frustrating 3-6 finish in Big 12 play after starting the year 3-0 with each win coming by 30 or more points. The Sooners’ offense was good enough in several of those losses, but the defense struggled to get stops in losses to Kansas State, Baylor and Texas Tech. Against West Virginia, the defense was good for three quarters, but the offense struggled on a wet day in Morgantown.

Which Oklahoma team will the Florida State Seminoles see in the Cheez-It Bowl? That remains to be seen, especially with players opting out of the bowl game at critical positions.

Nevertheless, the Sooners should have enough offensive firepower to have a shot to finish the season above .500, with Dillon Gabriel and Marvin Mims leading the way. And that’s why this game has been viewed so favorably despite Oklahoma’s struggles in 2022. In College Football News’ bowl rankings for 2022, Pete Fiutak had the Cheez-It bowl as the seventh-best game in this year’s bowl season.

Oklahoma got its win over Oklahoma State, avoided the embarrassment of not going bowling, came really, really close in the three losses in the last four games – it dropped all of them by three points each. It’s a program that seems like it’s ready to get to next year already, but it’s got the offense to make this wild.

On the flip side, all of the great things FSU did over the second half of the year won’t be undone with a loss, but it wouldn’t be a good look considering Mike Norvell is 0-for-bowls in his six-year career before this season.

There should be lots of offense, lots of energy in the stadium, and lots of storylines going into 2023 no matter what. – Pete Fiutak, College Football News

The Sooners’ defense will have a tough task against Jordan Travis, and Oklahoma will start two new offensive tackles for the game after Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris opted out. Tyler Guyton figures to be one of the starters, and then it will come down to Jacob Sexton, Jake Taylor and Aaryn Parks on the other side.

The Sooners’ offensive line will have a difficult challenge trying to slow Jared Verse, who has 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss on the season.

Oklahoma and Florida State could serve as a springboard for the Sooners to get back into Big 12 title contention in 2023. It will be an intriguing matchup between two proud programs when they kick off in the Cheez-It Bowl.

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Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today. You can also follow John on Twitter @john9williams.

Where does LSU’s Citrus Bowl matchup against Purdue rank among bowl games?

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked the Tigers’ postseason contest around the middle of the pack.

The Tigers missed out on the New Year’s Six by virtue of back-to-back losses to end the season, but their consolation prize isn’t too bad.

LSU will be heading to Orlando to face Purdue in the Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium — where the Tigers will also open the 2023 campaign against Florida State. The Boilermakers are coming into this one off of a conference title loss of their own against Michigan.

This is an interesting matchup on paper, though it’s fair to question how motivated LSU will be considering its eyes were on a potential playoff spot until just two weeks ago. With that in mind, CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked it near the middle of the bowl game pack at No. 20 out of 41.

It’s a battle of two teams that exceeded expectations, but one of them won’t be as excited about it. Nobody was expecting too much of LSU in Brian Kelly’s first season, but the Tigers upset Alabama to help them win the SEC West. The problem is that a few weeks ago, the Tigers thought they had a shot to reach the College Football Playoff because of it but lost to a bad Texas A&M team 38-23. They followed it up with a 50-30 loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, and are now riding a two-game losing streak as they prepare to play the Citrus Bowl. Will their top guys sit this one out, or could we see a wave of opt-outs?

Purdue was a surprise winner of the Big Ten West this season, but it wasn’t the result of dominance. The Boilermakers went 6-3 in conference and hung with Michigan for a half in the Big Ten Championship Game before getting steamrolled in the second half. It’s a team that’s long made a habit of pulling off upsets over higher-ranked teams, and it has an exciting offense that can put points on the board, so LSU better take it seriously. However, there’s a potential problem here. The Louisville job came open this week when Scott Satterfield left for Cincinnati, and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm — a former Louisville QB — was seen as the top target for Louisville before it hired Satterfield. The Cardinals are bound to be interested again, so will Brohm turn down his alma mater twice?

As Fornelli notes, the wildcard in this discussion for the Boilermakers is the status of Brohm, who will likely be a primary candidate for the opening of his alma mater.

If, hypothetically, Brohm were to leave, it would likely take the wind out of the sails for a Purdue team that is no doubt looking forward to its first Citrus Bowl appearance since 2004.

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Where does Oklahoma vs. Florida State rank among the 41 bowl games for 2022?

How did CBS Sports rank the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Florida State Seminoles in the Cheez-It Bowl among the 41 bowl games for 2022?

It’s amazing how differently 7-6 would feel instead of 6-7. But that’s how important the Cheez-It Bowl will be for the Oklahoma Sooners. A win extends their streak of winning seasons to 23. A loss would break a streak started by Bob Stoops and continued by Lincoln Riley.

Brent Venables is building something, and that something will take some time. Still, closing out an inconsistent season with a win would be huge for the Sooners as they look ahead to 2023.

The Florida State Seminoles finally put together a strong year after back-to-back losing seasons under Mike Norvell. The Seminoles are looking for their first 10-win season since 2016 when Jimbo Fisher was still at the helm.

For a random bowl game, this contest has stakes for both sides. Given the offensive firepower of the two teams, the Cheez-It Bowl has the potential to be one of the better bowl games in 2022. ESPN predicted another one-score loss for Oklahoma in a 44-37 shootout.

Ranking each of the bowl games for CBS Sports, Oklahoma vs. Florida State comes in at No. 11.

Florida State fans wish there was a button they could hit that would start the season over with the Seminoles playing at this level right now. If that happened, the ‘Noles would probably end up winning the ACC and could even sneak into the College Football Playoff because it’s been one of the best teams in the country for over a month. There were close losses to NC State and Clemson in October, then five straight wins to finish the season, most in blowout fashion. QB Jordan Travis has ascended to another level and is one of the most exciting players to watch in the country.

So while there’s a chance this game turns into a blowout, even though Oklahoma is only 6-6, it has an offense capable of scoring in a hurry. This game has the potential to be an exciting shootout if the Sooners are healthy. I understand there’s also a good chance I look like a moron for ranking this game so highly if Bad Oklahoma shows up and Florida State wins by a billion. Whatever happens, at least I feel confident the final score won’t be 13-2. – Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports

With [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] at quarterback, there hasn’t been a “bad Oklahoma.” In the only games where they were blown out, they didn’t have Gabriel at the helm for the entire game. The Sooners averaged 37.1 points per game in the 10 games they had Dillon Gabriel for all four quarters. There’s no reason to suspect the offense won’t be good.

Florida State boasts a good defense, but the Sooners proved they could score on anyone in 2022 when Gabriel navigated the offense. Oklahoma’s question is more about what the defense does against the Seminoles’ offense because they’ve struggled all year to stop good offenses.

This one will be a shootout.

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Head Coach Rankings: How Good Were All 76 This Bowl Season?

Head coach rankings from the 2021-2022 bowl season: who did the best jobs, and who struggled?

Which head coaches did the best jobs this bowl season, and which ones struggled? Here are all 76 head coaches this 2021-2022 bowl season ranked from who rocked and who didn’t.

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Head Coach Rankings: Bowl Season

Which head coaches and their staffs did the best jobs this bowl season, and which ones had a rough run?

Very, very loosely based on what the expectations were for each team, talent level, betting lines – at least a little bit – and which teams played above their heads and which ones sputtered, here’s our ranking of the jobs done by all 76 head coaches in the post-season.

Two key notes. 1) There isn’t any extra love or punishment for one bad decision – like a fourth down try that didn’t work, and 2) the interim head coaches were randomly thrown in here, but they all deserve a break from the scrutiny.

CFN Final Rankings | National Championship 5 Thoughts
Ranking Every Bowl | National Championship Game Notes
Bowl Season Coaching Rankings 
1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-76

76. Mack Brown, North Carolina

Duke’s Mayo Bowl
South Carolina 38, North Carolina 21
Brown’s double-digit favorite team didn’t have it …18-0. That was the score after the first quarter, and the Tar Heels couldn’t adjust to stop the run and get off the field. This was a good South Carolina team, but it wasn’t 543 yards of total offense good.

75. Deion Sanders, Jackson State

Cricket Celebration Bowl
South Carolina State 31, Jackson State 10
With all the momentum in the world after a big recruiting coup, and with all the national buzz and attention, Sanders’ Tiger team was a total dud. Amazing all year long, the Tigers weren’t even close, finishing with fewer than 200 yards of total offense, eight penalties, and three turnovers in an ugly loss.

74. Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Army 24, Missouri 22
Of course Missouri would’ve been a whole lot better had star RB Tyler Badie played, but the call of Brady Cook at quarterback almost worked. It was a great game against a well-coached team, but this is an SEC team with SEC talent that lost to a service academy. That’s not okay.

73. Jake Dickert, Washington State

Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl
Central Michigan 24, Washington State 21
Washington State got to play a random MAC team to fill in after Miami tapped out. Maybe the Cougars weren’t focused, maybe they let their guard down, maybe a few missing parts made a difference as the team didn’t wake up until it was too late. Central Michigan turned it over twice, got flagged 11 times, and it still won after getting up 21-0 in the first half.

72. Mike Leach, Mississippi State

AutoZone Liberty Bowl,
Texas Tech 34, Mississippi State 7
Yeah, there were a whole lot of key opt-out losses – to be fair, the offensive tackle situation was a problem – but you’re an SEC team, Mississippi State. You don’t lose to Texas Tech 34-7 with the offense sputtering that poorly. You can’t have a brand that’s all about offense, and then struggle that much will plenty of time to prepare.

71. Scott Satterfield, Louisville

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Air Force 31, Louisville 28
The Cardinals had the offensive explosion, it had the Power Five/ACC talent, and it couldn’t hold up to the Air Force passing game? The offense worked well and it still wasn’t enough because the Air Force coaching staff’s game plan got the job done. Satterfield really needed this win, and he didn’t get it.

Bowl Season Coaching Rankings 
1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-76

NEXT: Head Coach Rankings: Bowl Season Top 70

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8

Bowl Rankings: How Good Were All The Bowl Games? 2021-2022

From the classics to the canceled, all the bowls from the 2021-2022 season ranked.

How good were the games in the 2021-2022 bowl season? Ranking all the bowl games from the worst to the best.

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The bowl season was fantastic – to a point.

Through all the opt-outs, and cancelations, and COVID concerns were a slew of shocking, wild, and all-time great games.

And there were more than a few stunning duds.

We still have one more game that’s kind of a big deal, but the College Football Playoff National Championship isn’t like a normal bowl game. Even so, that will get added at the end.

How good were all of the bowl games? Ranked worst to first …

Bowl Rankings: Cancel Culture

It wasn’t as bad as 2020-2021 when bowls were being canceled left and right, but these five couldn’t go and they didn’t reschedule.

T39. Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl

Central Michigan vs Boise State – Canceled
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 17
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 26, 2019: 35

It’s not like you would’ve watched with two other bowls along with the College Football Playoff semifinal between Alabama and Cincinnati overlapping with this, but considering what Central Michigan did against Washington State in the Sun Bowl, this would’ve been fun.

T39. EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii vs Memphis – Canceled
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 40
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 37

COVID, transfers, angst against the coach – it all came out as Hawaii wasn’t able to go. Memphis was left without a dance partner, but at least it got to be disappointed in paradise.

T39. Military Bowl presented by Peraton

East Carolina vs Boston College – Canceled 
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 21
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 33

The last three Boston College bowl games have been canceled. It’s the Spinal Tap drummer of bowl schools.

T39. San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl

NC State vs UCLA – Canceled
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 6
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 26

It was supposed to be one of the more interesting matchups of the bowl season – a showcase game for a great NC State team, and a breakthrough moment for UCLA – but the Bruins got hit with a COVID outbreak and couldn’t go, pulling out just hours before the game.

T39. Wasabi Fenway Bowl

Virginia vs SMU – Canceled
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 10
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: NA

This one hurt. It was almost certain to have been among the wildest and craziest bowls of the bunch. There was no way this wasn’t going to be a funfest of offensive firepower and absolutely no defense whatsoever.

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

NEXT Bowl Rankings: “Too Many Bowls”

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College Football Bowl Games: Ranking All 43. How Good Is Your Bowl?

How good are all the bowl games? How good are the matchups? We rank all 43 from the best-looking to the worst. How good is your bowl game?

How good are all the bowl games? How good are the matchups? We rank all 43 from the best-looking to the worst. How good is your bowl game?

College Football Bowl Games: Ranking Every Bowl, Pre-Bowls

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

There won’t be a ton of bowl games cancelled.

There won’t be a slew of loser teams getting in just to fill spots, and there aren’t teams tapping out after getting an invite.

After 2020, this should be a lot more fun. Sort of.

Now we have a new problem. Coaching changes.

So many teams have new coaches, lost assistants, transfers, opt-outs, and all because they can leave and it doesn’t really matter. College football is the one sport that plays its exhibition season at the end of the year …

And we LOVE it.

43 games – plus the national championship – mean 43 games to watch, 43 reasons to be distracted from your family, 43 investment opportunities, and 43 more moments of college football to enjoy.

Are there too many bowl games? Of course not. No one’s making you watch them – that’s what we’re here for.

Below are the bowl games you have to go out of your way to watch, and the ones you can skip if you have something better to do – like caroling, or needlepoint.

Here’s how the bowl are categorized as we ask the question. How good is your bowl? (We’ll revisit at the end and rerank based on how good they actually were.)

– Deep Cuts (Bowls 32-43)
– Nothing Better To Do (25-32)
– Bowls. Just Bowls (17-24)
– Restaurant Quality Bowls (9-16)
– Watch or Die (1-8)

Bowl Game Rankings: Deep Cuts

Here’s how you do these bowls. Start watching, and if you’re digging the groove, stay with it. If not, get out fast and save yourself for the bazillion other bowl games being thrown at you.

43. PUBG New Mexico Bowl

Saturday, December 18
ESPN, 2:15 pm
Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, NM
UTEP vs Fresno State 

Great for UTEP to be a part of the bowl world again, and great that it’s been able to have a strong season after so many years of pain and suffering. However, even without head coach Kalen DeBoer – who’s off to Washington – Fresno State should rip this game apart from the start if it comes in focused. And why? QB Jake Haener – who was originally going to leave for Washington – is back.

Line: Fresno State -11.5, o/u: 51
Last Year: Hawaii 28, Houston 14
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 21, 2019: 36
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 21, 2019: 37

42. Bahamas Bowl

Friday, December 17
ESPN, 12:00 pm
Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
Middle Tennessee vs Toledo 

This actually might be a little bit of fun – it’s the fist game of the bowl season – but can Middle Tennessee hold up against a Toledo offense that should roll? Let’s put it this way – if the Blue Raiders do what they do and take the ball, this will be interesting. If they don’t, this could be rough.

Line: Toledo -10.5, o/u: 52.5
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 28
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 24

41. Cricket Celebration Bowl

Saturday, December 18
ABC, 12:00 pm
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
South Carolina State vs Jackson State 

Everything about the game is always fun, but this year, Coach Prime’s team should roll at will. Jackson State brings a great defense and might not crank up the offense with a whole lot of chances, but if this goes the way the respective seasons went for both sides, you’ll be okay to move along after the halftime show.

Last Year: Canceled
Line: Jackson State -10.5, o/u: 42.5

40. EasyPost Hawaii Bowl

Friday, December 24
ESPN, 8:00 pm
Clarence TC Ching Complex, Honolulu, HI
Memphis vs Hawaii

It’s the only college game on Christmas Eve, and it might be something to have on in the background when other stuff is happening, but don’t expect a wild shootout. Hawaii will be a bit more grinding than we all might like, but on the plus side, neither defense can come up with a third down stop.

Line: Memphis -7, o/u: 59.5
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 36
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 37

39. Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl

Friday, December 31
CBS, 12:30 pm
Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso, TX
Miami vs Washington State 

Give Miami credit for fighting through adversity all year, and now it has to do it again. There’s a shot that this follows form and is close like seemingly every other Hurricane game was over the second half of the year, but Washington State has its parts in place – including a settled coaching situation – and Miami is waiting for the Mario Cristobal era to get going.

Line: Miami -2.5, o/u: 59
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 19
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 21

38. Valero Alamo Bowl

Wednesday, December 29
ESPN, 9:15 pm
Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
Oklahoma vs Oregon 

This would’ve been one of the games of the year in college football if it happened in the regular season, and there but for a few twists and turns, thing might have been a College Football Playoff matchup.

But who’s left? Both head coaches are gone, key players are missing, and this matchup is Exhibit A of why bowl games sometimes feel like exhibitions. It might be an entertaining game, though, depending on who’s out there.

Okay, okay, so Bob Stoops coaching Oklahoma is going to be cool – but do you really watch a game because of a head coach? There’s a great chance this gets ugly one way or another.

Line: Oklahoma -4.5, o/u: 61.5
Last Year: Texas 55, Colorado 23
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 17, 2019: 13
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 18, 2019: 38

37. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl

Tuesday, December 21
ESPN, 7:30 pm
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
UTSA vs San Diego State 

This is going to be a good game, but it just won’t be all that interesting for the average fan because – at least until its last two games against Boise State and Utah State, with a slew of players out with covid in the latter – every San Diego State game feels like the final score is 2-1. If you like great defense and amazing punting, this is the game for you.

Line: UTSA -2.5, o/u: 49.5
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 32
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 8

36. Frisco Bowl Classic

Thursday, December 23
ESPN, 3:30 pm
Toyota Stadium, Frisco, TX
Miami University vs North Texas

This is a last-second made-up bowl so two more bowl eligible teams could get an extra game – and for ESPN to shoehorn in another bowl game with nothing happening on a Thursday December afternoon. Cool – more college football – but the matchup will be a tough sell. There’s a chance for enough offense to make this one-off bowl interesting, though, as a lead-in to the Florida-UCF Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla.

Line: Miami University -3, o/u: 54

Bowl Schedule | Bowl Confidence Picks
Expert Picks: CFP & NY6 | Dec 17-27 | Dec 28-Jan 4

35. Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

Saturday, December 18
ABC, 3:30 pm
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA
UAB vs BYU 

Here’s the problem. BYU deserves to be in a New Year’s Six bowl. It knows it, and it’s going to play like it.

Here’s the other problem – the Independence Bowls have been next-level awful over the last several years. The last four have been blowouts, and seven of the last nine were decided by double-digits. Hopefully UAB surprises, but …

Line: BYU -7, o/u: 54.5
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 34
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 20

34. LendingTree Bowl

Saturday, December 18
ESPN, 5:45 pm
Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL
Liberty vs Eastern Michigan 

This should be higher if Liberty is a bit more entertaining. A total dud over the final few weeks of the season, it struggled to score even with several good veterans on offense. On the plus side, Eastern Michigan has an offense and usually plays tight games, but if Liberty finds its groove early, uh oh.

Line: Liberty -9, o/u: 58.5
Last Year: Georgia State 39, WKU 21
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 23, 2019: 37
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: 23, 2019: 28

33. Mercari Texas Bowl

Tuesday, January 4
ESPN, Time 9:00 pm
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Kansas State vs LSU 

LSU is waiting for the Brian Kelly era to get going, a slew of NFL bound players either tapped out at some point during the season, transferred away, or will likely be opting out, and … the team will play really, really hard for interim head man Brad Davis.

There’s a chance this could be an interesting game, but if Kansas State is playing at its highest level and LSU just doesn’t have the parts – or vice versa – this could go south quickly. No matter what, though, it’s the next-to-last college football game of the year, so you’ll watch.

Line: Kansas State -1, o/u: 47
Last Year: Canceled
Pre-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 14
Post-Bowl Ranking: 2020: NA, 2019: 14

How Good Is Your Bowl?   
– Nothing Better To Do (25-32)
– Bowls. Just Bowls (17-24)
– Restaurant Quality Bowls (9-16)
– Watch or Die (1-8)

NEXT: Bowl Game Rankings: Bowls. Like You Have Anything Better To Do.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Where Florida’s matchup with UCF stand in CBS Sports’ bowl game rankings

This game would have been a lot more interesting a few years ago, but it still carries a lot of intrigue.

It’s hard to imagine the bowl organizers didn’t know what they were doing. Florida reached bowl eligibility by winning its final game against Florida State, and the reward was a trip to Tampa to take on UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on Dec. 23.

There has been some controversy between the two fanbases over the last several years. The Knights accused UF of refusing to play a home-and-home, and while the two teams eventually agreed on a two-for-one series, those games will be spread out, with UCF coming to Gainesville in 2024 and 2033 and the Gators heading down to Orlando in 2030.

Now, we get to see them face off in just a few weeks. Though the battle between 6-6 Florida and 8-4 UCF doesn’t have the luster it could have had a couple of years ago, it still carries some interest and ranks No. 31 among the 42 bowl games, according to CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli.

This game would’ve been a lot cooler a few years ago when UCF was going undefeated and talking all that trash about how schools like Florida were afraid to schedule it. Since then, the Knights have lost two coaches to Power Five programs and poached their own Power Five coach in Gus Malzahn. Also, these two schools just announced a three-game series that will begin in 2024, which strips this game of some of its natural appeal.

And then there are the Gators. Florida fired Dan Mullen last month, and although it has already hired his replacement in Billy Napier, how excited is this team going to be to face UCF in Tampa? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and both teams will show up and ball out, but it isn’t likely.

Fornelli raises an interesting point. Considering the fact that it’s a low-tier bowl game, the odds are very high that there will be some opt-outs, and it’s hard to know just how motivated the Florida players that do choose to participate will be. Still, this is an interesting in-state matchup that carries a lot of intrigue, though the Gators will likely have less to play for than the Knights.

Interim coach Greg Knox will look to pull off another big victory over an in-state team in his final game at the helm before new coach Billy Napier officially takes over.

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Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Bowl Rankings: How Good Were All 25 Bowl Games?

How good were the games in the 2020-2021 bowl season? Ranking all the bowl games from the worst to the best.

How good were the games in the 2020-2021 bowl season? Ranking all the bowl games from the worst to the best.

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This was a miserable bowl season, but there were different levels of pain and suffering.

Out of the 25 bowl games played – with one big one still to go – 16 of them were double-digit blowouts, most of the close games were ugly-bad, and there wasn’t any classic that hasn’t already been memory dumped by anyone outside of the winning fan base.

But it was a bowl season – the fact that we got as many games as we did is incredible.

There’s still one little game to go with this turning into a ranking of the 26 best bowl games after Monday night.

Here’s how good the bowl games were this season.

Bowl Rankings
Total Duds | Bowls: No More, No Less
Decent Bowls | Good Bowls | Best Bowls

Bowl Rankings: Total Duds

These weren’t just the worst games of this bowl season. These made people question the world and their reason for living in it. None of them were 2018 Cheez-It Bowl-level awful, but …

25. Offerpad Arizona Bowl

Ball State 34, San Jose State 13
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 11
– 10 Thoughts on the Arizona Bowl

This one wasn’t fair.

Ball State will more than happily take the first bowl win in the program’s history, but San Jose State was walloped by COVID issues announced just before the game, the Mountain West champ was a shadow of its regular season self, and it got ugly immediately.

Ball State got up 27-0 in the first quarter starting with a pick-six, and were up 34-0 in the third before the Spartans finally got on the board with a kickoff return for a touchdown.

24. R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 22
– 10 Things To Know from the New Orleans Bowl

Would Shai Werts play or not?

The Georgia Southern quarterback played through a shoulder problem, he was awesome, and this game was a disaster. The Eagles took a 21-0 first half lead, only allowed one measly Louisiana Tech field goal, and totally dominated.

Louisiana Tech was -4 in turnover margin, never had the ball, and generated 232 yards of total offense whether it needed them or not.

Werts? 71 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and 7-of-12 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown for the option attack.

23. The Rose Bowl Game Presented by Capital One

Alabama 31, Notre Dame 14
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 9
– 5 Thoughts Reaction, Analysis: Rose Bowl

Start with the Rose Bowl being played in Arlington instead of Pasadena, and it goes downhill from there.

No one thought Notre Dame had a prayer, the game was supposed to be a light scrimmage, and that’s exactly what happened. It was 7-0 Crimson Tide five minutes in, and that was about it.

There was the slightest fraction of a moment in the second quarter when it looked like this might be interesting after a 15-play Irish touchdown drive to make it 14-7, but that only seemed to make Alabama mad.

DeVonta Smith caught a 34-yard touchdown pass just over two minutes later, and that was that.

22. LendingTree Bowl

Georgia State 39, WKU 21
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 23
– 10 Things To Know from the LendingTree Bowl

WKU was up 7-0 on a strong first quarter drive, the defense was doing okay, and …

Ugh.

Georgia State rolled for 27 straight points on three second quarter touchdown passes from Cornelious Brown, the defense forced three takeaways, and the team was in total control throughout. Even after WKU came up with a third quarter touchdown, it was all Panther O from there with scoring drive after scoring drive to go up 39-14 until the final moments.

21. GoodYear Cotton Bowl Classic

Oklahoma 55, Florida 20
Pre-Bowl Matchup Ranking: 3
– 10 Thoughts on the Cotton Bowl

The ONLY reason why this isn’t even lower is because Oklahoma was so much fun to watch.

It was over the moment most of Florida’s receiving corps opted out, there were more key players out, and Oklahoma put it away with a 17-0 lead – ended on a Tre Norwood pick six of Kyle Trask – in the first seven minutes.

Emory Jones and the Gators made it interesting for a little bit in the second quarter to pull within 17-13, but the Sooners ended the fun four plays later with a quick touchdown drive as part of a 38-point run to turn this into an embarrassment.

Bowl Rankings
Bowls: No More, No Less
Decent Bowls | Good Bowls | Best Bowls

NEXT: Bowl Rankings: Bowl Games. No More, No Less

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