Tag: College Football Bowl Games

Duke officially qualifies for the college football bowl schedule with its sixth win

With their sixth win of the season on Friday night, the Blue Devils secured a spot in the college football postseason.

The Duke Blue Devils stacked yet another iconic win onto its 2024 resume on Friday night, this time beating the Florida State Seminoles for the first time in school history.

Between the defensive triumph, Duke’s 20-point comeback over the North Carolina Tar Heels, and overtime victory over the Northwestern Wildcats, first-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his team officially have a place in the college football postseason. Friday’s victory over FSU improved the Blue Devils to 6-1 for the year, securing at least a .500 record and clinching bowl eligibility.

After a combined 10-25 record with no bowl appearances from 2019-21, Duke has now won at least six games in each of the past three seasons. Before this most recent stretch, the Blue Devils hadn’t made a bowl game in three consecutive seasons since 2012-15.

With Wake Forest and NC State left on the schedule, two teams with a combined 5-8 record, there’s a reasonable chance that Diaz win eight games in his first year with the program. If he does finish with an 8-4 record or better, it would be the first time Duke wins at least eight games in three straight seasons since that same 2013-15 stretch.

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

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

LOOK: Complete College Football 2022-23 Bowl Schedule with dates, kickoff times for each matchup

Bowl season is officially upon us

Bowl season is officially upon us.

Unfortunately, Michigan State failed to reach the postseason this year and will not be playing in a bowl game for the second time in the past three seasons. But that doesn’t mean fans can’t still enjoy all of the other bowl games — 42 to be exact.

Action Network has put together a comprehensive breakdown of each and every bowl game, starting with today’s action. Click on the tweet below to see the complete bowl game schedule:

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

[listicle id=105407]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1362]

Ranking the 10 most exciting 2022 bowl matchups

Bowl season has no shortage of must-see matchups.

The 2022 college football regular season stale has come to an end as we officially gear up for postseason play.

43 bowl games are set to take place from the Bahamas Bowl on Dec. 16 all the way to the CFP National Championship on Jan. 9.

The College Football Playoff semifinals will take place at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl this year, with the title game being held in Los Angeles.

All eyes will be on No. 1 Georgia as they take on No. 4 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 TCU. Georgia looks to repeat as national champs while the other playoff squads try to dethrone the Bulldawgs.

Outside of the College Football Playoff semifinals features a great schedule of New Year’s Six games at the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl.

This bowl season has no shortage of must-see matchups. Here is a list of the 10 most exciting 2022 bowl games.

2022-2023 college football bowl game watchability rankings

There are always a few bowl games you simply can’t miss. There are a few bowls you simply shouldn’t bother watching. We rank them all here:

It is one of the more fun articles any college football blogger gets to write every year: the watchability rankings for all the bowl games.

There are always some “dogs with fleas” matchups, and there are always some “ooooooh, I can’t wait to watch that one” matchups. There are other matchups which fit in between, the kinds of games where one says, “It’s not great, it’s not terrible, but it’s a bowl game, and it’s college football.

Let’s look at the bowl schedule and the 2022 bowl games through the prism of which games are most — and least — watchable. The bad bowls will be dealt with in a bundle, precisely because they’re not worth discussing in greater depth:

College Football Bowl Ties, Affiliations For Each Conference 2022-2023

Bowl affiliations and ties for every conference this 2022 college football season

College football bowl tie-ins and bowl affiliations for every conference going into the 2022 season.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

College Football Bowl Tie-Ins, Affiliations 2023-2023

– The College Football Playoff hasn’t expanded yet, so just as before, the top four teams according to the final College Football Playoff rankings will make the mini-tournament. This year, the two CFP semifinal bowls are the Fiesta and Peach on Saturday, December 31st.

– The two CFP semifinal winners will play in the College Football Playoff National Championship in Los Angeles on Monday, January 9th, 2023.

– The highest-ranked conference champion from the American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt will automatically get one spot in Cotton Bowl if it’s not in the College Football Playoff.

– The Rose Bowl will be the Big Ten and Pac-12, the Orange Bowl will be ACC vs a team from the Big Ten or SEC – Notre Dame could go to the Orange, but not as an ACC team – and the Sugar Bowl will be Big 12 vs SEC.

Again, the Fiesta and Peach are College Football Playoff games, leaving one spot open in the Cotton for a team to likely play a Group of Five team.

ACC Bowl Tie-Ins, Affiliations

Notre Dame is eligible for any ACC bowl tie-in as long as it’s within one game of the team eligible for the slot. However, it’s not eligible to go to the Orange Bowl as an ACC team.

The ACC Champion will automatically go to the Orange Bowl if it’s not selected for the College Football Playoff. If the top ACC team is in the CFP, the highest-ranked available team is in the Orange.

Like last year, the ACC bowl slots will mostly be based on the matchups that make the most sense and will potentially generate the most interest.

1. College Football Playoff Semifinal: If Selected

Capital One Orange Bowl
Highest-ranked available ACC team, if it’s not the ACC Champion.

First Tier

– Cheez-It Bowl vs Big 12
– Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs Big Ten
– Fenway Bowl vs American Athletic
– Military Bowl Presented by Peraton vs American Athletic
– New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs Big Ten
– Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl vs Army
– San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl vs Pac-12
– TaxSlayer Gator Bowl vs SEC
– Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl vs Pac-12

Second Tier

– Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs AAC, Pac-12 or SEC
– TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl vs SEC or AAC
– SERVPRO First Responder Bowl vs SEC or AAC or Pac-12

2022-2023 Bowl Affiliations, Conference Tie-Ins
ACC | American Athletic | Big Ten | Big 12
Conference USA | Independents | MAC
Mountain West | Pac-12 | SEC | Sun Belt

NEXT: American Athletic Conference Bowl Tie-Ins, Affiliations

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

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

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.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

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”

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

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: West Virginia vs. Minnesota live stream, TV channel, time, how to watch bowl games

The West Virginia Mountaineers will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Rate Bowl from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

The West Virginia Mountaineers will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl from Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona.

West Virginia comes into tonight’s matchup after finishing the season 6-6 and looking to end the year with a bowl victory. As for Minnesota, they went 8-4 this year and will be representing the Big Ten in tonight’s bowl.

Tune in to the Guaranteed Rate Bowl  Bowl today, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.

West Virginia vs. Minnesota

  • When: Tuesday, December 28
  • Time: 10:15 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

How to watch College Football Bowl Season

fuboTV has complete NCAA college football coverage (CBS, FOX, ESPN) as well as ACC Network, Big 10 Network, ESPNU, Pac12, and more. fuboTV includes every network you need to watch every college football game in your market.
fuboTV is available on your phone, tablet, desktop, TV, connected TV Devices including Roku. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV plus many more.
*Regional Restrictions Apply*

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

West Virginia vs. Minnesota (-4.5)

O/U: 44.5

Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV.

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Florida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Michigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Tennessee football / Texas football / USC football / Wisconsin football

Where Texas lands in updated bowl projections after Week 9

Is Texas in danger of missing a bowl game? Take a look at where several networks project them to land.

If you would have told me two months ago that Texas would be in danger of missing a bowl game, I would have thought you were joking. Continue reading “Where Texas lands in updated bowl projections after Week 9”