I hate to start with an oft-used cliché but I can’t help it: IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR, FOLKS. College football bowl season is officially upon us. It all begins Saturday morning (more on that later) in New Orleans and will conclude a mere 23 days later roughly 500 miles away in Arlington, TX when the two College Football Playoff semifinal winners play for the national title.
If we include that final game in the total number of bowls, we’re actually looking at 39 games but in the end we have 76 teams who’ve made it to the postseason and as such get that extra practice time and national television exposure. There are some who downplay the significance of the lesser bowl games and even decry the sheer volume of them that we have nowadays. That said, the importance of appearing in a bowl for most schools from an overall program momentum standpoint cannot be underestimated.
Yes, there are the Notre Dames and Texas A&Ms of this year’s bowl lineup who are probably a tad unhappy with how their season went and you have to be worried about the motivation factor. Schools such as Nebraska, Wisconsin and Florida will be appearing in the wake of coaching changes which always adds uncertainty as to how the team performs. On the other side of the coin, you have teams such as Western Michigan and Air Force who’ve experienced massive turnarounds this year and, ironically enough, will be facing each other in their bowl game.
I know grammar teachers are probably going to freak out a bit over the run-on or two you’ll probably encounter but that’s a necessary evil in compressing so much valuable information in such a singular form of written expression. Bear with me, please.
I figured I’d break this into two sections, with the games during the first week of the bowl season (December 20th-27th) being discussed here. You’ll be able to check out my single sentence breakdown of the remaining games, including the CFP semifinals and national championship game, tomorrow. Once I get that out, I’ll provide a link to it here.
All games are televised on ESPN unless otherwise indicated.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (December 20th, 11 am ET): Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Nevada
This game kicks off at 10 am New Orleans time so you might not want to overdo it on Bourbon Street the night before, but expect the Ragin’ Cajuns to have the advantage in the stands and on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl (December 20th, 2:20 pm ET): Utah State vs. UTEP
UTEP’s big rival New Mexico State has the same nickname as the team the Miners are about to face in Albuquerque with the Aggies from Logan, UT expected to cruise in this game as one of the top teams from the Mountain West.
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl (December 20th, 3:30 pm ET, ABC): Utah vs. Colorado State
These two teams were former conference rivals before the Utes bolted for the Pac-12 and the Rams will be hard pressed to come out on top having lost head coach Jim McElwain to Florida.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (December 20th, 5:45 pm ET): Western Michigan vs. Air Force
As mentioned earlier, both the Broncos and Falcons were massively improved in 2014 and will meet on the smurf turf in Boise one year removed from winning a combined three games between the two programs.
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (December 20th, 9:15 pm ET): South Alabama vs. Bowling Green
BGSU head coach Dino Babers has to be commended for winning a MAC division title in his first year on the job but perhaps even more commendable is the fact the Jaguars will be appearing in their first ever bowl game a mere six years after launching their football program.
Miami Beach Bowl (December 22nd, 2 pm ET): Memphis vs. BYU
Memphis is another great turnaround story in 2014 as the team lost nine games last season only to win nine this year en route to sharing the AAC title with UCF and Cincinnati, while BYU seemed to rebound well after losing star quarterback Taysom Hill to injury in October.
Boca Raton Bowl (December 23rd, 6 pm ET): Marshall vs. Northern Illinois
This game has the potential to be the best of the non-New Year’s Six games as the Thundering Herd and Huskies won C-USA and the MAC respectively in pretty emphatic fashion and harbored slim hopes they’d be that Group of Five team to make a major bowl.
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (December 23rd, 9:30 pm ET): Navy vs. San Diego State
Both teams should feel the love down in San Diego with the Aztecs playing in their home stadium and the Midshipmen expected to enjoy solid support from the strong presence of naval personnel in that part of the country.
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl (December 24th, noon ET): Central Michigan vs Western Kentucky
As if one Christmas Eve bowl game in an exotic locale wasn’t enough, now we have two as the Bahamas Bowl making its debut this year with two midwestern teams and their fans needing to make sure their passports are updated if they want to enjoy the holidays in paradise.
Hawai’i Bowl (December 24th, 8 pm ET): Fresno State vs. Rice
The Bulldogs come into this game with a losing record but garnered an invite due to winning a division title in the Mountain West and losing to Boise State in the conference title game, while the Owls are appearing in a school record third consecutive bowl game.
Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl (December 26th, 1 pm ET): Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
6-6 Illinois comes into this game as an underdog against C-USA runner-up Louisiana Tech which isn’t much of a surprise considering not a single team from the Big Ten is getting any love from Vegas as it relates to the betting line.
Quick Lane Bowl (December 26th, 4:30 pm ET): Rutgers vs. North Carolina
Rutgers wasn’t expected to do much in their inaugural year as a member of the Big Ten, but finished 7-5 and will now travel to Ford Field in Detroit to face a North Carolina team massively susceptible to the pass, something Scarlet Knight quarterback Gary Nova should be able to take advantage of.
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl (December 26th, 8 pm ET): NC State vs. UCF
Fresh off their second consecutive AAC title, the Knights make a relatively short trip west from Orlando to St. Pete and meet up with N.C. State whose respectable 7-5 campaign under second year head coach Dave Doeren would look all the more impressive with a win over a conference champion.
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman (December 27th, 1 pm ET): Cincinnati vs Virginia Tech
Both of these teams share a common opponent this year in Ohio State, and much was made of the Hokies upset of the Buckeyes when it happened but they come into this game after finishing the season 6-6 needing a season-ending win over rival Virginia to ensure bowl eligibility.
Hyundai Sun Bowl (December 27th, 2 pm ET, CBS): Arizona State vs. Duke
The consensus is that the Sun Devils should romp, but this is one of those games where I think Duke will have the “happy to be here” edge since ASU was one of those teams in the CFP hunt at times this season.
Duck Commander Independence Bowl (December 27th, 3:30 pm ET, ABC): Miami (FL) vs. South Carolina
Simply put, the winning team here will finish above .500 and the loser will finish below given both the ‘Canes and the ‘Cocks limp into this game at an identical mark of 6-6, a somewhat shocking final result for South Carolina given they were a preseason top 10 team.
New Era Pinstripe Bowl (December 27th, 4:30 pm): Boston College vs. Penn State
Something’s gotta give in Yankee Stadium as Steve Addazio’s Eagles are ranked 14th in rushing offense while the Nittany Lions, returning to the postseason after the NCAA rescinded their ban a few years early, are the nation’s top team defending the run.
National University Holiday Bowl (December 27th, 8 pm): Southern Cal vs. Nebraska
First year head coach Steve Sarkisian has the Trojans heading in the right direction after a decent 8-4 season, while the Huskers come into this game off a disappointing 9-win season (if there is such a thing) which precipitated a coaching change and will make Mike Riley a first year head man for the Big Red come 2015.
Be sure to check out part two by clicking here.
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