Yeah let’s do another absurd Poll n’ Bowl

Wrong pole but I like your style. I hope you celebrated Festivus with a good long Airing of Grievances. And you better not have forgotten the Feats of Strength.

I have done this particular exercise a couple times before. So I guess this Version 3.00. Again, I am going to take this back to a time in college football when conference championships didn’t exist, realignment wasn’t even part of the sport’s lexicon and players only made money from secretive boosters giving them money in briefcases in remote airport parking lots (or something of that nature).

Rules of Bossman’s Poll n’ Bowl (or Bowl n’ Powl if you like that better):

• Back then, approximately a third of teams made it to bowl games. That’s it. Not half. So bowl eligibility is set at 8 wins and there are 23 games. Will they be the same games as last year? Most of them will be but I have thought of perhaps a few changes.
• ESPN won’t be getting close to all the bowl games. Hell, they may be lucky to get half. Look, it has to be like the 80s here.
• Have to use the old sponsors. But if I can’t I will make substitutions that make sense. It would be like replacing McDonalds with Burger King. Can’t have a Crypto.com Rose Bowl when you are trying to emulate 1980s college football because “What the fuck is a crypto?” would be the question everyone would ask me.
• Bowl tie-ins will be drastically different than they are now but I am going to try and get them close to the way they were.
• I am doing the Plus-One. This is what should have been done long ago and it would have changed a fair amount of the past four decades, at least in terms of how the national champion is decided. So split championships can fuck off.

The time for explaining is over. The time for me….showing you what this is about is here. I guess. Alright let’s begin.

January 8th	8:00	National Championship	ESPN	#1	#2
January 1st	8:45	Nokia Sugar Bowl	ABC	SEC Champ	at-large
January 1st	5:00	Rose Bowl presented by Citi	ABC	Big Ten Champ	SEC
January 1st	1:00	Discover Orange Bowl	NBC	ACC Champ	at-large
December 30th	10:30	Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl	ESPN	Big Ten	at-large
December 30th	7:00	Vizio Fiesta Bowl	NBC	at-large	at-large
December 30th	3:30	Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl	ABC	Big XII Champ	at-large
December 30th	Noon	Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	ESPN	ACC	at-large
December 29th	8:00	AXA Liberty Bowl	FOX	AAC Champ	at-large
December 29th	4:30	Toyota Gator Bowl	NBC	SEC	Big Ten
December 29th	1:00	John Hancock Sun Bowl	CBS	Big XII	at-large
December 27th	10:30	Sega Las Vegas Bowl	ESPN	Big XII	at-large
December 27th	7:00	Capital One Citrus Bowl	ABC	ACC	at-large
December 26th	9:30	Domino’s Pizza Copper Bowl	ESPN	MWC Champ	at-large
December 25th	3:30	Jeep Aloha Bowl	ABC	MWC	at-large
December 23rd	10:00	California Pizza Kitchen Freedom Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 23rd	3:30	APS Payroll Independence Bowl	ESPN	Sun Belt Champ	at-large
December 22nd	8:00	Phillips 66 Bluebonnet Bowl	ABC	AAC	at-large
December 20th	8:30	Regions Financial All-American Bowl	ESPN	C-USA Champ	at-large
December 19th	7:00	Burlington Coat Factory Garden State Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 16th	10:30	Jack in the Box California Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 16th	7:00	Outback Bowl	NBC	SEC	at-large
December 16th	3:30	General Motors Cherry Bowl	FOX	MAC Champ	Big Ten
December 16th	Noon	Mazda Tangerine Bowl	CBS	at-large	at-large

Yeah this doesn’t look like what Bowl Season looks like now. Let’s get to some notes about the structure so far:

• A ton of at-large bids. This is good since it allows bowl game committees to better choose teams they want to see.
• More networks are involved and ESPN doesn’t have nearly as many games. I also threw a couple of games over to FOX even though they were barely a thing in the 80s.
• Some of the sponsors were changed from the last time around because some bowls have had many sponsors. The Rose Bowl is now presented by Citi. The Las Vegas Bowl is brought to you by Sega. And the Tangerine Bowl is back to its original name and one if its early sponsors in Mazda.
• Now some of the sponsors had to be just picked. I tried to be local with many of them. That’s why you see Regions Financial for the All-American Bowl (in Birmingham) and General Motors for the Cherry Bowl which is in Detroit.
• Just like my Postseason Fix blog post, I have removed the Pac-12 from this. Have to move forward, ya know? Even if it is painful.

Just like last time I will tier the bowl games as follows:

• Tier 1 – Current New Year’s Six bowls
• Tier 2 – Post-Christmas Bowls
• Tier 3 – Pre-Christmas Bowls

So the Tier 1 bowls will pick their at-large teams first, followed by the Tier 2 bowls, then finally the Tier 3 bowls. Within each tier, the order is random. Before we get to that, let’s see what the Tier 1 bowls look like with the tie-ins slotted in to their proper bowl games (remember, we are using next year’s conference alignment so, because Texas would be the highest ranked team, they are considered the “champ” of the SEC in this exercise…I am sure some SEC fans will bristle at this and frankly, I don’t give two squirts of shit about what you think about it).

Nokia Sugar Bowl	SEC Champ	at-large	#3 Texas
Rose Bowl presented by Citi	Big Ten Champ	at-large	#1 Michigan
Discover Orange Bowl	ACC Champ	SEC	#5 Florida State	#4 Alabama
Vizio Fiesta Bowl	at-large	at-large
Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl	Big XII Champ	at-large	#14 Arizona
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	ACC	at-large	#15 Louisville

Good ol’ random drawing determines the order of selection. The Orange Bowl doesn’t even have to show up the lucky guys.

• Rose – Georgia
• Cotton – Washington
• Fiesta – Oregon
• Sugar – Ohio State
• Peach – Penn State
• Fiesta – Missouri

The Tier 1/New Year’s Six bowl games have been selected!

Nokia Sugar Bowl	SEC Champ	at-large	#3 Texas	#7 Ohio State
Rose Bowl presented by Citi	Big Ten Champ	at-large	#1 Michigan	#6 Georgia
Discover Orange Bowl	ACC Champ	SEC	#5 Florida State	#4 Alabama
Vizio Fiesta Bowl	at-large	at-large	#8 Oregon	#9 Missouri
Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl	Big XII Champ	at-large	#14 Arizona	#2 Washington
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	ACC	at-large	#15 Louisville	#10 Penn State

What does this mean? Well, if you aren’t familiar with Poll n’ Bowl, there would be another set of rankings after these games were over to determine the two teams that would play for the national championship. Looking at this, four of the six games would be important in figuring this out with only the Fiesta and Peach Bowls not involved in painting the championship picture.

Now on to the next bowl tier. This is the post-Christmas bowl list. It does not include the Aloha Bowl which is on Christmas Day as it should be (and used to be).

Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl	Big Ten	at-large	#17 Iowa
AXA Liberty Bowl	AAC Champ	at-large	#24 SMU
Toyota Gator Bowl	SEC	Big Ten	#11 Ole Miss
John Hancock Sun Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#20 Oklahoma State
Sega Las Vegas Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#25 Kansas State
Capital One Citrus Bowl	ACC	at-large	#18 NC State
Domino’s Pizza Copper Bowl	MWC Champ	at-large	Boise State

Two things here. Boise State, even though they went 7-5, got their eighth win in the conference championship and, therefore, qualifies under my bowl system. The Gator Bowl is supposed to have a Big Ten team but after Iowa was slotted into the Holiday Bowl, the Big Ten had no other 8-win teams. Yikes. So that becomes an at-large. Now we will go the LIVE selection of the Tier 2 Bowl Games, sponsored by Taco Bell. Live Mas and avoid the Diarrhea.

• Citrus – LSU
• Las Vegas – Notre Dame
• Holiday – Oklahoma
• Copper – Oregon State
• Sun – Tennessee
• Gator – Clemson
• Liberty – James Madison

Alright here are the matchups!

Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl	Big Ten	at-large	#17 Iowa	#12 Oklahoma
AXA Liberty Bowl	AAC Champ	at-large	#24 SMU	James Madison
Toyota Gator Bowl	SEC	Big Ten	#11 Ole Miss	#22 Clemson
John Hancock Sun Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#20 Oklahoma State	#21 Tennessee
Sega Las Vegas Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#25 Kansas State	#16 Notre Dame
Capital One Citrus Bowl	ACC	at-large	#18 NC State	#13 LSU
Domino’s Pizza Copper Bowl	MWC Champ	at-large	Boise State	#19 Oregon State

Some really good matchups here including KSU-ND and NCST-LSU. The Liberty Bowl would have had an opportunity to pick Liberty and I think they would choose James Madison instead.

Third tier time! According to the rules (my rules), the eight-win teams must be selected first. Then we go to those filthy seven-win teams. Ugh. Here is what we are looking at going into this final random draw:

Jeep Aloha Bowl	MWC	at-large	UNLV
California Pizza Kitchen Freedom Bowl	at-large	at-large
APS Payroll Independence Bowl	Sun Belt Champ	at-large	Troy
Phillips 66 Bluebonnet Bowl	AAC	at-large	Tulane
Regions Financial All-American Bowl	C-USA Champ	at-large	#23 Liberty
Burlington Coat Factory Garden State Bowl	at-large	at-large
Jack in the Box California Bowl	at-large	at-large
Outback Bowl	SEC	at-large
General Motors Cherry Bowl	MAC Champ	Big Ten	Miami-OH
Mazda Tangerine Bowl	at-large	at-large

The Big Ten, yet again doesn’t have a team to fill a tie-in. Same with the SEC in this case as they don’t have another eight-win team to go to the Outback Bowl. Which leads us to the final draw of teams, the one that many will watch because this will be the difference between being bowl-eligible and being home for the holidays. We start with the draw of eight win teams remaining:

• Freedom – Utah
• Aloha – North Carolina
• California – Fresno State
• Tangerine – West Virginia
• Freedom – UTSA
• Outback – Kansas
• California – New Mexico State
• Outback – Memphis
• All-American – Appalachian State
• Bluebonnet – Air Force
• Tangerine – Jacksonville State
• Garden State – Toledo
• Cherry – Ohio
• Garden State – Wyoming

One measly bowl slot left. So the Garden State Bowl kind of gets hosed because they are forced to pick Wyoming instead of any of the seven-win teams. Thems the breaks and the EXCITEMENT of the Bossman Poll n’ Bowl System. Which bowl is left? The Independence Bowl sponsored by Shreveport’s own APS Payroll, of course! And who will they choose? Hmmm…I think if Caleb Williams had been playing it would have been USC but I have a feeling they will go with Texas A&M instead.

Complete Poll n’ Bowl schedule here we go!

January 8th	8:00	National Championship	ESPN	#1	#2
January 1st	8:45	Nokia Sugar Bowl	ABC	#3 Texas	#7 Ohio State
January 1st	5:00	Rose Bowl presented by Citi	ABC	#1 Michigan	#6 Georgia
January 1st	1:00	Discover Orange Bowl	NBC	#5 Florida State	#4 Alabama
December 30th	10:30	Thrifty Car Rental Holiday Bowl	ESPN	#17 Iowa	#12 Oklahoma
December 30th	7:00	Vizio Fiesta Bowl	NBC	#8 Oregon	#9 Missouri
December 30th	3:30	Southwestern Bell Cotton Bowl	ABC	#14 Arizona	#2 Washington
December 30th	Noon	Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	ESPN	#15 Louisville	#10 Penn State
December 29th	8:00	AXA Liberty Bowl	FOX	#24 SMU	James Madison
December 29th	4:30	Toyota Gator Bowl	NBC	#11 Ole Miss	#22 Clemson
December 29th	1:00	John Hancock Sun Bowl	CBS	#20 Oklahoma State	#21 Tennessee
December 27th	10:30	Sega Las Vegas Bowl	ESPN	#25 Kansas State	#16 Notre Dame
December 27th	7:00	Capital One Citrus Bowl	ABC	#18 NC State	#13 LSU
December 26th	9:30	Domino’s Pizza Copper Bowl	ESPN	Boise State	#19 Oregon State
December 25th	3:30	Jeep Aloha Bowl	ABC	UNLV	North Carolina
December 23rd	10:00	California Pizza Kitchen Freedom Bowl	ESPN	Utah	UTSA
December 23rd	3:30	APS Payroll Independence Bowl	ESPN	Troy	Texas Tech
December 22nd	8:00	Phillips 66 Bluebonnet Bowl	ABC	Tulane	Air Force
December 20th	8:30	Regions Financial All-American Bowl	ESPN	#23 Liberty	Appalachian State
December 19th	7:00	Burlington Coat Factory Garden State Bowl	ESPN	Toledo	Wyoming
December 16th	10:30	Jack in the Box California Bowl	ESPN	Fresno State	New Mexico State
December 16th	7:00	Outback Bowl	NBC	Kansas	Memphis
December 16th	3:30	General Motors Cherry Bowl	FOX	Miami-OH	Ohio
December 16th	Noon	Mazda Tangerine Bowl	CBS	West Virginia	Jacksonville State

As I ask every year, how do we figure out who plays in the national championship game? Here are the different scenarios:

• Michigan is in if they win the Rose Bowl
• Washington is in if they win the Cotton Bowl AND Texas doesn’t beat Ohio State by too much
• Texas is in if they win by a lot over Ohio State AND either Michigan loses OR Washington loses OR Washington wins but by very little
• Alabama or Florida State are in if they win AND two of Michigan, Washington or Texas lose
• Georgia is in if they win AND Washington loses AND Texas loses

Could Ohio State get in? Unlikely but remember, it comes down to voters and some of them like to think of what just happened because they have CFADD (College Football Attention Deficit Disorder). The Buckeyes would have to wallop Texas, hope FSU-Bama is close, have Georgia beat Michigan but by not too much and Washington has to lose to Arizona. Possible? Sure. But I doubt it.

So is this better or worse than the current setup? Who really knows. College football is a bit of a mess and no one wants to agree on anything. Now we have Florida State openly getting ready to leave the ACC and I don’t blame them. How dare they not be like Vanderbilt and just fucking show up and be shitty at the number one money sport but be in one of the top two conferences in that sport? The audacity. I mean the whole idea of the Big Ten and the SEC having the majority of the best college football teams would hold water if Vandy, Rutgers, Indiana, Mississippi State and a few others didn’t exist. They should have just broke up football into their own special thing and left the conferences the way they were for the rest of the sports. Or….promotion and relegation. I think I might do that exercise soon and ho boy it is going to rattle some chains I’m sure (if the right people read it).

Post-Christmas Bowl Season is about to start so things are getting a bit more important in the college football world. Plus, this is the final dash to the end with a lot of college football on so watch as much as you can, fill up that PVR if you have to and enjoy the games everyone!

Ridiculous Poll n’ Bowl? Sure, why not!

Remember last year when I did my own version of Poll n’ Bowl? No? Well if you want, click on the link and refresh your memory. Or don’t. I don’t give a shit.

It’s all about taking this exercise back to the sport’s roots…sort of. Back when there weren’t even conference championships. Hell, some conferences couldn’t even do proper conference schedules. It was a wacky time in college football for sure and if it was like that now, social media would have a field day with it. More so than now. Guaranteed. So let’s get started with version 2 of this…whatever you want to call it. Well version 2 may not make sense since this will be a bit more ridiculous than last year’s version.

The math was done the first time I did this exercise. I figured out about a third of teams would get into a bowl game which is much less than today. So this meant after much mathing I determined that 8 wins would qualify you for a bowl game. Yes, this makes qualification more difficult, especially for Group of Five teams, but that is the way it was in the Poll n’ Bowl era where there were as many games on ESPN as there were on the Mizlou Network, which I still believe may have been made up for the sole purpose of broadcasting two bowl games every year. What does this all mean? 23 bowl games. 46 teams. That’s what I’m doing. You want more bowl games? Don’t live in 1987.

Which leads me to the next point. ESPN isn’t getting all the bowl games. Not even close. Why? Because that’s the way it was back then (I’m using the 80s for the back then reference for the most part here). So yeah, the Rose and Sugar go back to ABC, period.

Oh and all those bowl games you (supposedly) love these days? Most of them are gone. Some will stay. This is one way I am not going totally retro as there are some games that need to stay because they’ve become a big part of Bowl Season. Also, some of the sponsors will change. Some will revert to older ones, some will stay the same. Some will even be updated from previous sponsors.

Of course the bowl tie-ins will be shifted…in some cases, dramatically. Some will revert to the way it was (or still kind of is). Like the Rose Bowl who will get the Big Ten and Pac-12 champions. That will endure. Some other tie-ins though will hit the road.

One more thing…I am doing a plus-one. It should have been done years ago and who knows how much that would have changed the landscape (quite a bit I think). No split championships at the very least and some huge debates answered on the field.

Alright, enough talk (text?). Time for the structure. Here it is.

January 9th	8:00	National Championship	ESPN	#1	#2
January 2nd	8:00	Nokia Sugar Bowl	ABC	SEC Champ	at-large
January 2nd	4:30	Sony Playstation 5 Rose Bowl	ABC	Big Ten Champ	Pac-12 Champ
January 2nd	1:00	Mobil Cotton Bowl	ABC	Big XII Champ	at-large
December 31st	7:00	FedEx Orange Bowl	NBC	ACC Champ	SEC
December 31st	3:30	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	NBC	at-large	at-large
December 31st	Noon	Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	ESPN	ACC	at-large
December 30th	10:30	Sea World Holiday Bowl	ESPN	Pac-12	Big Ten
December 30th	7:00	Outback Gator Bowl	NBC	Big Ten	SEC
December 30th	2:30	Taco Bell Sun Bowl	CBS	Big XII	at-large
December 30th	Noon	Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	ABC	ACC	at-large
December 29th	4:30	St. Jude Liberty Bowl	FOX	American Champ	at-large
December 29th	Noon	Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl	ESPN	American	at-large
December 28th	9:00	Cheez-It Bowl	ESPN	Pac-12	at-large
December 27th	9:00	EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl	ESPN	MWC Champ	at-large
December 26th	4:00	Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl	ESPN	MWC	at-large
December 24th	8:30	Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 23rd	7:00	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	CBS	at-large	at-large
December 21st	8:00	Papa John’s Bowl	ESPN	C-USA Champ	at-large
December 20th	9:00	Gildan New Mexico Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 17th	10:30	In N’ Out California Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large
December 17th	7:00	Whataburger Bluebonnet Bowl	ABC	Big XII	at-large
December 17th	3:30	Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	ABC	MAC Champ	at-large
December 17th	Noon	Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl	FOX	Sun Belt Champ	at-large

Does this look a lot different? I told you so. Way more at-large bids, only one bid for three of the conferences and many more networks joining in the bowl game fun. The most fun change? The sponsors. Some highlights:

• “This one is for all the Tostitos!” Of course Tostitos is back as the Fiesta Bowl sponsor.
• Old school sponsors like Nokia and Mobil are back for the Sugar and Cotton Bowls, respectively. I have updated the Rose Bowl since you can’t have it sponsored by Sony Playstation 2 so it’s now sponsored by Sony Playstation 5.
• We need Outback Steakhouse back as a sponsor. They go back to being the Gator Bowl sponsor.
• Fuck it, let’s go all in with the stereotypes. Imagine Taco Bell sponsoring the Sun Bowl? Yeah you can imagine they would market the absolute shit out of it.
• Buffalo Wild Wings is also back. We lost our Buffalo Wild Wings here a few months back. I’m still sad about that.
• The ridiculous Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl has returned.
• The Duke’s Mayo Bowl gets to make the cut with the old boys. Why? The coach gets a bucket of mayo dumped on him if he wins. That is fun. Bowls are supposed to be fun.
• I’ve also made the first day a virtual foodies bowl day. Beef O God Damn Brady’s is back along with Little Caesars. Joining them are newcomers Whataburger and In N’ Out. If you don’t get hungry at some point watching these bowls, I don’t know what’s wrong with you since there certainly is something wrong.

Now the biggest difference is that now we only have a few Independent teams whereas back in the 80s there was regularly 20+ teams not in a conference. With a ton of at-large bids this becomes tough to manage. Last year when I did this exercise, I started at the top and worked my way down. That works. But that’s not game show-y enough for me. Oh no. Instead I will tier the bowls as follows:

• Tier 1 – Current New Year’s Six bowls
• Tier 2 – Post-Christmas Bowls
• Tier 3 – Pre-Christmas Bowls

How this will work is that all the at-large spots for Tier 1 will go in a pot/bowl/hat/whatever. Out of the eligible at-large teams, the bowl games will be selected at random and they will pick at-large teams until all the slots have been filled. Then we will move to the Tier 2 bowls and then finally the tier 3 ones. This way, the bowls near the end of Bowl Season will still be huge no matter what at-large teams get in there. It sounds convoluted and probably is but here goes nothing.

First, let’s look at the current Tier 1 bowls with teams filled in their proper spots so far:

Nokia Sugar Bowl	SEC Champ	at-large	#1 Georgia
Sony Playstation 5 Rose Bowl	Big Ten Champ	Pac-12 Champ	#2 Michigan	#8 Utah
Mobil Cotton Bowl	Big XII Champ	at-large	#9 Kansas State
FedEx Orange Bowl	ACC Champ	SEC	#7 Clemson	#5 Alabama
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	at-large	at-large
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	ACC	at-large	#13 Florida State

A random drawing is held and this is the order of the draw with the team they end up selecting:

• Fiesta – TCU
• Sugar – Ohio State
• Peach – Tennessee
• Cotton – USC
• Fiesta – Washington

So that gives us this for the tier 1 bowl games (the current New Year’s Six):

Nokia Sugar Bowl	SEC Champ	at-large	#1 Georgia	#4 Ohio State
Sony Playstation 5 Rose Bowl	Big Ten Champ	Pac-12 Champ	#2 Michigan	#8 Utah
Mobil Cotton Bowl	Big XII Champ	at-large	#9 Kansas State	#10 USC
FedEx Orange Bowl	ACC Champ	SEC	#7 Clemson	#5 Alabama
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	at-large	at-large	#3 TCU	#12 Washington
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	ACC	at-large	#13 Florida State	#6 Tennessee

Interesting so far. It also means, potentially, that four of these bowl games will be in the running to get to the final two teams for the national championship.

Now, the next tier of bowl games. By the way, this is all being done like my fixing the bowls and postseason posts. A lot like March Madness where you see teams sitting in gymnasiums/auditoriums/stadiums/cafeterias/food courts/open field/median of a highway waiting to see where they will go. Adds to the excitement of it all if you ask me.

Sea World Holiday Bowl	Pac-12	Big Ten	#14 Oregon State	#11 Penn State
Outback Gator Bowl	Big Ten	SEC	Purdue	#17 LSU
Taco Bell Sun Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#20 Texas
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	ACC	at-large	#23 NC State
St. Jude Liberty Bowl	American Champ	at-large	#16 Tulane
Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl	American	at-large	UCF
Cheez-It Bowl	Pac-12	at-large	#15 Oregon
EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl	MWC Champ	at-large	Fresno State
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl	MWC	at-large	Boise State

Here is the LIVE second tier selection, not hosted by Greg Gumbel (although hiring him just for this would be worth the money, in my opinion):

• Las Vegas – UCLA
• Cheez-It – Notre Dame
• Sun – UTSA
• Independence – Mississippi State
• Citrus – South Carolina
• Humanitarian – North Carolina
• Liberty – Ole Miss

That gives us these matchups:

Sea World Holiday Bowl	Pac-12	Big Ten	#14 Oregon State	#11 Penn State
Outback Gator Bowl	Big Ten	SEC	Purdue	#17 LSU
Taco Bell Sun Bowl	Big XII	at-large	#20 Texas	#25 UTSA
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	ACC	at-large	#23 NC State	#19 South Carolina
St. Jude Liberty Bowl	American Champ	at-large	#16 Tulane	Ole Miss
Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl	American	at-large	UCF	#22 Mississippi State
Cheez-It Bowl	Pac-12	at-large	#15 Oregon	#21 Notre Dame
EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl	MWC Champ	at-large	Fresno State	#18 UCLA
Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl	MWC	at-large	Boise State	North Carolina

Some more good matchups here with the Oregon State-PSU and Oregon-ND games the most intriguing. Also, since the Sun Bowl picked up UTSA, the next best Conference USA team would pick up the Papa John’s Bowl bid, as long as they qualify.

Finally, we have hit the final tier. This is where things get interesting. All the eight-win teams must be selected before we dip into the disgusting seven-win teams. This makes the random draw that much more fun (or not so fun depending on the bowl committee). Here is what we have for the Tier 3 (it’s not much):

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	at-large	at-large
Duke’s Mayo Bowl	at-large	at-large
Papa John’s Bowl	C-USA Champ	at-large	WKU
Gildan New Mexico Bowl	at-large	at-large
In N’ Out California Bowl	at-large	at-large
Whataburger Bluebonnet Bowl	Big XII	at-large
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	MAC Champ	at-large	Toledo
Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl	Sun Belt Champ	at-large	#24 Troy

The Big XII does not have another eight-win team so, for now, that becomes an at-large spot. Also, even though Toledo didn’t win eight games during the regular season, their MAC Championship win qualified them for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl spot.

Let’s go to the final draw with a lot of at-large tie-ins to fill:

• Hawaii – James Madison
• California – Illinois
• Duke’s Mayo – Duke (of course)
• Hawaii – Minnesota
• New Mexico – Pittsburgh
• Beef O’ Brady’s – Air Force
• Duke’s Mayo – Coastal Carolina
• California – South Alabama
• Bluebonnet – Marshall
• New Mexico – Ohio
• Little Caesars – Liberty
• Papa John’s – Eastern Michigan

One bowl slot left and no eight-win teams remaining. Somehow the draw has the Bluebonnet Bowl picking last which means they can now pick a seven-win Big XII team. They would, grabbing Texas Tech.

Alright, here is the complete bowl game schedule:

January 9th	8:00	National Championship	ESPN	#1	#2
January 2nd	8:00	Nokia Sugar Bowl	ABC	SEC Champ	at-large	#1 Georgia	#4 Ohio State
January 2nd	4:30	Sony Playstation 5 Rose Bowl	ABC	Big Ten Champ	Pac-12 Champ	#2 Michigan	#8 Utah
January 2nd	1:00	Mobil Cotton Bowl	ABC	Big XII Champ	at-large	#9 Kansas State	#10 USC
December 31st	7:00	FedEx Orange Bowl	NBC	ACC Champ	SEC	#7 Clemson	#5 Alabama
December 31st	3:30	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	NBC	at-large	at-large	#3 TCU	#12 Washington
December 31st	Noon	Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl	ESPN	ACC	at-large	#13 Florida State	#6 Tennessee
December 30th	10:30	Sea World Holiday Bowl	ESPN	Pac-12	Big Ten	#14 Oregon State	#11 Penn State
December 30th	7:00	Outback Gator Bowl	NBC	Big Ten	SEC	Purdue	#17 LSU
December 30th	2:30	Taco Bell Sun Bowl	CBS	Big XII	at-large	#20 Texas	#25 UTSA
December 30th	Noon	Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	ABC	ACC	at-large	#23 NC State	#19 South Carolina
December 29th	4:30	St. Jude Liberty Bowl	FOX	American Champ	at-large	#16 Tulane	Ole Miss
December 29th	Noon	Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl	ESPN	American	at-large	UCF	#22 Mississippi State
December 28th	9:00	Cheez-It Bowl	ESPN	Pac-12	at-large	#15 Oregon	#21 Notre Dame
December 27th	9:00	EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl	ESPN	MWC Champ	at-large	Fresno State	#18 UCLA
December 26th	4:00	Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl	ESPN	MWC	at-large	Boise State	North Carolina
December 24th	8:30	Sheraton Hawaii Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large	Minnesota	James Madison
December 23rd	7:00	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	CBS	at-large	at-large	Duke	Coastal Carolina
December 21st	8:00	Papa John’s Bowl	ESPN	C-USA Champ	at-large	WKU	Eastern Michigan
December 20th	9:00	Gildan New Mexico Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large	Ohio	Pittsburgh
December 17th	10:30	In N’ Out California Bowl	ESPN	at-large	at-large	Illinois	South Alabama
December 17th	7:00	Whataburger Bluebonnet Bowl	ABC	Big XII	at-large	Texas Tech	Marshall
December 17th	3:30	Little Caesars Pizza Bowl	ABC	MAC Champ	at-large	Toledo	Liberty
December 17th	Noon	Beef O’ Brady’s Bowl	FOX	Sun Belt Champ	at-large	#24 Troy	Air Force

So how do we get to the National Championship Plus-One Game from here? The scenarios:

• Georgia is in if they win the Sugar Bowl.
• Michigan is in if they win the Rose Bowl.
• TCU is in if they win the Fiesta Bowl AND (Georgia loses the Sugar Bowl OR Michigan loses the Rose Bowl).
• Ohio State is in if they win the Sugar Bowl AND (Michigan loses the Rose Bowl OR TCU loses the Fiesta Bowl).
• Alabama is in if they win the Orange Bowl AND (Ohio State wins the Sugar Bowl AND Michigan loses the Rose Bowl AND TCU loses the Fiesta Bowl.

Now there is a scenario (I think) where either Tennessee or Clemson could get in. They would have to win and hope for chaos above them (i.e. Ohio State, Michigan and TCU losing) and the other team in this scenario losing (so for Tennessee to get in the Tigers would have to lose and vice versa). And I believe that’s it for the scenarios unless the voters decide to smoke crack during their discussions.

Is this better or worse? Who knows but one thing I do know is that this year’s bowl season delivered! Tough to name a better overall bowl season in the last couple decades. I will say that the Poll n’ Bowl era really screwed up by not implementing the Plus-One which could have allowed us to at least avoid the dumb Bowl Alliance setup. The BCS/College Football Playoff was going to be a part of the college football lexicon at some point but who knows if the BCS starts when it does if the Plus-One had been around. It’s all a moot point now with a 12-team playoff gracing us after next season.

We are getting close to the end folks. This coming weekend is the final week of the NFL regular season, the FCS Championship and then, on Monday night, the College Football Playoff National Championship. Soak it in everyone!

Well what do you know? The 2022 Bowl Game TV Schedule

I am honestly shocked. I was not impressed with TSN’s coverage of college football this season. The World Cup didn’t help and I understand that but it seemed like TSN was hellbent on showing less college football than they had in years.

Then I find the TSN bowl game schedule and holy shit! Damn near most of the games are being shown on a TSN channel. Very impressive. I have to, for once, give TSN props for really going all in with the college football postseason: the most important but also weirdest part of the college football schedule.

Anyway, let’s get right to the sked!

Friday December 16th

Bahamas Bowl: UAB vs. Miami-OH

11:30 AM

Bowl season starts with the Bahamas Bowl in front of maybe 10,000 fans. Maybe. Probably not. This is the most extreme version of the destination bowl game. Attendance can’t be good because Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau only holds 15,000. And I don’t remember the stands ever being half-full for this game. But for the players and staff? Holy shit this is great. Playing football in great weather and being able to experience the GOD DAMN BAHAMAS! It’ll be a trip of a lifetime for at least 90% involved.

Cure Bowl: #25 UTSA vs. #24 Troy

3:00 PM

As I said, TSN has seriously stepped up this season. I will show how much they have stepped up after the schedule. This game is EASILY the best pre-Christmas game and it’s not even close. How the Cure Bowl got two Top 25 teams, who are also both conference champions, I will never know. But I’m glad it happened.

Saturday December 17th

Fenway Bowl: Louisville vs. Cincinnati

11:00 AM

This was always going to be an odd bowl game what with the Fenway Park configuration and the Green Monster in the background. Now with Scott Satterfield leaving Louisville to coach at Cincinnati? Ho boy this is going to be something.

Celebration Bowl: North Carolina Central vs. Jackson State

Noon

Look, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter if Jackson State loses here. They are the best HBCU football team in the land by a country mile. It’s not even close. And really, the MEAC isn’t close anymore to the SWAC. Outgoing JSU head coach Deion Sanders said the SWAC and MEAC should merge into one super-HBCU conference. I agree. What would this do to the Celebration Bowl? Probably end it. However, I am of the opinion that every so often there is an HBCU school that could do serious damage in the FCS Playoffs. This year would have been Jackson State. Do I think they would have been a dark horse contender for the FCS title? Yes, absolutely. It would have also been a way to probably get more FCS playoff games on channels everyone can see (as in not ESPN+) but that’s another story.

Las Vegas Bowl: Florida vs. #14 Oregon State

2:15 PM

This was supposed to become somewhat of a premier bowl game once the SEC was tagged to replace the Mountain West here. Hasn’t happened that way. Sure, Florida is a good brand but it’s not nearly a good football team as some other SEC teams (or MWC teams for that matter). Oregon State probably deserved better. Also, this game was originally slated for ABC in primetime but because the Las Vegas Raiders are a terrible football franchise, their game the next day was flexed out of Sunday Night Football and moved back into the afternoon. It meant there wouldn’t be enough time to make sure the stadium was ready after this game. So this game swapped with the New Mexico Bowl and gets a 12:15 local start.

LA Bowl: Washington State vs. Fresno State

3:30 PM

It’s the opening Saturday for bowl games. Will I watch this? Yes, of course. Will I pay full attention to this? Depends on other overlapping bowl games and what happens with the NFL games being played on the same day.

LendingTree Bowl: Southern Miss vs. Rice

5:45 PM

Rice got in thanks to the fact they are graduating students at a better rate than all the other football programs at the FBS level who had 5-7 records. Seems awfully specific. Anyway, it’s a bowl game so I’m there.

New Mexico Bowl: BYU vs. SMU

7:30 PM

It’s been 42 years but SMU might finally get its revenge for one of the greatest bowl comebacks of all time: the 1980 Holiday Bowl. I remember playing that on Heisman level in NCAA Football 2005 (or was it 2004?). Talk about one of the toughest challenges to defeat. Anyway, this should be fun.

Frisco Bowl: North Texas vs. Boise State

9:15 PM

The site of the FCS Championship also hosts the Frisco Bowl and the short-lived Frisco Football Classic which we should never talk about again. I’m surprised they don’t move the FCS title game around but I guess it gets good crowds and decent weather so why mess with a good thing. Boise will definitely be the visiting team here.

Monday December 19th

Myrtle Beach Bowl: UConn vs. Marshall

2:30 PM

UConn in a bowl game! That alone is worth watching. Will anyone care that poor Marshall is there and had a pretty good first Sun Belt season? No because the UCONN HUSKIES ARE BOWLING! Now if we can somehow get UMass to go bowling…God help us all.

Tuesday December 20th

Idaho Potato Bowl: San Jose State vs. Eastern Michigan

3:30 PM

A rematch of the 1987 California Bowl. Back when these two teams were not highly regarded at all. I guess you could have said the same thing like a decade ago as well. These two programs have become relatively consistent winners and have stabilized themselves. I think many of the fans would be pulling for the Spartans here considering the tragedy that befell the team late in the season. I still wish this game was on at night so that blue turf could basically become an ice rink.

Boca Raton Bowl: Toledo vs. Liberty

7:30 PM

So why wasn’t this game put on during the day? Play in Boca in the afternoon sun? That would be good, no? Anyway, I have somewhat softened my stance on bowl games during weekdays (days!) before Christmas so when it comes right down to it, I don’t really care when it airs. I guess this is the attitude that comes about thanks to COVID and being home a lot more than we were ever used to.

Wednesday December 21st

New Orleans Bowl: South Alabama vs. WKU

9:00 PM

The first game to appear on the specialty pack. So if you had the specialty pack all year, you were thrilled because TSN didn’t exactly light it up with college football game coverage on their schedule. Bowl time…well, that’s where things fall apart for you. Yes there are a few games that head to the specialty pack but TSN ends up with the majority of the games. I guess it’s the price you pay to get a good amount of college football throughout the season.

Thursday December 22nd

Armed Forces Bowl: Baylor vs. Air Force

7:30 PM

Air Force loves to run the ball. Baylor is alright defensively but this seems to be a step below a Dave Aranda defense. Expect a lopsided time of possession battle.

Friday December 23rd

Independence Bowl: Houston vs. Louisiana

3:00 PM

Aesthetically, the Independence Bowl looks the worst now that the Gasparilla Bowl moved outdoors to Raymond James Stadium. But I like it. Gives off that 80s grungy college football old-school style that you just don’t see anymore…partially thanks to cameras that give us better than Betamax quality.

Gasparilla Bowl: Missouri vs. Wake Forest

6:30 PM

I never get why TSN does this though. Early game on a TSN station. Later game…not. I know there are other live sports contracts that TSN has to deal with but it just seems odd, especially when a game goes over that three hour, thirty minute time window.

Saturday December 24th

Hawaii Bowl: Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State

8:00 PM

The annual Present Wrapping Bowl. Or more like Stocking Stuffer Bowl since I make sure to have all the presents wrapped before Christmas Eve. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do during this bowl game?

Monday December 26th

Quick Lane Bowl: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green

2:30 PM

Normally, very few would want to watch this. But it’s a Monday. And for college football fans, it’s a chance to see New Mexico State in a bowl game. At one point they were the Halley’s Comet of FBS schools when it came to bowl games but now they go every few years. Not bad. Helps to have a good coach like Jerry Kill there. Hey, how the hell did they get Jerry Kill to coach in Las Cruces in the first place?

Tuesday December 27th

Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo

Noon

I see the Christmas Day Camellia Bowl idea died a quiet death. Probably a good thing. If I recall correctly, the only bowl game that ever worked on Christmas Day was the Aloha Bowl back in the 80s and 90s. I remember watching it at my aunt and uncle’s house one year during Christmas dinner. I don’t think you’d catch anyone watching college football during Christmas dinner in this part of the world anymore.

First Responder Bowl: Memphis vs. Utah State

3:15 PM

This is technically a bowl game. Look it’s on a Tuesday afternoon. Many people are working (although some get between Christmas and New Year’s off). It just screams low-level bowl game and is the example used by the “Too Many Bowl Games” crowd.

Birmingham Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina

6:45 PM

Coastal has fallen off a cliff in their last few games this season. Barely beating App State and Southern Miss and then getting destroyed by James Madison and Troy. Not a good look. Now their coach is off to Liberty. They are hoping to get some momentum going into next year against ECU. Also, I wonder when this bowl game will get a sponsor. Isn’t Pornhub looking to invest in sports?

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State

10:15 PM

Wisconsin got a great head coach hire in Luke Fickell. I don’t know if he’s coaching the team in this bowl game but I’m sure that will be most of the talk here. Otherwise, it’s a late night bowl game that everyone hopes becomes super wacky.

Wednesday December 28th

Military Bowl: Duke vs. UCF

2:00 PM

Always nice to see Duke in a bowl game. It’s funny: everyone kind of likes Duke football. Duke basketball: not so much.

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas

5:30 PM

It’s the battle for Kansas (kind of)! This is a nice consolation prize for us not getting Kansas-Missouri in a bowl game. And I know Missouri said they didn’t duck the Jayhawks but you think they would admit that? It’s like Texas repeatedly dodging Texas A&M in bowl games. Like just man up and if you get a bid there, play them. Stop being such pussies.

Holiday Bowl: North Carolina vs. #15 Oregon

8:00 PM

I honestly thought the Tar Heels would give Clemson a good game in the ACC Championship. Boy, was I ever wrong. This isn’t a bad spot to land though. Bo Nix will play so I can see this being a VERY motivated Ducks team.

Texas Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech

9:00 PM

A team that looked like an honest contender up against a team who had a good season under a fiery coach. Oh and their fans love to throw tortillas. The Lane Train vs. The Taco Express.

Thursday December 29th

Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota vs. Syracuse

2:00 PM

I always sincerely hope it is snowing like crazy when this game is played. I remembered the Kansas State-Syracuse classic from years ago and it was a great game and fun to watch. I’m sure not pleasant at all for players or coaches or fans but who cares. It’s all about entertaining me!

Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma vs. #13 Florida State

5:30 PM

If this was 1992, people would be putting this game at the top of the must-watch lists. Alas, Oklahoma was as bad as its been since before Bob Stoops took over. FSU on the other hand is a fun team finally on the rise. And they will definitely be a heavy home favourite here in the 19th bowl game out of 254 played in Orlando every year (unofficially).

Alamo Bowl: #20 Texas vs. #12 Washington

9:00 PM

Almost a home game for the Longhorns and that could spell trouble for the Huskies in a packed Alamodome. The Alamo Bowl almost always has one of the top three non-CFP, non-NY6 bowl games and this year is no exception.

Friday December 30th

Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. #18 UCLA

Noon

OK so now that CBS will be done with the SEC after next season…I still haven’t changed what I think about the bowl tie-ins. An SEC West team should be here. Or a Big XII team. Or hell, a Mountain West team. Against a Pac-12 team. That’s how this should work. You want fans? Do this. Guaranteed there will be plenty of good seats available for this one in El Paso for the *checks notes* 10:00 AM LOCAL KICKOFF?

Duke’s Mayo Bowl: Maryland vs. #23 NC State

Noon

So who gets the big vat of mayo dumped on them at the end of this one? I think it would be funnier if Mike Locksley gets doused in mayo rather than Dave Doeren so I will pull for the Terps here.

Gator Bowl: #19 South Carolina vs. #21 Notre Dame

3:30 PM

Two good underrated teams here at a game that hasn’t been used to getting good teams lately. So move the game to the middle of the day on December 30th and watch what happens. Supposedly, the Gator Bowl committee pushed hard to get Notre Dame. Probably a good idea instead of an ACC team.

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming vs. Ohio

4:30 PM

The second year of Barstool Sports being the sponsor for this bowl game. I don’t know how many people go to Barstool Sports’ website to watch this one. I can’t see it being very high but this very much is the future of bowl games. I do kind of wish they would partner up with some network, even one like NESN, so that at least some people can watch this bowl game until it becomes a bigger deal.

Orange Bowl: #7 Clemson vs. #6 Tennessee

8:00 PM

And finally we get to the New Year’s Six bowl games and holy shit is this one orange. Orange Bowl. Orange uniforms. Orange logos. Orange everywhere. You’ll be able to see this game from space. This should be a really good game as you have two teams who weren’t that far away from being in the College Football Playoff getting that national spotlight.

Saturday December 31st

Music City Bowl: Kentucky vs. Iowa

Noon

The over/under for this one is 31.5. 31.5. I repeat, THIRTY-ONE POINT FIVE. That is ridiculous. I would still bet the under. This bowl needed its own timeslot and they aren’t getting it so I see a lot of people flocking to the other game on at the exact same time.

Sugar Bowl: #5 Alabama vs. #9 Kansas State

Noon

This could be an interesting game. If both teams show up to play then I see the Wildcats giving the Tide all they can handle. I don’t know how Nick Saban will hide his disappointment in not getting into the College Football Playoff after that ridiculous halftime interview he was allowed to give to state his team’s case for the playoff. Dumb. It is also going to be weird to see the Sugar Bowl on at Noon. On New Year’s Eve.

Fiesta Bowl: #2 Michigan vs. #3 TCU

4:00 PM

So many think TCU shouldn’t have even been in this game meaning there are many who want the Horned Frogs to be blown out in this one. I could see this being closer than many people think. Also, the 2-3 matchup is almost always better, historically, than the 1-4 matchup in the College Football Playoff.

Peach Bowl: #1 Georgia vs. #4 Ohio State

8:00 PM

The Buckeyes backing into the playoff has left a sour taste in some people’s mouths. I get it but I still think there is way too much emphasis on conference championship games. Until they get rid of divisions in every conference, some of the conference championships look horrible. It is kind of weird to see this one on TSN2 when the previous game is on TSN3 but my guess is that the Canada-Sweden World Juniors game will end up on all the other TSNs other than TSN2 (which is still seen as an alternate channel to an extent).

Monday January 2nd

ReliaQuest Bowl: #22 Mississippi State vs. Illinois

Noon

Two of the more popular head coaches in college football will clash here in the former Outback Bowl. Complete contrast in styles: Mike Leach’s Run n’ Gun up against Bret Bielema’s Ground n’ Pound. Should be a good first game of the new year.

Citrus Bowl: #17 LSU vs. Purdue

1:00 PM

It’s always a tiny bit weird to have these college bowl games on January 2nd instead of New Year’s Day. You can’t have them going up against the NFL, though, and no one would probably even attempt it (plus TSN might be a bit miffed if that happened). So on the first day back at work for some people, they may miss some good football. I guess that’s one of the downsides of a lot of bowl games.

Cotton Bowl: #10 USC vs. #16 Tulane

1:00 PM

I find with the way the College Football Playoff has been set up, the best Group of Five team, more often than not, is in a bit of a lose-lose situation. They show up to this big bowl game and if they win, there will be piles of excuses heaped on to why (and it usually revolves around injuries). If they lose, then they didn’t belong in the first place. This is something you don’t get for Power Five teams (except in the semi-finals). I do find college football media a bit odd that way.

Rose Bowl: #11 Penn State vs. #8 Utah

5:00 PM

It is going to be really weird to watch this bowl game and realize that the next game is the national championship. No Sugar Bowl. No odd bowl game here and there between now and the title game. This is it. I think this will be the underrated bowl game of the year (or at least as much as it can be when both teams are in the Top 15).

Monday January 9th

College Football Playoff National Championship

8:00 PM

This is the one game that, at this point, is not confirmed for where it will appear on TSN. I am putting down these three channels because ESPN usually does like 43 different broadcasts for this event and TSN always picks up the main broadcast, plus one or two of the others. I sincerely hope they have the Coaches Room again and if they do, it should be a open bar for them. Free food. The works. Want to know how they really feel? That’s how you do it. Talk about ratings gold!

Let’s look at the breakdown for the games:

• TSN – 30 games
• ABC & TSN – 5 games
• FOX – 1 game
• CBS – 1 game
• Barstool Sports – 1 game
• specialty pack – 5 games

See what I mean? TSN will be showing 35 of the 43 bowl games this season. Over 80%. Amazing. I just wish they would show more games during the season.

Alright I have started toying with a new format for the blog posts. Not saying this is set in stone but I am going to try it out for a bit and if I feel it’s working then this is what it will look like going forward (until I get bored and want to change it again). Enjoy the rest of your week everyone!