Look at all those bowl games. LOOK AT THEM! Granted some of these bowl games have different sponsors now but I digress. I will be honest with all of you: I miss football. I miss when it was on every day. And that was just last month! So for all I say about the bowl games, I do enjoy watching as many of them as I can. Now, I do think the bowls can be revamped and I will do that exercise once again this year. Hopefully someone who is actually involved in college football sees it, calls me to tell me my ideas are fantastic, implements the ideas and gives me a boatload of money.
Amazingly enough TSN has their whole bowl schedule up! I know it will change. I know it. It happened two years in a row. It will happen again. For now, though, it looks really good for Canadians. Like better than it ever really has. Let’s get to the bowl schedule since it’s long (but somewhat glorious).
Saturday December 15th
| Celebration Bowl: Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T | Noon |  |
  |
Bowl season starts, once again, with the Celebration Bowl between the two FCS HBCU conference champions. Unlike last season, neither of these teams are in the Top 20 and wouldn’t have been considered playoff contenders like North Carolina A&T last season. Usually this bowl is quite a good game so don’t skip out on this early one because you might not know anyone from either of these two teams.
| Cure Bowl: Louisiana vs. Tulane | 1:30 PM |  |
|
Why is this game almost always the worst bowl game (at least on paper) going into bowl season? Every damn year. Would have been better if these two teams had been in the New Orleans Bowl but hey……..bowl tie-ins, amirite?
| New Mexico Bowl: Utah State vs. North Texas | 2:00 PM |  |
 |
It’s opening day for bowl games so I will watch this. I know I will. The There’s a NEW Mexico Bowl is usually fun to watch and these two teams should bring it. Utah State was one game from playing for the Mountain West title and North Texas likes offense.
| Las Vegas Bowl: #21 Fresno State vs. Arizona State | 3:30 PM | |
|
HERM! I honestly can’t believe the Sun Devils made it to a bowl game. I have to apologize to them. I thought they would be the dirt fucking worst this season. But Herm Edwards got them to a bowl game and was probably a bad game or two from possibly getting to the Pac-12 Championship. Crazy eh? They get to face Fresno State who has had two very good seasons culminating in their first Mountain West title in some time.
| Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Eastern Michigan | 5:30 PM | |
 |
Well this is football so I’ll watch it. Nice to see Georgia Southern back after a hiatus from appearing in the postseason and good to see Eastern Michigan actually become a consistently good MAC team. All this means is that Chris Creighton will be poached for a better head coaching position soon enough.
| New Orleans Bowl: Appalachian State vs. Middle Tennessee | 9:00 PM | |
|
App State was one bad game from getting some serious New Year’s Six consideration. The Sun Belt champs get Middle Tennessee here but really they should be getting an SEC team here. Imagine that? This game would be almost sold out every year if that happened.
Tuesday December 18th
| Boca Raton Bowl: UAB vs. Northern Illinois | 7:00 PM | |
 |
Two years back. Two bowl games. Good for the Blazers as they better than they ever were before the program was shuttered a few years back. Maybe this puts them in some realignment talk? Who knows. Oh yeah, the bowl game. They are up against a staunch Husky defense who befuddled Buffalo to win the MAC title game. So it’s G5 champ-on-G5 champ violence here. Should be good.
Wednesday December 19th
| Frisco Bowl: Ohio vs. San Diego State | 8:00 PM | |
|
I am kind of liking the Frisco Bowl more and more. Nice-sized stadium and not too big. They get a Mountain West team which is good. I kind of wish they took a Conference USA team instead of a MAC team but I get why they do it since the MAC has one bowl game in their footprint whereas C-USA has, well, more. Still no games scheduled for the specialty pack yet.
Thursday December 20th
| Gasparilla Bowl: Marshall vs. USF | 8:00 PM | |
|
Finally. FINALLY!!!!!! They moved this bowl game from the god forsaken Tropicana Field which I have mentioned many times before is a complete shithole that’s not even fit for a pickup baseball game. Anyway, this has been moved to Raymond James Stadium so USF has a home game. Nice. I’m sure it won’t sell out anyway.
Friday December 21st
| Bahamas Bowl: FIU vs. Toledo | 12:30 PM | |
|
Again, why does this happen? WHY? It’s a Friday a few days before Christmas and the Bahamas Bowl is always on around Noon on that day. It’s dumb. I get that there are a lot of bowl games that have to fill the schedule. If that’s the case, let ABC have it on a weekend. Doing this does a disservice to the entire bowl structure and people who actually want to watch these games. Going to have to use the ol’ PVR for this one. With my luck it will tell me to fuck off.
| Idaho Potato Bowl: Western Michigan vs. BYU | 4:00 PM | |
|
Two years ago this was game was bloody hilarious. It was a skating rink. Thing is, it was the offense that went through the roof in that one. Over 100 points in three quarters (the first quarter was scoreless). At least I can watch most of this game live. Whether I’d want to is another story. Ah, who’s kidding. I’ll watch it.
Saturday December 22nd
| Birmingham Bowl: Memphis vs. Wake Forest | Noon | |
|
There should be a lot of points here. Despite the fact Legion Field is still a bit of a dump, it’s better than the Trop and this bowl game almost always delivers.
| Armed Forces Bowl: Army vs. Houston | 3:30 PM | |
|
I wonder what the discussion would have been if Army had pulled off the upset of Oklahoma earlier in the season. Well for one, the Sooners wouldn’t be in the College Football Playoff obviously. But the Black Knights would have got some serious New Year’s Six consideration. Houston will be without Ed Oliver who has declared for the NFL Draft. Army should win big.
| Dollar General Bowl: Buffalo vs. Troy | 7:00 PM | |
|
Two of the better Group of Five teams facing off here. Buffalo is a very exciting team to watch and Troy is no slouch either.
| Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Louisiana Tech | 10:30 PM | |
|
Wait this isn’t on Christmas Eve? That’s when I wrap the rest of my presents! I guess I will be doing them earlier. Full disclosure: I do wrap most of the presents well before that. I’m not a dick that finally fills the space under the tree the night before Christmas so that all the kids see is air up until that point.
Wednesday December 26th
| First Responders Bowl: #25 Boise State vs. Boston College | 1:30 PM | |
|
The Heart of Dallas Bowl is now the First Responders Bowl. OK then. This also ends the streak of bowl games on TSN. Much better than in previous years that is for sure. Anyway, Boise came very close to winning the Mountain West while Boston College struggled down the stretch sparking new talk of shitcanning Steve “Dudes Being Dudes” Addazio.
UPDATE: The First Responder Bowl (no s) has been cancelled midway through the first quarter due to weather issues in the Dallas area. This is unprecedented. I have never heard of this before.
| Quick Lane Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Minnesota | 5:15 PM | |
 |
This is technically a bowl game. Watch it be super exciting and one of the better games of the year. First bowl game on the specialty pack this season. Also, the final game of the Paul Johnson era.
UPDATE #2: First game on the specialty pack this bowl season and it’s not appearing. Man this has been a horrible Boxing Day for college football fans in the Great White North.
UPDATE #3: 45 minutes on the phone with Bell and I am told “there is no scheduled game for the package right now.” To say I am pissed is an understatement. I asked why I am paying for something I don’t get. No one seems to have an answer. God forbid you like anything but hockey in this country because you get the short end of the stick (pun very intended) all the time. What a joke.
| Cheez-It Bowl: California vs. TCU | 9:00 PM | |
|
Cheez-It. Yep. Cheez-It. Meaning we are getting close to a KFC Bowl, an Advil Bowl and a Viagra Bowl. Anyway, TCU had to win their final game just to become bowl-eligible. Many times those kinds of teams are much hungrier than the teams they face in a bowl game. We shall see if that holds.
Thursday December 27th
| Independence Bowl: Temple vs. Duke | 1:30 PM | |
|
Temple will soon have Miami’s Manny Diaz as their current coach Geoff Collins left for his alma mater at Georgia Tech. That should make them an interesting dark horse pick in the AAC next season. As for this game, it’s David Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils who always seem to be up for these bowl games. Maybe because pre-Cutcliffe they rarely played in them.
| Pinstripe Bowl: Miami vs. Wisconsin | 5:15 PM | |
|
I would seriously favour Wisconsin, especially if this game is in the snow.
| Texas Bowl: Baylor vs. Vanderbilt | 9:00 PM | |
|
Baylor should have basically a home advantage for this one despite the fact it’s almost clear across the state from them. Normally I would say the crowd will be split but I honestly don’t see Vandy fans heading there in droves.
Friday December 28th
| Music City Bowl: Auburn vs. Purdue | 1:30 PM | |
 |
This is what drives me nuts. The Music City Bowl is supposed to be an SEC representative against an ACC representative. Purdue ended up being one of the first accepted bids on Selection Sunday. I knew at that point it was going to be an odd selection day and it was. And again, why have bowl tie-ins if this shit will happen? Just let bowls duke it out (kind of) to get teams to go to their bowls if that’s the case.
| Camping World Bowl: #16 West Virginia vs. #20 Syracuse | 5:15 PM | |
|
BIG EAST WARFARE! This is the first game where two ranked teams face off and it’s old Big East foes, the Mountaineers and Orange. Both looking to make statements going into next season as they both hope to start well in the Top 25 going into 2019.
| Alamo Bowl: #13 Washington State vs. #24 Iowa State | 9:00 PM | |
|
Back-to-back huge bowl games. It’s Mustache Power from the Cougs’ Gardner Minshew and the craziness of Mike Leach to one of the best coaching prospects in Matt Campbell and super running back David Montgomery. Always nice to see two teams that, a decade ago, were considered also-rans. Now they are considered nearly contenders by most college football experts (which I am not one of).
Saturday December 29th
| Peach Bowl: #7 Michigan vs. #10 Florida | Noon | |
|
This should be huge. I am amazed people are already shitting all over this game. Yes it would have been fun to see Florida play UCF. I get it. But this is a damn good matchup as well. Michigan was The Game away from being in the College Football Playoff and Dan Mullen, after a shaky start, is looking like a genius hire in Gainesville. This will be good. I know it will. I hope it will…………if it isn’t, there is other football on at the same time.
| Belk Bowl: South Carolina vs. Virginia | Noon | |
|
It’s like they almost found the spot exactly between these two schools to meet. The Belk Bowl is the best Bowl Twitter account by far so I look forward to hearing all the hilarious shit they say on gameday.
| Arizona Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Nevada | 1:15 PM | |
|
Remember last year when New Mexico State went to this bowl game, their first bowl game since way before I was born? That was a cool story. This season it’s….Arkansas State and Nevada. Uh, OK then.
| Cotton Bowl: #2 Clemson vs. #3 Notre Dame | 4:00 PM | |
|
The first of the two semi-finals should be a good one and it saves us from a possible destruction if the Irish had played Alabama. Saying that, they could win here and we could a national championship rematch (from six years ago). Could the Irish get their revenge? Probably not. Clemson seems too deep to lose this game but that’s why you play the games. I am a bit surprised both semis are only on one TSN station.
| Orange Bowl: #1 Alabama vs. #4 Oklahoma | 8:00 PM | |
|
The winner vs. the runner-up. I’m talkin’ about the Heisman race as Kyler Murray beat out Tua Tagovailoa for the Heisman Trophy this year. It would be something if Murray had a night to remember and upset the Tide. But Bama is a beast and never intimidated. I sincerely hope this isn’t a dud since it would be a shitty end to a good day of football.
Monday December 31st
| Military Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech | Noon | |
|
Luke Fickell has done an amazing job at Cincy this season. The Hokies had to reschedule a game just to keep their bowl streak alive, thus putting another Group of Five school out of action for bowl season. I wonder which team I will root for.
| Sun Bowl: Stanford vs. Pittsburgh | 2:00 PM |  |
|
For like the 30th straight year, I am continuing my quest to either a) get this game off of CBS which I really don’t want to do or b) get an SEC team into this bowl game since it’s on CBS and CBS is the home of the SEC. An SEC West team would slot perfectly in here and possibly fill the stadium, something that is hard to do depending on who is invited to play. Hell, last year Arizona State was there and I don’t think it was even two-thirds full. It won’t be any better this time around with the Cardinal and Panthers.
| Redbox Bowl: Oregon vs. Michigan State | 3:00 PM |  |
|
Again, FOX is picking the Redbox (nee San Francisco) Bowl to be on the main network this season. At least it should be a good game in perfect weather.
| Liberty Bowl: #23 Missouri vs. Oklahoma State | 3:45 PM | |
|
Former Big XII foes in battle! Mizzou was quietly a good team this season but because they had the audacity to move from the Big XII to the SEC they are like the sixth or seventh best team in that conference. They will get their chance to shine in possibly chilly Memphis against a down Pokes squad which still makes them pretty good. Also we get a timeslot full of Mike Gundy and only one other game of competition.
| Holiday Bowl: #17 Utah vs. #22 Northwestern | 7:00 PM |  |
Hey a good game we can’t get. God dammit.
| Gator Bowl: #19 Texas A&M vs. NC State | 7:30 PM | |
|
The final college football game of 2018 (the actual year, not the season) pits the Aggies who have pretty darn good under Jimbo Fisher and an NC State team that, with two losses, somehow is not in the Top 25. I honestly don’t understand the polls sometimes.
Tuesday January 1st
| Outback Bowl: #18 Mississippi State vs. Iowa | Noon |  |
|
I have this funny feeling this game won’t be that close. But Iowa has proved me wrong before.
| Fiesta Bowl: #8 UCF vs. #11 LSU | 1:00 PM | |
|
This should be a really good one. Nice to see UCF back in a NY6 bowl even if it isn’t against Florida. Let’s be honest here: until they add at least one more team to the CFP, teams like UCF will never get in unless it’s some crazy 2007 shit. And even then many on The Committee would try and keep them out. Not saying they should be in automatically but there are other fixes that have to be made with college football (including my bowl game solution) that making sure a G-5 team gets to play in the College Football Playoff is down the list a bit.
| Citrus Bowl: #12 Penn State vs. #14 Kentucky | 1:00 PM | |
|
This is the game with the two highest ranked teams not in the NY6 or CFP. Well at least the best game itself since Washington State was #13 and didn’t get in. At one point, Kentucky looked like it had a legitimate shot at making some history while Penn State almost never looked like they would be in (despite me picking them at the start of the season to get there).
| Rose Bowl: #6 Ohio State vs. #9 Washington | 5:00 PM | |
|
Even though it’s not true, it feels like tOSU is so much better than Washington. And get ready for the Urban Meyer Redemption/Sob story that we will get ad nauseum for three-and-a-half hours. I get that the guy has an issue with a cyst on his brain and I never like to see anyone have something like that. The fact he is retiring because of that is good because the last thing we want to see is Meyer drop dead on the field during a game in 2019. Saying all that, he is still a piece of shit for hiding what he did about Zack Smith and that whole debacle with the domestic violence. You will notice in this game that Washington also has a coach but he will be deemed unimportant in these proceedings.
| Sugar Bowl: #5 Georgia vs. #15 Texas | 8:45 PM | |
|
Again I will be super exhausted going into work the day after but I don’t care. Great matchup with a team that juuuuust missed the College Football Playoff (much to the chagrin of Kirk Herbstreit) and a team that finally (FINALLY!) can say they are truly back…unless this was an aberration and they go 7-5 next season.
Monday January 7th
| College Football Playoff National Championship | 8:00 PM | |
|
This is the end of the college football season other than the all-star games later on in the month. I will shed a tear after this one is over I’m sure.
The breakdown looks like so for us Canadians:
- TSN – 30 bowl games (with 3 simulcast from ABC)
- ABC – 4 bowl games
- CBS Sports Network – 2 bowl games
- FOX – 1 bowl game
- CBS – 1 bowl game
- specialty pack – 5 bowl games
- one bowl game will not be seen here (stupid FS1)
30 games on TSN? Holy shit! Nice job guys! That is what people like to see when they want college football coverage up here. Helps that other than the Raptors and the World Juniors there is nothing else on for TSN. A good step up. I still think ABC, FOX and CBS need more bowl games and NBC needs to get back into it. But only if Don Criqui calls it.
I have a post backlog since I have to make my bowl picks and rank the bowl games and put up the NFL schedule. I’ll tell you that the Thursday nighter tonight is an absolutely massive one. The Chargers head to Kansas City to face the Chiefs. Should be good for about 90 points. Anyway, enjoy that game and enjoy bowl season everyone!
Bossman's Blog 