Hey, Let’s Rank the Bowl Games!

It’s been a bit since I’ve done this and since I’m currently unemployed and watching my bank account get redder than a super-ripe tomato I figured I have some time to do this.

College football is now over for another season and I am sad. But I have to say it was a pretty good bowl season, despite some in the college football media saying it was bad. Really? I’ve been through some not-so-good bowl seasons and this was not one of them. Then again, some just have to be the counterpoint so that they feel special and/or their life sucks. Oh well, let’s get to the rankings!

1. Peach Bowl (Georgia 42 Ohio State 41) – This was, without exaggeration, the greatest College Football Playoff game of all-time. It had a bit of everything from two teams throwing haymakers at each other. And when it looked like tOSU had it in the bag, UGA stormed back and took the lead late. And as the clock struck midnight on 2022, the Buckeyes’ season struck midnight as the game-winning field goal attempt went wide left. Just an amazing football game and what college football is all about.
2. Cotton Bowl (Tulane 46 USC 45) – For most of this game, it felt like a validation of Caleb Williams’ Heisman campaign. Then the Green Wave hit. Down 15 with four minutes to go, Tulane came back to score two touchdowns, the final one with just seconds left, to complete a great comeback and announce their arrival as the newest Group of Five power program.
3. Fiesta Bowl (TCU 51 Michigan 45) – This is the second of the two semi-final games that makes the best set of semi-finals ever in the College Football Playoff era and it’s not even close. Funny enough, the lead never changed in this game. TCU never trailed which is odd for such a high-scoring, close game. Still an incredible affair and a bit of a surprising result for some.
4. Liberty Bowl (Arkansas 55 Kansas 53 3OT) – I’ll be honest: once Arkansas went up 38-13 I went to put some laundry on and make something to eat. What an idiot I am. Kansas came all the way back to tie it up. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for an insane 544 yards and still ended up losing. Arkansas did everything they could early on to win and everything late to lose and still ended up winning in the end. One of the wildest bowl games of the last decade and I ended up missing a decent chunk of it. Stupid.
5. Sun Bowl (Pittsburgh 37 UCLA 35) – This was a wild game that came down to a late Pitt field goal to win it. Honestly it was kind of ho-hum until a bit into the fourth quarter when it went completely off the rails. The Sun Bowl is weird to me: it seems like the game is always either really good or barely mediocre and nothing in between. I still think they should have a Big XII tie-in but that’s a conversation I’ve had here many times before.
6. Arizona Bowl (Ohio 30 Wyoming 27 OT) – If this game is on a network, a lot more people watch it. Going in, it felt like a bowl that you could forget. Wyoming with a lot of players out and Ohio’s defense somewhat decimated. Instead, it was an exciting close affair. And, to be honest, the commentary, while less informative, was hilarious, especially down the stretch with the two colour commentators being very open as to which team they were hoping to win (and had bet on).
7. Cheez-It Bowl (Florida State 35 Oklahoma 32) – I mean we were only told that this was a REMATCH OF THE 2001 BCS CHAMPIONSHIP a few times, right? This ended up being, unlike that 2001 affair, a great see-saw battle with the Noles kicking the game-winning field goal late to get the victory and all the Cheez-Its. In a somewhat related note, I like Cheez-Its. A lot. It’s very easy to eat a whole box of those fuckers.
8. Holiday Bowl (Oregon 28 North Carolina 27) – FOX ends up getting a dandy of a game for their only bowl broadcast of the season. Oregon came back in the final quarter to defeat the Heels on an extra point that doinked off the upright and in. Even then, the Tar Heels had one final shot as they somehow got the ball into Oregon territory with no time left but the Hail Mary didn’t work. Again, another fantastic game.
9. Gator Bowl (Notre Dame 45 South Carolina 38) – It was seriously loud in Jacksonville for this one. It felt like a huge regular season game. The fans were rowdy and it felt like both teams were desperate to win. And credit to Shane Beamer: he left nothing on the table. He threw every trick play he could at the Irish, including a fake kick/pass for a touchdown. In the end, though, Notre Dame was too much for the Gamecocks. Super fun to watch.
10. Hawaii Bowl (Middle Tennessee 25 San Diego State 23) – A really good game out in Honolulu on Christmas Eve (as it should be). It felt like the Aztecs were going to run away with this, going up 14 with five minutes left in the first quarter. After that, it was mostly Middle. Another game that ended with a late game-winning field goal. A nice trend to have for bowl season for sure.
11. Camellia Bowl (Buffalo 23 Georgia Southern 21) – This game was awful close as neither team could pull away until midway through the final stanza. I will be honest: this game would have been much lower had the Eagles not scored a late touchdown and made it interesting near the end.
12. New Mexico Bowl (BYU 24 SMU 23) – The 1980 Holiday Bowl this was not; however, it was still a fun game to watch…for the final quarter. Up until that point, this looked like a relatively poorly played game where one team will win because the other made too many mistakes. Instead, it was an amazing finish where SMU went for the win on a two-point conversion and came up short. I love to see teams just go for it since this is your final game of the season. Why not leave it all out on the field?
13. Frisco Bowl (Boise State 35 North Texas 32) – Did you know Austin Aune is 29 years old? Christ, we only heard it a million times. At least it didn’t take away from the actual game which was a really good one. A 36-point third quarter will do that after a rather blah first half.
14. Bahamas Bowl (UAB 24 Miami-OH 20) – How about this to start the bowl season? A very entertaining game with a wild ending, reminiscent of the Titans loss to the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
15. Boca Raton Bowl (Toledo 21 Liberty 19) – This had the advantage of being played in FOOTBAW WEATHER. A lot of rain and muck. I keep forgetting though that, as hilarious and fun as it is to see this type of weather for a football game, it really makes the actual football tough to watch. Luckily, this came down to another great ending (there’s that phrase again) with a failed Liberty two-point conversion being the difference.
16. Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Maryland 16 NC State 12) – The game wasn’t the greatest, let’s be honest here. It did have a close finish and Mike Locksley got a bunch of mayo dumped on him. Those were the redeeming qualities of this bowl game.
17. Cure Bowl (Troy 18 UTSA 12) – On paper this was a great Group of Five matchup. Two conference champions. Troy’s defense definitely showed up for this one so if you liked defensive contests, this one was for you.
18. ReliaQuest Bowl (Mississippi State 19 Illinois 10) – A very emotional game as it was the Bulldogs’ first outing after the death of Mike Leach. The game wasn’t very good but again, it was close. The ending on the other hand? Insane. MSU scored on a fumble return touchdown on the last play for one of the worst bad beats of the season. Some gamblers must have been crying afterwards.
19. Quick Lane Bowl (New Mexico State 24 Bowling Green 19) – This was a game between two teams who had not been to a bowl game in a few years. And it showed. Both teams put it all out there and the Aggies ended up with a win in their final season as an Independent.
20. LendingTree Bowl (Southern Miss 38 Rice 24) – Frank Gore Jr. went off in this one, to the tune of 329 rushing yards and a new FBS bowl record. And he told his auntie to chill after the game on national TV. The best night of that young man’s life so far.
21. Independence Bowl (Houston 23 Louisiana 16) – Another game that languished for about three quarters and had a great finish. I still feel like an idiot for picking the Cougs as my Group of Five Cotton Bowl pick.
22. Gasparilla Bowl (Wake Forest 27 Missouri 17) – It was a nice send-off for Sam Hartman who will transfer next season to Notre Dame. It will be interesting to see how the Deacs fare next season with some important players leaving.
23. Alamo Bowl (Washington 27 Texas 20) – There were high hopes for this one and it kind of fell flat. Don’t let the close score fool you since it wasn’t really close at all.
24. Pinstripe Bowl (Minnesota 28 Syracuse 20) – The Gophers won pretty easily. The highlight for me was people on Twitter telling me that P.J. Fleck was an awful coach. OK then.
25. Guaranteed Rate Bowl (Wisconsin 24 Oklahoma State 17) – The Badgers should be better next season with Luke Fickell at the helm. They’ve already brought in a bunch of new players. None of that mattered here as they were able to outlast a Cowboys team that struggled with a capital ‘S’ down the stretch.
26. Rose Bowl (Penn State 35 Utah 21) – Everything was looking like a classic until Cam Rising went down with an injury. Then things all went to shit for the Utes and Penn State cruised to an easy victory.
27. Idaho Potato Bowl (Eastern Michigan 41 San Jose State 27) – This was a tale of two sections. The first had the Spartans dominate early, looking like they were going to blow the Eagles out of the water. The second and last section saw EMU score 33 straight points to put this one out of reach. Entertaining for a bit but not enough to warrant a better spot on this list.
28. Myrtle Beach Bowl (Marshall 28 UConn 14) – I was honestly hyped for this one. I thought it was going to be interesting to see how the Huskies fared in what is basically brand new territory for them. Instead, the game was rather bland and Marshall controlled for most of it.
29. Orange Bowl (Tennessee 31 Clemson 14) – Clemson ran over 100 plays in this one and only scored 14 points. That feels like it would be impossible to do but there you go. The offense wasn’t better with Cade Klubnik under centre rather than D.J. Uiagalelei so there may need to be significant changes in the offseason for the Tigers. This game might have ranked even lower if it wasn’t for Joe Milton tossing piss rockets all over the place like his arm was an actual cannon.
30. Birmingham Bowl (East Carolina 53 Coastal Carolina 29) – This looked like it would have been far up the list after the first quarter. Then Grayson McCall went down and it was kind of easy to figure out which team was going to put up the points the rest of the way (hint: not the Chants).
31. Texas Bowl (Texas Tech 42 Ole Miss 25) – Ole Miss looked completely flat in this one. Like they didn’t want to be there. Texas Tech, on the other hand, looked great and played hard for first-year coach Joey McGuire who has instilled a new confidence in Lubbock. The Red Raiders also did a nice tribute to Mike Leach on their first play, lining up in the Air Raid offense.
32. Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force 30 Baylor 15) – The classic bowl conundrum: can a team defend against a good option team. In this case it was no. The Falcons wore the Bears down and ran for almost 300 yards in a ho-hum affair.
33. Sugar Bowl (Alabama 45 Kansas State 20) – Hey, for a while it looked like this was going to be a fun start to college football on New Year’s Eve. Then Bama realized they are Bama and woke up and put an absolute beatdown on the Wildcats.
34. Military Bowl (Duke 30 UCF 13) – I thought this would be a better game. The Blue Devils ran away with this and it wasn’t even really close. A great turnaround for Duke, I must say.
35. Fenway Bowl (Louisville 24 Cincinnati 7) – Other than the Scott Satterfield drama, this game was pretty boring. The unique setup of this being at Fenway Park and the potential for FOOTBAW WEATHER didn’t help enough to move this up the rankings.
36. New Orleans Bowl (WKU 44 South Alabama 23) – South Alabama was the fairly big favorites here and the Hilltoppers ended up mopping the floor with them. This game was good for about 17 or 18 minutes and then that was all she wrote.
37. LA Bowl (Fresno State 29 Washington State 6) – Man, looking back, that first Saturday of bowl games was not good. Three of the worst bowl games of the season were this day. This was one of them. Wazzu just didn’t really show up for this one.
38. First Responder Bowl (Memphis 38 Utah State 10) – I’ll be honest: I did not watch more than one minute of the second half of this game. It was over long before that.
39. College Football Playoff National Championship (Georgia 65 TCU 7) – A beatdown of monumental proportions. I don’t know if I consider it a bowl game but if you do, it’s the biggest bowl game margin of victory ever. I was wondering if the Dawgs would score 80. A rough end to a damn good season.
40. Las Vegas Bowl (Oregon State 30 Florida 3) – The Gators resorted to kicking a field goal in the final minute of this game. Why? To preserve their record non-shutout streak. Other than that, they were run off the field by the Beavers.
41. Citrus Bowl (LSU 63 Purdue 7) – “See what those Tigers did? You content with only winning by 56? Let’s beat that!” – Kirby Smart, probably
42. Music City Bowl (Iowa 21 Kentucky 0) – I think everyone thought it would be bad. It may have been worse than what we thought. Memories of the infamous 2018 Cheez-It Bowl come to mind as this is one of the ugliest, most unwatchable bowl game of all-time.

Hey that wasn’t so bad was it? Then again, I tend to be short and sweet with a lot of these. Maybe it’s because I run out of steam near the end. Who knows. Anyway, enjoy the NFL playoffs coming up and if you still have a hankering for some college football, there are a few all-star games coming up. The Hula Bowl is this Saturday at Noon on CBS Sports Network if that tickles your fancy. Hey, at least it’s something.

It Actually Happened (the Week 17 NFL TV Schedule)

I kind of joked earlier in the year that I think Nathaniel Hackett should have been fired during the season. I think quite a few people said it as well. The thing is, that happens rarely in the NFL. This isn’t college football where there are coaching changes all the time.

But guess what? It happened! It actually happened! The Denver Broncos pulled the trigger and shitcanned Hackett. I am actually surprised since I figured they would let him finish out the season and then fire him on Black Monday. Problem is, the Broncos looked so horrifically bad in their loss to the Rams this past weekend (where I am surprised Nickolodeon didn’t run out of slime despite the fact it’s all animated) that I think they had no choice but to axe him. It’s a smart move. No head coach has looked as inept at his job than Hackett did (although Jeff Saturday is trying his best to change that mindset). He was not ready and to be honest, I don’t think he will ever be ready to be a head coach. Good offensive coordinator, bad head coach. It’s the Wade Phillips corollary (paradox? equation?). Not every coordinator can run a team. And Hackett can’t…..hack it.

Let’s get to the schedule, which will not contain Nathaniel Hackett. It’s the second-last week of the season so a lot can happen and I’m not just talking about the standings. Here we go.

American Networks

Indianapolis at NY GIants	1:00	Seattle, Spokane, Detroit, Buffalo, Rochester, Watertown
Miami at New England	1:00	Minneapolis, Cleveland, Burlington, Boston, Presque Isle
Chicago at Detroit	1:00		Minneapolis, Detroit
NY Jets at Seattle	4:05		All affiliates (except Minneapolis & Detroit)
Minnesota at Green Bay	4:25	All affiliates

Canadian Networks

Indianapolis at NY Giants	1:00	Vancouver, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg	London, Toronto
Miami at New England	1:00	Montreal, Atlantic	Ottawa	TSN1, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
Denver at Kansas City	1:00		Vancouver Island, Alberta
Chicago at Detroit	1:00	Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa
Carolina at Tampa Bay	1:00	Northern Ontario	Atlantic
NY Jets at Seattle	4:05	Vancouver, Alberta		TSN1, TSN3, TSN4
Minnesota at Green Bay	4:25	Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Northern Ontario, Kitchener, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal	Atlantic

Primetime Games

Dallas at Tennessee	Thursday, 8:15, Amazon Prime, CTV2, TSN1
Pittsburgh at Baltimore	8:15, NBC, CTV2, TSN1/3/4
Buffalo at Cincinnati	8:30, ABC, CTV, TSN3

Non-Nathaniel Things

• I get that Jeff Saturday is an interim head coach and not the full-time guy but still, he’s terrible. And shouldn’t be back next year in any capacity.
• If all you can get is games from the American networks (I don’t know why that would be the case) then this may be the worst week ever. Five games over the entire afternoon? That’s the kind of schedule you would get in 1992, not 2022.
• Canadians have it a bit better obviously but they are still missing games: Jaguars/Texans, Rams/Chargers, Saints/Eagles, Browns/Commanders, Cardinals/Falcons, 49ers/Raiders. Six. That’s not good either.
• I am sure at least a few people are pissed off that the NFL is on New Year’s Day and the Rose Bowl isn’t. Too fucking bad. They decided to move last week’s games to Christmas Eve and they damn well weren’t going to do that this weekend. Put the games on New Year’s Eve when you don’t have to? Ratings suicide. And this is coming from a huge college football fan who still thinks ESPN is leaving viewers on the table by having the College Football Playoff semi-finals on New Year’s Eve.

UPDATE: I forgot about the small tweak to the smart time of the Monday night game. It will start at 8:30 and not 8:15. The Rose Bowl is on immediately before it so don’t be surprised if we don’t get to actually start watching the Bills-Bengals game until close to 9:00.

Almost there! This week and next week and it’s playoff time. Here’s what the playoff picture looks like at this point:

AFC	NFC
#1 Buffalo (clinched AFC East)	#1 Philadelphia (clinched playoff berth, leads NFC East)
#2 Kansas City (clinched AFC West)	#2 Minnesota (clinched NFC North)
#3 Cincinnati (clinched playoff berth, leads AFC North)	#3 San Francisco (clinched NFC West)
#4 Jacksonville (leads AFC South)	#4 Tampa Bay (leads NFC South)
Wild Cards:	Wild Cards:
#5 Baltimore (clinched playoff berth)	#5 Dallas (clinched playoff berth)
#6 LA Chargers (clinched playoff berth)	#6 NY Giants
#7 Miami	#7 Washington

And here is your list of eliminated teams (whether you like it or not):

• Houston
• Chicago
• Denver
• Arizona
• Indianapolis
• Atlanta
• LA Rams
• Cleveland

That’s it? Yep. This is what happens when you have two atrocious divisions. I don’t think that’s ever happened before and I hope this makes it so the NFL changes their ridiculously dumb playoff structure. Division winners should only be guaranteed a playoff spot. Maybe a top 5. But not a home playoff game. That’s dumb. It’s why I hope both the AFC South and NFC South champs have losing records. To shed light on stupidity.

Anyway, when it comes to the draft, the Texans can clinch with a loss and a Bears win. It feels like a guarantee that Bryce Young is going to be Houston’s new quarterback but stranger things have happened.

Now for the clinching scenarios list which is getting much longer (and what’s most of us are watching these games for anyway):

First Round Bye

• Philadelphia clinches with a win OR (a Dallas loss AND a San Francisco loss AND a Minnesota loss)
• Buffalo clinches with a win AND a Kansas City loss

Division Title

• Philadelphia clinches the NFC East with a win OR a Dallas loss
• Tampa Bay clinches the NFC South with a win
• Cincinnati clinches the AFC North with a win AND a Baltimore loss

Playoff Berth

• NY Giants clinch with a win OR (a Washington loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss) OR (a Washington loss AND a Seattle loss) OR (a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss)
• Washington clinches with a win AND a Seattle loss AND a Detroit loss AND a Green Bay loss
• Miami clinches with a win AND a NY Jets loss

Elimination

• New Orleans is eliminated with a loss OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Washington win) OR (a Tampa Bay win AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
• Carolina is eliminated with a loss
• Washington is eliminated with a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win
• Detroit is eliminated with a loss AND a Washington win
• Green Bay is eliminated with a loss AND (a Detroit win OR a Washington win)
• Seattle is eliminated with (a loss AND a Washington win) OR (a loss AND a Detroit win AND a Green Bay win)
• New England is eliminated with a loss
• NY Jets are eliminated with a loss
• Pittsburgh is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win
• Las Vegas is eliminated with a loss OR a Miami win OR a NY Jets win

Washington is in an interesting and relatively rare spot. It’s the penultimate week of the season yet they have both playoff clinching and elimination scenarios and both of them involve the same two teams, the Lions and Packers. You don’t see that very often. Also, there aren’t that many clinching scenarios to be honest. Yet, look at the sheer list of teams that could be eliminated this week. Ten. That’s a lot. Won’t happen but it’s still a lot.

As for the final week, the schedule will have, as far as I know, two Saturday games, one Sunday night game, and the rest of the games on Sunday afternoon with the more important ones falling in the 4:25 timeslot. What could we see? Here is what I think will probably happen:

• It is a foregone conclusion that the Tennessee-Jacksonville game will be either the Saturday night or Sunday night game. I am going out on a limb and saying they will be the Saturday nighter.
• Baltimore-Cincinnati is the favorite to be the Sunday nighter. I can’t see NBC picking Baltimore twice in a row. It’s their fault for picking them this week to begin with (I believe the pick this week is baffling). So no Ravens-Bengals Sunday nighter and they can’t be on Saturday because the Bengals are playing Monday night this week. So as long as the Bengals don’t clinch the AFC North this week, it will be a Sunday late game.
• If New England and the NY Jets win this week, I see the Pats-Bills game being the Sunday nighter. The Pats would be in a win-and-in situation. The Bills could also be in a situation where they would need to win to get the first round bye. So a lot would be on the line.
• If New England loses but the Jets win, then we could see the Jets-Dolphins game slot into the Sunday night spot.
• Alright I will have to make a concession: if the Pats and Jets both lose this week then I do have a feeling NBC might just pick the Ravens-Bengals game (as long as the Bengals haven’t clinched the division).
• Now…..ugh…if all three situations above don’t occur then the next game up would somehow be Lions-Packers but a bit has to happen for this game to get this slot (and we might be in a situation where the final game of the season means nothing because of what could happen earlier in the day).
• If the Bucs don’t clinch the NFC South this week then the Saturday afternoon will probably be Panthers-Saints, especially if the Saints also win this week. It would be for the NFC South title I believe (I would have to check the tiebreakers but I think the Bucs would have the lowest percentage chance to win the division if both Carolina and New Orleans win this weekend).

So there you go. A lot of possibilities for next week’s single-game timeslots and we should find out late in the afternoon Sunday as to what we will see. It’s the time of season where there is a shit-ton of football on, both college and the NFL. So enjoy it because you know it doesn’t last. Have a Happy New Year everyone!

If I Could Fix The Postseason Version 3.0

It’s that time, people. The time when I look at how the postseason could be better and tackle the issues that plague FBS’s postseason at this point, which include:

• Potential high draft picks opting out of bowl games
• Some still thinking there are too many bowl games
• Major injuries that occur during these bowl games to players who would probably be in the draft
• Attendance problems at certain bowl games
• Going up against the NFL (and up here, the World Juniors)

Will my solution fix everything here? No. Especially the injury one. Those will happen. I can see potential first rounders still opting out in the future and that would be the main reason: preventing injury going into workouts and the Combine. The other three…yeah I can deal with those.

Look I have done this so many times before that I won’t link them here. You should be able to find them but if you do need help, let me know.

Now that we definitely have a 12-team playoff in a couple years, I have to adjust my solution a bit. I won’t go against what they are doing, I am just trying to enhance it for everyone’s enjoyment.

First thing we have to do is actually eliminate some of the bowl games. This will make the “Too Many Bowl Games” crowd happy but the reason I am doing this is to tighten things up a bit. ESPN Events owns about half of these anyway so I can’t see them being missed and I honestly doubt the economics of how much it helps a host city. So the following bowls will just have to cease to exist:

• Cure Bowl
• New Orleans Bowl
• Birmingham Bowl
• Quick Lane Bowl
• Frisco Bowl
• Arizona Bowl
• Cheez-It Bowl
• Bahamas Bowl
• LendingTree Bowl

For the most part, these bowl games will be missed by almost nobody. This allows for more bowl games to get their own national spotlights and makes it so we aren’t putting pretty much all 5-7 teams in to the postseason. I love college football but that, to me, is where it gets a bit absurd.

Now let’s get to the format, as it will be going forward (until people start griping and it expands to 16 teams). There is an advantage now for finishing at the top of the rankings AND for winning your conference championship. The first order of business is that divisions will be abolished in all FBS conferences. I don’t care if the Big Ten expands to the Big Ten Times Two (meaning twenty teams). No divisions. This way the best two teams get to the title game and we won’t see some weird 8-5 Wisconsin team somehow get a first-round bye. Also, at least one Group of Five team gets invited. More if they are in the Top 12 but we know it will be one for the foreseeable future. I know you’ve seen this a few times already on other websites or on ESPN but here’s what the top 12 will look like this with the new playoff criteria:

1. Georgia (SEC champs)
2. Michigan (Big Ten champs)
3. Clemson (ACC champs)
4. Utah (Pac-12 champs)
5. TCU
6. Ohio State
7. Alabama
8. Tennessee
9. Kansas State
10. USC
11. Penn State
12. Tulane

Sorry to Washington, Florida State, both Oregons and whoever else felt they should be in the field. You are denied this time. Do better.

Now to the format/schedule. Let’s use this year’s dates to show how this works to make it a tiny bit easier to understand. I’m also using the CFP’s newer date setup so it will be slightly different than mine was last year (and won’t interrupt the Army-Navy game). The other difference between this format and the one I used last year is that first round games will be on-campus. So those bowl games go back in the regular mix.

First Round Games – Friday, December 16th/Saturday December 17th (all times EST)

• Tulane at TCU (Friday, 8:00)
• Penn State at Ohio State (Saturday, Noon)
• USC at Alabama (Saturday, 3:30)
• Kansas State at Tennessee (Saturday, 7:00)

Really, you could mix and match as to where to put these games. The only thing that comes into play is when you have a team from the Mountain or Pacific time zones. You ideally should slot them either Friday or Saturday night and definitely not at Noon on the Saturday.

Quarter-Finals – Thursday, December 30th/Friday December 31st

Normally these games would be on December 31st, January 1st and January 2nd. This year that can’t be the case with New Year’s Day being a Sunday and you can’t have playoff games two days apart. The top-ranked team would be put at a bowl site that is most advantageous to them. Then the next team would be put in the best spot out of the bowls left and so forth until all four games are filled.

• Orange Bowl (Thursday, 8:00) – Georgia vs. Kansas State/Tennessee winner
• Sugar Bowl (Friday, Noon) – Clemson vs. Penn State/Ohio State winner
• Rose Bowl (Friday, 4:00) – Utah vs. Tulane/TCU winner
• Cotton Bowl (Friday, 8:00) – Michigan vs. USC/Alabama winner

Yes I have the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Eve. I think that’s a possibility going forward. I hope it is. Just to fuck with their commmittee.

Semi-Finals – Thursday, January 5th/Friday, January 6th

Can’t do Saturday and Sunday because it would interfere with the NFL (although I could see one game on an early Saturday).

• Peach Bowl (Thursday, 7:00) – Orange Bowl winner vs. Rose Bowl winner
• Fiesta Bowl (Friday, 8:00) – Cotton Bowl winner vs. Sugar Bowl winner

Again, The Committee would put Georgia in the best bowl for them which would obviously be the Peach Bowl. Even if they didn’t win, I think these semi-final combinations would be set in stone.

CFP National Championship – Monday, January 16th

So all this does is move the national championship one week back. Not a big deal really and still stays mostly out of the way of the NFL playoffs (which have also shifted back a week due to the extra regular season week they have now).

Only the six current New Year’s Six bowl games are being used as opposed to the ten I had in my scenario last year (I included the Gator, Citrus, Alamo and Holiday Bowls for the first round games).

Now for the rest of the bowl games. As you saw above, I lopped off nine of them. Would they even fill half the stadium? Maybe close but mostly likely not. I plan on not having any pre-Christmas daytime games. I say that every year. There are dumb. I get that not everyone works a 9ish-to-5ish job but, unfortunately to us night owls, the work world revolves around this schedule pretty closely. Even with PVRs still being a big thing, it’s pointless to have a bowl game on a random Wednesday before Christmas at 2 in the afternoon. Live sports are what most people want to see so having more games in primetime allows more people to watch. It’s actually pretty damn simple.

I also plan to move a few games off of ESPN. I hate the fact that games are pretty spread out among the networks all through the regular season. Then the bowl games come and WHAM! Pretty much all of them go to ESPN. Look, I will say I’m a bit selfish and patriotic because I am doing this, somewhat, for Canadians. Oh and with the Arizona Bowl being off the table, that means Barstool Sports is shit out of luck again. I assume one day they will pick up another bowl but for this scenario, nothing.

Bowl tie-ins are also going to be decreased as is what I do normally when I used to fix the bowl games. Many bowl games don’t even follow them anyway so why should I? I will have it set up like this:

• SEC, Big Ten, ACC – 5 bowl tie-ins
• Big XII, Pac-12 – 4 bowl tie-ins
• AAC, MWC, Sun Belt – 3 bowl tie-ins
• C-USA, MAC – 2 bowl tie-ins

If a team doesn’t get put in a bowl with a tie-in, they go to the at-large bucket. I believe this will make for at least a slightly better overall bowl lineup and my past posts have proven that. And I’m also going to have every Group of Five conference champion get to face a Power Five team in a bowl game. That’s a huge incentive compared to now where most of the G-5 conference champions get a banner and an unknown destination.

To qualify, teams must win seven games. If all those teams are placed and there are still more bowl slots, 6-win teams will be put in and let’s do it based on APR since that’s the way the NCAA does it with 5-win teams.

OK so now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get to what the tie-ins will look like:

January 4, 2023	10:30 PM	Las Vegas Bowl	Pac-12	MWC
January 4, 2023	7:00 PM	Gator Bowl	SEC	ACC
January 3, 2023	10:30 PM	LA Bowl	Pac-12	at-large
January 3, 2023	7:00 PM	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	ACC	at-large
January 2, 2023	3:00 PM	ReliaQuest Bowl	SEC	Big Ten
January 2, 2023	12:00 PM	Citrus Bowl	SEC	Big Ten
December 30, 2022	4:30 PM	Music City Bowl	SEC	Big Ten
December 30, 2022	1:00 PM	Liberty Bowl	SEC	Sun Belt
December 30, 2022	Noon	Sun Bowl	Big XII	Pac-12
December 28, 2022	10:30 PM	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	at-large	at-large
December 28, 2022	8:30 PM	Alamo Bowl	Big XII	at-large
December 28, 2022	7:00 PM	Military Bowl	Big Ten	MAC
December 28, 2022	3:30 PM	Gasparilla Bowl	ACC	AAC
December 28, 2022	Noon	Fenway Bowl	AAC	at-large
December 27, 2022	8:30 PM	Texas Bowl	Big XII	at-large
December 27, 2022	7:00 PM	Pinstripe Bowl	Big Ten	ACC
December 27, 2022	5:00 PM	Camellia Bowl	Sun Belt	at-large
December 27, 2022	1:30 PM	First Responder Bowl	Big XII	C-USA
December 26, 2022	3:30 PM	Armed Forces Bowl	AAC	at-large
December 26, 2022	Noon	Boca Raton Bowl	ACC	at-large
December 25, 2022	Noon	Myrtle Beach Bowl	MAC	at-large
December 24, 2022	9:30 PM	Hawaii Bowl	MWC	at-large
December 23, 2022	8:00 PM	Holiday Bowl	Pac-12	at-large
December 22, 2022	9:30 PM	Idaho Potato Bowl	MWC	at-large
December 21, 2022	9:30 PM	New Mexico Bowl	at-large	at-large
December 20, 2022	8:00 PM	Independence Bowl	Sun Belt	C-USA

As promised, all the Group of Five conference champions get their shot at a Power Five team in a bowl game. I still believe this is one of the things sorely missing from bowl season: the chance for a lower level team to go up against a potential power. Otherwise they are just playing an extra game. Good for the players and staff but in the end, it means jack shit because it won’t help nearly as much with recruiting and won’t enhance these schools brands when it comes to football.

There are also a lot of at-larges and we will get to that in a bit. Again, this is about trying my best to create a better bowl lineup and flexibility certainly helps in that regard.

And part of the way to do that is to overhaul the shitty Selection Sunday show that ESPN does. And it is shitty. Seriously shitty. You could take out 85% of the show and still get everything you need and more. To change this I will show you my perfect setup for the show, something I have done in previous years:

• Noon-12:05 – Introduction of hosts, panel and all the reporters at the various sites around the U.S. We don’t need Desmond Howard’s reasoning behind putting Texas A&M in the College Football Playoff at the start of the season and how it somehow ties into today’s proceedings. It doesn’t so knock it off.
• 12:05-1:00 – College Football Playoff rankings reveal and game selections. This includes analysis from everyone: Herbstreit, Desmond, Rece Davis, David Pollack, fifteen people from around the country. Then an interview with whomever heads The Committee and you’ve filled the rest of the first hour. Easy, right?
• 1:00-2:00 – Show the bowl tie-ins and do some analysis on those. I am giving a bit less time than I have in previous years to give as much time as possible to the at-large selection process which is the meat of the show (along with live look-ins to the players sitting around, awaiting their destination, a la the March Madness Selection Show.
• 2:00-3:45 – Selection time. The random order for selection would have been done the day prior so as to give bowl committees time to send out invites although in this day and age, it’s rare to see a team decline a bowl invite. At-large selections are shown as they are made. Analysis by the crew following every pick.

Yes it’s 4 hours long (last 15 minutes can be used to wrap everything up and remind people of when certain games air); but you can cram a lot of excitement and interest into those four hours rather than have people drone on and on about nothing.

So…here is what the bowl schedule would look like after slotting all the conferences’ tie-ins:

January 4, 2023	10:30 PM	ESPN	Las Vegas Bowl	Oregon	Fresno State
January 4, 2023	7:00 PM	CBS	Gator Bowl	LSU	North Carolina
January 3, 2023	10:30 PM	ESPN	LA Bowl	Washington	at-large
January 3, 2023	7:00 PM	NBC	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Florida State	at-large
January 2, 2023	3:00 PM	ESPN	ReliaQuest Bowl	South Carolina	Purdue
January 2, 2023	12:00 PM	ABC	Citrus Bowl	Kentucky	Iowa
December 30, 2022	4:30 PM	ESPN	Music City Bowl	Mississippi State	Illinois
December 30, 2022	1:00 PM	ESPN	Liberty Bowl	Ole Miss	Troy
December 30, 2022	Noon	CBS	Sun Bowl	Big XII	UCLA
December 28, 2022	10:30 PM	ESPN	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	at-large	at-large
December 28, 2022	8:30 PM	FOX	Alamo Bowl	Texas	at-large
December 28, 2022	7:00 PM	ESPN	Military Bowl	Maryland	Toledo
December 28, 2022	3:30 PM	ESPN	Gasparilla Bowl	Duke	UCF
December 28, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Fenway Bowl	Cincinnati	at-large
December 27, 2022	8:30 PM	ESPN	Texas Bowl	Texas Tech	at-large
December 27, 2022	7:00 PM	ABC	Pinstripe Bowl	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
December 27, 2022	5:00 PM	ESPN	Camellia Bowl	South Alabama	at-large
December 27, 2022	1:30 PM	ESPN	First Responder Bowl	Oklahoma State	UTSA
December 26, 2022	3:30 PM	ESPN	Armed Forces Bowl	SMU	at-large
December 26, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Boca Raton Bowl	Syracuse	at-large
December 25, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Ohio	at-large
December 24, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	Hawaii Bowl	Wyoming	at-large
December 23, 2022	8:00 PM	FOX	Holiday Bowl	Oregon State	at-large
December 22, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	Idaho Potato Bowl	Boise State	at-large
December 21, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	New Mexico Bowl	at-large	at-large
December 20, 2022	8:00 PM	ESPN	Independence Bowl	James Madison	North Texas

• The G-5 conference champion process has set up the following matchups:
  • UCF (the runner-up in the American since Tulane is in the CFP) goes to the Gasparilla Bowl to play Duke.
  • Fresno State (Mountain West champ) plays Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl, which ends up being the final bowl game before the College Football Playoff semi-finals.
  • The First Responder Bowl gets Conference USA champ UTSA and the high-octane offense of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
  • The Sun Belt champ (Troy) faces off against Ole Miss in the Liberty Bowl.
  • Finally, the MAC champ, Toledo, plays Maryland in the Military Bowl. Yes the MAC will have to travel for every bowl game now that I have axed the Quick Lane Bowl.
• Some of the bowl matchups are the same (sorry, I still have Kentucky-Iowa) and some have probably improved a bit (Ole Miss-Troy looks like a good one).
• I have given FOX, ABC, CBS and even NBC some bowl games. ESPN will hate it but too fucking bad.
• Finally you will notice I have put James Madison in a bowl game. Yeah, fuck the transition rule. An 8-3 team should go to a bowl game. Period.

Alright so there are a bunch of teams left who have won at least seven games. Seventeen of them to be exact. For 17 spots. That worked out perfectly! You will notice that the Big XII did not have enough teams to fill the few bowl slots they had. So the Sun Bowl goes into the pool to pick from the remaining teams.

Here is that random draw and the teams I think would have been selected:

• LA – Notre Dame
• Armed Forces – BYU
• Boca Raton – Liberty
• Texas – Houston
• Camellia – Louisville
• Idaho Potato – Washington State
• Duke’s Mayo – East Carolina
• Myrtle Beach – Coastal Carolina
• Sun – Air Force
• Holiday – San Diego State
• New Mexico – San Jose State
• Alamo – Wake Forest
• Guaranteed Rate – NC State
• Hawaii – WKU
• Fenway – Eastern Michigan
• New Mexico – Marshall
• Guaranteed Rate – Middle Tennessee

So after these selections this is what the rest of the bowls (beyond the playoffs) would look like:

January 4, 2023	10:30 PM	ESPN	Las Vegas Bowl	Oregon	Fresno State
January 4, 2023	7:00 PM	CBS	Gator Bowl	LSU	North Carolina
January 3, 2023	10:30 PM	ESPN	LA Bowl	Washington	Notre Dame
January 3, 2023	7:00 PM	NBC	Duke’s Mayo Bowl	Florida State	East Carolina
January 2, 2023	3:00 PM	ESPN	ReliaQuest Bowl	South Carolina	Purdue
January 2, 2023	12:00 PM	ABC	Citrus Bowl	Kentucky	Iowa
December 30, 2022	4:30 PM	ESPN	Music City Bowl	Mississippi State	Illinois
December 30, 2022	1:00 PM	ESPN	Liberty Bowl	Ole Miss	Troy
December 30, 2022	Noon	CBS	Sun Bowl	Air Force	UCLA
December 28, 2022	10:30 PM	ESPN	Guaranteed Rate Bowl	NC State	Middle Tennessee
December 28, 2022	8:30 PM	FOX	Alamo Bowl	Texas	Wake Forest
December 28, 2022	7:00 PM	ESPN	Military Bowl	Maryland	Toledo
December 28, 2022	3:30 PM	ESPN	Gasparilla Bowl	Duke	UCF
December 28, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Fenway Bowl	Cincinnati	Eastern Michigan
December 27, 2022	8:30 PM	ESPN	Texas Bowl	Texas Tech	Houston
December 27, 2022	7:00 PM	ABC	Pinstripe Bowl	Minnesota	Pittsburgh
December 27, 2022	5:00 PM	ESPN	Camellia Bowl	South Alabama	Louisville
December 27, 2022	1:30 PM	ESPN	First Responder Bowl	Oklahoma State	UTSA
December 26, 2022	3:30 PM	ESPN	Armed Forces Bowl	SMU	BYU
December 26, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Boca Raton Bowl	Syracuse	Liberty
December 25, 2022	Noon	ESPN	Myrtle Beach Bowl	Ohio	Coastal Carolina
December 24, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	Hawaii Bowl	Wyoming	WKU
December 23, 2022	8:00 PM	FOX	Holiday Bowl	Oregon State	San Diego State
December 22, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	Idaho Potato Bowl	Boise State	Washington State
December 21, 2022	9:30 PM	ESPN	New Mexico Bowl	San Jose State	Marshall
December 20, 2022	8:00 PM	ESPN	Independence Bowl	James Madison	North Texas

So there are a few games that look quite a bit better than what we had. Especially when there are storylines like:

• Notre Dame facing Washington in what would be a massively hyped LA Bowl.
• The Texas Bowl gets a huge boost with two teams from the state playing.
• Syracuse/Liberty could end up being a juicy matchup.
• Coastal Carolina playing at home on Christmas Day.
• The Idaho Potato Bowl getting a massive boost with Wazzu coming in to face the hometown Broncos.

Is it a massive change? No, but when you do a few small things you can create a lot more excitement overall to a system that, outside the playoff, has become rather stagnant.

A reminder (you shouldn’t need it but here it is) that bowl season begins this morning! The Bahamas Bowl starts a three-week-plus college football postseason journey that ends with the national championship on January 9th. Along with the bowl games, there are playoff games in other divisions going on.

• FCS Semi-final: Incarnate Word at North Dakota State (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack)
• Division III Championship: North Central vs. Mount Union (in Annapolis) (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack)
• Division II Championship: Colorado School of Mines vs. Ferris State (in McKinney, Texas) (Saturday, 1:00, specialty pack)
• FCS Semi-final: Montana State at South Dakota State (Saturday, 4:00, specialty pack)

From what I can see, the specialty packs are being dickheads again with none of these games listed. I hope they show up but I know last weekend I only remembered them appearing on Bell guides. Fingers crossed. Especially with the FCS games as it feels like we are heading for a Battle of the Dakotas for the FCS National Championship.

Alright, enjoy the games everyone. A LOT of football between now and Sunday night. Savour it.

Hey let’s do some Bowl Game Rankings!!!!

I’ve done some different scales for this post. In some cases I have done just a straight ranking, other times I have done the Network Scale and of course there is the Uncle Verne scale.

This year I will go slightly different. I am introducing the Play-by-Play Announcer Scale! That’s right, I am going to rank the bowl games going from best play-by-play announcers down to, well, not as good ones let’s say. I mean if you aren’t Mike Goldberg you are at least competent at calling football, right?

So let’s get started. 41 bowl games. 8 tiers. 1 blog post. This sounds like Survivor.

The Jackson/Musburger Tier

Must-see games. No matter what. Even if you are a casual college football fan, you will want to watch these.

Peach Bowl – Georgia vs. Ohio State (Dec. 31, 8:00, TSN2) – There is a reason this game was chosen for primetime and not the other College Football Playoff semi-final. On paper, this is the bowl game of the season and nothing else is really close. Yes, the Buckeyes backed in to the CFP which will make a few fans upset but don’t worry: in two years that won’t make a difference. Georgia does look primed to repeat as national champs but this one will not be easy and it might not end before 2022 ends. My pick: Georgia 40 Ohio State 34.

Fiesta Bowl – Michigan vs. TCU (Dec. 31, 4:00, TSN3) – Normally I would rail against the College Football Playoff semi-final games being on New Year’s Eve but to be honest, I don’t care this year. Not going out for New Year’s so it’s football watching time. I can see many people up here, who are watching TV at least, being split between this and Canada’s World Juniors game against Sweden. How close this is will probably dictate what kind of viewing audience the hockey game gets. Anyway, fingers crossed this is a good one as many think TCU can’t hang with the Wolverines. To be honest, as much as I would love to see the Horned Frogs pull this out, I can’t see it happening. My pick: Michigan 39 TCU 21.

Rose Bowl – Penn State vs. Utah (Jan. 2, 5:00, TSN2) – I always wish the Rose Bowl would go back to ABC. It just feels like it belongs there. The Nittany Lions come in here exactly where pretty much everyone thought they would be. Losses to Michigan and Ohio State and relatively mundane victories over everyone else. Utah is probably the hotter team coming in, coming off their Pac-12 Championship win over USC. My pick: Utah 35 Penn State 30.

Orange Bowl – Clemson vs. Tennessee (Dec. 30, 7:30, TSN2) – This bowl is orange. ORANGE bowl. ORANGE tigers. ORANGE volunteers. ORANGE everything! Let’s just hope both teams don’t figure they should be wearing orange uniforms. This might end up being the most competitive of the New Year’s Six bowl games. This might have been the top New Year’s Six game if not the top bowl game period (seriously) but without Hendon Hooker, it won’t be the case. My pick: Clemson 27 Tennessee 24.

Alamo Bowl – Texas vs. Washington (Dec. 29, 9:00, specialty pack) – It felt like these two teams had good chances to be involved in conference championship weekend. Alas, they both came up short in odd circumstances (especially in hindsight) so they land here in San Antonio. The Alamo Bowl is usually one of the top non-CFP, non-NY6 bowl games and this one is no exception. There should be a LOT of points with Quinn Ewers and Michael Penix Jr. chucking the ball over the field indoors. Take the over. My pick: Washington 48 Texas 40.

The Lundquist/Nessler Tier

These are still big although these guys were hampered by some, uh, questionable analysts *COUGH*Gary Danielson*COUGH*

Cotton Bowl – USC vs. Tulane (Jan. 2, 1:00, TSN2) – Some may call this the worst of the New Year’s Six games. I disagree. It could end up being a fun one especially if USC tackles like they did in the Pac-12 Championship. A lot will ride on if Caleb Williams is 100% or not because if he isn’t, the Green Wave could pull off the biggest victory in the long history of that program. My pick: USC 44 Tulane 31.

Holiday Bowl – North Carolina vs. Oregon (Dec. 28, 8:00, FOX) – If you watch this game for one thing, it should be the quarterbacks. Oregon’s Bo Nix is confirmed to be ready to go and Drake Maye will be there as well and hopefully not playing like he did in the ACC Championship (which was easily his worst game of the season). My pick: Oregon 38 North Carolina 25.

Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs. Kansas State (Dec. 31, Noon, TSN3) – This is gonna feel REAL odd to see the Sugar Bowl on at Noon on New Year’s Eve. Let’s consider this the lesser of the New Year’s Six games. Still good but it’s a wonder whether one of the teams will show up. The Wildcats certainly will be ready to go but will Bama be ready for this one? I could see several Bama players opting out or entering the transfer portal or just not caring. Also, Nick Saban is either going to seriously pissed off and motivating his players like crazy or barely wanting to be there himself. My pick: Kansas State 31 Alabama 28.

Cure Bowl – UTSA vs. Troy (Dec. 16, 3:00, TSN1) – EASILY the best pre-Christmas bowl game. And it is played on a Friday afternoon. Ugh. Surprisingly, this is the only bowl game that features two conference champions. And it’s a bit of a classic offense vs. defense matchup as the Roadrunners, who definitely live up to their name, take their high-octane offense to Orlando to face the all-time leader in tackles in FBS in Carlton Martial. Should be a good one. My pick: UTSA 33 Troy 26.

Gator Bowl – South Carolina vs. Notre Dame (Dec. 30, 3:30, TSN2) – The Gamecocks had, arguably, the two biggest season-changing wins this season, destroying Tennessee and eeking out a victory against Clemson. These two games changed the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six for sure. As for the Irish, things looked bleak but Marcus Freeman has turned things around and are trying to finish his first season with a big bowl win. My pick: Notre Dame 28 South Carolina 17.

The Fowler/McDonough Tier

You know, at the very least, that a game called by either of these two will be a great one…on paper. No guarantees otherwise.

ReliaQuest Bowl – Mississippi State vs. Illinois (Jan. 2, Noon, specialty pack) – The Outback Bowl is history. Honestly I went once and it was pretty overrated (except for the Bloomin’ Onion which was fantastic). Now it’s sponsored by ReliaQuest which is supposedly a cybersecurity company. Fun. My pick: Illinois 27 Mississippi State 19.

Citrus Bowl – LSU vs. Purdue (Jan. 2, 1:00, ABC/TSN3) – The first game on ABC on this list. How sad. I guess this a nice consolation for getting boatraced in a conference championship game as both of these teams were. Let’s see which team is hungrier and wants to create some momentum going into the offseason. My pick: Purdue 39 LSU 36 (OT)

Texas Bowl – Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 28, 9:00, TSN3) – Do not, and I repeat, do not go grab a snack or a drink unless you are sure it’s a commercial break. These two teams will light up the scoreboard. I can see this game not ending until after 1 in the morning. My pick: Ole Miss 51 Texas Tech 42.

LA Bowl – Washington State vs. Fresno State (Dec. 17, 3:30, ABC/TSN3) – This could be another game where you should probably take the over. At the very least, Jake Haener should light the Wazzu defense up. Whether the Cougs can do what the Cougs usually do (throw the ball about 2,000 times a game) is up for debate. My pick: Fresno State 49 Washington State 28.

Sun Bowl – Pittsburgh vs. UCLA (Dec. 30, Noon, CBS) – If it wasn’t for Pitt actually turning things around late in the season, I would have had the Bruins winning this one in a cakewalk. My pick: UCLA 35 Pittsburgh 29.

The Franklin/Enberg Tier

Two old-school announcers who might actually be underrated. It was always good to hear their voice though.

Cheez-It Bowl – Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Dec. 29, 5:30, specialty pack) – This game is at the top of the list if it’s 1987. Now? Not so much. I mean at least the Noles are holding up their end of the bargain. The Sooners? That’s a different story. My pick: Florida State 40 Oklahoma 30.

Las Vegas Bowl – Florida vs. Oregon State (Dec. 17, 2:15, TSN2) – Thanks to the Raiders being terrible, this game was moved back from their ABC primetime slot to a mid-afternoon slot on ESPN. Ugh. I think the Beavers deserved better. This could be a 10-win season for a team that almost never hits that plateau. And with Anthony Richardson opting out of this one, it won’t be pretty. My pick: Oregon State 36 Florida 10.

Military Bowl – Duke vs. UCF (Dec. 28, 2:00, TSN3) – This game may be overlooked by many and it shouldn’t be. I mean the timeslot doesn’t help but I could see this being a good game. A really good Group of Five team up against a much-improved Power Five team. It’s kind of what bowl season is partially about. My pick: Duke 31 UCF 27.

Duke’s Mayo Bowl – Maryland vs. NC State (Dec. 30, Noon, TSN2) – It’s always fun when you know the winning coach gets a big vat of mayo dumped on them at the end. This also being a matchup of former ACC foes gives this at least a bit of intrigue. My pick: Maryland 41 NC State 38 (OT).

Fenway Bowl – Louisville vs. Cincinnati (Dec. 17, 11:00 AM, TSN2) – This would have been well down the list if it weren’t for the fact that Scott Satterfield just left Louisville to become the new head coach at Cincinnati. He should try and coach both teams. I would definitely love to see that. My pick: Louisville 29 Cincinnati 21.

The GUS/TESSITORE Tier

MY GOD! DID YOU JUST…..SEE………THAT THREE-YARD RUN! FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC. Lots of enthusiasm for this tier from two guys who get enthusiastic for a touchback.

Armed Forces Bowl – Baylor vs. Air Force (Dec. 22, 7:30, TSN2) – Other than the Bears nearly beating TCU they did nothing of note this season. A big downgrade from the previous season. The academy is actually winning games because of their defense. So a great defense against a coach who is known for great defenses. Choose the under. My pick: Air Force 24 Baylor 20.

Liberty Bowl – Arkansas vs. Kansas (Dec. 28, 5:30, TSN3) – The Jayhawks were the feel-good story through the end of October this season. Unfortunately they are not playing very good football lately. Arkansas on the other hand…well, they’ve been no more than mediocre all season but they have the talent to put up points especially if they get the running game going. My pick: Arkansas 26 Kansas 21.

Music City Bowl – Kentucky vs Iowa (Dec. 31, Noon, ABC/TSN2) – Thankfully for all of us there is another bowl game on at the same time. This could end up being a yawner. You would have to be a moron to pick the over here. My pick: Kentucky 14 Iowa 10.

Pinstripe Bowl – Minnesota vs. Syracuse (Dec. 29, 2:00, TSN1) – The Cuse is back in the Bronx and I remember the last time they were here. A fabulous FOOTBAW WEATHER game against Kansas State. I hope the weather is shit for this one. Sorry to all the players and coaches and fans. My pick: Minnesota 29 Syracuse 17.

Gasparilla Bowl – Missouri vs. Wake Forest (Dec. 23, 6:30, specialty pack) – Still wish this was sponsored by Bad Boy Mowers. That was fun. This should be the swansong for Sam Hartman so expect the Deacs to throw the ball over the field. I can’t see Mizzou stopping them, plus they have already lost a few players to the transfer portal. My pick: Wake Forest 36 Missouri 14.

The Jones/Criqui Tier

Ah remember when these two would call a game on NBC? It was either a great bowl game or perhaps even a Notre Dame game when they started on NBC. Those were the days. They don’t quite measure up to the ones above them but are still great play-by-play guys.

New Mexico Bowl – BYU vs. SMU (Dec. 17, 7:30, ABC/TSN3) – And we start this section with a rematch of the 1980 Holiday Bowl that had an absolutely insane ending (look it up if you haven’t seen it before). I could see another shootout here, especially from SMU since they did put up 77 on a pretty good Houston team. My pick: SMU 39 BYU 34.

New Orleans Bowl – South Alabama vs. WKU (Dec. 21, 9:00, specialty pack) – This used to be the game where the Sun Belt and Conference USA champs went. Not anymore. At least we have two programs on the rise, especially South Alabama who is looking for their first 11-win season. My pick: South Alabama 38 WKU 16.

Birmingham Bowl – Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina (Dec. 27, 6:45, TSN2) – Let’s call it the Battle for Lesser Carolina since the five ACC Carolina schools (as well as South Carolina) would have a fit if I called it the Battle for the Carolinas. If Grayson McCall plays this could be one of the best bowls of the season. We know Holton Ahlers will throw the ball about 50 times so there will be no shortage of offense. I’m going out on a limb and saying McCall will be ready. My pick: Coastal Carolina 49 East Carolina 47.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl – Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State (Dec. 27, 10:15, TSN2) – Wisky comes in with no head coach as Luke Fickell won’t start with the team until after the bowl game. The Pokes definitely have a head coach and Captain Mullet watched his quarterback and the Badgers’ QB head to the transfer portal. It should be close but might not have as many points as the previous game on this list. And by might not, I mean definitely won’t. My pick: Wisconsin 28 Oklahoma State 23.

Arizona Bowl – Wyoming vs. Ohio (Dec. 30, 4:30, Barstool Sports) – The only bowl game you can’t get here. Hell, there may not even be an illegal stream for this one. Ohio has to be disappointed that they came pretty close to winning their first conference title in over five decades. I can see them coming in here wanting to prove a point. My pick: Ohio 32 Wyoming 21.

The Patrick/Hammond Tier

Here’s some 90s guys for you. They weren’t the greatest but they were pretty good and you knew their voices. They just tended to fuck up every so often…Patrick more than Hammond because Hammond only had to cover Notre Dame and whatever team Notre Dame was playing that weekend.

Boca Raton Bowl – Toledo vs. Liberty (Dec. 20, 7:30, TSN2) – Hey, the Rockets won the MAC and the Flames started 8-1 so it’s not like we have two teams who crawled into bowl season. Neither team scores much and both have had their embarrassing losses so maybe it’s time for some players to impress their coach, right? My pick: Toledo 34 Liberty 33.

Myrtle Beach Bowl – UConn vs. Marshall (Dec. 19, 2:30, TSN1) – Sorry for Marshall fans but no one gives a fuck that your team is in this bowl. It’s all about UConn. An unreal turnaround by Jim Mora Jr. and the Huskies as this team improbably going bowling on the teal turf on the South Carolina coast. Now watch the Herd destroy the fun. My pick: Marshall 35 UConn 17.

Independence Bowl – Houston vs. Louisiana (Dec. 23, 3:00, TSN2) – This feels like the death spot in the bowl schedule. Pre-Christmas, Christmas Eve Eve if you will. In the afternoon. Ugh. Also you have two up-and-down teams that really don’t have a calling card. I’ll watch it but if it gets to be out of hand in the second half, there’s no guarantees I will keep it on. My pick: Houston 32 Louisiana 14.

Idaho Potato Bowl – San Jose State vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 20, 3:30, TSN2) – Many fans will pull for the Spartans considering the tragedy that happened late in the season. Don’t forget there’s another team in Boise for this game, though. The Eagles have quietly gone to five bowl games since Chris Creighton took over in a stunning turnaround for a once terrible program. I still wish this game was played at night so it could be icy cold and the field may or may not turn into an ice rink. My pick: San Jose State 24 Eastern Michigan 20.

Frisco Bowl – North Texas vs. Boise State (Dec. 17, 9:15, TSN2) – Almost a home game for North Texas here. And no this isn’t the legendary Frisco Football Classic that had a one-and-done deal last year. Another classic offense vs. defense matchup as the Mean Green can move the ball but Boise has had their best defense in a long time. I wonder how UNT will be considering they just fired Seth Littrell in a bit of shocking move. My pick: Boise State 27 North Texas 10.

The Ward/Bestwick Tier

OK I lied. Not that there are bowl games that you shouldn’t watch. But that there are announcers that are fucking terrible. These two are arguably the worst ever. I would never turn off a game but I definitely did mute it at times with these two on the call. Brutal.

Hawaii Bowl – Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State (Dec. 24, 8:00, TSN2) – I love this game. Why? Because it’s the perfect time to get all the stocking stuffers wrapped and in their stockings. This is the first time since 2019 we will see this game and it is at the converted high school in Honolulu that the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors play at. Fun times. My pick: San Diego State 26 Middle Tennessee 21.

First Responder Bowl – Memphis vs. Utah State (Dec. 27, 3:15, TSN2) – Utah State was surprisingly good this season. Memphis did about as expected. Both teams like to move FAST on offense. This one might be over by 5:30. My pick: Memphis 37 Utah State 31.

Bahamas Bowl – UAB vs. Miami-OH (Dec. 16, 11:30 AM, TSN1) – Two teams, playing in front of about 5,000 fans in usually breezy weather near the ocean. Yeah these two programs lucked out wouldn’t you say? I sure would. Better than Shreveport or Boise, at least in terms of the weather. My pick: UAB 34 Miami-OH 13.

Quick Lane Bowl – New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green (Dec. 26, 2:30, TSN3) – The Aggies are back in a bowl game! The drought was only six years this time so it’s not nearly as exciting. The bowl drought was actually longer for the Falcons, at seven years. This is NMSU’s final game as an Independent as they join Conference USA next season. I might be out, playing Free Uber for my kids as they spend their gift cards that day so we shall see how much of this I get to watch. My pick: Bowling Green 21 New Mexico State 20.

Camellia Bowl – Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo (Dec. 27, Noon, TSN2) – Both teams BARELY made it to bowl eligibility. The Eagles beat Appalachian State in double overtime and the Bulls squeaked by Akron in a rescheduled game. The only oddity here is that Georgia Southern is not a running team anymore: they pass the ball almost as much as any team in the land. Feels weird to day. My pick: Georgia Southern 37 Buffalo 28.

LendingTree Bowl – Southern Miss vs. Rice (Dec. 17, 5:45, TSN2) – Alright the worst bowl game of the bunch. A Southern Miss team that doesn’t feel like a bowl eligible team and a Rice team that lead the APR list to get here at 5-7. Ugh. There are other bowls at the same time so unless this is close, I hate to say it, you can probably avoid it. My pick: Southern Miss 35 Rice 10.

Done! All the bowl games ranked and my predictions locked in place. I am going to make another prediction: that my predictions won’t be that great. Enjoy the bowl games everybody!

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!