A True Viewer's Guide to Bowl Season

I’m here to help you plan your holiday season around what really matters – college football’s glorious bowl season.

There will be many who complain there are too many bowl games. Those people hate fun and should be ignored. Just because a bowl game doesn’t mean something to Mr. Sports Writers doesn’t lessen its importance for the kids playing.

So instead of complaining, let’s enjoy the spectacle. Many sites rank the games in order from least to most entertaining. Sure, that’s great. But how does it help you plan your life? Yeah, family and work can get in the way of the dream of watching nothing but college football for two straight weeks.

That’s why I’m here. I’m going to tell you which days to make plans and which days to cut off contact with the real world. Without further adieu, let’s do this. (Full bowl schedule)

Saturday, December 16

Advice: Clear out your afternoon

The bowl season kicks off with an FCS bowl game that might be more interesting than 90 percent of the FBS games. NC A&T will attempt to complete the first undefeated season in the history of the MEAC against 11-1 Grambling, arguably the most well-known historically black college. They are playing for the HBCU National Title in Atlanta, in front of a crowd that should easily exceed 40,000.

In short, you’ll want to watch this game if you love college football. It kicks off a very juicy doubleheader on ABC, with the Las Vegas Bowl between Oregon and Boise State following that game. Boise State won another Mountain West title and is always fun to watch, but Oregon is the story here. QB Justin Herbert is back from injury and looks to kick off his 2018 Heisman campaign. While Oregon lost its coach to Florida State, they hired from within so Mario Cristobal takes the reins and I’m guessing he’ll be looking to make an early statement.

The afternoon slate also includes an intriguing New Orleans Bowl between Sun Belt co-champion Troy and Conference USA West division champion North Texas. Once the Las Vegas Bowl wraps up around 7 p.m., you can check in to see if the New Mexico Bowl delivers another insane finish.

After that, you can safely check out of that evening’s Camellia Bowl.

Tuesday, December 19

Advice: Be prepared to watch football

Yeah, the Boca Raton Bowl between Florida Atlantic and Akron shouldn’t be interesting. This year is the exception, as Lane Kiffin leads his Conference USA champs into a bowl game in their home stadium against a team led by Terry Bowden. Seriously! There may not be a more interesting coaching matchup in bowl season.

Wednesday, December 20

Advice: Do last minute Christmas shopping

As a UConn fan, I have come to staunchly defend the AAC at all times. So while I’ll be rooting for SMU to win this game, it feels lacking. They just lost their coach to Arkansas. The game is being played in a tiny soccer stadium. Why did they move this game from Miami? You can safely pass.

Thursday, December 21

Advice: Uhh, don’t watch football

The Gasparilla Bowl may have the coolest name, but it remains the lamest game. The Tampa stadium should not host college football. Temple and FIU are two very mediocre teams. Temple lost to UConn, which really should disqualify them from playing in a bowl game. There has to be better things for you to do on this night.

Friday, December 22

Advice: Football makes for great background noise

These two games aren’t the sexiest on paper. Still, they provide just enough intrigue that you should keep the game on in the background. The Bahamas Bowl always looks cool, even if there are usually about 20 people watching. The feel-good story of UAB making a bowl game after losing its entire program will give you a rooting interest – sorry Frank Solich.

The doubleheader concludes with Central Michigan taking on Wyoming, which is watchable only to see Wyoming QB Josh Allen try to impress NFL scouts after a rough September. As a bonus, it’s played on the blue turf, which is always fun if you’re watching with family who has never seen the blue turf before. Potential for snow is worth noting.

Saturday, December 23

Advice: Make sure you have access to a television

Talk about a sneaky good day of games. The Birmingham Bowl between Texas Tech and USF has an early over/under of 67, and that just seems off. Expect lots and lots of points after lots and lots of passing.

We then switch gears and move in literally the complete opposite direction with San Diego State and Army playing in a game that may be over in 2 hours. Both teams love to run, and both teams are really good. San Diego State is 10-2 and Army is 9-3. These teams should demand your attention – don’t blink and miss it.

The capper is Sun Belt co-champ App State vs. MAC champ Toledo in a rare bowl rematch. Last year, these two put on a thriller in the Camellia Bowl, decided by a late missed field goal. This is probably the best Group of Five bowl game. Most of America will be watching the Vikings/Packers game, but know that you have an excellent secondary choice if that game gets out of hand.

Sunday, December 24

Advice: There’s an escape if your family drives you nuts

It’s the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve – a tradition truly unlike any other. A decent matchup between Houston and Fresno State will give you a nice escape if your Uncle won’t stop asking you ridiculous questions about Trump.

Tuesday, December 26

Advice: Watch soccer during the day; clear out your evening

The Heart of Dallas Bowl is played the day after Christmas with teams from West Virginia and Utah. Why though? For the life of me, I have no idea why these aren’t two Texas teams. Like why isn’t Texas Tech here? The second game of the day is Duke vs. Northern Illinois from Detroit. Yuck.

Thankfully, the Premier League celebrates Boxing Day properly, so you’ll have sports to watch until the nightcap between Kansas State and UCLA. As a Jets fan, you know I’m watching every throw Josh Rosen makes – and he is expected to play, a boon for a meaningless game such as the Cactus Bowl.

Wednesday, December 27

Advice: This is your last day to run errands

A day with four bowl games. That’s all this is. No ranked teams. No interesting matchups.

If you end up with nothing to do, the Independence Bowl is intriguing in a “Sweet November is the best worst movie ever” way, with Florida State playing out the string against a long-ago rival in Southern Miss, who may view this as a Super Bowl.

The Texas Bowl holds mild interest, I guess, as Texas returns to a bowl game to play a Big 12 team. Unfortunately, that Big 12 team is Missouri and no one cares about Missouri football.

Thursday, December 28

Advice: DO NOT MAKE PLANS THIS NIGHT

Now, we hit the good stuff. The day kicks off with Military Bowl between Virginia and Navy, which won’t excite many nationally, despite being an easy sell-out locally as the game is played in Annapolis. Still, if you miss that one, you’ll be okay. Just be home by 5:30.

That’s when Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State take the field for the first ranked matchup of the bowl season from Orlando. Somehow, it’s the only the third-best game of the day.

I don’t know why the Pac-12’s two best pre-New Year’s games are on at the same time, and I don’t care. The dueling Holiday and Alamo Bowls could wear our your remote and I can’t wait.

Of the two, TCU vs. Stanford is clearly the headliner, as TCU tries to stop Bryce Love. TCU’s last Alamo Bowl trip was one of the most exciting bowl games in recent memory, so let’s see what they do for an encore.

Friday, December 29

Advice: DO NOT MAKE PLANS THIS NIGHT EITHER

The nightcap is Big Ten champion Ohio State versus Pac-12 champion USC in the Cotton Bowl on a Friday night in Texas. How cool is that? Yeah, it’s not the Rose Bowl. I think USC and Ohio State have played in enough Rose Bowls. Easily the best non-playoff game and I see no reason why you should miss it.

The afternoon slate doesn’t lack for intrigue either. New Mexico State plays in its first bowl since 1960. Todd Graham coaches Arizona State in the Sun Bowl after being fired. And Northwestern goes for 10 wins in what will essentially be a road game vs. Kentucky.

Don’t feel bad if you miss the afternoon games. Just make sure you’re by a TV come 8:30.

Saturday, December 30

Advice: A dry run for New Year’s Day

What else are you going to do the day before New Year’s Eve? The two early games are both very cool – with Lamar Jackson ending his college career in the Gator Bowl, while Iowa State and Memphis fans have already sold out the Liberty Bowl.

The two New Year’s Six games aren’t the best, yet are still really interesting. The Fiesta Bowl is especially intriguing, since no one on the East Coast knows what to make of Washington under Chris Peterson yet. They got crushed by Alabama last year and played their whole season in anonymity. Comparatively, Penn State seemed to be cruising toward a playoff berth, lost two games and disappeared from view in November. Both teams will be playing with a chip on their shoulder, and that’s a good thing.

The Orange Bowl seems to lack the same juice, with Miami and Wisconsin both losing conference title games to see their playoff hopes evaporate. I think it might be a sneaky good game. Miami needs to defend its home turf, as it did for most of the 1980’s. And Wisconsin has never played in the Orange Bowl, so I hope the snowbirds make a trip down south.

Monday, January 1

Advice: Do you really need my advice here?

You should watch football on New Year’s Day. In fact, the college football playoff should always be on New Year’s Day. It’s not because college football can never get out of its own way.

Regardless, the two playoff games are simply spectacular on paper, with Clemson/Alabama III standing out. I’m also curious to see how many Georgia fans go west, since the title game is in Atlanta. I’m curious because I think the answer might be, “All of them.”

As a bonus, the early games are really good too. Michigan/South Carolina can probably be ignored. LSU/Notre Dame can not. UCF/Auburn is already a sell-out and will serve as a huge referendum on the status of the AAC’s push to become a power conference.

The only question you need to ask yourself about New Year’s Day is – what do I eat? For me, my go-to are little hot dogs and buffalo wings. The workout routines can start on January 2.

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