Saturday, Dec. 29
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 Michigan
Noon ET, ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Atlanta
Call me a purist but I liked it when all the big bowl games were on January 1st and the Peach Bowl wasn’t considered a major bowl. It was great when it was an over-achieving ACC team versus an underachieving SEC team played in late December. Add in the always fun sponsorship of Chick-fil-A (the only company in the world that could make buying a chicken sandwich a moral quandary) and you have the making for a good waste of a couple hours. This should be a good matchup even if it is between two teams that no one likes unless you are actually from the state and even then it is a fifty-fifty proposition.
Belk Bowl
South Carolina vs. Virginia
Noon ET, ABC
Bank of America Stadium
Charlotte, North Carolina
I will also state for the record that Belk is another great all purpose swear word. We really need new swear words. The old ones are too over-used and it would be nice to be able to swear around children without feeling horrible about it. Anyway, this bowl game is a load of Belk. I’m not sure if anyone can tell me a single thing about either team’s season and the fact that even ABC is putting this game up against the Chick-fil-A Bowl on its sister station tells you that even they don’t care.
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl
Arkansas State vs. Nevada
1:15 p.m. ET, CBSSN
Arizona Stadium
Tucson, Arizona
Finally, a game not a part of the Disney family even though it will take you a good ten minutes to find the CBS Sports Network on your cable system. Even though we are years removed from the last financial crisis I still find it strange when home loan companies are the sponsor, especially when it involves places like Arizona and Nevada. Also, I don’t know if I’m more surprised that Arkansas State is a D-1 school or a school at all. Sometimes bowl season teaches you something.
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Notre Dame
4 ET, ESPN
AT&T Stadium
Arlington, Texas
Lots of thoughts about this so time to break out the numbered list!
1) Expect to hear the “Joe Montana having a bowl of chicken soup before the fourth quarter” story a dozen times during the game.
2) I’m not sure if the Cotton Bowl Classic is like Coca-Cola Classic and there was a New Cotton Bowl that we all agreed to forget about but the fact that the Cotton Bowl Classic is not played in the Cotton Bowl is the biggest case of false advertising I’ve seen since I rented “The Neverending Story.”
3) Early in the season I said if Notre Dame went undefeated they’d make the playoffs, with one loss they’d be in a lesser BCS bowl and with two losses they’d be in a pile of Belk. I’d like to say that I was correct in every aspect.
4) That said, Notre Dame might have had the most underwhelming undefeated season that I have ever seen. At the beginning of the season the schedule looked brutal but by the end you are wondering who did they beat and why weren’t they ever dominant. They beat Michigan and Vanderbilt and it was tough to tell the difference between the two. I’m a proud alum and all but this isn’t the best team I ever saw.
5) Clemson has players suspended, which will help Notre Dame’s chances. Also, I’ve always been a fan of Clemson’s uniforms so that will make the game even better.
6) In the end, I think Notre Dame’s defense keeps it close and the Irish break out a couple of long runs but they’ll need a couple of breaks to make it work out. Hoping for the best.
College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Oklahoma
8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Hard Rock Stadium
Miami Gardens, Florida
Does anyone go to a Hard Rock Café anymore? I assume that they are still a thing but it seems like a concept from a previous century. Also, does hard rock even exist as a thing? Without MTV it is impossible to know. This is the second half of the playoffs featuring a team you hate going up against a team you are rather indifferent about. Unless you are an Ohio State fan but we don’t care what you think anyway. I want Alabama to lose mainly because I am sick of Alabama winning all the time, which isn’t the optimal reason for a rooting interest but I’ll take what I can get.
Monday, Dec. 31
Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Noon ET, ESPN
Jack Stephens Field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Annapolis, Maryland
There is something about the combination of the military industrial complex with the college athletics industrial complex that is either unsettling or inspired depending on your point of view. Also, I believe that this bowl is taking place in a stadium that is smaller than Virginia Tech’s home stadium by a large margin and that just feels wrong. It’s not as though the weather is going to be any different between Annapolis and Blacksburg. They could just make this a Virginia Tech home game, draw a larger crowd and everyone can go home happy. Especially are friends at Northrop Grumman whose mid-game commercial is just a guy in suit telling the camera “I’d tell you all the good that we do at Northrop Grumman but it’s classified. And also possibly not good in the true sense of the word.”
Hyundai Sun Bowl
Stanford vs. Pittsburgh
2 p.m. ET, CBS
Sun Bowl Stadium
El Paso, Texas
This along with the Liberty Bowl might be the only two bowl games left that seem to be the same as I remember from when I was a kid. Sponsorships are minor, the games don’t really matter that much and they take place in cities that have no other major sports. It’s not the same as the days of the Blue Bonnet Bowl but I will take it. Stanford and Pitt are two schools that could make this a very interesting game or very dull depending on how much the players actually care. Sounds great on paper, might be less so in practice.
Redbox Bowl
Michigan State vs. Oregon
3 p.m. ET, Fox
Levi's Stadium
Santa Clara, Calif.
Ah, Redbox. Combining the old school video store experience of wondering if your movie is available with the thrill of being in a 7-11 parking lot at three in the morning. I literally feel safer standing outside an ATM then I do a Redbox machine. Also, just wondering but why are all these games on New Year’s Eve? New Year’s Eve is a Monday, it’s not a holiday and New Year’s Day is completely open for football yet only a handful of games are scheduled. Can’t we just once have things the way they used to be?
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Missouri vs. Oklahoma State
3:45 p.m. ET, ESPN
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
Memphis, Tennessee
So, a few years ago this would be a regular season Big 12 game. I don’t think that there is much else to say. It’s about as important as a regular season Big 12 game between two mid-pack teams.
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
Northwestern vs. Utah
7 p.m. ET, FS1
SDCCU Stadium
San Diego, Calif.
I say this all the time but I have no idea how the sponsorship for this bowl game works. The audience they are trying to reach are the citizens of San Diego County. Fair enough but a) Northwestern isn’t in San Diego county, b) Utah is not in San Diego County and c) the residents of San Diego County aren’t going to be spending New Year’s Eve at home watching a Northwestern – Utah game on FS1.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
NC State vs. Texas A&M
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
TIAA Bank Field
Jacksonville, Florida
In much the same manner as the Cure Bowl I believe that this game will be better served if it was just called the Slayer Bowl and featured Slayer playing a full concert during the game. It might also draw a larger crowd. This will be the last game of the year and will be what you watch at the bar before they turn on the live shot of people freezing in Times Square. Well, that is what you will watch if you go to a bar on New Year’s Eve. I prefer any other option, including going to Jacksonville.
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