TODAY’S BOWL GAMES

Duke’s Mayo Bowl NO. 23 N. CAROLINA STATE (8-4) VS. MARYLAND (7-5)

WHEN (TV) Noon Central (Fox)

LINE Maryland by 1/2

SERIES RECORD Series tied 33-33-4.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

A mayonnaise bath for the winning coach — and hopefully he will not get clocked over the head with a bucket like what happened last year to South Carolina’s Shane Beamer. This is NC State’s third appearance in the game which has changed sponsors twice. They lost to Mississippi State 51-28 in 2015 and beat Central Florida 14-0 in 2005. This will be Maryland’s first appearance in the game.

KEY MATCHUP

Maryland RBs Roman Hemby and Antwain Littleton vs. Wolfpack defense. With WRs Rakim Jarrett, Jacob Copeland, and Dontay Demus Jr, having left the program, the Terrapins are expected to lean heavily on their running game led by Hemby (924 yards, 10 TDs) and Littleton (370 yards, six TDs). North Carolina State features the nation’s 12th best run defense.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

NORTH CAROLINA STATE LB Drake Thomas. He’s the heart and soul of the Wolfpack defense. He has 90 tackles, including 15 for a loss, along with 6 1/2 sacks.

MARYLAND QB Taulia Tagovailoa. The younger brother of Miami Dolphins QB Tau Tagovailoa, he threw for 17 touchdown passes and ran for four more scores. He has not thrown an interception in his last three games.

FACTS & FIGURES

North Carolina State’s quarterback situation has been muddled with four different players starting at the position. Devin Leary entered the transfer portal following an injury and it’s unclear who’ll start for the Wolfpack. MJ Morris suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 12. If he’s unable to play, Ben Finley could get the start. Finley completed 27 of 40 passes for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns in the 30-27 double overtime upset victory against North Carolina.

Sun Bowl NO. 18 UCLA (9-3) VS. PITTSBURGH (8-4)

WHEN (TV) 1 p.m. Central (CBS)

LINE UCLA by 5 1/2.

SERIES RECORD UCLA needs 9-5.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

UCLA seeks its first 10- win season in five years under Coach Chip Kelly, who is appearing in his first bowl game with the Bruins. They were supposed to play in the Holiday Bowl last year but withdrew because of covid-19 issues. UCLA lost two of three to finish the regular season after being 8-1 and ranked ninth. Pitt is trying to finish the season with at least five consecutive wins for the first time since 2001, when the Panthers won six in a row capped by a Tangerine Bowl victory. It’s the first meeting between the schools in 50 years and the first bowl matchup.

KEY MATCHUP

UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and the nation’s No. 3 offense against Pitt’s top 20 defense. Thompson-Robinson is one of two players in FBS with at least 25 touchdown passes and 11 scoring runs while leading a unit that averages 508 yards per game. The most yards allowed by the Panthers this season was 474 in a 42-24 loss to North Carolina.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

PITT QB Nick Patti will get the start after Kedon Slovis transferred to BYU. Patti started the Peach Bowl loss to Michigan State last season after Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett declared for the NFL Draft. Patti completed two of five passes before leaving with a broken collarbone in the first quarter.

UCLA RB Zach Charbonnet is the other cog along with Thompson-Robinson in a high-powered offense. Charbonnet leads the nation in all-purpose yards (168 per game) and was the only Pac-12 player to average at least 100 yards rushing this season (136). There were questions of whether Thompson-Robinson and Charbonnet would opt out, but Kelly said they plan to play. Thompson-Robinson needs 285 yards passing to beat Cade McNown’s school record of 10,708 from 1995-98.

FACTS & FIGURES

Pitt went 11-3 last season and is trying for at least 20 victories over two seasons for the first time since 1981-82. … UCLA’s most recent bowl victory was in Texas during the 2014 season, 40-35 over Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. … Pitt is making its fifth Sun Bowl appearance, most recently losing to Stanford 14-13 in 2018. The Panthers are 2-2 in El Paso, while the Bruins are 3-1. … UCLA is fourth nationally in rushing offense (246 yards per game) and has rushed for more than 200 yards its past five games.

Gator Bowl NO. 21 NOTRE DAME (8-4) VS. NO. 19 S. CAROLINA (8-4)

WHEN (TV) 2:30 p.m. Central (ESPN).

LINE Notre Dame by 3 ½.

SERIES RECORD Notre Dame leads 3-1.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Notre Dame is trying to avoid ending its season like it started: with back-to-back losses. The Fighting Irish won five in a row before falling to Southern Cal 38-27 in the regular-season finale. South Carolina, which closed the regular season by stunning then No. 5 Tennessee and then-No. 7 Clemson, is looking to knock off three consecutive ranked teams for the first time in school history.

KEY MATCHUP

Notre Dame’s Audric Estime and Logan Diggs versus the second-worst rushing defense in the SEC. The Gamecocks allowed nearly 200 yards a game on the ground this season, and the Irish likely will rely on Estime (825 yards, 11 TDs) and Diggs (732 yards, 3 TDs) since QB Tyler Buchner (non-throwing shoulder) is returning after missing 10 games.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

NOTRE DAME Buchner, a sophomore who injured his left shoulder in a loss to Marshall in early September, returned to practice last month and is expected to make his third career start. Buchner replaces Drew Pyne, who is transferring to Arizona State after going 8-2 as the starter.

SOUTH CAROLINA QB Spencer Rattler ended the regular season on a high note. He completed 72% of his passes for 798 yards, with 8 touchdowns with 2 interceptions, in wins against Tennessee and Clemson.

FACTS & FIGURES

The first meeting between these schools since 1984 will be missing key players on both sides. Notre Dame All-American TE Michael Mayer and DE Isaiah Foskey, the school’s all-time leader in sacks, opted out of the bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. CB Cam Hart is sidelined with a shoulder injury. South Carolina will be without its two leading rushers (MarShawn Lloyd and Jaheim Bell) as well as WR Josh Vann, TE Austin Stogner, DL Zacch Pickens, CB Cam Smith, DB Devonni Reed and TE Traevon Kenion. … South Carolina and Notre Dame handed Clemson its only losses this season.

Arizona Bowl OHIO (9-4) VS. WYOMING (7-5)

WHEN (TV) 3:30 p.m. Central (Barstool TV)

LINE Ohio by 2 1/2.

SERIES RECORD Wyoming leads 2-0.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Ohio can finish off its first 10-win season with a victory in the desert. The Bobcats opened the season 2-3, then won seven in a row before losing to Toledo in the MAC championship game. The Cowboys were one of the nation’s youngest teams and were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming ended up second and can match the program record with a fourth consecutive bowl win if it beats Ohio. OHIO

KEY MATCHUP

Ohio’s offense vs. Wyoming’s defense. The Arizona Bowl will be strength vs. strength. The Bobcats average nearly 32 points and 424 yards per game. Ohio averages 285 yards passing per game, but RB Sieh Bangura is also a threat, rushing for 940 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season. The Cowboys held opponents to 23.4 points per game and were 20th nationally with 34 sacks. Wyoming averages just over 20 points per game on offense, so will need to slow the Bobcats to have a chance.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

QB CJ Harris. The sophomore became the starter when MAC offensive player of the year Kurtis Rourke went down with a season-ending knee injury against Ball State on Nov. 15. Harris has thrown for 359 yards and a touchdown with an interception in two starts. He’s also a threat to tuck it and run, scoring three rushing touchdowns in a win over Bowling Green.

WYOMING LB Easton Gibbs. The leader of the Cowboys’ defense topped them with 111 tackles. His 9.2 tackles per game was 23rd nationally. Gibbs also had 8.0 tackles for loss and was named to the all-Mountain West Conference’s first team.

FACTS & FIGURES

Ohio is in its first bowl game since the 2019 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and 14th overall. Wyoming is in its 18th bowl game. … Wyoming has won both games in the series, one-point wins in 2007 and 2008. … Wyoming K John Hoyland has made 87% of his field goals this season. His 1.67 field goals per game was ninth nationally.

Orange Bowl NO. 6 TENNESSEE (10-2) VS. NO. 10 CLEMSON (11-2)

WHEN (TV) 7 p.m. Central (ESPN)

LINE Clemson by 5 1/2.

SERIES RECORD Tennessee leads 11-6-2.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Tennessee can win 11 games for the first time since 2001, which was the last season in which the Volunteers finished as a top-5 team in the AP Top 25. Clemson can get to 12 wins for the sixth time in the last eight seasons; before that stretch, the Tigers hadn’t posted 12 wins in any season since 1981.

KEY MATCHUP

Tennessee QB Joe Milton vs. Clemson QB Cade Klubnik. Obviously, one won’t be facing the other head-to-head. But this game could easily be decided by which quarterback handles the big stage better.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

TENNESSEE DE Byron Young — who has worked for Dollar General and Burger King, among others — will head to the NFL Draft after this game. He leads the Volunteers with five sacks this season.

CLEMSON RB Will Shipley has 1,110 rushing yards this season and leads the Tigers with 15 touchdowns. He is next to impossible to bring down behind the line of scrimmage; on 193 carries, he’s lost only 19 yards.

FACTS & FIGURES

Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel’s teams have scored at least 30 points on 53 occasions in his first 61 games as a head coach. The Vols could get shut out today and would still break the school record for points per game in a season; they’re at 47.3 per game right now and the school mark is 42.8 set in 1993. … Clemson’s defense has allowed only four rushes for more than 25 yards this season. But the Tigers have given up more than 25 yards on 24 different pass plays.