Reasons to watch all 40 bowl games
Bowl season is becoming increasingly complicated.
To be clear, you should watch every bowl game. When you’re down to about 40 college football games before the season ends, each should be savored.
But with so many players opting out or jumping into the transfer portal and with coaches changing jobs, the teams that show up to play in the bowls often don’t look much like the ones that played during the regular season.
So why watch? We’ve got you covered, with picks and available lines from FanDuel Sportsbook.
Let’s start with Saturday’s lineup:
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL Georgia Southern vs. Ohio (plus 3½)
Why watch? You can’t watch them all if you don’t watch the first one
PICK: Ohio 23-21.
CELEBRATION BOWL Howard vs. Florida A&M
Why watch? FAMU coach Willie Simmons has been one of the most successful coaches among HBCUs, 44-13 over five seasons.
PICK: Florida A&M 27-17. NEW ORLEANS BOWL
Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (plus 3½) Why watch? Catch up with former West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, who led JSU to a bowl game in its first season in the Bowl Subdivision.
PICK: Jacksonville State 27-25.
CURE BOWL Miami (Ohio) (plus 6½) vs. Appalachian State
Why watch? Check out one of the most underrated defenses in the country. The MAC champion RedHawks rank 17th in yards per play allowed at 4.93.
PICK: Miami 23-20.
NEW MEXICO BOWL New Mexico State vs. Fresno State (plus 3½)
Why watch? New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill is a miracle worker, taking the Aggies to back-to-back bowl for first time since 1960. Plus, maybe he’ll coach in a serape.
PICK: Fresno State 34-27.
LA BOWL
UCLA vs. Boise State (plus 3½)
Why watch? Broncos RB Ashton Jeanty is one of the most exciting runners in the country, second in all-purpose yards at 165 per game.
PICK: Boise State 20-19. INDEPENDENCE BOWL California vs. Texas Tech (minus 2½)
Why watch? The first Independence Bowl since 2016 with two Power Five schools matches teams that struggle on defense. Shreveport score-fest!
From B1
PICK: Texas Tech 42-35. MONDAY, DEC. 19 FAMOUS TOASTERY BOWL Western Kentucky (plus 2½) vs. Old Dominion
Why watch? Conference USASun Belt matchup. Not sure which team is in which conference? Tune in.
PICK: Western Kentucky 34-26.
TUESDAY, DEC. 20 FRISCO (TEXAS) BOWL UTSA (minus 9½) vs. Marshall
Why watch? To see a unicorn. UTSA quarterback Frank Harris has played seven seasons of college football without transferring. Barring an opt out, this will be his final game.
PICK: UTSA 28-17. THURSDAY, DEC. 21 BOCA RATON (FLORIDA) BOWL
South Florida (plus 3½) vs. Syracuse
Why watch? Last time most of us saw USF, the Bulls were giving Alabama fits on a rainy September day in Tampa. They went on to have a big turnaround seasons u nder firstyear coach Alex Golesh, going 6-6 after 1-11 last year.
PICK: USF 31-27.
FRIDAY, DEC. 22 GASPARILLA BOWL Georgia Tech (plus 4½) vs. UCF
Why watch? To see if the Yellowjackets can complete their first winning season since 2018.
PICK: Georgia Tech 34-27.
SATURDAY, DEC. 23 CAMELLIA BOWL
Arkansas State (minus 1½) vs. Northern Illinois
Why watch: What if we told you there is a team that began the season allowing 73 points and then scored 77 late in the season? That’s Arkansas State.
PICK: Arkansas State 28-23. ARMED FORCES BOWL No. 24 James Madison vs. Air Force (plus 2½)
Why watch? Patriotism. The Falcons are the only service academy in a bowl game.
PICK: Air Force 21-17. BIRMINGHAM (ALA.) BOWL
Troy vs. Duke (plus 7½) Why watch? Troy RB Kimani
Vidal is a third-team AP All-American who ran for 233 yards and five touchdowns in the Trojans’ Sun Belt championship win.
PICK: Troy 20-16.
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL
Georgia State vs. Utah State (minus 1½)
Why watch? The winning coach gets a bucket of french fries dumped on him.
PICK: Utah State 28-23.
68 VENTURES BOWL South Alabama vs. Eastern Michigan (plus 16½)
Why watch? Eastern Michigan OL Brian Dooley gave teammate and fellow lineman Zack Conti, a walk-on who developed into a starter, his scholarship this season. Now that’s a Christmas story.
PICK: South Alabama 28-14.
LAS VEGAS BOWL Utah vs. Northwestern (plus 6½)
Why watch? Utes were ravaged by injuries. Wildcats had their coach fired a few weeks before preseason practice. Two of the more resilient teams in the country.
PICK: Northwestern 23-20. HAWAII BOWL Coastal Carolina (plus 9½) vs. San Jose State
Why watch? Kickoff is 10:30 p.m. EST on the night before the night before Christmas. Enjoy some alone time with the Chanticleers and Spartans during a busy holiday weekend.
PICK: San Jose State 24-16. TUESDAY, DEC. 26 QUICK LANE BOWL
Bowling Green vs. Minnesota (minus 4½)
Why watch? There hasn’t been a college football game on for TWO WHOLE DAYS!
PICKS: MINNESOTA 24-13. FIRST RESPONDER BOWL
Texas State (minus 4½) vs.
Rice
Why watch? See something that has never happened before: Texas State playing in a bowl game.
PICK: Texas State 38-28.
GUARANTEED RATE BOWL Kansas vs. UNLV (plus 12½)
Why watch? Two fun teams that have shed their losing histories to find success. Also, sounds like a great NCAA men’s basketball Final Four game from the early 1990s.
PICK: Kansas 42-33.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27 MILITARY BOWL
No. 23 Tulane (plus 7½) vs. Virginia Tech
Why watch? Hokies appear to be on the rise, with a 5-3 run to end the season under second-year coach Brent Pry after several years in the doldrums.
PICK: Virginia Tech 24-20. DUKE’S MAYO BOWL North Carolina vs. West Virginia (minus 5½)
Why watch? West Virginia coach Neal Brown began the season on the hottest seat in college football and will now end it trying to reach nine wins.
PICK: West Virginia 34-21. HOLIDAY BOWL
No. 16 Louisville (minus 7½) vs. Southern California
Why watch? No Caleb Williams for USC, but Trojans freshman WR Zachariah Branch is a game-breaker and one of the most exciting players in the country.
PICK: Louisville 35-24.
TEXAS BOWL
No. 22 Oklahoma State (plus 2½) vs. Texas A&M
Why watch? Get a look at a team that was good enough to make a bowl game, but bad enough to convince A&M to pay $76 million to fire the coach.
PICK: Oklahoma State 31-28.
THURSDAY, DEC. 28 FENWAY BOWL
No. 17 SMU (minus 10½) vs. Boston College
Why watch? Well, it’s a future ACC matchup.
PICK: SMU 28-14. PINSTRIPE BOWL
Rutgers vs. Miami (minus 1½) Why watch? Floridians going to New York for the holidays. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?
PICK: Miami 17-12. POP-TARTS BOWL
No. 19 North Carolina State vs. Kansas State (minus 3) Why watch? Two words: Edible mascot.
PICK: Kansas State 26-20. ALAMO BOWL
No. 12 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Arizona (minus 2½)
Why watch? See the future of Oklahoma football in five-star freshman QB Jackson Arnold, who steps in for the departed Dillon Gabriel.
PICK: Arizona 34-31.
FRIDAY, DEC. 29 GATOR BOWL
Clemson (minus 5½) vs.
Kentucky
Why watch? Not a great year for Clemson, but with a victory the Tigers could extend their streak of seasons finishing ranked in the AP Top 25 to 13, second longest in the nation behind Alabama’s current 15.
PICK: Clemson 24-17.
SUN BOWL
No. 15 Notre Dame (minus 6½) vs. No. 21 Oregon State
Why watch? The first Sun Bowl matching ranked teams since 2008. In that game, Oregon State beat Pitt 3-0. Wait, is this actually a reason to watch?
PICK: Notre Dame 20-12. LIBERTY BOWL Memphis (plus 8½) vs. Iowa State
Why watch? History suggests a good game. In 2017, the Tigers and Cyclones met in the Liberty Bowl and Iowa State won 21-20.
PICK: Iowa State 27-21. COTTON BOWL
No. 7 Ohio State (plus 2½) vs. No. 9 Missouri
Why watch? The Buckeyes are 2-12 in bowl games against SEC teams, but 10-1-1 all-time against Missouri, which has only been in the SEC since 2012. Which trend holds up?
PICK: Ohio State 31-20.
SATURDAY, DEC. 30 PEACH BOWL
No. 10 Penn State vs. No. 11 Mississippi (minus 3½)
Why watch? Despite 10-win seasons, both the Nittany Lions and Rebels are looking for validation after each lost to the two best teams in their conferences. Plus, one of several opportunities for Big Ten-SEC bragging rights.
PICK: Ole Miss 27-21. MUSIC CITY BOWL
Maryland vs. Auburn (minus 2½)
Why watch? To see if coach Hugh Freeze can break Auburn out of its recent postseason funk. The Tigers have lost seven of their last nine bowl games,
PICK: Auburn 24-20. ORANGE BOWL
No. 4 Florida State (plus 14) vs. No. 6 Georgia
Why watch? Let’s find out just how important injured QB Jordan
Travis is to the Seminoles.
PICK: Georgia 28-20. ARIZONA BOWL
Toledo vs. Wyoming
(minus 3½)
Why watch? Final game as head coach at Wyoming for the retiring Craig Bohl, who helped launch North Dakota State’s FCS dynasty before spending 10 years with the Cowboys.
PICK: Wyoming 20-14.
MONDAY, JAN. 1 RELIAQUEST BOWL
No. 13 LSU (minus 10½) vs. Wisconsin
Why watch? Heisman winner Jayden Daniels is undecided on playing, but how’s this for symmetry if he does: Daniels’ last game for Arizona State before transferring was a bowl game against Wisconsin.
PICK: LSU 35-23. CITRUS BOWL
No. 20 Iowa (plus 7½) vs.
No. 25 Tennessee
Why watch? Hawkeyes only need to score 109 points to reach the total set at the beginning of the season to trigger a renewal of offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s contract — which explains why he has already been fired.
PICK: Tennessee 17-12. FIESTA BOWL
No. 8 Oregon vs. No. 18 Liberty (plus 18½)
Why watch? One last goodbye to Oregon’s Bo Nix, who is set to make his NCAA record 61st career start at quarterback. It has been a wild ride.
PICK: Oregon 48-31.
ROSE BOWL College Football Playoff Semifinal
No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 5 Alabama (plus 1½)
Why watch? The somewhat rare opportunity this season to see Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh actually coaching his team in a game.
PICK: Alabama 26-23.
SUGAR BOWL College Football Playoff Semifinal
No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Texas (minus 4½) Why watch? Michael Penix Jr. Rome Odunze. Quinn Ewers. Xavier Worthy. Playmakers everywhere and top-notch play-callers in Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian and Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
PICK: TEXAS 35-28.