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There are 35 bowl games this year, which is kind of great and kind of awful. Let's face it: if you watch each and every one of these games, you probably have a sickness (unless you cover college football for a living, in which case you definitely have a sickness).
It would be one thing if we had 35 great matchups to carry us through the end of the season, but despite what the marketing folks at ESPN* will tell you, there are some real duds in the lineup this year. You need to know when to schedule a night on the sofa and when to simply have the game on in the background. Let's get to work.
*ESPN/ABC has 33 out of the 35 bowl games this year. CBS has 1 (Sun Bowl), Fox has 1 (Cotton).
Best teams bowling:
Florida State (1)
Alabama (2)
Stanford (3)
Worst teams bowling:
Ohio (104)
UNLV (95)
San Diego State (94)
Best teams watching from home:
Utah (34)
Florida (47)
TCU (48)
Games with 2 top 25 F/+ teams:
12/31 Sun - UCLA (13) vs. Virginia Tech (21)
1/1 Rose - Stanford (3) vs. Michigan State (9)
1/1 Capital One - Wisconsin (10) vs. South Carolina (14)
1/1 Fiesta - Baylor (7) vs. UCF (24)
1/2 Sugar - Alabama (2) vs. Oklahoma (23)
1/3 Orange - Ohio State (5) vs. Clemson (15)
1/3 Cotton - Oklahoma State (11) vs. Missouri (17)
1/6 BCS Championship - Florida State (1) vs. Auburn (4)
Eight out of the 35 games feature two top 25 teams, and seven of them fall in a three-day span from Dec 31 to Jan 3. Make sure any new TVs or surround sound systems are ready to go by the first at the very latest.
Best games prior to Dec 31:
12/28 Russell Athletic - Louisville (16) vs. Miami (29)
12/27 Fight Hunger - Washington (19) vs. BYU (26)
12/30 Alamo - Oregon (8) vs. Texas (39)
Let's take a look all of the games. First, in chronological order:
Date | Bowl | Rk | F/+ Favorite | Rk | F/+ Underdog |
21-Dec | New Mexico | 58 | Washington State | 68 | Colorado State |
21-Dec | Las Vegas | 12 | USC | 44 | Fresno State |
21-Dec | Idaho Potato | 69 | Buffalo | 94 | San Diego State |
21-Dec | New Orleans | 72 | Tulane | 88 | UL-Lafayette |
23-Dec | Beef 'O' Brady's | 38 | East Carolina | 104 | Ohio |
24-Dec | Hawaii | 37 | Boise State | 50 | Oregon State |
26-Dec | Little Caesars | 41 | Bowling Green | 59 | Pittsburgh |
26-Dec | Poinsettia | 33 | Utah State | 61 | Northern Illinois |
27-Dec | Military | 51 | Marshall | 65 | Maryland |
27-Dec | Texas | 48 | Minnesota | 76 | Syracuse |
27-Dec | Fight Hunger | 19 | Washington | 26 | BYU |
28-Dec | Pinstripe | 25 | Notre Dame | 90 | Rutgers |
28-Dec | Belk | 40 | North Carolina | 64 | Cincinnati |
28-Dec | Russell Athletic | 16 | Louisville | 29 | Miami |
28-Dec | BWW | 27 | Kansas State | 32 | Michigan |
30-Dec | Armed Forces | 66 | Navy | 78 | Middle Tennessee |
30-Dec | Music City | 31 | Georgia Tech | 35 | Ole Miss |
30-Dec | Alamo | 8 | Oregon | 39 | Texas |
30-Dec | Holiday | 6 | Arizona State | 60 | Texas Tech |
31-Dec | V100 | 30 | Arizona | 54 | Boston College |
31-Dec | Sun | 13 | UCLA | 21 | Virginia Tech |
31-Dec | Liberty | 43 | Mississippi State | 55 | Rice |
31-Dec | Chick-Fil-A | 22 | Texas A&M | 36 | Duke |
1-Jan | Gator | 20 | Georgia | 45 | Nebraska |
1-Jan | Heart of Dallas | 49 | North Texas | 95 | UNLV |
1-Jan | Outback | 18 | LSU | 28 | Iowa |
1-Jan | Capital One | 10 | Wisconsin | 14 | South Carolina |
1-Jan | Rose | 3 | Stanford | 9 | Michigan State |
1-Jan | Fiesta | 7 | Baylor | 24 | Central Florida |
2-Jan | Sugar | 2 | Alabama | 23 | Oklahoma |
3-Jan | Cotton | 11 | Oklahoma State | 17 | Missouri |
3-Jan | Orange | 5 | Ohio State | 15 | Clemson |
4-Jan | BBVA Compass | 42 | Houston | 53 | Vanderbilt |
5-Jan | GoDaddy | 52 | Ball State | 93 | Arkansas State |
6-Jan | BCS Title Game | 1 | Florida State | 4 | Auburn |
Now, let's look at the games sorted by the average F/+ rankings for the teams in each game:
Rk | Date | Bowl | Rk | F/+ Favorite | Rk | F/+ Underdog | Avg |
1 | 6-Jan | BCS Title Game | 1 | Florida State | 4 | Auburn | 2.5 |
2 | 1-Jan | Rose | 3 | Stanford | 9 | Michigan State | 6.0 |
3 | 3-Jan | Orange | 5 | Ohio State | 15 | Clemson | 10.0 |
4 | 1-Jan | Capital One | 10 | Wisconsin | 14 | South Carolina | 12.0 |
5 | 2-Jan | Sugar | 2 | Alabama | 23 | Oklahoma | 12.5 |
6 | 3-Jan | Cotton | 11 | Oklahoma State | 17 | Missouri | 14.0 |
7 | 1-Jan | Fiesta | 7 | Baylor | 24 | Central Florida | 15.5 |
8 | 31-Dec | Sun | 13 | UCLA | 21 | Virginia Tech | 17.0 |
9 | 28-Dec | Russell Athletic | 16 | Louisville | 29 | Miami | 22.5 |
9 | 27-Dec | Fight Hunger | 19 | Washington | 26 | BYU | 22.5 |
11 | 1-Jan | Outback | 18 | LSU | 28 | Iowa | 23.0 |
12 | 30-Dec | Alamo | 8 | Oregon | 39 | Texas | 23.5 |
13 | 21-Dec | Las Vegas | 12 | USC | 44 | Fresno State | 28.0 |
14 | 31-Dec | Chick-Fil-A | 22 | Texas A&M | 36 | Duke | 29.0 |
15 | 28-Dec | BWW | 27 | Kansas State | 32 | Michigan | 29.5 |
16 | 1-Jan | Gator | 20 | Georgia | 45 | Nebraska | 32.5 |
17 | 30-Dec | Holiday | 6 | Arizona State | 60 | Texas Tech | 33.0 |
17 | 30-Dec | Music City | 31 | Georgia Tech | 35 | Ole Miss | 33.0 |
19 | 31-Dec | V100 | 30 | Arizona | 54 | Boston College | 42.0 |
20 | 24-Dec | Hawaii | 37 | Boise State | 50 | Oregon State | 43.5 |
21 | 26-Dec | Poinsettia | 33 | Utah State | 61 | Northern Illinois | 47.0 |
22 | 4-Jan | BBVA Compass | 42 | Houston | 53 | Vanderbilt | 47.5 |
23 | 31-Dec | Liberty | 43 | Mississippi State | 55 | Rice | 49.0 |
24 | 26-Dec | Little Caesars | 41 | Bowling Green | 59 | Pittsburgh | 50.0 |
25 | 28-Dec | Belk | 40 | North Carolina | 64 | Cincinnati | 52.0 |
26 | 28-Dec | Pinstripe | 25 | Notre Dame | 90 | Rutgers | 57.5 |
27 | 27-Dec | Military | 51 | Marshall | 65 | Maryland | 58.0 |
28 | 27-Dec | Texas | 48 | Minnesota | 76 | Syracuse | 62.0 |
29 | 21-Dec | New Mexico | 58 | Washington State | 68 | Colorado State | 63.0 |
30 | 23-Dec | Beef 'O' Brady's | 38 | East Carolina | 104 | Ohio | 71.0 |
31 | 1-Jan | Heart of Dallas | 49 | North Texas | 95 | UNLV | 72.0 |
31 | 30-Dec | Armed Forces | 66 | Navy | 78 | Middle Tennessee | 72.0 |
33 | 5-Jan | GoDaddy | 52 | Ball State | 93 | Arkansas State | 72.5 |
34 | 21-Dec | New Orleans | 72 | Tulane | 88 | UL-Lafayette | 80.0 |
35 | 21-Dec | Idaho Potato | 69 | Buffalo | 94 | San Diego State | 81.5 |
Programming idea for ESPN: You have three horrific games on Dec 21. Pay Les Miles whatever he wants to hop on a jet and do a 1-man play-by-play for each of these games. I will watch, and so will the rest of America.
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