College Football: Bowl Hits and Misses.

40(!!!) Bowl Games. (Not counting the Championship Game)

If we're being honest that's about 10 too many. Despite this, there were three teams that obtained bowl eligibility but whose seasons are over.  Sorry Buffalo, Western Michigan and UT-San Antonio. (To be fair, they should be allowed extra practices the same as other teams who are eligible AND going to a bowl. Unless you're in the CFP, those practices are the main perk in becoming bowl eligible)

As is always the case we have some duds, and we have some games that should be a ton of fun to watch.  Here's my ranking of the bottom 5 and top 5 of all the bowl games. Staring with the worst.



***Note: I'm not saying these games are going to be BAD, only that the odds are they're going to suck. They could turn into instant classics and they sometimes do.***


40. Boca Raton Bowl:  FAU vs. Akron.

In a way you have to feel a little sorry for the folks running BR, the two teams they originally targeted were selected in front of them and they had to pivot to two conferences to which they had no ties and what we're stuck with is a dog of a game.

39.  Independence Bowl: Florida State vs. Southern Miss.

It's a Florida State team that had to reschedule UL-Monroe to keep their bowl streak alive, and playing with an interim coach to boot.  Meh.

38. Belk Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M

A pedestrian Wake Forest team against an Aggie team with Jimbo just watching who took this game specifically to avoid playing UT-Austin in Houston.  Blech.

37. The Fiesta Bowl: Penn State vs. Washington

Two offensively challenged teams who both feature fairly decent defenses.  The final score could be 3-0. On the bright side: The mid-afternoon start time should allow for a Saturday nap.

36. The Alamo Bowl: Stanford vs. TCU

On paper this bowl isn't that bad but in reality we all know that this bowl is always the "Disappointment Bowl" as both teams are coming off of humiliating losses in their respective conference championship games.



The theoretical "best".

5. The Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs. USC

JT Barrett vs. Sam Darnold.  Count me in.

4. The Liberty Bowl:  Memphis vs. Iowa State

A good matchup between a high-scoring Group of 5 team against everyone's underdog this year. Very interesting data point surrounding the relative strength of the American this year.

3. The Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Oregon.

Herbert is back for Oregon, and Boise State has a history of showing up big against P5 opponents in bowl games.  Both teams should be motivated in this game. As a matter of fact, it's a good thing that Boise drew a Power 5 opponent or their game would have been in the bottom five.

2. The Birmingham Bowl:  Texas Tech vs. USF

These two teams could break the scoreboard. Neither really plays very good defense and offensively they both have the ability to score a TON of points. If you're a college football fan this game is must-watch TV.

1. The Peach Bowl: Auburn vs. UCF.

This is a good test for UCF against the runner-up in the SEC. Yes, the SEC was down this year, despite the fact that the CFP Committee decided to put two of their teams in the playoff, I think Auburn is a great matchup for the Knights. Offensively will Scott Frost be able to crack the Auburn code and can his defense do enough to stop the Tiger's power offense?  Easily the best of the NY 6 games.

The good news?  We have 42 games of FBS football left to play (Army/Navy y'all) and that's better than not having 42 games left.

The bad news?  We only have 42 games of FBS football left to play.