Bowl Games 2024: Opening Slate

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year once again. This series will take us through all of the bowl games, including the playoff. So let’s dive in.

Saturday, December 14
9:00: Western Michigan vs. South Alabama (Veterans Bowl @ Montgomery, AL; ESPN): That’s right, this game is both after the Army-Navy game and the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Not much going on here other than South Alabama should probably win, an by a lot.
SP+ line: USA by 15.2
Vegas line: USA by 8
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: WMU hasn’t been bowling since a 52-24 win over Nevada in the 2021 Quick Lane Bowl. The Jags are appearing in their third straight bowl. They lost 44-23 to Western Kentucky in the 2022 New Orleans Bowl, and beat Eastern Michigan 59-10 in last season’s 68Ventures Bowl.
Announcers: Wes Durham, Tom Luginbill, and Dana Boyle

Tuesday, December 17
9:00: Memphis vs. West Virginia (Frisco Bowl @ Frisco, TX; ESPN): For an early bowl game, this could be interesting. The ‘neers fired Neal Brown a year later than we all thought they would, as the magic seemed to run out this season. Memphis is definitely favored here but it’s hard to predict how these things will go.
SP+ line: Memphis by 7.4
Vegas line: Memphis by 2.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: This should be the 11th straight bowl for Memphis. Their streak dates to the ((in)famous) 2014 Miami Beach Bowl, a 55-48 Memphis win over BYU that was most notable for a post-game fight. In 2021, Memphis was going to play in the Hawaii Bowl, but the game was canceled because of, well, you know. The beat Iowa State in 36-26 in last season’s Liberty Bowl. WVU won last season’s Mayo Bowl 30-10 over North Carolina, resulting in their (now) former coach having mayonnaise dunked on him.
Announcers: Mike Monaco, Kirk Morrison, and Dawn Davenport

Wednesday, December 18
5:30: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison (Boca Raton Bowl @ Boca Raton, FL; ESPN): I slightly favor JMU in this matchup of kind-of disappointing G5 teams.
SP+ line: JMU by 9.3
Vegas line: JMU by 7
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: WKU’s six game bowl streak dates to the 2019 First Responder Bowl, a 23-20 win over Western Michigan. They beat Old Dominion 38-35 in last season’s Famous Toastery Bowl. JMU makes their second bowl game ever. Last season they lost 31-21 to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Announcers: Chris Cotter, Mark Herzlich, and Coley Harvey

9:00: California vs. Nevada-Las Vegas (LA Bowl @ Inglewood, CA; ESPN): Meanwhile, one of the most snake-bitten teams of the season were these Cal Golden Bears, but they did eventually make it to six wins. UNLV is the best G5-team this side of Boise State. This could be a cracker of a matchup, but the way the season’s gone Cal will likely find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory again.
SP+ line: UNLV by 3
Vegas line: Cal by 3
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: Just one, a regular season meeting in 2022 that UNLV won 20-14.
Last bowl game: Cal lost 34-14 to Texas Tech in last season’s Independence Bowl. UNLV lost 49-36 to Kansas in last season’s Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
Announcers: Bob Wischusen, Louis Riddick, and Kris Budden

Thursday, December 19
7:00: Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston State (New Orleans Bowl @ New Orleans, LA; ESPN2): Really hoping the general weirdness of the New Orleans Bowl (thankfully on once again at night) overcomes the relatively lack of anything interesting about either of these teams.
SP+ line: Southern by 6
Vegas line: Southern by 5.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: This is the third straight bowl game for Southern. They lost 23-21 to Buffalo in the 2022 Camellia Bowl, and 41-21 to Ohio in last season’s Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Announcers: Jorge Sedano, Orlando Franklin, and Morgan Uber

Friday, December 20
Noon: Ohio vs. Jacksonville State (Cure Bowl @ Orlando, FL; ESPN):
I like the Bobcats here.
SP+ line: Ohio by 1.1
Vegas line: Ohio by 1.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: The Bobcats have a three game streak going now. Back in 2022 they beat Wyoming 30-27 in the Arizona Bowl, and last season they beat Georgia Southern 41-21 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Jax State beat Louisiana 34-31 in last season’s New Orleans Bowl.
Announcers: Brian Custer, Rod Gilmore, and Lauren Sisler

3:30: Tulane vs. Florida (Gasparilla Bowl @ Tampa, FL; ESPN2): Tulane gets another chance to knock off a P5/P4 team after last year’s upset of USC. The Gators of course, got… better over the course of the season, and unlike Tulane, their quarterback isn’t in the portal. I like the Gators here.
SP+ line: Gators by 5.1
Vegas line: Gators by 13.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the twenty-first meeting between these teams. The first was in 1915, which the Wave won 14-7. The most recent was back in September of 1984, where the Gators won 63-21. Overall, Florida leads 13-6-2.
Last bowl game: This will be the third straight bowl game for the Green Wave. In the 2022-23 Cotton Bowl they beat USC 46-45. Last season they lost 41-20 to Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl. The Gators are appearing for a bowl for the first time since a 30-3 loss to Oregon State in the 2022 Las Vegas Bowl.
Announcers: Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, and Paul Carcaterra

8:00: Notre Dame (#7) vs. Indiana (#10) (College Football Playoff First Round @ South Bend, IN; ABC): Welcome to a moment in history. Not only are Notre Dame and Indiana playing for just the 26th time ever (see below), it’s the first ever version of an actual Division I FBS playoff. (Well, sorta, I mean, it’s not endorsed by the NCAA, but that’s becoming less relevant by the minute.) So about the game itself. Indiana got here by taking an extremely mediocre schedule and absolutely demolishing it. The meme started as #9WinIndiana, meaning no matter what happens here this will still be the greatest season in the long (mostly terrible) history of Indiana Hoosiers football. There’s one problem, though: when they played the only good team on their schedule, they got demolished themselves. I don’t think Notre Dame is as good as Ohio State, but the Irish will easily be the second best team Indiana has played this year. I don’t think that bodes well for the Hoosiers, folks.
SP+ line: ND by 4.8
Vegas line: ND by 7.5
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: For two schools in the same state, they haven’t played a lot, in fact, just 25 times. The first was in 1899, which Notre Dame won 17-0. They played fairly often before 1959, but only meeting since then was in 1991, where Notre Dame won 49-27. The Irish hold a 22-3 overall advantage.
Last bowl game: This is the eighth consecutive bowl appearance for the Irish. Their run began in the 2017-18 Citrus Bowl, a 21-17 win over LSU. Last season they beat Oregon State 40-8 in the Sun Bowl. The Hoosiers’s last bowl game was the 2020-21 Outback Bowl, a 26-20 loss to Ole Miss.
Announcers: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy, and Molly McGrath

Saturday, December 21
Noon: Pennsylvania State (#6) vs. Southern Methodist (#11) (College Football Playoff First Round @ State College, PA; TNT): Back in the summer, Split Zone Duo posited that “it is James Franklin’s manifest destiny to be the first head coach to lose a home playoff game”. Now, of course if Indiana wins the night before that won’t be Franklin. But here at ASimSports, we still believe heavily in the prophecy, even if SMU probably isn’t really the ideal opponent to pull it off. (Now, of course, that will just make it that much funnier when the Ponies do pull it off.)
SP+ line: PSU by 5
Vegas line: PSU by 9
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: Just two. The first was New Year’s Day 1948, when they played a 13-13 tie in the Cotton Bowl. The last was in 1978, which Penn State won 26-21.
Last bowl game: For the Nittany Lions, this is their fourth straight postseason appearance. They lost 24-10 to Arkansas in the 2021-22 Outback Bowl. Last season, they lost 38-25 to Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. This is SMU’s third straight postseason game. They lost 24-23 to BYU in the 2022 New Mexico Bowl, and 23-14 to Boston College in last season’s Fenway Bowl.
Announcers: Mark Jones, Roddy Jones, and Quint Kessenich

4:00: Texas (#5) vs. Clemson (#12) (College Football Playoff First Round @ Austin, TX; TNT): If we’re being honest with ourselves, the home team most likely to beef it probably isn’t Penn State. This would probably the funniest upset if it happens, but I just don’t see how Clemson is going to move the ball, and Ewers and Co. can score points when they’re not playing Georgia. The Horns should be fine.
SP+ line: Texas by 13.2
Vegas line: Texas by 11
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: This will be the Horns’s third straight postseason game. In 2022, they lost 27-20 Washington in the Alamo Bowl. Last season they also lost to Washington, but in that was other instant classic from the playoff, a 37-31 thriller in the Sugar Bowl.
Announcers: Dave Pasch, Dusty Dvoracek, and Taylor McGregor

8:00: Ohio State (#8) vs. Tennessee (#9) (College Football Playoff First Round @ Columbus, OH; ABC): As befits an 8-9 game, this is the most likely to produce fireworks. Both teams have robust offenses (at least, when Ryan Day remembers that he does), so the question is going to come down to defense. It’s fair to say that the only other robust offensive team the Buckeyes have faced was Oregon, and, well, they lost that game (and by doing whatever that was against Michigan, lost the chance to try the Ducks again). However, the Ducks are that much better than the Vols, who while always dangerous do have a freshman QB and just a little bit less receiver talent than they have the past few years. If Tennessee gets it going, they will be extremely dangerous and the Buckeyes will be in trouble, but I’m not sure they’re going to get the chance.
SP+ line: OSU by 5.6
Vegas line: OSU by 7.5
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: Just one, a 20-14 Ohio State victory in the Citrus Bowl.
Last bowl game: It’s very amazing how often Ohio State is good to very, very good. Their current postseason streak dates to 2013, the after the 12-0 run that they had a bowl ban for. (Otherwise, their streak would go back to 1999.) So for now, they’ve just got a 13-season streak, dating to the 2013-14 Orange Bowl, a 40-35 loss to Clemson. Last season they had a pretty meek showing in a 14-3 loss to Mizzou in the Cotton Bowl. This will the fourth straight postseason appearance for the Vols, dating to a 48-45 loss to Purdue in the 2021 Music City Bowl. Last season, they completely boatraced Iowa 35-0 in the Citrus Bowl.
Announcers: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Holly Rowe

This Weekend in College Football: Week 16

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As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

9:00: Idaho @ Montana State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN)

Saturday

Noon:

  • Incarnate Word @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN)
  • South Carolina State vs. Jackson State (Celebration Bowl @ Atlanta, GA; ABC)

3:00:

  • Army vs. Navy (@Landover, MD; CBS): Welcome to a rare instance of this game where both teams are good. To me, that says that there’s a fair chance there might actually be multiple touchdowns scored! While this doesn’t seem to matter a lot in this game, this should be Army’s game to lose. Their offense is hitting on all cylinders and the AAC champs should retain the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.
  • California-Davis @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ESPN+)

3:30: Mercer @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal; ABC)

This Weekend in College Football: Week 15

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As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Friday

7:00: Sam Houston State @ Jacksonville State (C-USA Championship; CBSS): Rich Rod might turn this Jax State thing into getting the West Virginia job again. Stranger things have happened.

8:00:

  • Tulane @ Army (American Athletic Conference Championship; ABC): There’s a couple things in Army’s favor here. The main thing is that this is probably the biggest home game at Michie Stadium in decades, if not ever. And on that point, it’s going to be cold in West Point tomorrow night. Tulane is rolling in from New Orleans with a bunch of southern boys who are used to running a fluid offense. That said, while Army’s offense is always a talent neutralizer, Tulane’s athletes will just be on a different level. Not as big of a gap as the Knights faced against Notre Dame, but a gap nonetheless. I like the Wave here.
  • Nevada-Las Vegas @ Boise State (Mountain West Conference Championship; FOX): Boise already did it once down in Vegas. With a game in the cold confines of the blue turf, I like Boise to prevail again.

Saturday

Noon:

  • Arizona State vs. Iowa State (Big 12 Conference Championship @ Arlington, TX; ABC): It’s a bit of a shame this is an early game (kicking at 11am local time, even!) as this might be the best game all day. They’re certainly very evenly matched, and this is also a very “styles make fights” type game, with the relative “meat and potatoes” Cyclones and the flashy Sun Devils. I like the Cyclones, but this is seriously a coin flip on a day that’s going to be full of coin flips.
  • Ohio vs. Miami (Mid-American Conference Championship @ Detroit, MI; ESPN): Speaking of which, we have two trends facing off here. Ohio is 0-5 all-time in the MAC championship, and Miami is trying to become the first team to repeat as MAC champs since Northern Illinois did it in 2011 and 2012. So who do we like here? As with most games today, this is going to be pretty even, so while I didn’t literally flip a coin this time, I’m going with the Bobcats.

2:00:

  • Southern @ Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship; ESPN2)
  • Montana @ South Dakota State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
  • Villanova @ Incarnate Word (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
  • Rhode Island @ Mercer (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

3:00:

  • Tarleton State @ South Dakota (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
  • Tennessee-Martin @ Montana State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)
  • Abilene Christian @ North Dakota State (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

4:00:

  • Texas vs. Georgia (Southeastern Conference Championship @ Atlanta, GA; ABC): A quick comment about last weekend. With Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate being on more or less unopposed in primetime on Black Friday, I got the sense that there were a lot of people watching it for the first time. Take it from me, someone who has been watching this game with intent every season it’s happened since 2003: it is always like that.
    So anyway, this game. It’s another rematch, but these are different teams than the last time they met. Texas has discovered the run game, and they’re the ones coming into the game with the defense that scares you. Yeah, Georgia won last Friday, but the dominate theme of the evening until like 5 minutes left the game was this Georgia team is soft. Carson Beck had a significantly better second half, but he had plenty of poor throws and even when the throws were good, his receivers dropped them. Suffice it to say, Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers are not walking out of the tunnel at the Benz on Saturday. Texas is the team with the dudes and the motivation to go out and seize the day. Maybe I’m over-indexing on how their rivalry games went, but the Horns were in Kyle Field for the first time since 2011. There were 109,000+ people there who paid a month’s rent or more to show those snooty Austin urbanites who’s the real Texas SEC team, and the Horns just completely suffocated them. Suffice it to say, I think they can do the same thing in the Benz.
  • Illinois State @ California-Davis (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)

7:30: Marshall @ Louisiana (Sun Belt Conference Championship; ESPN): I think the Cajuns are just too good in this one.

8:00:

  • Clemson vs. Southern Methodist (Atlantic Coast Conference Championship @ Charlotte, NC; ABC): There’s really only one of two ways this is going to go. The first is: SMU really is that good, and they just run and pass all over Clemson and it’s over early. The other is that SMU has had a really soft schedule and lost to the by far best team they’ve played (BYU), and Clemson, while not great, is just a step above SMU and they win easily. The problem is, I watched Clemson-South Carolina and I still don’t know even with better players if Clemson is going to score enough. I like SMU.
  • Pennsylvania State vs. Oregon (Big Ten Conference Championship @ Indianapolis, IN; CBS): This is the easiest game to predict. Penn State will play well, they won’t shoot themselves in the foot, but Oregon will take a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter, the Nittany Lions will kick a field goal, and then Oregon will win. It’s destiny.

9:00: Lehigh @ Idaho (NCAA Division I Second Round; ESPN+)