As usual, the latest updates on how I’m doing are here. In the meantime, here’s the lineup through Friday. And as usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.
Monday, December 23
11:00: Texas-San Antonio vs. Coastal Carolina (Myrtle Beach Bowl @ Conway, SC; ESPN): Coastal gets a home game, which I always wonder is a bit of a bummer for the team in question. Either way, I like the Road Runners here.
SP+ line: UTSA by 3.5
Vegas line: UTSA by 11
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: For the Roadrunners, this is their fifth straight bowl game. They lost to Louisiana 31-24 in the 2020 First Respondeder Bowl. Last season they beat Marshall 35-17 in the Frisco Bowl.
Announcers: Taylor Zarzour, Matt Stinchcomb, and Alyssa Lang
2:30: Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois (Potato Bowl @ Boise, ID; ESPN): Y’all, it’s time for the Potato Bowl. It’s not always the most thrilling game, but it’s admirable that this game has maintained its personality even though it got acquired by ESPN Events many years ago. (To wit, see the logo, website, and mascot.) As for the game itself, I have to like Fresno here. NIU has one of the most head scratching victories of the year (their upset of Notre Dame in Week 2), but I don’t see that informing this game.
SP+ line: Fresno by 2.6
Vegas line: NIU by 3.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: They first met in 1972, in a surely thrilling 9-6 Fresno State win. The last was a 40-17 NIU win in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl, giving them a 3-2 overall series lead.”
Last bowl game: For the Bulldogs, their current streak dates to the 2021 New Mexico Bowl, a 31-24 win over UTEP. Last season they beat New Mexico State 37-10 in the New Mexico Bowl. NIU beat Arkansas State 21-19 in last season’s Camellia Bowl.
Announcers: Lowell Galindo, Fozzy Whittaker, and Tori Petry
Tuesday, December 24
8:00: San Jose State vs. South Florida (Hawaii Bowl @ Honolulu, HI; ESPN): It’s Christmas Eve. Turn this on and think about how warm it is over there. I hope you’re enjoying your holiday, wherever you are. I like the Spartans here.
SP+ line: USF by 1.9
Vegas line: SJSU by 3.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: Just one: a 44-22 USF win in 2017.
Last bowl game: The Silicon Spartans have appeared in three straight bowl games. In 2022, they lost 41-27 to Eastern Michigan in the Potato Bowl. Last season they lost 24-14 to Coastal Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl. USF blanked Syracuse in last season’s Boca Raton Bowl, 45-0.
Announcers: Tiffany Greene, Jay Walker, and Marilyn Payne
Thursday, December 26
2:00: Pittsburgh vs. Toledo (Sports Bowl @ Detroit, MI; ESPN): It’s possible that Pitt will be bummed to be in Detroit and find themselves upset by one of the usually good MAC teams, but I doubt it.
SP+ line: Pitt by 9.9
Vegas line: Pitt by 6.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: Three. The first was a 37-19 Pitt win in 2022, and the last was a 45-3 Pitt win in 2006. But in 2003 Toledo won 35-31.
Last bowl game: Pitt’s last postseason appearance was in the Sun Bowl, a 37-35 win over UCLA. By all rights, Toledo should have a streak going back to 2010, but they were skipped over in 2013 and 2019, and didn’t play in a bowl in 2020. So this is their fourth in a row, dating to the 2021 Bahamas Bowl, a 31-24 loss to Middle Tennessee State. Last season they lost 16-14 to Wyoming in the Arizona Bowl.
Announcers: Matt Schumacker, Dustin Fox, and Harry Lyles Jr.
5:30: Rutgers vs. Kansas State (Guaranteed Rate Bowl @ Phoenix, AZ; ESPN): It’s always a minor victory for Rutgers to get to a bowl. But K-State has the grit and know-how to prevail in bowl games.
SP+ line: K-State by 8.8
Vegas line: K-State by 7
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: Just one: a 37-10 Rutgers win in the 2006 Texas Bowl.
Last bowl game: Rutgers beat Miami 31-24 in the Pinstripe Bowl last season. This will be K-State’s fourth in a row, dating to a 42-20 win over LSU in the 2021-22 Texas Bowl. Last season they ate the Pop-Tarts, beating NC State 28-19 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Announcers: Wes Durham, Tom Luginbill, and Dana Boyle
9:00: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green (68 Ventures Bowl @ Mobile, AL; ESPN): Part of my job should really be to look up what the portal picture is for this, because about the only way I don’t like Bowling Green is if all of their first string is playing elsewhere next season.
SP+ line: BGSU by 10.6
Vegas line: BGSU by 8
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: Arkansas State lost 21-19 to Northern Illinois in last season’s Camellia Bowl. Bowling Green lost to New Mexico 24-19 in the 2022 Quick Lane Bowl, and lost last season’s Quick Lane Bowl 30-24 to Minnesota. I suspect they might actually be happy to be in Mobile, considering.
Announcers: Clay Matvick, Roddy Jones, and Ashley Stroehlein
Friday, December 27
Noon: Navy vs. Oklahoma (Armed Forces Bowl @ Fort Worth, TX; ESPN): There are so many variables in this game. For starters, will Navy be motivated? After all, they besmirched one of the best Army seasons in decades by winning the Command-in-Chief’s trophy. Will they be able to maintain the motivation to beat a classic power? For Oklahoma, it’s been a rough season, but they can hang their hat on probably single-highhandedly keeping Alabama out of the playoff. And while the Sooners definitely have the talent advantage here, their offensive struggles are real. I’m going to be cowardly and take OU here, but this could be a cracker of a game.
SP+ line: OU by 7.7
Vegas line: OU by 3
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: Just one: a 10-0 Navy win back in 1965.
Last bowl game: Navy’s last bowl appearance was a 20-17 win over K-State in the 2019 Liberty Bowl. For the Sooners, this is their twenty-sixth straight bowl game, which is now the second longest streak in the country, behind only Georgia. The run started with a 27-25 loss to Ole Miss in the 1999 Independence Bowl, and most recently they lost 38-24 to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl.
Announcers: Courtney Lyle, Rene Ingoglia, and Morgan Uber
3:30: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt (Birmingham Bowl @ Birmingham, AL; ESPN): It’s still to be determined if I’m going to drive to Birmingham for this one. That said, tickets are tough to get, and for good reason: these plucky teams are set to have almost all of their usual starters, including their hard-nosed quarterbacks. I think regardless of the outcome this could be one of the best non-playoff games of the entire postseason.
SP+ line: Vandy 1.7
Vegas line: GT by 3
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: These former SEC foes have played 37 games, and I even attended one in Nashville. The first was a 37-6 Tech loss in 1906. They met fairly regularly until Tech left the SEC after 1963, resulting a gap in the series from 1967 to 2002. The most recent meeting wase a 38-7 Tech win in 2016. Tech lost a fair bit before WWII, but the last loss for us was in 1941, and the last non-win was a 10-10 tie in 1965. And then there’s the game I attended in 2003 that went to overtime. Two plays were run in OT: a Reggie Ball naked bootleg for a TD, and then a Jay Cutler interception. The Vandy students around filled out silently, after all, that’s just kind of how Vandy football usually is (especially in the pre-James Franklin era). Overall, the Jackets hold a 20-14-3 advantage.
Last bowl game: The Jackets now have a two-game streak after last season’s 30-17 win over UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl. This is Vandy’s first bowl game since the 2018 Texas Bowl, where they lost 45-38 to Baylor.
Announcers: Dave Neal, Aaron Murray, and Ashley ShahAhmadi
7:00: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas (Liberty Bowl @ Memphis, TN; ESPN): You could tell just about anything could happen in this game and I’d probably believe you. Both teams had low expectations coming into the season and simply making a bowl game probably feels good just on its own. I’ll take the Hogs here but this could be an interesting one.
SP+ line: Hogs by 5.8
Vegas line: Hogs by 1.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: These former SWC foes have met… 37 times. The first was back in 1957, a 47-26 Tech win. They played regularly after that until the Hogs left the SWC. The most recent meeting was a 35-24 TTU win in 2015. Overall, though, Arkansas has dominated to the tune of a 29-8 advantage.
Last bowl game: This is the fourth straight bowl for the Red Raiders, dating to a 34-7 win over Mississippi State in the 2021 Liberty Bowl. Last season they beat Cal 34-14 in the Independence Bowl. The Razorbacks’s last bowl game was a 55-53 win over Kansas in the 2022 Liberty Bowl.
Announcers: Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, and Paul Carcaterra
8:00: Syracuse vs. Washington State (Holiday Bowl @ San Diego, CA; FOX): Unfortunately, with Wazzu’s QB in the portal I don’t see any realistic path to victory for the Cougs, and a game that would probably be pretty watchable otherwise with two fun QBs will be sort of “meh”.
SP+ line: Cuse by 3.6
Vegas line: Cuse by 15.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: Just one: a 55-25 Syracuse win in Buffalo back in 1979.
Last bowl game: This is the third straight bowl game for the Orange. They lost 28-20 in the 2022 Pinstripe Bowl to Minnesota, and got blanked 45-0 by South Florida in last season’s Boca Raton Bowl. Wazzu’s last postseason appearance was the 2022 LA Bowl, a 29-6 loss to Fresno State.
Announcers: Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt
10:30: Southern California vs. Texas A&M (Las Vegas Bowl @ Las Vegas, NV; ESPN): Hey USC, remember late night Eastern time kick-offs? Well, here you go. That said, USC’s lost season figures to continue to be…. lost. While this game has some entertainment value with two “name brands” (if you will) I really like the Aggies here.
SP+ line: TAMU by 7.1
Vegas line: TAMU by 3
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: Three, and it’s been a while. The first was a 31-7 USC win in 1964. They met in the 1975 Liberty Bowl, a 20-0 USC win. And then two years later they bet in the Bluebonnet Bowl, a 47-28 USC win.
Last bowl game: This will be USC’s third straight bowl game, dating to the 2022-23 Cotton Bowl, where they lost 46-45 to Tulane. They handled Louisville 42-28 in last season’s Holiday Bowl. A&M lost 31-23 to Oklahoma State in last season’s Texas Bowl.
Announcers: Dave Flemming, Brock Osweiler, and Stormy Buonantony