Well, last Saturday was pretty much a disaster for me, as the only pick I got right was Troy over North Texas. Yet, we soldier on!

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Tuesday, December 19
7:00: Akron vs. Florida Atlantic (Boca Raton Bowl @ Boca Raton, FL; ESPN): Akron was definitely an okay MAC team, but at least on paper this is the biggest mismatch of bowl season. I expect the Fightin’ Lane Kiffins to win and win big.
S&P+ line: FAU by 22
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: This is Akron’s first bowl game since the 2015 Potato Bowl, where they beat Utah State 23-21. For the Owls, this is their first bowl since the 2008 Motre City Bowl, where they beat Central Michigan 24-21.
Announcers: Clay Matvick and Kirk Morrison

Wednesday, December 20
8:00: Southern Methodist vs. Louisiana Tech (Frisco Bowl @ Frisco, TX; ESPN): The Mustangs pretty much lost to anyone decent they played, but fortunately for them the Bulldogs aren’t really decent by any means. I have SMU here.
S&P+ line: SMU by 3.3
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: There’s four meetings, back to the brief period when both these teams were in C-USA from 2001-2004. LaTech holds a 3-1 lead in the series, including a 41-10 win in 2004.
Last bowl game: This is SMU’s first bowl since the 2012 Hawaii Bowl, where they beat Florida State 43-10. (Yeah, that bowl streak has some low points…) For the Bulldogs, this is their fourth bowl game in a row. Back in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl, they beat Illinois 35-18. Last season, they beat Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl 48-45.
Announcers: Mike Couzens and John Congemi

Thursday, December 21
8:00: Florida International vs. Temple (Gasparilla Bowl @ St. Petersburg, FL; ESPN): If you like points, then this bowl is probably for you. I expect this game to be in the 30’s, but I’m going with Temple by a hair.
S&P+ line: FIU by 0.6
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: This is FIU’s first bowl since a previous incarnation of this game, the 2011 Beef ‘O’Brady’s Bowl, where they lost to Marshall 20-10. To use a phrase that, before 2009 or so I never thought I’d utter, this is Temple’s third straight bowl game. They lost 34-26 to Wake Forest in last year’s Military Bowl.
Announcers: Anish Shroff and Mike Golic Jr.

Friday, December 22
12:30: Ohio vs. Alabama-Birmingham (Bahamas Bowl @ Nassau, Bahamas; ESPN): The main reason this game is interesting is because UAB, after being killed off by a dumb Alabama power play conspiracy, managed to go 8-4 despite having not played in two years. Maybe on paper the Bobcats should win, but I don’t really care, I’m going for UAB because in some small way it might spite the University of Alabama.
S&P+ line: Ohio by 5.1
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: This is Ohio’s thirds straight bowl game. They lost 28-23 to Troy in last year’s Dollar General Bowl. For UAB, this is their second bowl game ever. Their previous postseason appearance was in the 2004 Hawaii Bowl, where they lost to Hawaii 59-40.
Announcers: Steve Levy and Desmond Howard
Fun fact: Go Blazers!

4:00: Wyoming vs. Central Michigan (Potato Bowl @ Boise, ID; ESPN): Home of the best logo of bowl season, we’ve got, well, the logo is probably better than this matchup. The hype and focus of the broadcast coverage will likely be Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, who for whatever reason was tapped before the season as a potential NFL first round pick and never was able to shake the hype train, despite not even being the first, second, third, fourth, or fifth best passer in his conference. The Cowboys also finished with a bad loss to a terrible San Jose State team, though in fairness Allen missed that game and the one before with a shoulder injury (which is also making him questionable for this game, but I suspect he will dominate the conversation whether he plays or not). So yeah, the Chippewas had themselves a nice little season, reeling off five straight wins to close out the season. If Wyoming is without Allen, then I like CMU; with him I consider this a toss-up. Generally speaking, a Mountain West team should have more talent than a MAC team, but by all means Wyoming has had the more disappointing season, which tends to factor into bowl games.
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: These teams met in 2000 and 2002. Wyoming won the first 31-10 and CMU won the second 32-20.
Last bowl game: Wyoming appeared in the last ever Poinsettia Bowl last year, where they lost to BYU 24-21. This is the fourths straight bowl for Central Michigan. They started the streak with a 49-48 loss to Western Kentucky in the Bahamas Bowl, and last year they lost 55-10 to Tusla in the Miami Beach Bowl.
Announcers: Roy Philpott and Tom Ramsey

Saturday, December 23
Noon: Texas Tech vs. South Florida (Birmingham Bowl @ Birmingham, AL; ESPN): Wake up this Saturday with some points, because boy howdy will they be scored in this one. That said, Texas Tech isn’t really, like, that good? Their season started well enough, with a crazy shootout win over Arizona State and the obligatory blowout of Kansas, but then it careened off the rails with losses to everyone else in the Big 12 except Baylor and, crucially, Texas. That said, they’ll get there’s, but Quinton Flowers and company are pretty good at pointing up the numbers themselves and they can play defense. I expect that ability to get at least one stop to be the difference.
S&P+ line: USF by 8.1
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: For the Red Raiders, this is their first bowl since the 2015 Texas Bowl, where they lost 56-27 to LSU. This is USF’s third straight bowl game. They beat South Carolina 46-39 in last year’s edition of this game.
Announcers: Tom Hart and Gene Chizik

3:30: San Diego State vs. Army (Armed Forces Bowl @ Fort Worth, TX; ESPN): Army is definitely the cool story here, with their 9-3 record propelling them to their best season since 1996, when they went 10-2. Unfortunately, that story ended with a close loss to Auburn in the Independence Bowl. This game may set a bowl record for least pass attempts, as both teams prefer to run the ball. The Aztecs feature a traditional feature back in Rashad Penny, who was the FBS’s leader in rushing yards this year. Army nominally features an option attack, but they mostly feature quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw (5th in FBS in rushing) making various off-tackle and power runs to either side of the lines. In other words, this will be the complete opposite of the Birmingham Bowl. I think by the nature of these offenses the game will be close, but I think SDSU is slightly better.
S&P+ line: SDSU by 3.4
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: SDSU holds a 2-0 series lead, with a 23-20 win in 2011 and a 42-7 win in 2012.
Last bowl game: The Aztecs just keep on truckin’, as this is their eighth straight bowl appearance. The streak started with a 35-14 win over Navy in the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl, and most recently they beat Houston 34-10 in the Las Vegas Bowl. Army won last year’s Heart of Dallas Bowl 38-31 over North Texas. For Army, this is the first they’ve had consecutive bowl bids since the 1984 Cherry Bowl and the 1985 Peach Bowl.
Announcers: Adam Amin and Mack Brown

7:00: Toledo vs. Appalachian State (Dollar General Bowl @ Mobile, AL; ESPN): For the most part, this Toledo team is one that finally broke through and won the MAC, and usually in dominating fashion. That said, they don’t really come in with a prestige win, per se; the only Power 5 team they played was Miami and they got shallacked, and they also have an ugly loss to Ohio. Appalachian State finished as co-champions of the Sun Belt, but that’s mostly because they dodged the other two good teams in the Sun Belt (Troy and Arkansas State) in conference play. Overall, I think the Rockets are a better team and while this won’t get them the prestige win they’re looking for, it should be a fun contest.
S&P+ line: Toledo by 3.1
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: These teams met in last year’s Camellia Bowl. The Mountaineers won 31-28.
Last bowl game: For the Rockets, this is their fourth straight bowl game, going back to the 2014-15 Godaddy.com Bowl (a previous incarnation of this game), where they beat Arkansas State 63-44. For the Mountaineers, this is their third straight bowl game and first appearance in a game other than the Camellia Bowl. In that 2015 game, they beat Ohio 31-29. Maybe next time they can get a bowl game outside the state of Alabama, though if they somehow got a Birmingham Bowl bid I’m sure that would be some sort of unique record.
Announcers: Dave Neal and Matt Stinchcomb

Sunday, December 24
8:30: Fresno State vs. Houston (Hawaii Bowl @ Honolulu, HI; ESPN): This should be a pretty good Hawaii Bowl, all things considered. Fresno isn’t that adept at scoring the ball, but unlike many of Houston’s opponents they can actually defend. Of course, that’s assuming we’re talking about the gun-slinging Houston of old, which we aren’t. Given that, I expect Fresno to grind it out and get a close, hard fought win.
S&P+ line: Fresno State by 0.5
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: Fresno State fans would probably prefer not to remember their previous bowl appearance, a 30-6 beatdown at the hands of Rice (of all teams!) in the 2014 Hawaii Bowl. For the Cougars, this is their fifth straight bowl game, going back to the 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl, where they lost to Vanderbilt 41-24. They lost last year’s Las Vegas Bowl to San Diego State, 34-10.
Announcers: Chris Cotter and Rod Gilmore

The holiday season? Eh, that’s all well and good, but now it’s the reason for the season: that’s right, bowl games! Why are there 39 of them this year, you ask? Because one of them went out of business! Why were there previously 40, you ask? Well, because live sports are about the only thing that makes money on TV anymore!

This year’s preview of all the action includes a new Watchability Rating. I mean, let’s face it, you’re going to have these games on at least in the background anyway because it’s not like anything else is on. But nonetheless, I’m here to help you prioritize. To wit, here’s the four tiers:

• I: Background noise, or maybe just the background thing on TV while you have some Christmas music on.
• II: You’ll at least have the volume turned up, because, hey, it’s college football, anything can happen.
• III: Your family member who likes college football will be actively watching this, telling you about how Mizzou got a lot better in the second half the season as they rediscovered their offense and their schedule got easier.
• IV: Marquee games, like playoff games as well as quality bowl matchups featuring good teams.

Also new are S&P+ lines, which are based on the differences on the S&P+ ratings produced by Bill Connelly. Since Connelly uses gauges this against Vegas lines, I thought it’d be useful to look at these numbers.

With all that said, let’s look over tomorrow’s opening slate! The full slate is, of course, here.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

1:00: North Texas vs. Troy (New Orleans Bowl @ New Orleans, LA; ESPN): Troy has made perhaps the best coaching hire of the season, by which I mean they were able to retain rising star Neal Brown for another year. By all rights, with the win over LSU the Trojans should’ve been 11-1 this year, but they blew that chance by putting up a result even more inexplicable than their win in Baton Rouge: losing a week later at home to South Alabama. North Texas was a respectable 9-4 this year, but they never looked that impressive doing it even though they won Conference-USA West. I’m going with Troy.
S&P+ line: Troy by 3.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: Ten total meetings, dating to when both were in the Sun Belt. The first was in 2001, an 18-16 win by Troy, and the last was in 2012, a 14-7 win for Troy. Troy leads the overall series 8-2.
Last bowl game: North Texas appeared in last year’s Heart of Dallas Bowl, losing 38-31 to Army. Troy defeated Ohio 28-23 in last year’s Dollar General Bowl.
Announcers: Jason Benetti and Kelly Stouffer

2:30: Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State (Cure Bowl @ Orlando, FL; CBSS): Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am home again
Whenever I’m alone with you
You make me feel like I am whole again

However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
I will always love you
I’ve got WKU here.
S&P+ line: WKU by 3.8
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: Just one, a 44-28 Western Kentucky victory back in 2013.
Last bowl game: For the Hilltoppers, this is their fourth straight bowl game. They beat Memphis 51-31 in last year’s Boca Raton Bowl. This is Georgia State’s second ever bowl appearance. Their first appearance was a 27-16 loss to San Jose State in the 2015 Cure Bowl.
Announcers: Carter Blackburn and Aaron Taylor

3:30: Oregon vs. Boise State (Las Vegas Bowl @ Las Vegas, NV; ABC): I actually like the Ducks here. It’ll be interesting to see how the coaching situation affects them, but they ended their season pretty strong except for a 38-3 faceplant up in Seattle. Boise was back to its old ways in the Mountain West. What this means, ultimately, is that this the game of the day, by far.
S&P+ line: Boise State by 1.6
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: Just two, in 2008 and 2009. Boise won both games, but the most infamous moment in either game in the 2009 when, after the game, LaGarrette Blount sucker punched a Boise State defensive linemen right in the jaw. Blount wound up getting suspended and kicked off the team, but has gone on to punch it into the end zone 51 times in the NFL.
Last bowl game: This is the first bowl game for the Ducks since the 2015 season, where they lost 47-41 to TCU in the Alamo Bowl. For the Broncos, this is their 16th straight bowl game, dating back to the 2002 Humanitarian Bowl, a 34-16 win over Iowa State. Last year they were defeated 31-12 by Baylor in the Cactus Bowl.
Announcers: Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit

4:30: Colorado State vs. Marshall (New Mexico Bowl @ Albuquerque, NM; ESPN): This season just never got going for the Rams. After starting 6-2, they’d finish 7-5 including close losses to Wyoming and Boise State. Marshall’s season followed a similar trajectory, starting 6-1 before going 1-4 to close out the year. This comes down to how you feel about the relative quality of the Mountain West versus C-USA, which for me makes me lean slightly toward the Rams.
S&P+ line: Rams by 2.8
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these two teams.
Last bowl game: This is Colorado State’s fifth straight bowl game dating back to the 2013 New Mexico Bowl, a 48-45 win over Washington State. Last year they lost to Idaho 60-51 in the Potato Bowl. This is Marshall’s first bowl since the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl, a 16-10 win over UConn.
Announcers: Anish Shroff and Ahmad Brooks

8:00: Middle Tennessee State vs. Arkansas State (Camellia Bowl @ Montgomery, AL; ESPN): Arkansas State also boasts a weird loss to South Alabama and a kind of “is this really happening?” loss to Troy which got some Twitter notoriety a couple weekends ago. That said, I like them over MTSU, who may just be happy just to be bowling. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)
S&P+ line: RedWolves by 8.2
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: Former Sun Belt foes, MTSU holds a 9-5 all-time lead, including two wins way back in 1948 and 1949. Their last meting was back in 2012, a 45-0 Arkansas State shutout.
Last bowl game: This is the third straight bowl for the Blue Raiders, dating back to a 45-31 loss to Western Michigan in the Bahamas Bowl. Last season they lost 52-35 to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. For the Red Wolves, this is their seventh straight bowl game, dating back to the 2011-2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl, a 38-20 loss to Northern Illinois. Last season they defeated Central Florida 31-13 in the Cure Bowl.
Announcers: Taylor Zarzour and Andre Ware