This Weekend in College Football: Week 1

Yeah, look, I’m just as surprised as you are.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Thursday

8:00: Central Arkansas @ Alabama-Birmingham (espn3.com): Mostly just posting this one because, well, for obvious reasons this weekend is greatly diminished, and also because I enjoy the Shutdown Fullcast joke about UCA being a bunch of Ozark ronin.

9:00: South Alabama @ Southern Mississippi (CBSS): I have no idea which, if either, of these teams are going to be good this year. But here you are: FBS vs. FBS football. I’ll pick USM.

Saturday

1:00: Eastern Kentucky @ Marshall (ESPN): Naturally, because of the pandemic there is no PAX this year. So I have plenty of time to watch the first full weekend of college football. Which is, of course, also not really its normal self during the pandemic. Also, Marshall.

1:30: Middle Tennessee State @ Army (CBSS): So instead we’ll get this nicely spaced out slate that features no Power 5 teams. Army will get in the first of its eight home games this year. Has that ever happened before? Well, since WWII anyway? Also, my site I use for TV listings started calling Army “Army West Point”, and while I do respect anyone’s decision to be called whatever they want, Army is still referred to plenty as just Army, so I’ll stick to that. (I have finally caved and started referring to Louisiana-Lafayette as just Louisiana, though.) Oh, and I like Army here.

4:30: Southern Methodist @ Texas State (ESPN): I am as unsure about everything as I about most of these contests, but I’m pretty sure Texas State will still be terrible.

8:00: Arkansas State @ Memphis (ESPN): I’ll also assume that Memphis is still fun and good.

Monday

8:00: Brigham Young @ Navy (ESPN): I need to check, but I think BYU may be the only FBS team west of the Rockies that is playing football this year. I’ll also take Navy here.

Rating the (Original) 2020 Non-Conference Slate

It’s that time once again. The methodology is the same as years past. The major difference is, of course, that none of these games will be played. That said, continuity weighed heavily on me and I decided to dig up each Power 5 team’s original 2020 schedule. This turned out to be way more work than I thought, but in the end I was reminded once again of some of the spectacular matchups we’ll miss this year.

This year, my brother and I rated 71 teams on a scale from 0 to 1 in .25 increments.

Legit Rating Number of teams
1 22
0.75 4
0.5 13
0.25 10
0 22

The 22 teams earning a “1” were: Alabama, Auburn, California-Los Angeles, Clemson, Florida, Florida state, Georgia, Louisiana state, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma state, Oregon, Pennsylvania State, Texas, Texas A&M, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The Legit Rating for each conference was:

  • ACC: 0.43
  • Big 12: 0.5
  • Big Ten: 0.46
  • Pac-12: 0.52
  • SEC: 0.52

Since none of these games will actually be played, I will eschew my usual commentary on each team’s schedule, but I will provide the original schedules and their ratings. FCS teams are indicated in italics.

ACC

  1. Georgia Tech (2.75 legit, 1 FCS): Gardner-Webb, Central Florida, Notre Dame, @Georgia.
  2. Florida State (2, 1): N-West Virginia, Samford, @Boise State, Florida.
  3. North Carolina (1.75, 1): @Central Florida, N-Auburn, James Madison, Connecticut.
  4. Virginia (1, 1): Georgia, Virginia Military Institute, Connecticut, @Old Dominion.
  5. Virginia Tech (1, 1): Liberty, Pennsylvania State, @Middle Tennessee State, North Alabama.
  6. Wake Forest (1, 1): @Old Dominion, Appalachian State, Villanova, N-Notre Dame.
  7. Clemson (1, 1): Akron, @Notre Dame, The Citadel, South Carolina.
  8. Pittsburgh (1, 1): Miami (OH), @Marshall, Richmond, Notre Dame.
  9. Louisville (1, 1): Murray State, Western Kentucky, @Notre Dame, Kentucky.
  10. Duke (1, 1): Middle Tennessee State, Elon, Charlotte, @Notre Dame.
  11. Miami (0.5, 1): Temple, Wagner, Alabama-Birmingham, Michigan State.
  12. Boston College (0.25, 1): Ohio, @Kansas, Purdue, Holy Cross.
  13. North Carolina State (0.25, 1): Mississippi State, @Troy, Delaware, Liberty.
  14. Syracuse (0, 1): @Rutgers, Colgate, @Western Michigan, Liberty.

Big Ten

  1. Ohio State (1, 0): Bowling Green, @Oregon, Buffalo.
  2. Michigan State (1, 0): @Brigham Young, Toledo, Miami.
  3. Michigan (1, 0): @Washington, Ball State, Arkansas State.
  4. Wisconsin (1, 1): Southern Illinois, Appalachian State, N-Notre Dame.
  5. Pennsylvania State (0.75, 0): Kent State, @Virginia Tech, San Jose State.
  6. Maryland (0.5, 1): Towson, Northern Illinois, @West Virginia.
  7. Nebraska (0.25, 1): Central Michigan, South Dakota State, Cincinnati.
  8. Iowa (0.25, 1): Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Illinois.
  9. Purdue (0, 0): Memphis, Air Force, @Boston College.
  10. Indiana (0, 0): Western Kentucky, Ball State, @Connecticut.
  11. Rutgers (0, 1): Monmouth, Syracuse, @Temple.
  12. Minnesota (0, 1): Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, Brigham Young.
  13. Northwestern (0, 1): Tulane, Central Michigan, Morgan State.
  14. Illinois (0, 1): Illinois State, Connecticut, Bowling Green.

Big 12

  1. Texas (1, 0): South Florida, @Louisiana State, Texas-El Paso.
  2. West Virginia (1, 1): N-Florida State, Eastern Kentucky, Maryland.
  3. Oklahoma (0.5, 1): Missouri State, Tennessee, @Army.
  4. Iowa State (0.5, 1): South Dakota, @Iowa, Nevada-Las Vegas.
  5. Baylor (0.5, 1): Mississippi, Incarnate Word, Louisiana Tech.
  6. Texas Christian (0, 1): @California, Prairie View A&M, @Southern Methodist.
  7. Texas Tech (0, 1): @Texas-El Paso, Alabama State, Arizona.
  8. Oklahoma State (0, 1): Oregon State, Tulsa, Western Illinois.
  9. Kansas State (0, 1): Buffalo, North Dakota, Vanderbilt.
  10. Kansas (0, 1): New Hampshire, Boston College, @Coastal Carolina.

Pac-12

  1. Southern California (2, 0): N-Alabama, New Mexico, Notre Dame.
  2. Stanford (1, 1): William & Mary, @Notre Dame, Brigham Young.
  3. Oregon (1, 1): North Dakota State, Ohio State, Hawaii.
  4. Washington (1, 1): Michigan, Sacramento State, Utah State.
  5. Oregon State (1, 1): @Oklahoma State, Colorado State, Portland State.
  6. Colorado (1, 0): @Colorado State, Fresno State, @Texas A&M.
  7. California (0.75, 1): @Nevada-Las Vegas, Texas Christian, California Polytechnic.
  8. Washington State (0.5, 1): @Utah State, Houston, Idaho.
  9. Utah (0, 1): Brigham Young, Montana State, @Wyoming.
  10. Arizona State (0, 1): Northern Arizona, @Nevada-Las Vegas, Brigham Young.
  11. Arizona (0, 1): Hawaii, Portland State, @Texas Tech.
  12. California-Los Angeles (0, 0): New Mexico State, @Hawaii, @San Diego State.

SEC

  1. Alabama (1, 1): N-Southern California, Georgia State, Kent State, Tennessee-Martin.
  2. Louisiana State (1, 1): Texas-San Antonio, Texas, N-Rice, Nicholls State.
  3. Tennessee (1, 1): Charlotte, @Oklahoma, Furman, Troy.
  4. Arkansas (1, 1): Nevada, @Notre Dame, Charleston Southern, Louisiana-Monroe.
  5. South Carolina (1, 1): Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Wofford, @Clemson.
  6. Florida (1, 1): Eastern Washington, South Alabama, New Mexico State, @Florida State.
  7. Georgia (0.75, 1): N-Virginia, East Tennessee State, Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia Tech.
  8. Mississippi State (0.5, 1): New Mexico, North Carolina State, Tulane, Alabama A&M.
  9. Vanderbilt (0.5, 1): Mercer, @Kansas State, Colorado State, Louisiana Tech.
  10. Auburn (0.5, 1): Alcorn State, N-North Carolina, Southern Mississippi, Massachusetts.
  11. Texas A&M (0.25, 1): Abilene Christian, North Texas, Colorado, Fresno State.
  12. Missouri (0, 1): Central Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, @Brigham Young, Louisiana.
  13. Mississippi (0, 1): Baylor, Southeast Missouri, Connecticut, Georgia Southern.
  14. Kentucky (0.25, 1): Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Eastern Illinois, @Louisville.

My alma mater, Georgia Tech, takes home the crown of the “most legit” schedule, as this year is their turn to face Notre Dame, and they had always feisty UCF on the schedule, along with annual rival Georgia. But this being 2020, what matchups will we miss the most?

Well, first I’m going to miss the inter-conference traditional rivalries that many ACC and SEC teams have. Good bye Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, Kentucky-Louisville, and South Carolina-Clemson. And let’s not forget Bedlam (Iowa-Iowa State), and Notre Dame’s traditional rivals like Navy and Southern Cal.

Next I’ll miss what were some of the ones that the college football world had collectively circled on their calendars. This includes, but likely isn’t limited to:

  • Florida State vs. West Virginia
  • Florida State @ Boise State
  • North Carolina vs. Auburn
  • Ohio State @ Oregon
  • Michigan @ Washington
  • Texas @ Louisiana State
  • Texas Tech @ Arizona
  • Oklahoma vs. Tennessee
  • Oklahoma @ Army
  • Southern California vs. Alabama
  • Colorado @ Texas A&M

FSU on the blue turf, Michigan and Ohio State venturing to the West Coast, the Sooners making the return trip to West Point after almost getting knocked off by Army a couple years ago… it’s tough to think about.

Alas, it won’t be. All I hope is that what does remain of the season can be done as safely as possible and that something good can come from all the chaos of the offseason.

Finally, here are the conferences ranked by their average Legit Rating.

  1. Pac-12 (0.23)
  2. ACC (0.203)
  3. SEC (0.156)
  4. Big Ten (0.137)
  5. Big 12 (0.117)

This is nearly the exact same ranking as last year, but that’s not too surprising. It seems that the Pac-12 just cares the most about getting interesting games.

Bowl Games 2019: Final

It was a pretty good bowl season for me, I’m at about 64% right now in terms of picking winners. I’ll take that all day, every day.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Monday, January 13

8:00: Louisiana State vs. Clemson (College Football Playoff Championship Game @ New Orleans, LA; ESPN): Hoo boy, this is going to be a ball game, folks. I like both of these teams. Clemson probably really wishes they had that defensive line from last year, as the main occasions where LSU has really been challenged at all this year, they were facing fantastic defensive lines that could keep Joe Burrow contained. I think Clemson is actually still good enough to challenge them again this year, and they’ve certainly showed they can hang with a challenge by coming back against Ohio State. I think, ultimately, my pick here is going to be to hedge this one a little bit. I’ve got LSU winning a close one and Clemson covering the 5.5.
SP+ line: LSU -2.5
Vegas line: LSU -5.5
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: Three all time, and none in the regular season. LSU won the 1958-9 Sugar Bowl 7-0, and then prevailed 10-7 in the 1996 Peach Bowl. The Tigers from South Carolina finally got a win in the series back in the 2012 Chick-fil-a Bowl, 25-24.
Last bowl game: LSU had no problems with Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl back on December 28, winning 63-28. Clemson, though, gritted out an instant classic with a 29-23 win over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Announcers: Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit

Bowl Games 2019: 2020

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Wednesday, January 1
1:00:

  • Michigan vs. Alabama (Citrus Bowl @ Orlando, FL; ABC): There’s definitely been plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth about how this “clash of the titans” will be overhyped on the way to New Year’s Day. Which, look, I understand: I’m as tired of hearing about Michigan and (especially) Alabama as anyone. But that said, this should still be a pretty good football game! Well, provided Bama doesn’t just up and run away with it. Which is entirely possible.
    SP+ line: Bama -11.3
    Vegas line: Bama -6.5
    Watchability tier: IV
    Previous meetings: The series is even, a 2-2 split. Three of the previous meetings were bowl games: the 1987-88 Hall of Fame Bowl (28-24, Michigan), the 1996-97 Outback Bowl (17-14, Bama), and an overtime thriller in the 1999-2000 Outback Bowl that Michigan won 35-34. They kicked off the regular season in 2012, and Bama won 41-14.
    Last bowl game: This is Michigan’s fifth straight bowl game, dating to the 2015 Citrus Bowl, where they beat Florida 41-7. Florida then got them back in the Peach Bowl last season, where the Gators won 41-15. Alabama has been to sixteen straight bowl games, dating to a 20-16 loss to Minnesota in the 2004 Music City Bowl. Last season, they defeated Oklahoma 45-34 in the Orange Bowl, and then used their kicker as a lead blocker on a fake field goal while getting blown out 44-16 by Clemson in the College Football Playoff Championship Game.
    Announcers: Dave Pasch and Greg McElroy
  • Minnesota vs. Auburn (Outback Bowl @ Tampa, FL; ESPN): Congratulations on one of the best seasons in school history, Minnesota! Your reward is to lose in some bizarre way to Auburn, the random number generator of college football teams.
    SP+ line: Auburn -4.3
    Vegas line: Auburn -7.5
    Watchability tier: IV
    Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
    Last bowl game: Minnesota defeated Georgia Tech 34-10 in last season’s Quick Lane Bowl. Auburn has been to seven straight bowl games, dating to the 2013 BCS Championship Game, where they lost 34-31 to Florida State. Last season they beat Purdue 63-14 in the Music City Bowl.
    Announcers: Jason Benetti and Rod Gilmore

5:00: Wisconsin vs. Oregon (Rose Bowl @ Pasadena, CA; ESPN): This actually seems like a perfectly fun Rose Bowl! I don’t really have a good idea of who will win. There are both really-good-not-great teams that should produce a fun contrast of styles: Wisconsin should be able to run Jonathan Taylor behind their huge offensive line, but Oregon should be faster. I think (slash am hoping) that this will produce a close, fun matchup, though I think Wisconsin will win in the end.
SP+ line: Wisky -3.1
Vegas line: Wisky -2.5
Watchability tier: IV
Previous meetings: Wisky is 3-2 overall against Oregon. The first four meetings were in 1977, 1978, 2000, and 2001. Wisky won the first three. Their last meeting was the 2011-12 Rose Bowl, a 45-38 Oregon win.
Last bowl game: Wisconsin has been to 18 consecutive bowl games, dating to a 31-28 win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. Last season they demolished Miami 35-3 in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Ducks have been to three consecutive bowl games. They lost 38-28 to Boise State in the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl and beat Michigan State 7-6 last season in the Redbox Bowl.
Announcers: Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit

8:45: Baylor vs. Georgia (Sugar Bowl @ New Orleans, LA; ESPN): I’m not really giving Baylor much of a chance in this one, but the the main thing that could keep them in it is Georgia’s offense, which hopefully remains pretty much non-functional against a Big 12 defense. If Georgia gets up by multiple scores, though, this is (probably) over.
SP+ line: UGA -7.8
Vegas line: UGA -6.5
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: UGA is 4-0 all-time against Baylor. They first met in 1972, a 24-14 UGA win. Their last meeting was in 1989, a 15-3 Georgia win.
Last bowl game: Baylor defeated Vandy 45-38 last season in the Texas Bowl. Georgia has the country’s second longest consecutive bowls streak, now at 23 games. Their streak dates to the 1997 Outback Bowl, where they defeated Wisconsin 33-6. They lost 28-21 to Texas in last season’s Sugar Bowl.
Announcers: Sean McDonough and Todd Blackledge

Thursday, January 2
3:00: Boston College vs. Cincinnati (Birmingham Bowl @ Birmingham, AL; ESPN): Let’s see… Cincy is pretty good, BC just fired their coach and is kinda bad on offense… yeah, this isn’t looking good for a Boston College win.
SP+ line: Cincy -12.3
Vegas line: Cincy -6.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: BC is 4-3 all-time against Cincy. They first met in 1961, a 23-0 BC win. They last met in 1997, a 24-6 Cincy win.
Last bowl game: Boston College’s last bowl game was the 2017 Pinstripe Bowl, a 27-20 loss to Iowa. Cincy defeated VPI 35-31 in last season’s Military Bowl.
Announcers: Kevin Brown and Andre Ware

7:00: Indiana vs. Tennessee (Gator Bowl @ Jacksonville, FL; ESPN): So I picked Indiana a couple weeks ago, but I’ve since started talking myself into the Vols. They finished the season pretty strong! Whereas I don’t really know what to make of the Hoosiers at all. I’ll stick to my guns, though.
SP+ line: Indiana -4
Vegas line: Vols -1.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: Just one, a 27-22 Tennessee win in the 1987-88 Peach Bowl.
Last bowl game: Indiana’s last bowl game was the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl, a 26-24 loss to Utah. This is the first bowl game for the Vols since the 2016 Music City Bowl, where they beat Nebraska 38-24.
Announcers: Dave O’Brien and Tim Hasselbeck

Friday, January 3
3:30: Nevada vs. Ohio (Potato Bowl @ Boise, ID; ESPN): I don’t think that Nevada is actually two touchdowns bad, but, yeah, on paper at least this should be close. But we’ll see if the data actually bears that out.
SP+ line: Ohio -15
Vegas line: Ohio -7.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: Nevada defeated Arkansas State 16-13 in last season’s Arizona Bowl. For the Bobcats, this is their fifth straight bowl game, dating to a 31-29 loss to Appalachai nState in the 2015 Camellia Bowl. Last season they shutout San Diego State 27-0 in the Frisco Bowl.
Announcers: Anish Shroff and John Congemi

Saturday, January 4
11:30: Tulane vs. Southern Mississippi (Armed Forces Bowl @ Fort Worth, TX; ESPN): Tulane had a fantastic season and should be able to cap it off with a win over a mediocre Conference USA team.
SP+ line: Tulane -10.8
Vegas line: Tulane -6.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: USM leads the all-time series 23-7 between these closely located former conference-mates (from 1996-2010). Tulane won the first matchup in 1979, but it’s been all downhill from there, including losing the last six in a row.
Last bowl game: Tulane beat Louisiana-Lafayette 41-24 in last season’s Cure Bowl. Southern Miss’s last bowl game was a 42-13 defeat to Florida State in the 2017 Independence Bowl.
Announcers: Chris Cotter and Mark Herzlich

Monday, January 6
7:30: Miami vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (Mobile Alabama Bowl @ Mobile, AL; ESPN): And, finally, the last bit of college football for an entire week. It’ll be odd to go back to, well, normal as it were? It’s the first indication of the long dark of the offseason. And, unfortunately, this should really be a romp by the Cajuns. But I’ll watch it anyway.
SP+ line: Cajuns -19.2
Vegas line: Cajuns -13.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: I was fully expecting that this would be the first meeting between these teams, but it’s not! They first met in 1991, a 27-14 Miami victory, and then again in 1993, a 29-28 Miami win.
Last bowl game: Miami’s last bowl game was a 17-16 loss to Mississippi State in the 2016 St. Petersburg Bowl. ULL los 41-24 to Tulane in last season’s Cure Bowl.
Announcers: Dave Lamont and Gene Chizik

Bowl Games 2019: The Road to New Year’s Day

I’m still working off the adrenaline from that Clemson-Ohio State game, so I figured I’d get us the rest of the way to New Year’s Day. You can also check the current status of my predictions.

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Monday, December 30
12:30: Western Michigan vs. Western Kentucky (First Responder @ Dallas, TX; ESPN): Welcome back, college football fans! Look, it’s definitely going to be easy to make jokes about the relative quality of this game versus the one that took place Saturday night, but these are both solid teams in their conferences and it should be a solid back and forth game. That said, I’ve got WKU here.
SP+ line: WKU -4
Vegas line: WKU -3.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: WKU’s last bowl game was the 2017 Cure Bowl, which the lost 27-17 to Georgia State. WMU lost 49-18 to BYU in last season’s Potato Bowl.
Announcers: Dave Neal and DJ Shockley

4:00:

  • Illinois vs. California (Redbox Bowl @ Santa Clara, CA; FOX): So I mentioned this back when I originally predicted this matchup, so I won’t go into it too much here. But, again, this game features two of the universities that have played a large role in the development of computers as we know them today. That said, both of these teams enter this game a little banged up and with serious questions about their ability to function on offense. I’ve got Illinois as a slight favorite.
    SP+ line: UIUC -4.3
    Vegas line: Berkeley -6.5
    Watchability tier: I
    Previous meetings: The Illini are 7-3 all-time, and none of these games have been in the Rose Bowl. They first met in 1955, a 20-23 win for Illinois. They met a couple times in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and then four times in the early 2000’s. Their last meeting was in 2005, when Cal won 35-20.
    Last bowl game: As one might suspect, it’s been a minute since the Illini have been to a bowl game. In fact, they haven’t tasted the postseason since the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl, where they lost 35-18 Louisiana Tech. Last season, Cal suffered the most spectacular 10-7 overtime loss ever in the Cheez-It Bowl against TCU.
    Announcers: Joe Davis and Brock Huard
  • 4:00: Louisville vs. Mississippi State (Music City Bowl @ Nashville, TN; ESPN): This game should feature some offense, however. This should be a nice coda for the Cardinals, whom were not expected to do anything after the smoking crater Bobby Petrino left last year. Miss State meanwhile is here with a slightly-less-than-predicted embattled head coach that nonetheless has gotten the Bulldogs in yet another bowl. I think they’re also slightly better than Louisville.
    SP+ line: Miss State -5.5
    Vegas line: Miss State -4.5
    Watchability tier: I
    Previous meetings: Five. All four regular season meetings were in the 70’s, from 1973-1976, all won by the Bulldogs. Their last meeting was in the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl, a 31-27 Miss State.
    Last bowl game: Louisville’s last bowl game was the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl, a 31-27 loss to… Mississippi State. For the Bulldogs, this is their tenth consecutive bowl game. They beat Michigan 52-14 in the 2010 Gator Bowl, and last season they lost 27-22 to Iowa in the Outback Bowl.
    Announcers: Tom Hart and Jordan Rodgers

8:00: Virginia vs. Florida (Orange Bowl @ Miami Gardens, FL; ESPN): Virginia is a solid, middle-tier ACC team. The ACC Coast was extremely mediocre this year, but they won it. That’s good! Their reward, however, was to get slammed by Clemson in the ACC Championship Game, and now thanks to contractual obligations they also get to get pounded by Florida. At least they get a trip to Miami for their trouble, I suppose.
SP+ line: Gators -17.4
Vegas line: Gators -14.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: Just one, a 55-10 Florida win back before Florida was even Florida in 1959.
Last bowl game: This is Virginia’s third straight bowl game. In 2017 they lost 49-7 to Navy in the Military Bowl, and last aseson they beat South Carolina 28-0 in the Belk Bowl. The Gators beat Michigan 41-15 in last season’s Peach Bowl.
Announcers: Steve Levy and Brian Griese

Tuesday, December 31
Noon: Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky (Belk Bowl @ Charlotte, NC; ABC): With Bud Foster retiring, the last vestiges of the Beamer era are also retiring from Virginia Tech. But I expect this game to be pretty close, and entertaining mainly due to the fact that Kentucky is essentially a one-man show at this point. Lynn Bowden is listed by ESPN was a wide receiver, yet he has 348 yards receiving on the year to 1,235 yards rushing. Thanks to injuries to Kentucky’s first and second string quarterbacks, they essentially decided to put Bowden and see what happens. And it’s worked, most recently in a 45-13 thrashing of rival Louisville Thanksgiving weekend. The fun will be seeing if it works again. I have Kentucky by a nose.
SP+ line: UK -0.6
Vegas line: VPI -2.5
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: Kentucky is 11-6-2 all time against VPI. The series dates to 1926, a surely enthralling 13-13 tie. (The other tie was 21-21 in 1942.) They met a few times in the 30’s, 40’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, but they haven’t met since 1987, a 14-7 Kentucky win.
Last bowl game: With Florida State falling last year, Virginia Tech owns the longest current bowl streak. This will be their 27th consecutive bowl game, dating to the 1993 Independence Bowl, a 45-20 win over Indiana. Last season they lost 35-31 to CIncinnati in the Miltary Bowl. This is now Kentucky’s fourth straight bowl game, dating to a 33-18 loss to Georgia Tech in the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl. Last season they beat Penn State 27-24 in the Citrus Bowl.
Announcers: Beth Mowins and Anthony Becht

2:00: Florida State vs. Arizona State (Sun Bowl @ El Paso, TX; CBS): I think you could probably say either of these teams is the other of in their own conference, i.e., “Arizona State is the Florida State of the Pac-12”. Well, at least in terms of personality. Coming into this game FSU is a train wreck that fired their coach in the middle of his second season, while the Sun Devils are blossoming behind Herm Edwards, of all people. I like them here.
SP+ line: ASU -4.8
Vegas line: ASU -3.5
Watchability tier: II
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: Well, Florida State’s 36 game consecutive bowl streak ended last season, so now I’ll just note that their last bowl game was the 2017 Independence Bowl, a 42-13 win over Southern Miss. The Sun Devils has now been to three straight bowl games. They lost 52-31 to NC State in the 2017 Sun Bowl and lost 31-20 to Fresno State in last year’s Las Vegas Bowl.
Announcers: Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson

3:45: Kansas State vs. Navy (Liberty Bowl @ Memphis, TN; ESPN): I’m going to go ahead and guess there’s not going to be a lot of passing in this game. That said, I’ve said before K-State has surpassed all expectations this year and they look to be heading in the right direction. Navy is way back this year, and I’ve actually got them as a favorite.
SP+ line: Navy -2.7
Vegas line: Navy -2.5
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: K-State’s last bowl game was a 35-17 win over UCLA in the 2017 Cactus Bowl. Navy’s last bowl game was a 49-7 win over Virginia in the 2017 Military Bowl.
Announcers: Roy Philpott and Kelly Stouffer

4:30: Wyoming vs. Georgia State (Arizona Bowl @ Tuscon, AZ; CBSS): About the only reason to tune in this game is to see how ugly Wyoming’s brown uniforms are. Otherwise, this should be a rout.
SP+ line: Wyoming -9.1
Vegas line: Wyoming -7.5
Watchability tier: I
Previous meetings: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Last bowl game: Wyoming’s last bowl game was the 2017 Potato Bowl, where they beat Central Michigan 37-14. Georgia State is making the third bowl game in their program’s history, and the first one that isn’t a Cure Bowl. They won the 2017 edition fo that game 27-17 over Western Kentucky.
Announcers: Rich Waltz and Aaron Murray

7:30: Texas vs. Utah (Alamo Bowl @ San Antonio, TX; ESPN): Both of these teams enter their bowl game embattled and looking for something to build on. Last year, Texas got that in the from of Bevo trying to gore Uga and then running out to a quick lead over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl and holding on to win. Utah doesn’t have a live animal mascot, so in the absence of anything to charge at, the Longhorns are going to have think of a new plan. Utah also comes in disappointed, probably moreso after blowing the Pac-12 championship and watching Oklahoma get shredded by LSU (then again, LSU is really good, so maybe not). But considering Texas’s considerable struggles on offense this year, combined with Utah’s pretty good defense, it’s hard to see the “TEXAS IS BACK” narrative generators getting cranked up again after this one.
SP+ line: Utah -11.2
Vegas line: Utah -7.5
Watchability tier: III
Previous meetings: Just one, a 1982 21-12 Texas win.
Last bowl game: Texas has been to three straight bowl games. In 2017 they beat Mizzou 33-16 in the Texas Bowl, and last season they beat Georgia 28-21 in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes have been to six straight bowl games, starting with the 2014 Las Vegas Bowl, where they beat Colorado State 45-10. Last season they lost 31-20 to Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl.
Announcers: Dave Flemming and Louis Riddick