The Pants Predicts: Bowl Season

As the students among us wrap up their finals this week and the working folk drudge through yet another week leading up to some needed time off, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You may have heard by now that Iowa athletics has been off all week. Add to that the end of college football’s regular season and you have a slow (I mean SLOW) week in the world of sports.

But, alas, here we are on a Thursday with the final Thursday night game in the NFL and only one final day standing between us and both the return of Iowa hoops and the college football bowl season.

Before you get too excited for the weekend, let me remind you that we are still a couple weeks away from January and as such, we are a couple weeks away from January-caliber bowl matchups. But, they are bowl games nonetheless.

The one I’m most interested in for Saturday is the Las Vegas Bowl. Houston has had a roller coaster season and has seen their coach depart for greener pastures. SDSU has a stud in Donnel Pumphrey (2018 rushing yards!?!). This one should be pretty good.

Saturday, December 17th

AFR Celebration Bowl: NC Central vs. Grambling State

Gildan New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs. UTSA

Las Vegas Bowl: Houston vs. San Diego State

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl: Appalachian State vs. Toledo

AutoNation Cure Bowl: UCF vs. Arkansas State

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss vs. UL Lafayette

Nest week, there are games. That’s about all I have to say about that.

Honestly though, I guess Memphis and Western Kentucky is mildly interesting. Memphis knocked off Houston down the stretch. WKU had a decent year at 10-3. I’m reaching.

Monday, December 19th

Miami Beach Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Tulsa

Tuesday, December 20th

Boca Raton Bowl: Memphis vs. Western Kentucky

Wednesday, December 21st

San Diego County CU Poinsettia Bowl: BYU vs. Wyoming

(Bonus points if you can correctly pronounce poinsettia)

Thursday, December 22nd

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Idaho vs. Colorado State

Friday, December 23rd

Popeyes Bahamas Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. (25) Navy

Dollar General Bowl: Ohio vs. Troy

Saturday, December 24th

Hawai'i Bowl: Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee

Following the break for Christmas (and NFL Sunday), things get more interesting. We get Maryland and BC in the Quick Lane Bowl on Monday the 26th. I was intrigued by the Holiday Bowl, but it will be mostly interesting now to see how Minnesota fields a team with their off-field issues. A lot of people are on the Pitt train, but as an Iowa fan I’m giving jNW a chance and think the Pinstripe Bowl could be worth a watch on Wednesday. I fully expect Utah to throttle Indiana in the Foster Farms Bowl, but that offense may be able to keep them in it. I’ll check out Big Bret Beilema in the Belk Bowl against VaTech on Thursday and the Alamo Bowl should be really good. I like what Colorado has done this year (the Pac 12 Championship Game may be an exception).

Monday, December 26th

St. Petersburg Bowl: Miami, OH vs. Mississippi State

Quick Lane Bowl: Maryland vs. Boston College

Camping World Independence Bowl: NC State vs. Vanderbilt

Tuesday, December 27th

Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl: Army vs. North Texas

Military Bowl: (24) Temple vs. Wake Forest

National Funding Holiday Bowl: Minnesota vs. Washington State

Motel 6 Cactus Bowl: Boise State vs. Baylor

Wednesday, December 28th

New Era Pinstripe Bowl: (23) Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern

Russell Athletic Bowl: (16) West Virginia vs. Miami, FL

Foster Farms Bowl: Indiana vs. (19) Utah

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Kansas State

Thursday, December 29th

Birmingham Bowl: USF vs. South Carolina

Belk Bowl: Arkansas vs. (22) Virginia Tech

Valero Alamo Bowl: (12) Oklahoma State vs. (10) Colorado

Friday, December 30th

AutoZone Liberty Bow: Georgia vs. TCU

Hyundai Sun Bowl: (18) Stanford vs. North Carolina

Franklin Amer. Mort. Music City Bowl: Nebraska vs. (21) Tennessee

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl: South Alabama vs. Air Force

Capital One Orange Bowl: (6) Michigan vs. (11) Florida State

New Year’s weekend kicks off the really good stuff. The Citrus Bowl should be interesting. LSU has started to find some semblance of offense and prides themselves on defense. I’ll watch to see if they can come close to containing Lamar Jackson. The playoff games will undoubtedly be worth a watch, even if Bama has Washington down 35 in the first quarter (I don’t think they will).

Saturday, December 31st

Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: (20) LSU vs. (13) Louisville

TaxSlayer Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky

**Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: (4) Washington vs. (1) Alabama

**PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: (3) Ohio State vs. (2) Clemson

Apparently I’ll be the only one, but I’ll certainly be tuned in to the Outback Bowl on Monday the 2nd. Honestly, at this point in the bowl season, they are all probably worth tuning in to. I think the Sugar could be a disaster, but the rest should be pretty solid.

Monday, January 2nd

Outback Bowl: (17) Florida vs. Iowa

Goodyear Cotton Bowl: (15) Western Michigan vs. (8) Wisconsin

Rose Bowl Game: (9) USC vs. (5) Penn State

Allstate Sugar Bowl: (14) Auburn vs. (7) Oklahoma

Monday, January 9th

**CFP National Championship Semifinal Winner vs. Semifinal Winner

If you’re really itching to know who you should watch (or more accurately who everyone else will be watching) here’s a quick guide from our overlords.

And here’s a breakdown of all the games, including channels and times, with fun helmets, yay!

Here’s a link to the group: BHGP Bowl Pick ‘Em. Because we aren’t gambling degenerates (lie), its a straight pick ‘em. No spreads, no confidence. Call it the Iowa offense of bowl pick ‘ems.