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It is once again time to unveil your SwampSwami.com Ultimate College Football Bowl Guide for the upcoming holiday season.
Not counting the National Championship Game (Monday, January 10, 2022 at 7PM Central ), a new record of an incredible 42 bowl games will be played in the coming weeks.
In fact, Santa ESPN has brought Christmas joy for the two unfortunate teams (6-6 North Texas and 6-6 Miami of Ohio) who were eligible (with six wins) to play in a bowl game but were passed over by the other 41 bowl games.
No one wanted to hurt the feelings of fans of the Mean Green (North Texas) or those of the Redhawks of Miami, Ohio, right? How can you leave two football programs which feature our favorite holiday colors of green and red out in the cold for Christmas?
Ol’ Santa ESPN quickly created the “Frisco Football Classic” to be played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco on Thursday, December 23 at 2:30PM central time. Make sure to buy your souvenirs now, because this game might become a “one and done” classic bowl event.
At first glance, Santa ESPN might appear to be a benevolent old soul, but he is also smart enough to know how many last-minute Christmas television ads can be sold during a three and one-half hour college football telecast.
Where else can you virtually assure advertisers that one million eyeballs (mostly male) will be watching so that they may peddle their products just ahead of Christmas? No matter what ESPN agreed to pay these two participating teams will more than be covered by selling more than 90 minutes of commercials on this incremental bowl telecast.
Let’s give credit to ESPN for some timely goodwill and marketing prowess. Instead of putting a couple of lumps of coal in the stockings of North Texas and Miami (Ohio), their football fans are now happy to have a chance to play in a bowl game in 2021.
Why not? After all of the other six-win teams had been selected, this is a very smart public relations gesture by ESPN. It will also be a profitable one, too!
Here’s my holiday question to you. How many of these games will you watch? I will probably watch at least ten of them, but there’s no way that I will want to sit through all 42 games.
“Dear Santa – Please bring me ample supplies of my favorite caffeinated beverage and a case of Visine!”
Before I present the complete college football bowl list (including my SwampSwami.com rankings so you can see how well my rankings fare in these match-ups), here are a few interesting bowls that I am planning to watch:
Tuesday, December 21 at 6:30PM on ESPN – Frisco Bowl
12-1 UTSA vs. 11-2 San Diego State – This game (where about 95% fans will come up from San Antonio) features UTSA’s potent offense against tough defensive team in San Diego State. Let’s see if UTSA is able to step-up and handle the pressure.
Thursday, December 23 at 6PM on ESPN – Gasparilla Bowl
8-4 UCF vs. 6-6 Florida – This intrastate game features one team (University of Central Florida) which has waited for years to get a chance to play the state’s flagship university up the road in Gainesville. Florida’s new head football coach, Billy Napier, will take the reins and try to turn around the Gators’ fortunes. This should be quite entertaining!
Tuesday, December 28 at 5:45PM on ESPN – Liberty Bowl
7-5 Mississippi State vs. 6-6 Texas Tech – If you like offense, this is your game! Perhaps they should rename this year’s game as “The Mike Leach Bowl” as current Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach previously coached at Texas Tech from 2000-2009. Both teams will pass at least 80% of the time. Don’t be surprised if this game will take over four hours to play. ESPN will be thrilled to be able to sell even more commercials!
Thursday, December 30 at 10:30AM on ESPN – Duke’s Mayo Bowl
6-6 North Carolina vs. 6-6 South Carolina – It’s a border war game! Fans of both Carolina teams have been salivating to see this match-up for years. This game should feature a lot of excitement on the field and with the fans, too. I’m in!
Thursday, December 30 at 6PM on ESPN – Peach Bowl
11-2 Pitt vs. 10-2 Michigan State – A great offense squares off with a fantastic defense. ACC champion Pittsburgh features the conference Player of the Year and future NFL quarterback in Kenny Pickett. If you haven’t watched Pitt play this year, you are in for a treat. As expected, Michigan State will try to run the ball and control the clock to keep the Panthers’ offense on the sidelines.
Saturday, January 1 at 4PM on ESPN – Rose Bowl
10-3 Utah vs. 10-2 Ohio State – If you’ve been following college football the past month, there isn’t a hotter team right now than the Utah Utes. They just won their first Pac-12 championship and are heading to the school’s first Rose Bowl appearance. Ohio State fans will show-up en masse, too. This game should be a dandy!
Saturday, January 1 at 7:45PM on ESPN – Sugar Bowl
11-2 Baylor vs. 10-2 Ole Miss – This is yet another match-up of a great defensive team (Baylor) going up against one of the nation’s best offenses (Ole Miss). With this game being played on the artificial turf of the Superdome, you will see some of the nation’s speediest running backs playing for Ole Miss. Will Baylor’s stubborn defense be up to the task? If this becomes a shoot-out, Ole Miss is likely to win it.
Tuesday, January 4 at 8PM on ESPN – Texas Bowl
6-6 LSU vs. 7-5 Kansas State – C’mon, let’s face it. We ALL want to see how LSU will perform under new head coach, Brian Kelly. The former Notre Dame coach is known for having disciplined teams and some great offensive lines. If Kelly is able to improve LSU’s O-line play quickly, the Tigers should be playing in a better bowl by this time next season. Heaux, Heaux, Heaux!
Happy Bowling Season!
