Bowl season will begin this weekend and Matt Fout is predicting six that he thinks will be the best before the playoff starts.
The best time of the year is here for college football fans. Bowl season is upon us.
Believe it or not, there are still bowl games that will be played this year apart from the new playoff system in college football. There are 39 games in total, including the National Championship, and they’ll will take place between this Saturday and Jan. 12.
All the attention has been focused on the top four teams in the country, which were decided by the playoff committee. No. 1 Alabama will play No. 4 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, while No. 2 Oregon faces No. 3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl also on New Year’s Day. Both of these bowls are sure to be worth the wait, but fortunately college football fans do not have to wait until then to see entertaining postseason play.
The “other bowls” have very few people’s attention, however, six in particular have mine:
6. The Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 23 will feature two teams that Mid-American Conference fans are familiar with, Marshall, who left the MAC in 2005, and Northern Illinois, this year’s conference champion. Marshall was on its way to being one of the two undefeated teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision until a 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky on Nov. 28. The Thundering Herd finished the season 12-1 and took home the Conference USA crown. The Huskies earned a 11-2 record and defeated Bowling Green in the MAC championship game.
5. The Autozone Liberty Bowl on Dec. 29. Texas A&M and West Virginia will play in what has the potential to be the highest scoring bowl game, as each team allows over 26 points per game. Texas A&M has impressive wins over South Carolina and Auburn. West Virginia has a good win over Baylor and two notable close losses to TCU and Kansas State.
4. The Outback Bowl on Jan. 1. This bowl hosts two teams coming off rough losses, Auburn, who lost to Alabama in the Iron Bowl, and Wisconsin, which was blown out by Ohio State in the Big Ten conference championship. Auburn’s impressive résumé includes victories over Kansas State, Louisiana State and Ole Miss. Wisconsin’s running back and Heisman trophy runner-up Melvin Gordon will face an Auburn defense that has allowed 149.5 rushing yards a game and 19 rushing touchdowns this season.
3. The Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 31. Mississippi State and Georgia Tech each bring 10 wins to the table and the Bulldogs had strong wins against LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn, as well as a close loss to Alabama. The Yellow Jackets’ most notable result may be their loss to undefeated Florida State 37-35.
2. The Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1. will showcase two of the top ten scoring offenses in the country, Baylor and Michigan State. These two teams are first and seventh respectively in points scored per game as the Bears average 48.8 and the Spartans average 43.1 points.
1. The Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. Ole Miss and Texas Christian will compete in a true test of offense versus defense. The Rebels allow the fewest points per game at 13.1 while the Horned Frogs score the the second most at 46.8
Matt Fout is a freshman studying journalism and a sports writer for The Post. Which bowl games are you most excited to watch? Let him know at mf056713@ohio.edu.
