Happy Bowl Season from The Fairviewer!
If you listen to 106.7 FM you know it’s the holiday season. When you drive around and see makeshift Christmas tree stores, you know it’s Christmas. If you’re a football fan, you are also reminded that it’s college Bowl Season.
Bowl Season is the postseason for the NCAA Division I football teams that take part in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). In recent years, only been two teams would be able to play for the National Championship but this year the NCAA has decided to have a playoff with the four best teams in the country playing for a shot to win it.
This year there are 39 different bowls that go nonstop from December 20 until the first ever National Championship Playoff around the middle of January.
The top four teams were selected by a 12 person committee that was made up of sports writers and others. This year the committee has selected the four teams to play in the inaugural playoff: Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State.
The selection committee gave bids to four teams in different conferences. But left out the Big 12. The conferences with representation are the SEC (Alabama), Pac-10 (Oregon), ACC (Florida State) and the Big 10 (Ohio State).
The first ever College Football Playoff will begin on New Year’s Day. The one seed will play the four seed and two will host the three.
There is a pool of six bowl games that will alternate hosting the playoff games for the opening round. The pairing are Rose-Sugar, Citrus-Cotton and Orange-Fiesta. This year, the four teams will play in either the Rose or Sugar Bowl.
But there are some big games to keep you excited until the College Playoff bowls begin. The Liberty Bowl which is going to be played on December 29 play host to Texas A&M and West Virginia. Also the Boca Raton Bowl, will pin Marshall, who boosts a 12-1 record against Northern Illinois who was listed in the Associated Press’ Top 25. The Boca Raton Bowl will played on December 23.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-5) will provide entertainment as they play #23 LSU. The Irish were once ranked in the Top 10 before losing a tight game to #1 Florida State and then losing five of their last six.
There are also some games that are not even worth the time to watch. The Quick Lane Bowl which will be played on December 26 between Rutgers and the University of North Carolina. Both teams barely qualified for a bowl game. Rutgers had a rough time in its first season in the Big 10 and North Carolina, who was ranked in the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 also struggled.
So as you spend time with your friends and family this holiday season remember to spend time with your friends at ESPN and enjoy watching some college football games this bowl season.
Below is the Fairviewer’s projections for all 39 bowl games this season. Bold indicates our projected winner.
December 20, 2014
Potato: Western Michigan vs. Air Force
New Orleans: Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Nevada
New Mexico: UTEP vs. Utah State
Las Vegas: Colorado State vs. Utah
Camellia: Bowling Green vs. South Alabama
December 22, 2014
Miami Beach: Memphis vs. BYU
December 23, 2014
Poinsettia: San Diego State vs. Navy
Boca Raton: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois
December 24, 2014
Hawaii: Rice vs. Fresno State
Bahamas: Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan
December 26, 2014
Heart of Dallas: Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
Quick Lane: North Carolina vs. Rutgers
Bitcoin: UCF vs. NC State
December 27, 2014
Sun: Duke vs. Arizona State
Pinstripe: Boston College vs Penn State
Military: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Independence: Miami vs. South Carolina
Holiday: Nebraska vs. USC
December 29, 2014
Liberty: Texas A&M vs. West Virginia
Russell Athletic: Clemson vs. Oklahoma
Texas: Texas vs. Arkansas
December 30, 2014
Music City: Notre Dame vs. LSU
Belk: Georgia vs. Louisville
Foster Farms: Maryland vs. Stanford
December 31, 2014
Peach: Ole Miss vs. TCU
Fiesta: Boise State vs. Arizona
Orange: Mississippi State vs. Georgia Tech
January 1, 2015
Outback: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Cotton: Michigan State vs. Baylor
Citrus: Minnesota vs. Missouri
Rose: Oregon vs. Florida State
Sugar: Alabama vs. Ohio State
January 2, 2015
Armed Forces: Houston vs. Pittsburgh
TaxSlayer: Iowa vs. Tennessee
Alamo: Kansas State vs. UCLA
Cactus: Washington vs. Oklahoma State
January 3, 2015
Birmingham: East Carolina vs. Florida
January 4, 2015
GoDaddy: Toledo vs. Arkansas State
January 12, 2015
College Football Championship Game: Winner of Sugar vs. Winner of Rose