The 2022 College Bowl season is almost upon us and this year there are some great matchups scheduled. The CFP semi Finals have a new name this year, TCU who earned their place in the regular season. They come into their semi on a loss but it was a close one and they have shown a lot of tenacity this year. Otherwise, the semi-finals are of note more because of who is not there. This is the first time since the CFP format was announced that neither Alabama nor Clemson is involved. However, both are playing in New Year’s Bowls so their fans still have plenty to cheer about.
Anyway the whole schedule s below…
CFP Semi-Finals
Remove term: 2022 Bow
Dec. 31 Fiesta Bowl No. 2 Michigan Wolverines (13–0) v No. 3 TCU Horned Frogs (12–1)
Dec. 31 Peach Bowl No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs (13–0) v No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes (11–1)
The wise money will be expecting the Wolverines & Bulldogs to win easily. However, these two games might be a bit more competitive than the opening lines suggest. TCU came within a yard (twice) of at least taking the B12 Championship game to double OT. They trailed many times in the regular season too only to battle back. They probably can’t stop the Wolverines but they should give a good account of themselves.
Ohio State’s inclusion caused some teeth-gnashing, however, who else was the CFP supposed to put in? They are the only other one-loss team and despite their beatdown against Michigan will play tough. QB CJ Stroud is likely to declare for the draft as a Junior so will be keen to leave college football on a high.
New Years Bowls
Dec. 30 Orange Bowl No. 7 Clemson Tigers (11–2) v No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers (10–2)
Dec. 31 Sugar Bowl No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats (10–3) v No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide (10–2)
Jan. 2 Cotton Bowl Classic No. 16 Tulane Green Wave (11–2) v No. 10 USC Trojans (11–2)
Jan. 2 Rose Bowl No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions (10–2) v No. 8 Utah Utes (10–3)
Lots of usual suspects here however you have to be drawing your pension to have watched Tulane’s last appearance on one. That was back in 1940!
The Rest
Dec. 16 Bahamas Bowl UAB Blazers (6–6) v Miami (OH) RedHawks (6–6)
Dec. 16 Cure Bowl No.25 UTSA Roadrunners (11–2) v No.24 Troy Trojans (11–2)
Dec. 17 Fenway Bowl Louisville Cardinals (7–5) v Cincinnati Bearcats (9–3)
Dec. 17 Las Vegas Bowl No.14 Oregon State Beavers (9–3) v Florida Gators (6–6)
Dec. 17 LA Bowl Fresno State Bulldogs (9–4) v Washington State Cougars (7–5)
Dec. 17 LendingTree Bowl Rice Owls (5–7) v Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6–6)
Dec. 17 New Mexico Bowl BYU Cougars (7–5) v SMU Mustangs (7–5)
Dec. 17 Frisco Bowl Boise State Broncos (9–4) v North Texas Mean Green (7–6)
Dec. 19 Myrtle Beach Bowl UConn Huskies (6–6) v Marshall Thundering Herd (8–4)
Dec. 20 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Eastern Michigan Eagles (8–4) v San Jose State Spartans (7–4)
Dec. 20 Boca Raton Bowl Toledo Rockets (8–5) v Liberty Flames (8–4)
Dec. 21 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (8–5) v South Alabama Jaguars (10–2)
Dec. 22 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force Falcons (9–3) v Baylor Bears (6–6)
Dec. 23 Independence Bowl Houston Cougars (7–5) v Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (6–6)
Dec. 23 Gasparilla Bowl Wake Forest Demon Deacons (7–5) v Missouri Tigers (6–6)
Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (7–5) v San Diego State Aztecs (7–5)
The pick of the above looks to be the Cure Bowl which features the winners of C-USA & The Sun Belt. The winners will remain top 25 ranked which will be a nice addition to their honours list. Mark the 17th of December on the calendar now as there are a couple of great games that day.
Fresno v Washington State will be fun featuring a top G5 team against a middling Power Five one. Washington State may only be 7-5 but those losses were to Oregon, USC, Oregon State, Utah, and Washington! Watch out for the Cougars next year if they can sort out their run defense they could be a surprise team in 2023.
Speaking of PAC 12 teams on the up Oregon State play in the Las Vegas Bowl around the same time and that is also one to watch. They had two 3-point losses in 2022.
Post-Christmas Bowls
Dec. 26 Quick Lane Bowl New Mexico State Aggies (6–6) v Bowling Green Falcons (6–6)
Dec. 27 Camellia Bowl Buffalo Bulls (6–6) v Georgia Southern Eagles (6–6)
Dec. 27 First Responder Bowl Memphis Tigers (6–6) v Utah State Aggies (6–6)
Dec. 27 Birmingham Bowl East Carolina Pirates (7–5) v Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9–3)
Dec. 27 Guaranteed Rate Bowl Oklahoma State Cowboys (7–5) v Wisconsin Badgers (6–6)
Dec. 28 Military Bowl UCF Knights (9–4) v Duke Blue Devils (8–4)
Dec. 28 Liberty Bowl Kansas Jayhawks (6–6) v Arkansas Razorbacks (6–6)
Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl North Carolina Tar Heels (9–4) v No. 15 Oregon Ducks (9–3)
Dec. 28 Texas Bowl Texas Tech Red Raiders (7–5) v Ole Miss Rebels (8–4)
Dec. 29 Pinstripe Bowl Syracuse Orange (7–5) v Minnesota Golden Gophers (8–4)
Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl No. 13 Florida State Seminoles (9–3) v Oklahoma Sooners (6–6)
Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl No. 20 Texas Longhorns (8–4) v No. 12 Washington Huskies (10–2)
Dec. 30 Duke’s Mayo Bowl No. 23 NC State Wolfpack (8–4) v Maryland Terrapins (7–5)
Dec. 30 Sun Bowl Pittsburgh Panthers (8–4) v No. 18 UCLA Bruins (9–3)
Dec. 30 Gator Bowl No. 21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8–4) v No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks (8–4)
Dec. 30 Arizona Bowl Ohio Bobcats (9–4) v Wyoming Cowboys (7–5)
Dec. 31 Music City Bowl Kentucky Wildcats (7–5) v Iowa Hawkeyes (7–5)
Jan. 2 ReliaQuest Bowl Illinois Fighting Illini (8–4) v No. 22 Mississippi State Bulldogs (8–4)
Jan. 2 Citrus Bowl Purdue Boilermakers (8–5) No. 17 LSU Tigers (9–4)
A few interesting ones here headed by The Holiday Bowl where we have two teams who score for fun but can’t stop the opposition from scoring back. The Ducks only scored less than 37 points once while North Carolina was often involved in shootouts (everyone remembers that 63-61 thriller early on).
The big one here though is Washington v Texas, two teams who with a bit more luck would have been pushing for a New Year Bowl slot. The Longhorns may have finished 8-4, but all four losses were one-score affairs and they were so close to taking down Alabama too.
However, the one we like the most here is The Gator Bowl. Two teams who disappointed early but finished strongly.
Plenty to enjoy.
