Bowl Season: Let us feast!

After a three week hiatus, college football swings into action once again, starting tomorrow with the highly anticipated San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Two renowned powerhouses in Navy and Utah will lay it on all the line for the Magic Poinsettia. Or whatever trophy the bowl committee gives out…

Okay, so pretty much no one will be watching that game except alums of those schools and people with nothing better to do on a Thursday night. And of course, gamblers. Money is really the reason people watch these crappy second (maybe third) tier games. There are an astonishing 32 bowls scheduled for this year. Aside from the Championship, all of these games fall within a two week window. Perhaps even more amazing is the fact these games have been scheduled in such a fashion that one could watch almost every single one of them in their entirety, with very few exceptions.

On December 28th, viewers will be forced to choose between watching the Texas Bowl (Houston v TCU) and the Emerald Bowl (Oregon State v Maryland), starting at 8:00 and 8:30 respectively. It should be noted the four teams participating in these two games have a combined nineteen losses, but hey, why not give these guys another opportunity to increase that total? December 28th, however, is a Friday, so I am guessing that ratings will not exactly go through the roof for either of these games, especially the Texas Bowl, which will only be shown on the NFL Network.

December 31 presents the next viewing challenge for college football fans. The starts are staggered so that viewers will at least be able to watch at least a half of most of the games. The Armed Forces Bowl kicks off at 12:30 (Air Force v Cal), so we can all watch at least until halftime. At 2:00, viewers will have to decide between watching the second half of that game and switching to one of two other games: Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl (Fresno State v Georgia Tech) and the Sun Bowl (South Florida v Oregon). The Music City Bowl (Kentucky v Florida State) kicks off at 4:00, the Insight Bowl (Oklahoma State v Indiana) kicks off at 6:30, and the final game of the night, the Peach Bowl (Clemson v Auburn) kicks off at 7:30.

January 1 is the final viewing decision day. The Cotton Bowl (Missouri v Arkansas) kicks off at 11:30. Viewers will once again be able to watch the first half before having to decide between the Capital One Bowl (Michigan v Florida) and the Gator Bowl (Virginia v Texas Tech).

So basically, you, as a college football fan, will be able to watch every game in its entirety except one on December 28, three on December 31, and 1 ½ on January 1. Assuming that each game lasts for three and a half hours, you could theoretically spend roughly 93 hours watching football over the next two week, or close to four days. I recommend that you grab a few cases and several dozen wings before embarking upon this journey. Enjoy!

Never mind that I only have a true (read: non-monetary) interest in about ten of the games…

One of the main interests that fans have in the bowl games is watching how teams from their conference perform. For example, as a Tennessee fan I generally root against Alabama and Florida. However, put Florida against a Big Ten team and I become a Gator fan. I am tired of listening to Big Ten shenanigans about how their conference is superior to the SEC, so I am hoping that this year will go a long way towards proving that. The Big Ten and SEC usually only play a handful of bowl games against each other. This year there are three such matchups, and the SEC is favored in all three. LSU and Florida are clear favorites over Ohio State and Michigan, and Tennessee is a slight favorite over Wisconsin.

In looking at the current Vegas lines for the bowl games, it could end up being a very disappointing bowl season for the Big Ten. Out of eight bowl participants, only two are favored: Purdue over Central Michigan and Penn State over Texas A&M. Not surprisingly, the SEC is favored in six of its nine contests. One conference to look out for in this year’s Bowl Challenge Cup, given to the conference with the highest winning percentage in at least three bowl games, is the Mountain West. MWC teams are currently favored in 4 out of 5 games. Other conferences looking good are the ACC (5/8), Big 12 (5/8), and Big East (3/5). It is probably safe to write off the MAC, WAC and Conference USA, who are only favored in a combined three out of ten games.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I still need to fill out my bowl picks...