“I was sitting here in this elegant beachfront Suite in the Kahala Mandarin Oriental hotel, thinking of nothing at all except the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the incredible language skills of George Bush, when my brain locked up and I veered off on some meatball rap about the upcoming Miami-Nebraska game. Who knows why? It means nothing at all, absolutely nothing–except to both teams, who will pocket $15,000,000 each for showing up in Pasadena on January 1. Suck on that, Bubba. Ho ho.”- Hunter S. Thompson 12/13/2001 HEY RUBE
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It’s bowl season for College Football teams that missed out on the coveted twelve playoff positions. I count eight that I like, but as Doc Thompson rightly said, they do not matter at all. Maybe these games matter to the fans who like to travel to different places, the schools that get a fat payday, and the players who may get extra money awarded to them for participating in sponsorship events to help earn their high wages, but in terms of shaping the season narrative, these games matter about as much as the intersquad game in the Spring.
That said, I do like eight of the games: The Liberty Bowl, Sun Bowl, Music City Bowl, Gasparilla Bowl, XBOX Bowl, Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl and the Dukes Mayo Bowl. Let’s take a peek at each.
BOWL GAMES I LIKE
- 12/18 The XBOX Bowl: Arkansas St vs Missouri St 7:00
A regional matchup that should have tons of action. Jacob Clark and Missouri State have been on my radar all season and I’ve enjoyed watching them outperform the low expectations placed on them by the National media in the preseason. Arkansas St is a team that I’ve yet to watch this season, but I know they will want to win this game against the recently promoted team from Southern Missouri.
Because this is a regional rivalry of sorts that features two teams near my old neck of the woods, this game will have my interest. At least, at the beginning. I’m hopeful that this will be competitive throughout the game.
- 12/19 The Gasparilla Bowl: Memphis vs NC State 12:30
This one is obviously due to it being the bowl that features the Hometown Tigers. Tampa should be a fun trip. Remember, I’ve written it multiple times on this site, Tampa does Cuban food quite well. Dishes full of flavor and life that will stick with you a while. Havana 86 INC is the place that I can recommend with confidence.
For any night before festivities, check out Battery. This is a waterfront Bourbon bar with “exquisite wine and elevated plates” situated within Sparkman Wharf. This is a night before the game kind of place as it is nearly 6 Miles across Tampa from Raymond James Stadium and quite sophisticated. Football fans will need to Splash the Cool Water, Starch the Levis and iron the Sunday shirt for this place.
As far as the football, let’s root for a Hometown Tiger win.
- 12/30 The Music City Bowl: Tennessee vs Illinois 3:30
I’ve been to my fair share of Music City Bowls in my life with my first being December 31st, 2002, as a fresh-faced teen. Arkansas scored on their first and last possession of the game and were walloped 29-14 by the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. As a neutral fan, I had a blast sitting about 15 rows up in the corner of the South endzone.
The last time I remember Tennessee making this bowl game was in 2010 when they lost to North Carolina 30-27 in double overtime. I was sitting underneath the heaters of an outdoor cafe one block away from the stadium listening to the crowd noise with a few Vol fans who were devastated and a few Hometown fans that were elated that the putrid orange team from Knoxville lost.
As far as this game goes, I think it has 37-26 written all over it.
- 12/30 The Alamo Bowl: Southern Cal vs TCU 7:00
As a pseudo-Trojan fan this season, it only feels right to see the team finish the season.
- 12/31 The Sun Bowl: Duke vs Arizona St NOON
Certainly not the matchup I would’ve preferred, but one that I’ll tune into at least for part of the game. If you remember from my post over the Summer, The Sun Bowl is the second oldest Bowl game behind only the Rose Bowl and tied with the Sugar and Orange.
As a fan of history, I’ll be interested in how this game ends. 20-19 is my guess.
- 1/2/26 The Liberty Bowl: Navy vs Cincinnati 2:30
Well, I encourage you to read a post from earlier that features a few Liberty Bowl stories. I’ll take one of the teams to win 41-40.
- 1/2/26 The Dukes Mayo Bowl: Wake Forest vs Mississippi State 6:00
This is a matchup that brings back at least one memory.
It was December 30th, 2011, and 55,208 folks piled into the Tennessee Titans home stadium to watch Wake Forest play Mississippi State. I had a best friend beside me who was not and still is not a football fan, but he sat through a boring, cold game with me. Thankfully, the Bulldogs won (23-17) mostly due to Running Back Vick Ballard rushing for two long touchdowns. (72- and 60-yard touchdown runs earned him the MVP)
Sam Ponder was working the sidelines in the early stages of her career.
In this game, Wake Forest and Nick Andersen will do their best to slow the Bulldogs offense. However, I don’t see that happening. This looks like a Bulldog win by about 23. Give me Bulldogs 29 – Demon Deacons 6.
- 1/2/26 The Holiday Bowl: Arizona vs SMU 6:00
Coach Brennen crushed the low preseason expectations and silenced his many critics in the national media by leading Arizona to a 9-3 season. Well done, Coach Brennen and “Bear Down Arizona.”
Safety Ahmaad Moses, fresh off winning the first ever McNelly Award for his play at Strong Safety will do his best to lead his Mustang squad against the Arizona team that is as hot as any other team in the nation right now.
A final score of 33 to 24 sounds about right.
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Who really knows? I mean, it depends on who opts out and who plays in these games, and who actually cares enough to play hard in games that truthfully do not matter in any way. All we can hope for is to have competitive games with some tight scorelines and high-flying action.
As someone who has seen a fair share of high-energy bowl games, I hope to see more of the same during this season especially from these eight games.
Keep in mind that this does not include the College Football Playoff that will feature the out and out best twelve teams in the country. I’ll put a post up before then looking at some of those matchups. James Madison, Tulane, and Miami headline in the first round. Three of the out and out best teams in the country and there is no doubt.
I won’t even listen to an argument that says otherwise. The winner of the Sun Belt conference absolutely would put to task a BYU, Notre Dame, Texas, Utah, or Michigan. Most likely, they would win in a blowout by 30. That’s right. James Madison might as well have earned a first round bye for the way they snuck by one-win Georgia State 14-7. A game where they trailed 7-0 at half and needed a fourth quarter touchdown to win.
No. I will not listen to an argument that says the Dukes do not deserve their shot at the Championship. Their double-digit loss to Louisville and list of impressive Sun Belt wins speaks for itself. Anyone who says otherwise is just jealous that their team is nowhere near as good as James Madison.
To quote HST, “Ho Ho.” I ho-ho hope that the Ducks and their 9th ranked defense shutout the little guy in their first round matchup, but I’ll save that post for next week.
Until then, I hope it’s a great weekend wherever you are. It’s warm and sunny here in Utah. It’s December and I’ll be cutting my back lawn this afternoon since the grass continues to grow in this now warm, humid environment. Great for plant growth and sun tanning, but not so great for skiing the slopes and sipping hot cocoa by the fire.
The calendar may read winter, but it feels like early June. I’m not complaining in the slightest.
Find the Humor and Keep on Movin’
Whit W.