Bowl Games 2015-16: Schedule and Predictions for Top Matchups on Slate

The first Saturday of college football's bowl season was just a warm-up.

As fun as matchups like BYU and Utah might be, they are mere appetizers to the great feast that awaits college football fans over the next two weeks. 

Soon the Holy War matchup in Las Vegas will give way to Top-25 matchups that ultimately lead to the National Championship Playoff games. Happy holidays for college football fans, indeed. 

Here's a look at the remaining schedule and some predictions for the top matchups on the horizon. 

Date	Time (ET)	Bowl Game	Matchup	Location	TV
Dec. 21	2:30 p.m.	Miami Beach Bowl	USF vs. Western Kentucky	Miami	ESPN
Dec. 22	3:30 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Akron vs. Utah State	Boise	ESPN
Dec. 22	7 p.m.	Marmot Boca Raton Bowl	Temple vs. Toledo	Boca Raton	ESPN
Dec. 23	4:30 p.m.	San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl	Boise State vs. Northern Illinois	San Diego	ESPN
Dec. 23	8 p.m.	GoDaddyBowl	Bowling Green vs. Georgia Southern	Mobile	ESPN
Dec. 24	Noon	Popeyes Bahamas Bowl	Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan	Nassau	ESPN
Dec. 24	8 p.m.	Hawai'i Bowl	Cincinnati vs. San Diego State	Honolulu	ESPN
Dec. 26	11 a.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl	UConn vs. Marshall	St. Petersburg	ESPN
Dec. 26	2 p.m.	Hyundai Sun Bowl	Miami vs. Washington State	El Paso	CBS
Dec. 26	2:20 p.m.	Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl	Washington vs. Southern Miss	Dallas	ESPN
Dec. 26	3:30 p.m.	New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Duke vs. Indiana	Bronx	ABC
Dec. 26	5:45 p.m.	Camping World Independence Bowl	Virginia Tech vs. Tulsa	Shreveport	ESPN
Dec. 26	9:15 p.m.	Foster Farms Bowl	Nebraska vs. UCLA	Santa Clara	ESPN
Dec. 28	2:30 p.m.	Military Bowl	Pitt vs. Navy	Annapolis	ESPN
Dec. 28	5 p.m.	Quick Lane Bowl	Central Michigan vs. Minnesota	Detroit	ESPN 2
Dec. 29	2 p.m.	Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	Washington vs. Air Force	Fort Worth	ESPN
Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Russell Athletic Bowl	North Carolina vs. Baylor	Orlando	ESPN
Dec. 29	7:30 p.m.	NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl	Nevada vs. Colorado State	Tucson	TBD
Dec. 29	9 p.m.	AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl	Texas Tech vs. LSU	Houston	ESPN
Dec. 30	Noon	Birmingham Bowl	Memphis vs. Auburn	Birmingham	ESPN
Dec. 30	3:30 p.m.	Belk Bowl	NC State vs. Mississippi State	Charlotte	ESPN
Dec. 30	7 p.m.	Music City Bowl	Louisville vs. Texas A&M	Nashville	ESPN
Dec. 30	10:30 p.m.	Holiday Bowl	Wisconsin vs. USC	San Diego	ESPN
Dec. 31	Noon	Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	Houston vs. Florida State	Atlanta	ESPN
Dec. 31	8 p.m.	Cotton Bowl	Michigan State vs. Alabama	Arlington	ESPN
Dec. 31	4 p.m.	Orange Bowl	Oklahoma vs. Clemson	Miami	ESPN
Jan. 1	Noon	Outback Bowl	Northwestern vs. Tennessee	Tampa Bay	ESPN 2
Jan. 1	1 p.m.	Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	Michigan vs. Florida	Orlando	ABC
Jan. 1	1 p.m.	Fiesta Bowl	Notre Dame vs. Ohio State	Glendale	ESPN
Jan. 1	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl	Stanford vs. Iowa	Pasadena	ESPN
Jan. 1	8:30 p.m.	Allstate Sugar Bowl	Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss	New Orleans	ESPN
Jan. 2	Noon	TaxSlayer Bowl	Penn State vs. Georgia	Jacksonville	ESPN
Jan. 2	3:20 p.m.	AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Kansas State vs. Arkansas	Memphis	ESPN
Jan. 2	6:45 p.m.	Valero Alamo Bowl	TCU vs. Oregon	San Antonio	ESPN
Jan. 2	10:15 p.m.	Cactus Bowl	West Virginia vs. Arizona State	Phoenix	ESPN
Jan. 11	8:30 p.m.	College Football Playoff National Championship		Glendale	ESPN

Top Matchups

Peach Bowl: Florida State vs. Houston

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

One of the nice things about the new playoff system is that it saves a seat at the New Year's Six table for at least one team from the Group of Five conferences. 

It's always one of bowl season's most interesting storylines to see whether a team from outside of college football's old boy's club can hang with one of the top teams in the country. 

That's exactly the case in the Peach Bowl. The American Athletic Conference champion Houston Cougars will get a crack at Florida State on a big stage. 

But can they hang with the Seminoles?

Vegas certainly thinks so. According to Odds Shark, the Cougs are just a seven-point underdog. What's more, the site's computer model has the game projected as just a one-point win for the Seminoles. 

Of course, games aren't played on computers; they're played on the field. But Houston has proved itself there as well. The Cougs hold wins over ranked opponents in Memphis, Navy and Temple along with Power Five conference opponents Louisville and Vanderbilt. 

The Cougars' list of defeated opponents was good enough to earn them the No. 18 ranking in ESPN's strength-of-record metric. Florida State sits at 16. 

The Cougars have some players, too. Greg Ward is one of the most explosive quarterbacks in the country. His 19 rushing touchdowns on the season tied him with Ezekiel Elliott for third in the country. Add in another 16 touchdowns through the air, and it gives a complete picture as to how dangerous he will be to the Seminoles defense. 

The Seminoles' best defense might be a good offense, though. Dalvin Cook was one of the nation's top running backs this season and should be a force against Houston. The Cougars run defense surrendered just 3.3 yards per game on the ground, but Cook isn't just any running back. 

He was third in the nation in rushing yards per game at 150.7. If he had played in more than 11 games, it's quite possible he would have been invited to New York as a Heisman finalist. 

Winning a New Year's Six bowl should be a nice consolation prize. Houston has the athletes and coaching (Tom Herman has shown his coaching chops just in getting this team to this spot) to keep this one competitive. 

It's just too hard to pick against a team who finished as strongly as Florida State did in its 27-2 victory over in-state rival Florida with as talented a back as Cook. 

Prediction: Florida State 38, Houston 31

Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

The folks behind the Fiesta Bowl couldn't have been more happy with this matchup. In Notre Dame and Ohio State, the bowl is going to play host to two of the most talented and highly ranked teams not in the college football playoff field. 

According to the numbers, this is about as close a matchup as you'll find. Here's a look at how the two teams compare in Football Outsiders' F/+ and S&P+ metrics:

	Overall F/+ Rank	S&P+ Off.	S&P+ Def.
Notre Dame	5	6	33
Ohio State	4	14	8

However, the numbers don't tell the entire story here. These two teams may have played similarly throughout the season, but one team finished on a much higher note than the other. 

Ohio State received a boost in their season-end rankings thanks to an absolutely dominant 42-13 win over Michigan. Coming just one week after suffering a devastating loss to Michigan State, that says something about where the Buckeyes are as the bowl game approaches. 

Urban Meyer is no stranger to finishing a season strong. He is 9-2 as a head coach in postseason play, including 6-1 in games that would now be considered New Year's Six bowls. 

Brian Kelly, on the other hand, hasn't been as consistent in bowl games. He's 5-3 with an 0-2 record in New Year's Six games, and that doesn't include the 2010 Sugar Bowl that Cincinnati lost to Florida when Kelly left for Notre Dame after the regular season. 

With Ohio State getting extended time to prepare for the Irish, it should come out operating at peak performance. Specifically, it should mean the Buckeyes have a great game plan for the Irish that includes a healthy dose of Ezekiel Elliott. 

Michigan State was able to beat Ohio State thanks to a top-tier rush defense. The Spartans are seventh in the nation at just 113 yards per game on 3.75 yards per carry. 

For comparison, the Irish are 65th in rushing yards allowed per game on 4.5 yards per carry. 

That's great news for Ezekiel Elliott. The star running back should have the opportunity to put up big numbers as Ohio State pulls away with this one in the second half. 

Prediction: Ohio State 38, Notre Dame 21

Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

The Ole Miss Rebels were one of the biggest losers of last bowl season. Their impressive regular season netted them a Peach Bowl appearance that they lost 42-3 to TCU. 

This year, they have an opportunity for some vindication on the big stage. Hugh Freeze and Co. will take on another Big 12 opponent in the Oklahoma State Cowboys. 

Coincidentally, the Pokes' finest hour this season came with a 49-29 victory over TCU. Mason Rudolph and James Washington absolutely torched the Horned Frogs secondary as OSU turned in as complete a performance as one could ask for. 

The problem is: They haven't played to that level since. They finished the season with just one more win over Iowa State and back-to-back losses to Baylor and Oklahoma. 

Now, they have to turn around and face an Ole Miss team that is seventh in the country according to the F/+ rankings. 

What's concerning for the Cowboys is how they intend to stop the Ole Miss offense. With Chad Kelly as the trigger man, the Rebs have had their most successful offense in school history. 

Much of that has to do with the weapons around Kelly, which includes All-American receiver Laquon Treadwell. 

"When the ball is in the air, they’re very good at attacking and coming down with it,” Oklahoma State safety Jordan Sterns said regarding Ole Miss' receivers, per Bill Haisten of Tulsa World. “Very similar to (Josh) Doctson at TCU. I’m sure they’re going to make plays. You just have to compete with them and not be afraid.”

Ultimately, it isn't the receivers who will do the most damage to Oklahoma State, though. The real struggle for its defense has been in stopping the run. Both Oklahoma and Baylor ran for more than 300 yards in their wins over Mike Gundy's team. 

Now, they'll try to stop an Ole Miss ground attack that averages 5.1 yards per carry. 

Assuming Mason Rudolph is healthy, he'll have his moments. the Cowboys offense is good enough to create big plays against Ole Miss. However, over the course of a four-quarter game, the Rebels will be able to move the ball at will on the ground. 

Prediction: Ole Miss 45, Oklahoma State 31

All statistics used courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.