Bowl Games 2016-17: Complete Schedule of Matchups

The 2016-17 bowl schedule is finally set. Saturday's set of games finalized conference orders and allowed bowls to start sending out formal invites—even if some of them were pretty much penciled in already.

Leaks of teams accepting bids began trickling in throughout the week, and announcements will continue throughout the day after the College Football Playoff committee sets the Top Four. Alabama entered the weekend as the only mortal lock for the field. Ohio State watched intently, hoping Wisconsin could knock off Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the committee, its worst-case scenario came true. Alabama, Washington, Clemson and Penn State all walked away victors in their conference championship games, leaving it with a difficult decision on how to pare down the field Sunday.

While the New Year's Six receive a majority of the focus, there are 74 other teams left to fill the remaining 37 bowl slots. The proliferation of bowls has resulted in teams below the .500 mark getting in, and some of these games will be sparsely populated ghost towns watched by only the true football obsessives.

So you. And me. With that in mind, here is a list of all the games in rotation over the next few weeks.

(Note: This article will be updated as new bowl information comes in.)

Bowl Game	Date	Time (ET)	Site	Matchup
Celebration	Dec. 17	Noon	Atlanta, Ga.	North Carolina Central vs. Grambling State
New Mexico	Dec. 17	2 p.m.	Albuquerque, N.M.	New Mexico vs. UTSA
Las Vegas	Dec. 17	3:30 p.m.	Las Vegas, Nev.	San Diego State vs. Houston
Cure	Dec. 17	5:30 p.m.	Orlando, Fla.	UCF vs. Arkansas State
Camellia	Dec. 17	5:30 p.m.	Montgomery, Ala.	Appalachian State vs. Toledo
New Orleans	Dec. 17	9 p.m.	New Orleans, La.	Southern Miss vs. UL-Lafayette
Miami Beach	Dec. 19	2:30 p.m.	Miami, Fla.	Central Michigan vs. Tulsa
Boca Raton	Dec. 20	7 p.m.	Boca Raton, Fla.	Memphis vs. Western Kentucky
Poinsettia	Dec. 21	9 p.m.	San Diego, Calif.	BYU vs. Wyoming
Potato	Dec. 22	7 p.m.	Boise, Idaho	Idaho vs. Colorado State
Bahamas	Dec. 23	1 p.m.	Nassau, Bahamas	Old Dominion vs. Eastern Michigan
Armed Forces	Dec. 23	4:30 p.m.	Fort Worth, Tex.	Louisiana Tech vs. Navy
Go Daddy	Dec. 23	8 p.m.	Mobile, Ala.	Ohio vs. Troy
Hawaii	Dec. 24	8 p.m.	Honolulu, Hawaii	Hawaii vs. Middle Tennessee
St. Petersburg	Dec. 26	11 a.m.	St. Petersburg, Fla.	Mississippi State vs. Miami (Ohio)
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	2:30 p.m.	Detroit, Mich.	Boston College vs. Maryland
Independence	Dec. 26	5 p.m.	Shreveport, Louisiana	NC State vs. Vanderbilt
Heart of Dallas	Dec. 27	Noon	Dallas, Texas	Army vs. North Texas
Military	Dec. 27	3:30 p.m.	Annapolis, Maryland	Wake Forest vs. Temple
Holiday	Dec. 27	7 p.m.	San Diego, Calif.	Minnesota vs. Washington State
Cactus	Dec. 27	10:15 p.m.	Phoenix, Ariz.	Baylor vs. Boise State
Pinstripe	Dec. 28	2 p.m.	New York, NY	Northwestern vs. Pitt
Russell Athletic	Dec. 28	5:30 p.m.	Orlando, Fla.	Miami (Fla.) vs. West Virginia
Foster Farms	Dec. 28	8:30 p.m.	Santa Clara, Calif.	Indiana vs. Utah
Texas	Dec. 28	9 p.m.	Houston, Texas	Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
Birmingham	Dec. 29	2 p.m.	Birmingham, Ala.	USF vs. South Carolina
Belk	Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Charlotte, N.C.	Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas
Alamo	Dec. 29	9 p.m.	San Antonio, Texas	Oklahoma State vs. Colorado
Arizona	Dec. 30	5:30 p.m.	Tucson, Ariz.	Air Force vs. South Alabama
Liberty	Dec. 30	Noon	Memphis, Tenn.	TCU vs. Georgia
Sun	Dec. 30	2 p.m.	El Paso, Texas	North Carolina vs. Stanford
Music City	Dec. 30	3:30 p.m.	Nashville, Tenn.	Nebraska vs. Tennessee
Orange	Dec. 30	8 p.m.	Miami Gardens, Fla.	Michigan vs. Florida State
Peach	Dec. 31	3 p.m.	Atlanta, Ga.	Alabama vs. Washington
Fiesta	Dec. 31	7 p.m.	Glendale, Ariz.	Ohio State vs. Clemson
Taxslayer	Dec. 31	11 a.m.	Jacksonville, Fla.	Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky
Citrus	Dec. 31	11 a.m.	Orlando, Fla.	Louisville vs. LSU
Outback	Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Tampa, Fla.	Florida vs. Iowa
Cotton	Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Arlington, Texas	Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin
Rose	Jan. 2	5 p.m.	Pasadena, Calif.	Penn State vs. USC
Sugar	Jan. 2	8:30 p.m.	New Orleans, La.	Auburn vs. Oklahoma
CFP National Championship	Jan. 9	8:30 p.m.	Tampa, Fla.	TBD

College Football Playoff Preview

Alabama enters the College Football Playoff as a heavy favorite, having rampaged through the SEC with flying colors. The Crimson Tide have won all but one of their games by 10 or more points, including Saturday's 54-16 drubbing of Florida.

Bo Scarbrough rushed for 91 yards and two touchdowns, leading a Tide attack that gained 234 yards and scored four times. Jalen Hurts was limited to just 139 total yards, only one of which came on the ground, but it was of little matter as Alabama continued to outclass the nation.

"I don't see a lot of weaknesses," Florida head coach Jim McElwain told reporters of Alabama. "They've really accumulated a lot of speed at some spots where they were always big."

The Tide are the nation's only Power Five-conference unbeaten and haven't faced a true challenge all season. Even Ole Miss, which came within five points of taking down head coach Nick Saban and Co. way back in September, trailed by 18 with 5:28 remaining. Only a couple of Alabama lapses allowed the Rebels to make things interesting.

The same cannot be said for Clemson, which has won six games by one score. Included in that total was Saturday's 42-35 win over Virginia Tech, which saw the Hokies drive all the way to the Tigers 23-yard line before Jerod Evans threw an interception on their potentially game-tying drive.

Deshaun Watson accounted for 373 total yards and five touchdowns, perhaps putting himself back in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Watson is likely the best challenger to Louisville's Lamar Jackson, who appeared to have the award on lock before the Cardinals' late-season swoon. Jackson will likely still win, but Watson has a better opportunity: a chance to redeem last season's championship game loss.

"What a blessing to be a part of this journey," head coach Dabo Swinney told reporters. "This guy is the best player in the country, and it isn't close."

Alabama and Clemson are the only returnees from last season's playoff, which saw the two giants put on a classic in the title game. The Tide scraped by for a 45-40 win on the back of a three-touchdown game by Heisman winner Derrick Henry and a 335-yard performance from Jake Coker. Neither of those players is still with the program; Hurts and a running-back-by-committee have taken over.

Most of the offensive principals who played for Clemson last season have returned. Watson and Wayne Gallman make perhaps the best quarterback-running back tandem in college football despite Gallman not getting enough national recognition. If experience matters in these situations, the Tigers have a real shot at atoning for their loss.

Here's a look at their team's reaction:

The Tigers start their journey with a Fiesta Bowl matchup against Ohio State, which made the playoff despite a loss to Penn State and being idle this week. The Buckeyes' resume did, however, include wins over Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Michigan—Top 10 teams that each looked potentially playoff bound at some junctures. Their double-overtime thriller over the Wolverines propelled their resume to the top of the pile, and it's hard to quibble with a one-score road loss to the nation's fifth-best team.

The program provided a video package of the team's journey:

Alabama will face off against one-loss Washington, which can likely thank the impressive nature of its win over Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game for allowing the Huskies to sneak in over Penn State. Washington held Colorado to 163 total yards and picked off Sefo Liufau three times—doubling his season total in the process—as they raced to a 41-10 victory to take the Pac-12 title.

Washington held possession for more than 38 minutes and rushed for 265 yards, while Colorado looked totally overmatched. Ranked eighth coming into the week, Washington has taken care of business time and again despite a down Pac-12 and weak nonconference schedule.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.