Bowl Games Schedule 2016-17: TV, Live-Stream Info and Matchup Predictions

Bowl season is quickly approaching for college football teams around the country. Forty-one games are expected to go down between Saturday, Dec. 17, and the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday, Jan. 9.

Brett McMurphy of ESPN.com reported that the matchups for certain bowls may get delayed a week depending on Navy's fate as a Group of Five contender. One source stated that a victory by the Midshipmen in the AAC title game could "paralyze" the system for a week until their rivalry game with Army.

While bowl officials wait to see if the situation sorts itself out without a delay, let's check out the complete schedule on tap to conclude the college football campaign. That's followed by projections for the top bowls and a closer look at the CFP picture.

2016-17 Bowl Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Bowl	TV	Stream
Dec. 17	Noon	Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl	ABC	WatchESPN
Dec. 17	2 p.m.	New Mexico Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 17	3:30 p.m.	Las Vegas Bowl	ABC	WatchESPN
Dec. 17	5:30 p.m.	Camellia Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 17	5:30 p.m.	Cure Bowl	CBSSN	CBSSports.com
Dec. 17	9 p.m.	New Orleans Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 19	2:30 p.m.	Miami Beach Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 20	7 p.m.	Boca Raton Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 21	9 p.m.	Poinsettia Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 22	7 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 23	1 p.m.	Bahamas Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 23	4:30 p.m.	Armed Forces Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 23	8 p.m.	Dollar General Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 24	8 p.m.	Hawai'i Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 26	11 a.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 26	2:30 p.m.	Quick Lane Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 26	5 p.m.	Independence Bowl	ESPN2	WatchESPN
Dec. 27	Noon	Heart of Dallas Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 27	3:30 p.m.	Military Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 27	7 p.m.	Holiday Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 27	10:15 p.m.	Cactus Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 28	2 p.m.	Pinstripe Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 28	5:30 p.m.	Russell Athletic Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 28	8:30 p.m.	Foster Farms Bowl	FOX	Fox Sports Go
Dec. 28	9 p.m.	Texas Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 29	2 p.m.	Birmingham Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Belk Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 29	9 p.m.	Alamo Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 30	Noon	Liberty Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 30	2 p.m.	Sun Bowl	CBS	CBSSports.com
Dec. 30	3:30 p.m.	Music City Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 30	5:30 p.m.	Arizona Bowl	Campus Insiders	CampusInsiders.com
Dec. 30	8 p.m.	Orange Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 31	3 or 7 p.m.	Playoff Semifinal at the Peach Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 31	3 or 7 p.m.	Playoff Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Dec. 31	11 a.m.	Citrus Bowl	ABC	WatchESPN
Dec. 31	11 a.m.	TaxSlayer Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Jan. 2	1 p.m	Outback Bowl	ABC	WatchESPN
Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Cotton Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Jan. 2	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Jan. 2	8:30 p.m.	Sugar Bowl	ESPN	WatchESPN
Jan. 9	8:30 p.m.	College Football Playoff National Championship	ESPN	WatchESPN

Predictions for Top Matchups

Game	Prediction
CFP Semifinal	(1) Alabama vs. (4) Washington
CFP Semifinal	(2) Ohio State vs. (3) Clemson
Sugar Bowl	Oklahoma vs. Auburn
Rose Bowl	Penn State vs. Colorado
Cotton Bowl	Wisconsin vs. Western Michigan
Orange Bowl	Florida State vs. Michigan

College Football Playoff Outlook

One of the most under-discussed stories heading into championship week is whether Alabama is a lock to reach the CFP regardless of its result against Florida in the SEC title game. The Crimson Tide sit atop the rankings with a 12-0 record.

FiveThirtyEight's formula gives the reigning champions a 92 percent chance of making the Final Four:

Two factors make that estimate intriguing.

The first and most obvious is the fact that the number isn't 100 percent. So Bama can't enter its championship game with a sense that a margin for error exists. If the Gators pull off the upset, there's at least some reason to believe the Tide could miss out.

Second, FiveThirtyEight's CFP scenario generator suggests it wouldn't take a string of shocking results to change Alabama's outlook. A loss paired with victories by Clemson and Washington, favorites in their respective title games, drops the Tide to 35 percent, regardless of the other results.

That may seem low on the surface. It suggests the committee would pick 11-1 Ohio State over 12-1 Alabama if forced to make that call. But it helps explain why head coach Nick Saban ranted when asked about the game's meaning since the general feeling suggests his team is in the playoff no matter what.

Matt Zenitz of AL.com passed along the coach's intense response:

"

That's certainly not the mindset that we want. This is a big game for us. It's an opportunity to win the SEC championship, which—to me—is a very significant accomplishment. We hold that in very high esteem, having the ability to do that, having the opportunity to do it, having the ability to play for it.

You all (the media) put everything about the Playoffs. That's all you care about. You don't care about any bowl games. You don't care about any teams in the country that aren't in the Playoffs. I don't know. If we don't win this game, maybe we throw a stink bomb out there, maybe we don't get the Playoffs. I don't know. You guys have got all the answers to all that, but I don't. All I know is that if we play well we control our own destiny in terms of what we do.

"

Ultimately, this is a situation in which it feels like humans probably have a better read than the cold-hearted computer. Alabama should be in barring a stunning blowout loss to Florida. But Saban is making it clear he doesn't want to leave anything to chance.

Ohio State may also find itself cheering for Alabama. The Buckeyes have a better chance of making the College Football Playoff if the status quo is maintained as opposed to mass chaos potentially forcing the committee to choose between one-loss Bama and Ohio State.

Things should be more straightforward for Clemson and Washington. The Tigers and Huskies are in the Top Four and have a chance to bolster those resumes in title games against Virginia Tech and Colorado, respectively.

The other key question mark surrounds the other Big Ten teams.

If Alabama wins and one of Clemson or Washington loses, there would likely be one spot available to join the Crimson Tide, Buckeyes and Tigers/Huskies. But a debate would emerge between the Big Ten title winner and Michigan.

The Wolverines are coming off a crushing loss to rival Ohio State, which dropped them to fifth in the CFP rankings without a chance to bounce back in a title game. Bill Bender of Sporting News noted that playoff committee chairman Kirby Hocutt gave them hope, though.

"The separation between Washington at No. 4 and Michigan at No. 5 is extremely small," he said.

So it sounds possible the committee would be willing to take two Big Ten teams—Ohio State and Michigan—over their own and other conference winners.

Whether that's a fair approach is up for debate. But the job of Hocutt and Co. is to list the top four teams in the country at the time of their final decision, and that leaves a lot of things open for interpretation, especially after the entertaining clash between Ohio State and Michigan last week.

In the end, if Alabama, Clemson and Washington all take care of business, it should lead to a relatively stress-free final meeting for the committee. If one or more of those Top Four teams lose, however, then there will be some serious drama Sunday.