Bowl Schedule 2013-14: Highlighting Must-Watch Non-BCS Games

Most college football fans are aware of the matchups in the five BCS games. These games get the majority of the hype and press leading into bowl season. That doesn't mean, however, that they will be the best games. 

There are going to be some epic and memorable battles waged in some of the other bowls. With 30 non-BCS bowls featuring quality teams, there is no way around that fact. Of course, some of them will be clunkers, as well. 

In an effort to help you avoid the clunkers and maximize your precious viewing time this college bowl season, I've picked the three matchups that promise to produce fantastic games. 

Bowl	Teams	Date	Time (ET)	TV	Live Stream
Gildan New Mexico	Washington St. vs. Colorado St.	Dec. 21	2 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Royal Purple Las Vegas	Fresno State vs. USC	Dec. 21	3:30 p.m.	ABC	TBD
Famous Idaho Potato	Buffalo vs. San Diego St.	Dec. 21	5:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans	Tulane vs. Louisiana-Lafayette	Dec. 21	9 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg	East Carolina vs. Ohio	Dec. 23	2 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Sheraton Hawaii	Boise St. vs. Oregon St.	Dec. 24	8 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Little Caesars Pizza	Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green	Dec. 26	6 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia	Utah St. vs. Northern Illinois	Dec. 26	9:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman	Marshall vs. Maryland	Dec. 27	2:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Texas	Syracuse vs. Minnesota	Dec. 27	6 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Fight Hunger	BYU vs. Washington	Dec. 27	9:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
New Era Pinstripe	Rutgers vs. Notre Dame	Dec. 28	Noon	ESPN	WatchESPN
Belk	Cincinnati vs. North Carolina	Dec. 28	3:20 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Russell Athletic	Louisville vs. Miami	Dec. 28	6:45 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Buffalo Wild Wings	Kansas St. vs. Michigan	Dec. 28	10:15 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Middle Tennessee vs. Navy	Dec. 30	11:45 a.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City	Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech	Dec. 30	3:15 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Valero Alamo	Texas vs. Oregon	Dec. 30	6:45 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
National University Holiday	Texas Tech vs. Arizona St.	Dec. 30	10:15 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
AdvoCare V100	Boston College vs. Arizona	Dec. 31	12:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Hyundai Sun	Virginia Tech vs. UCLA	Dec. 31	2 p.m.	CBS	TBD
AutoZone Liberty	Rice vs. Mississippi St.	Dec. 31	4 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Chick-fil-A	Duke vs. Texas A&M	Dec. 31	8 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
TaxSlayer.com Gator	Georgia vs. Nebraska	Jan. 1	Noon	ESPN2	WatchESPN
Heart of Dallas	North Texas vs. UNLV	Jan. 1	Noon	ESPNU	WatchESPN
Capital One	Wisconsin vs. South Carolina	Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ABC	TBD
Outback	LSU vs. Iowa	Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO	Michigan St. vs. Stanford	Jan. 1	5 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Tostitos Fiesta	Baylor vs. UCF	Jan. 1	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Allstate Sugar	Alabama vs. Oklahoma	Jan. 2	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
Discover Orange	Clemson vs. Ohio St.	Jan. 3	TBD	ESPN	WatchESPN
AT&T Cotton	Missouri vs. Oklahoma St.	Jan. 3	7:30 p.m.	FOX	TBD
BBVA Compass	Houston vs. Vanderbilt	Jan. 4	1 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
GoDaddy	Arkansas St. vs. Ball St.	Jan. 5	9 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN
VIZIO BCS National Championship	Florida St. vs. Auburn	Jan. 6	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN

Cotton Bowl 

Matchup: No. 8 Missouri (11-2) vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State (10-2)

When: Jan. 3 on Fox at 7:30 p.m. ET

This may as well be a BCS game. Shoot, had the Missouri Tigers not fallen 59-42 to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game, they would have likely been playing for the national title. 

Oklahoma State was also in line for a bigger bowl game until it fell 33-24 to Oklahoma in its final regular season game. 

Now both teams must try to put the regrets of those losses behind them and rekindle this former Big 12 rivalry. Missouri had a wonderful year and was even able to weather an injury to starting quarterback James Franklin, who is back and playing well. Chances are he will play well in this game, too.

He will be going against a defense that is 14th in the nation in points allowed, but that defense certainly didn't look like the 14th-best in the nation while giving up 33 points to Oklahoma in its last game of the regular season.

Of course, it's not like Missouri's defense will roll in on a high note. It allowed 59 points to Auburn in the SEC Championship Game.

This sets up for what will be a back-and-forth, high-scoring affair.

Capital One Bowl

Matchup: No. 9 South Carolina (10-2) vs. No. 19 Wisconsin (9-3)

When: Jan. 1 on ABC at 1 p.m. ET

Like the two teams I just featured, Wisconsin will enter this game off of a heartbreaking loss. The Badgers fell 31-24 to Penn State. As it turned out, with Michigan State beating Ohio State, that loss didn't cost the Badgers much in terms of their bowl positioning. They wouldn't have been in a BCS game, and this is a solid consolation prize against a tough Gamecocks team. 

South Carolina will enter this game having won five straight, and were it not for a 23-21 loss to a bad Tennessee team, the Gamecocks would be looking at a BCS game. 

Wisconsin likes to run the ball and dominate the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. That will be no easy task against Jadeveon Clowney and a Gamecocks' defense that allowed the 14th-fewest points in the nation while playing in the tough SEC. 

This sets up for what should be a relatively low-scoring team. The Gamecocks do not have a prolific offense. They are 49th in passing and 30th in the rushing.

Wisconsin is tough to run against, however, as it allowed just 1,216 yards at 3.2 yards per carry. 

This sets up for a hard-hitting and entertaining game.  

Chick-fil-A Bowl

Matchup: No. 21 Texas A&M (8-4) vs. No. 24 Duke (10-3)

When: Dec. 31 on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET

Love him or hate him, you'd be hard pressed to say Johnny Manziel is not fun to watch on the college football field. Although Manziel said he's undecided as to what he will do next season, there is a solid chance this will be his last college game. 

It's been an entertaining two years of football authored by Manziel. That two-year run, however, is currently on a bit of a down note. Manziel and the Aggies lost their last two games of the season to finish well below the preseason expectations. 

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner also had what were easily his worst two outings of the season during his last two times on the field. If this is indeed his last game, I have to believe Manziel is going to do everything possible to leave a more positive last impression. 

He shouldn't find too much difficulty playing against a Duke defense that allowed the 47th most points in the nation while playing in the not particularly offensively stout ACC. 

Duke is also just 50th in the nation in points scored, so this game could very well be a blowout. Of course, the Aggies' defense—at 89th in the nation in points scored—is terrible.

What a blast it would be to see Manziel go out in a shootout.