Bowl Schedule 2013-14: Highlighting Best Clashes of the New Year

If some of the results from early bowl games are any indication of what's to come, then college football fans better get ready for the upcoming matchups.

The bowl season started off right on Dec. 21, when Colorado State won a thrilling matchup against Washington State, 48-45, and the excitement has continued through the most recent clash of Utah State and Northern Illinois. Utah was victorious, 21-14, and Jordan Lynch showed that he may not be ready for the big show after all.

The biggest matchups of the bowl season are still to come, and the slate of January affairs will help college football fans to start the new year and finish their season on a high note.

The Remaining Schedule

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman	Marshall vs. Maryland	Dec. 27 @ 2:30 p.m.	ESPN
Texas	Syracuse vs. Minnesota	Dec. 27 @ 6 p.m.	ESPN
Fight Hunger	BYU vs. Washington	Dec. 27 @ 9:30 p.m.	ESPN
New Era Pinstripe	Rutgers vs. Notre Dame	Dec. 28 @ Noon	ESPN
Belk	Cincinnati vs. North Carolina	Dec. 28 @ 3:20 p.m.	ESPN
Russell Athletic	Louisville vs. Miami	Dec. 28 @ 6:45 p.m.	ESPN
Buffalo Wild Wings	Kansas St. vs. Michigan	Dec. 28 @ 10:15 p.m.	ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Middle Tennessee vs. Navy	Dec. 30 @ 11:45 a.m.	ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City	Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech	Dec. 30 @ 3:15 p.m.	ESPN
Valero Alamo	Texas vs. Oregon	Dec. 30 @ 6:45 p.m.	ESPN
National University Holiday	Texas Tech vs. Arizona St.	Dec. 30 @ 10:15 p.m.	ESPN
AdvoCare V100	Boston College vs. Arizona	Dec. 31 @ 12:30 p.m.	ESPN
Hyundai Sun	Virginia Tech vs. UCLA	Dec. 31 @ 2 p.m.	CBS
AutoZone Liberty	Rice vs. Mississippi St.	Dec. 31 @ 4 p.m.	ESPN
Chick-fil-A	Duke vs. Texas A&M	Dec. 31 @ 8 p.m.	ESPN
TaxSlayer.com Gator	Georgia vs. Nebraska	Jan. 1 @ Noon	ESPN2
Heart of Dallas	North Texas vs. UNLV	Jan. 1 @ Noon	ESPNU
Capital One	Wisconsin vs. South Carolina	Jan. 1 @ 1 p.m.	ABC
Outback	LSU vs. Iowa	Jan. 1 @ 1 p.m.	ESPN
Rose Bowl Game presented by VIZIO	Michigan St. vs. Stanford	Jan. 1 @ 5 p.m.	ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta	Baylor vs. UCF	Jan. 1 @ 8:30 p.m.	ESPN
Allstate Sugar	Alabama vs. Oklahoma	Jan. 2 @ 8:30 p.m.	ESPN
Discover Orange	Clemson vs. Ohio St.	Jan. 3 @ TBD	ESPN
AT&T Cotton	Missouri vs. Oklahoma St.	Jan. 3 @ 7:30 p.m.	FOX
BBA Compass	Houston vs. Vanderbilt	Jan. 4 @ 1 p.m.	ESPN
GoDaddy	Arkansas St. vs. Ball St.	Jan. 5 @ 9 p.m.	ESPN
VIZIO BCS National Championship	Florida St. vs. Auburn	Jan. 6 @ 8:30 p.m.	ESPN

Capital One Bowl

Wisconsin and South Carolina figure to compete in one of the more competitive games of the bowl season, but the Capital One Bowl should be won by the Badgers.

The New Year's Day matchup features one of the premier rushing teams in the country in Wisconsin and one of the more clutch teams in South Carolina. Sure, a loss to Georgia early in the season wasn't good for the perception of the team, but a double-overtime win against Missouri and a convincing win against Clemson on Nov. 30 have put the Gamecocks in good position entering their Jan. 1 contest.

That being said, Wisconsin has too much firepower in the run game to be taken down by South Carolina's No. 14-ranked defense.

Melvin Gordon and James White headline the attack. Both have run for at least 1,300 yards and combine for 25 touchdowns. Corey Clement and Jared Abbrederis combine for over 600 more yards and nine more touchdowns.

The Gamecocks will try to force Joel Stave to become the offensive leader. If they can do that, then they stand a good chance of winning. If not, then Wisconsin will rack up yards on the ground and win.

Discover Orange Bowl

Braxton Miller can't be a one-dimensional quarterback against Clemson; otherwise Ohio State will come up short in this year's Discover Orange Bowl.

Primarily a threat on the ground, Miller showed off his legs against Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game. He rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, but the Spartans held him to just eight completions and 101 yards through the air. He completed just 38.1 percent of his passes and averaged 4.8 yards per completion.

That type of production won't get it done against a top-notch Clemson defense.

Brandon Rink of TheState.com provides interesting statistics in regards to Clemson's defensive pressure:

"

Clemson makes no bones about its pressure prowess: No. 1 in tackles for loss (113) and No. 22 in sacks (33). But facing this kind of attack throws a wrench into the typical plan.

"

The attack Rink is referring to is the dual-threat ability of Miller. If Clemson can contain his run game and force him to be a pocket passer, then its chances of success in the Orange Bowl go up—way up. Watching their game plan unfold on the gridiron will be exciting to watch.

VIZIO BCS National Championship Game

No breakdown of compelling January matchups would be complete without the BCS title game, pitting undefeated Florida State against Cinderella-story Auburn.

Via Daniel Uthman of USA TODAY Sports:

"We've gotten the matchup everybody wants to see," said Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director. "We felt we'd get the two best teams, and we did."

It took the Tigers two spectacular victories against Alabama and Missouri to make it to the final BCS title game in college football history, and they appear to be the team of destiny. Heisman finalist Tre Mason has carried them over the past several games, and his performance on the ground against an aggressive Seminoles defense will dictate how well the offense performs.

The Seminoles' offensive game plan begins and ends with Heisman winner Jameis Winston. If he can pick apart the Tigers defense, then Florida State should win. He's simply too good and too consistent to pick against.

Then again, teams of destiny often overcome a ton of obstacles on their way to titles. Auburn started that journey with a game-ending miracle against the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl, so maybe we'll see more of the same in this one.

This game has too much potential to pass over.