Bowl Game Schedule 2014-15: Complete Predictions for Can't-Miss Matchups

Five college football bowl games have already been played this season, and while Bowling Green and South Alabama put on an especially good show in the Camellia Bowl—with the Falcons winning by a score of 33-28—those contests were merely appetizers for the big-time games to be played in locations all across the country, not to mention the Bahamas, throughout December and early January 2015.

There are still a whopping 34 bowl games left to be played, including the three contests that make up the inaugural College Football Playoff. With so much attention heaped on the Oregon-Florida State and Alabama-Ohio State matchups, the rest of the bowl games might seem like unnecessary sideshows.

Of course, if you take your football mayhem any way you can get it, then these corporate-sponsored affairs are the gifts that keep on giving all throughout the holidays.

It's also a fine opportunity for players set for the NFL or graduation to bid their fans and teammates a final farewell, or to have programs display some of the talent that should be generating highlights in the next season.

Here is a complete schedule and list of predictions for the 2014-15 NCAA football bowl games, followed by a closer look at what could be the most exciting non-playoff matchup of the bowl season.

Bowl	Matchup	Location	Date/Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
Miami Beach Bowl	BYU vs. Memphis	Marlins Park, Miami, FL	Dec. 22, 2 p.m.	ESPN	BYU
Boca Raton Bowl	Marshall vs. Northern Illinois	FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL	Dec. 23, 6 p.m.	ESPN	Marshall
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl	Navy vs. SDSU	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA	Dec. 23 9:30 p.m.	ESPN	SDSU
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl	Central Michigan vs. Western Kentucky	Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas	Dec. 24, Noon	ESPN	Western Kentucky
Hawai'i Bowl	Fresno State vs. Rice	Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI	Dec. 24, 8 p.m.	ESPN	Fresno State
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl	Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX	Dec. 26, 1 p.m.	ESPN	Illinois
Quick Lane Bowl	Rutgers vs. North Carolina	Ford Field, Detroit, MI	Dec. 26, 4:30 p.m.	ESPN	UNC
Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl	NC State vs. UCF	Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL	Dec. 26, 8 p.m.	ESPN	NC State
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman	Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech	Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, MD	Dec. 27, 1 p.m.	ESPN	Cincinnati
Hyundai Sun Bowl	Arizona State vs. Duke	Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX	Dec. 27, 2 p.m.	CBS	ASU
Duck Commander Independence Bowl	Miami vs. South Carolina	Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA	Dec. 27 3:30 p.m.	ABC	Miami
New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Boston College vs. Penn State	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY	Dec. 27, 4:30 p.m.	ESPN	Penn State
National University Holiday Bowl	Nebraska vs. USC	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA	Dec. 27, 8 p.m.	ESPN	USC
AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Texas A&M vs. West Virginia	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN	Dec. 29, 2 p.m.	ESPN	Texas A&M
Russell Athletic Bowl	Oklahoma vs. Clemson	Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL	Dec. 29, 5:30 p.m.	ESPN	Clemson
AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl	Arkansas vs. Texas	NRG Stadium, Houston, TX	Dec. 29, 9 p.m.	ESPN	Arkansas
Franklin American Mortage Music City Bowl	Notre Dame vs. LSU	LP Field, Nashville, TN	Dec. 30, 3 p.m.	ESPN	LSU
Belk Bowl	Georgia vs. Louisville	Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC	Dec. 30, 6:30 p.m.	ESPN	Georgia
Foster Farms Bowl	Maryland vs. Stanford	Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA	Dec. 30, 10 p.m.	ESPN	Stanford
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 6 TCU	Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA	Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m.	ESPN	TCU
VIZIO Fiesta Bowl	No. 20 Boise State vs. No. 10 Arizona	University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ	Dec. 31, 4 p.m.	ESPN	Arizona
Capital One Orange Bowl	No. 7 Mississippi State vs. No. 12 Georgia Tech	Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL	Dec. 31, 8 p.m.	ESPN	Mississippi State
Outback Bowl	Auburn vs. Wisconsin	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL	Jan. 1, Noon	ESPN2	Auburn
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic	No. 8 Michigan State vs. No. 5 Baylor	AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX	Jan. 1, 12:30 p.m.	ESPN	Baylor
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	Missouri vs. Minnesota	Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL	Jan. 1, 1 p.m.	ABC	Minnesota
Rose Bowl (CFP Semifinal)	No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 3 FSU	Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA	Jan. 1, 5 p.m.	ESPN	Oregon
Allstate Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal)	No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 4 Ohio State	Mercedez-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA	Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Alabama
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	Houston vs. Pittsburgh	Amon G. Carter Stadiu, Forth Worth, TX	Jan. 2, Noon	ESPN	Houston
TaxSlayer Bowl	Iowa vs. Tennessee	EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL	Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m.	ESPN	Iowa
Valero Alamo Bowl	Kansas State vs. UCLA	Alamodome, San Antonio, TX	Jan. 2 6:45 p.m.	ESPN	UCLA
TicketCity Cactus Bowl	Washington vs. Oklahoma State	Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ	Jan. 2 10:15 p.m.	ESPN	Oklahoma State
Birmingham Bowl	East Carolina vs. Florida	Legion Field, Birmingham, AL	Jan. 3, Noon	ESPN	ECU
GoDaddy Bowl	Toledo vs. Arkansas State	Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL	Jan. 4, 9 p.m.	ESPN	Arkansas State
College Football Playoff National Championship	TBD vs. TBD	AT&T Stadium Arlington, TX	Jan. 12, 8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Alabama

VIZIO Fiesta Bowl: No. 20 Boise State vs. No. 10 Arizona 

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Boise State, as per usual, is fighting for the relevancy and respectability of the non-Power Five conferences. It is, in fact, the only non-Power Five team to be playing on New Year's Eve.

Arizona is an intriguing team to watch as it should be in the thick of the Pac-12 race next season and is the only team to beat Oregon this year, although that came way back on Oct. 2.

The Broncos are forever linked with the Fiesta Bowl after their shenanigans in a classic overtime win over Oklahoma back in 2007. Bleacher Report's own Ben Kercheval knows what he wants to see out of Boise State in this contest:

While it would be understandable if football fans got a bit nostalgic and tuned in for some trick plays, it's more likely that they will see a fairly straightforward run-and-gun attack powerful enough to eschew fancy football plays.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Boise State averaged 40 points per game this season, many of them coming from star running back Jay Ajayi. He racked up 2,225 all-purpose yards and 29 total touchdowns on the season. Quarterback Grant Hedrick had a fine year passing for over 3,300 yards, but it's clear that this offense revolves around the heroics of Ajayi. 

Arizona will have to deal with what could be an especially amped-up version of Ajayi, as this bit of news from Sports Illustrated reveals the junior tailback will not be returning for his senior season:

Hedrick also does a fine job of scrambling for extra yardage and spreading the ball around to his receivers. Five players caught at least 28 passes this season, with Shane Williams-Rhodes pacing the squad with 68 receptions and seven touchdowns.

Of course, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez is no stranger to high-flying offenses, and he will counter Boise State's attack with quarterback Anu Solomon, a Marcus Mariota admirer who threw for 27 touchdowns against just seven interceptions as a wide-eyed redshirt freshman.

Boise State defensive coordinator Marcel Yates likened him to a certain NFL quarterback who made a name for himself with death-defying scrambles.

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

"He's kind of like Johnny (Manziel) - he keeps a lot of plays alive with his legs," said Yates, via The Idaho Statesman's Chadd Cripe. 

Solomon doesn't have eye-popping rushing statistics, but he knows how to keep a play alive and maneuver through a collapsing pocket. He has been bothered by an ankle injury as of late, but according to the Arizona Daily Star's Daniel Berk, Rodriguez said his star signal-caller should be fine for the Fiesta Bowl:

Of course, Arizona could run into trouble on third downs, as Solomon's 58.0 completion percentage doesn't bode well against a defense that ranked 22nd in the nation in third-down conversions allowed (35.1 percent), per NCAA.com.

However, if Solomon can keep things manageable on third down, running back Nick Wilson and his robust 5.9 yards per carry should have little trouble moving the chains.

Hopefully, for the neutral fan's sake, defenses are an afterthought in this potentially bonkers ballgame. However, there is one player who stands out among the rest and must be accounted for on every single play: 'Zona linebacker Scooby Wright III. 

Total Tackles	Solo	Assisted	TFL	Sacks	Fumbles Forced
153	89	64	27	14	6

The Bednarik, Lombardi and Nagurski award winner will be finishing off an absurd statistical season, and his strip-sack and fumble recovery—all in one motion—of Mariota to seal Arizona's win over the Ducks was one of the plays of the year. 

Still, Wright has little help around him, as the Wildcats ranked 71st in the nation in rushing defense. Ajayi is going to have his moments, but so will the opposition. And the fans should get to savor them all.

The excellent competition Arizona has played this season should have them well prepared for this contest. Look for them to get a boost from the likely pro-Wildcats crowd and edge the Broncos in a high-scoring affair.

Prediction: Arizona 42-38 Boise State