Bowl Games 2015-16: Schedule, TV Info and Predictions for All Games

The 2015-16 postseason will have a record 40 bowl games in addition to the Jan. 11 College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Whether you think it's too much or just adds to the fun, there will be plenty of college football games to get you through the holiday season and the new year.

Here is a look at the complete schedule with predictions for each game:

Date	Time (ET)	TV	Bowl	Matchup	Predictions
Dec. 19	2 p.m.	ESPN	Gildan New Mexico Bowl	Arizona vs. New Mexico	Arizona
Dec. 19	3:30 p.m.	ABC	Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl	BYU vs. No. 22 Utah	Utah
Dec. 19	5:30 p.m.	ESPN	Raycom Media Camellia Bowl	Ohio vs. Appalachian State	Appalachian State
Dec. 19	7 p.m.	CBSSN	Cure Bowl	San Jose State vs. Georgia State	San Jose State
Dec. 19	9 p.m.	ESPN	R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	Arkansas State vs. Louisiana Tech	Arkansas State
Dec. 21	2:30 p.m.	ESPN	Miami Beach Bowl	Western Kentucky vs. South Florida	Western Kentucky
Dec. 22	3:30 p.m.	ESPN	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Akron vs. Utah State	Utah State
Dec. 22	7 p.m.	ESPN	Marmot Boca Raton Bowl	Toledo vs. No. 24 Temple	Toledo
Dec. 23	4:30 p.m.	ESPN	San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl	Boise State vs. Northern Illinois	Northern Illinois
Dec. 23	8 p.m.	ESPN	GoDaddy Bowl	Georgia Southern vs. Bowling Green	Bowling Green
Dec. 24	12 p.m.	ESPN	Popeyes Bahamas Bowl	Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan	Middle Tennessee
Dec. 24	8 p.m.	ESPN	Hawai'i Bowl	San Diego State vs. Cincinnati	Cincinnati
Dec. 26	11 a.m.	ESPN	St. Petersburg Bowl	Connecticut vs. Marshall	Connecticut
Dec. 26	2 p.m.	CBS	Hyundai Sun Bowl	Miami vs. Washington State	Miami
Dec. 26	2:20 p.m.	ESPN	Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl	Washington vs. Southern Miss	Washington
Dec. 26	3:30 p.m	ABC	New Era Pinstripe Bowl	Indiana vs. Duke	Indiana
Dec. 26	5:45 p.m.	ESPN	Camping World Independence Bowl	Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech	Tulsa
Dec. 26	9:15 p.m.	ESPN	Foster Farms Bowl	UCLA vs. Nebraska	UCLA
Dec. 28	2:30 p.m.	ESPN	Military Bowl presented By Northrop Grumman	Pittsburgh vs. No. 22 Navy	Pittsburgh
Dec. 28	5 p.m.	ESPN2	Quick Lane Bowl	Central Michigan vs. Minnesota	Minnesota
Dec. 29	2 p.m.	ESPN	Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl	California vs. Air Force	California
Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	ESPN	Russell Athletic Bowl	No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 17 Baylor	North Carolina
Dec. 29	7:30 p.m.	Campus Insiders	NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl	Nevada vs. Colorado State	Colorado State
Dec. 29	9 p.m.	ESPN	AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl	No. 20 LSU vs. Texas Tech	Texas Tech
Dec. 30	12 p.m.	ESPN	Birmingham Bowl	Auburn vs. Memphis	Memphis
Dec. 30	3:30 p.m.	ESPN	Belk Bowl	NC State vs. Mississippi State	Mississippi State
Dec. 30	7 p.m.	ESPN	Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl	Texas A&M vs. Louisville	Texas A&M
Dec. 30	10:30 p.m.	ESPN	Holiday Bowl	No. 25 USC vs. Wisconsin	USC
Dec. 31	12 p.m.	ESPN	Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl	No. 18 Houston vs. No. 9 Florida State	Florida State
Dec. 31	4 p.m.	ESPN	CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl	No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Clemson	Oklahoma
Dec. 31	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic	No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Alabama	Alabama
Jan. 1	12 p.m.	ESPN2	Outback Bowl	No. 13 Northwestern vs. No. 23 Tennessee	Northwestern
Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ABC	Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl	No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 19 Florida	Michigan
Jan. 1	1 p.m.	ESPN	BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl	No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Ohio State	Ohio State
Jan. 1	5 p.m.	ESPN	Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual	No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 5 Iowa	Stanford
Jan. 1	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	Allstate Sugar Bowl	No. 16 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Ole Miss	Ole Miss
Jan. 2	12 p.m.	ESPN	TaxSlayer Bowl	Penn State vs. Georgia	Penn State
Jan. 2	3:20 p.m.	ESPN	AutoZone Liberty Bowl	Kansas State vs. Arkansas	Arkansas
Jan. 2	6;45 P.M.	ESPN	Valero Alamo Bowl	No. 15 Oregon vs. No. 11 TCU	Oregon
Jan. 2	10:15 p.m.	ESPN	Motel 6 Cactus Bowl	West Virginia vs. Arizona State	Arizona State
Jan. 11	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	CFP National Championship	TBA	N/A

Best Matchup

It would make sense that the College Football Playoff would have good matchups, and the Orange Bowl has the potential to be must-see TV.

The No. 1 Clemson Tigers and No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners have two of the highest-scoring offenses in the country and quarterbacks that finished in the top four in Heisman Trophy voting in Deshaun Watson and Baker Mayfield.

While a high-scoring affair should entertain the fans, there is also an interesting storyline to this matchup. Last year the Tigers crushed the Sooners, 40-6, in the Russell Athletic Bowl. 

It was the fifth loss for the Sooners, who are on a revenge tour this season, per SportsCenter:

If you think the Sooners aren't using it for motivation, you'd be wrong. Jake Trotter of ESPN.com reported that Oklahoma center Ty Darlington actually changed his cell-phone lock code to "4006" to remind of him of the loss. It seems to have worked, per Trotter:

"

I don’t think that loss is something you can forget about. That’s something ingrained in my memory. Obviously it was very embarrassing. They whupped us up and down the field for 60 minutes. We haven't forgotten about it—but it’s going to be a little bit different.

"

The drama, and the 85 combined points these two teams average per game, will give this one an edge over all the others.

While both can score, Oklahoma does it a little better and should pull out a close one late.

Prediction: Oklahoma wins, 35-31

Florida State on Upset Alert

The No. 9 Florida State Seminoles should be able to beat the No. 18 Houston Cougars in the Peach Bowl, but don't expect it to be easy.

Despite being a 7.5-point underdog per OddsShark, the Cougars have a real shot in this one. They stubbed their toe against the Connecticut Huskies, 20-17, and just missed an undefeated regular season. 

Houston defeated three teams that were ranked when they played (Memphis Tigers, Navy Midshipmen and Temple Owls), knocked off two Power Five teams (Vanderbilt Commodores and Louisville Cardinals) and claimed the American Athletic Association championship.

The Cougars score 40.6 points per game, which will help keep them in this one.

Florida State is clearly the better team, and has a great defense, but sometimes bowls are about which team actually wants to be there.

The Seminoles are coming off a national championship two seasons ago and a spot in the CFP last year. A game against a non-Power Five conference team might not be enough to have them fired up to play.

Houston, on the other hand, has a chance to tie a school record with 13 victories against a perennial power.

While it's possible players and fans are overlooking Houston, FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher is not, per Jared Shanker of ESPN.com: “It’s a very complete and well-coached football team," he said of Houston.

Shanker also wrote that Seminoles fans on social media have been dismissing the Cougars, perhaps because Florida State dismantled non-Power Five Northern Illinois in a 2012 bowl game. 

Houston head coach Tom Herman said Houston's success against teams perceived to be better than them has helped their confidence, according to Shanker:

"

It gives us some [confidence]. We went on [the] road and won that [Louisville] game, and it was only the second game of the season but a bit of a turning point in our season. We do things around here a lot different than a lot of places and certainly different than what [previous staffs] did in the past. And we had some buy-in from older guys, but we had a lot of fence riders who bought in when things were easy. They were evaluating when things got difficult and that game was testimony to those guys on the fence that this staff and this plan and this culture might actually work.

"

This wouldn't be the first time this scenario happened. The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide, who were hoping to play in the national championship, lost the 2009 Sugar Bowl to the No. 6 Utah Utes.

Although their rankings were close, Utah nationally was not perceived to be near as good as Alabama, and the Tide players didn't seem like they wanted to be there, allowing 21 first-quarter points in a 31-17 loss.

It might not happen here to Florida State, but if the Seminoles were hoping for a better bowl this season, and they overlook Houston, the Cougars could leave 13-1 and Peach Bowl Champions.