Bowl Games 2015-16: College Football Schedule, Predictions and Games to Watch

Bowl season is college football's version of Christmas that lasts three weeks.

We're only a day away before bowling officially begins. There are 40 games, and 20 will get a strike, while the 20 losers will come up short on the 7-10 split. Wait, wrong sport.

So many bowls, so little time. Here's the bowl schedule along with some predictions and some non-New Year's Six bowls you should be watching for.

Bowl	Matchup	Date	TV	Time (ET)	Prediction
New Mexico Bowl	Arizona vs. New Mexico	Dec. 19	ESPN	2 p.m.	Arizona
Las Vegas Bowl	BYU vs. Utah	Dec. 19	ABC	3:30 p.m.	Utah
Camellia Bowl	Ohio vs. Appalachian State	Dec. 19	ESPN	5:30 p.m.	App. State
Cure Bowl	San Jose State vs. Georgia State	Dec. 19	CBSSN	7 p.m.	Georgia St.
New Orleans Bowl	Arkansas State vs. Louisiana Tech	Dec. 19	ESPN	9 p.m.	La. Tech
Miami Beach Bowl	Western Kentucky vs. South Florida	Dec. 21	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	S. Florida
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Akron vs. Utah State	Dec. 22	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	Utah State
Marmot Boca Raton Bowl	Temple vs. Toledo	Dec. 22	ESPN	7 p.m.	Temple
Poinsettia Bowl	Boise State vs. Northern Illinois	Dec. 23	ESPN	4:30 p.m.	Boise State
GoDaddy Bowl	Georgia Southern vs. Bowling Green	Dec. 23	ESPN	8 p.m.	Bowling Green
Bahamas Bowl	Middle Tennessee vs. Western Michigan	Dec. 24	ESPN	Noon	Western Michigan
Hawai'i Bowl	San Diego State vs. Cincinnati	Dec. 24	ESPN	8 p.m.	SDSU
St. Petersburg Bowl	UConn vs. Marshall	Dec. 26	ESPN	11 a.m.	UConn
Sun Bowl	Miami (FL) vs. Washington State	Dec. 26	CBS	2 p.m.	Wazzu
Heart of Dallas Bowl	Washington vs. Southern Miss	Dec. 26	ESPN	2:20 p.m.	Southern Miss
Pinstripe Bowl	Indiana vs. Duke	Dec. 26	ABC	3:30 p.m.	Indiana
Independence Bowl	Tulsa vs. Virginia Tech	Dec. 26	ESPN	5:45 p.m.	Va Tech
Foster Farms Bowl	UCLA vs. Nebraska	Dec. 26	ESPN	9:15 p.m.	UCLA
Military Bowl	Pittsburgh vs. Navy	Dec. 28	ESPN	2:30 p.m.	Navy
Quick Lane Bowl	Central Michigan vs. Minnesota	Dec. 28	ESPN	5 p.m.	Minnesota
Armed Forces Bowl	Cal vs. Air Force	Dec. 29	ESPN	2 p.m.	Cal
Russell Athletic Bowl	No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 17 Baylor	Dec. 29	ESPN	5:30 p.m.	North Carolina
Arizona Bowl	Nevada-Reno vs. Colorado State	Dec. 29	N/A	7:30 p.m.	Colorado State
Texas Bowl	LSU vs. Texas Tech	Dec. 29	ESPN	9 p.m.	LSU
Birmingham Bowl	Auburn vs. Memphis	Dec. 30	ESPN	Noon	Memphis
Belk Bowl	North Carolina State vs. Mississippi State	Dec. 30	ESPN	3:30 p.m.	Mississippi State
Music City Bowl	Texas A&M vs. Louisville	Dec. 30	ESPN	7 p.m.	Texas A&M
Holiday Bowl	No. 25 USC vs. Wisconsin	Dec. 30	ESPN	10:30 p.m.	USC
Peach Bowl	No. 18 Houston vs. No. 9 Florida State	Dec. 31	ESPN	Noon	Florida State
Orange Bowl (CFP semifinal)	No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Clemson	Dec. 31	ESPN	4 p.m.	Clemson
Cotton Bowl (CFP semifinal)	No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Alabama	Dec. 31	ESPN	8 p.m.	Michigan State
Outback Bowl	No. 13 Northwestern vs. No. 23 Tennessee	Jan. 1	ESPN2	Noon	Northwestern
Citrus Bowl	No. 14 Michigan vs. No. 19 Florida	Jan. 1	ABC	1 p.m.	Michigan
Fiesta Bowl	No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Ohio State	Jan. 1	ESPN	1 p.m.	Ohio State
Rose Bowl	No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 5 Iowa	Jan. 1	ESPN	5 p.m.	Stanford
Sugar Bowl	No. 16 Oklahoma State vs. No. 12 Ole Miss	Jan. 1	ESPN	8:30 p.m.	Ole Miss
Taxslayer Bowl	Penn State vs. Georgia	Jan. 2	ESPN	Noon	Penn State
Liberty Bowl	Kansas State vs. Arkansas	Jan. 2	ESPN	3:20 p.m.	Arkansas
Alamo Bowl	No. 15 Oregon vs. No. 11 TCU	Jan. 2	ESPN	6:45 p.m.	TCU
Cactus Bowl	West Virginia vs. Arizona State	Jan. 2	ESPN	10:15 p.m.	Arizona State

Games to Watch

Poinsettia Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Boise State

Three years ago, this would be the bowl game of the year.

Northern Illinois and Boise State were once two of best non-Power-Five teams in the entire country. A matchup between these two would be a marquee game on the bowl schedule.

Alas, the Broncos and Huskies meet in the Poinsettia Bowl. Boise State hasn't been to the Poinsettia Bowl since 2008. Northern Illinois, meanwhile, is now in its third Poinsettia Bowl in the last four years but will not have quarterback Drew Hare, who was ruled out for the rest of the year on Nov. 5 with a ruptured Achilles.

Also, backup quarterback Ryan Graham is listed as questionable with a leg injury, which means the NIU quarterback situation is a complete mess.

Third-string quarterback Tommy Fielder has completed 46 percent of his passes this year.

Depth at the signal-caller spot is why Boise State should win this game. The solid play of Brett Rypien and stellar running of tailback Jeremy McNichols should pace Boise State to a win in this bowl game that we wish happened sooner.

Birmingham Bowl: Auburn vs. Memphis

This game is all about Paxton Lynch and nothing more.

He's projected to be the top quarterback taken in the upcoming NFL draft, per CBS Sports. This is his last dress rehearsal before the combine is a matchup with the Auburn Tigers in the Birmingham Bowl.

Lynch has thrown for 3,670 yards this year and has only thrown three interceptions. Auburn, meanwhile, is a 6-6 football team (which is weird in itself), and it has given up 27.3 points per game. Memphis averaged 42 points per game. Math tells us that the Tigers should score a ton of points and win this football game comfortably.

But if you've yet to see Lynch in action, this is as good a chance as any. NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock shared his thoughts on Lynch:

Auburn has been a mess all year, so this should be a field day for a Tigers offense that has been nothing short of explosive in 2015.

Foster Farms Bowl: UCLA vs. Nebraska

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Josh Rosen is good. He's going to be great next year.

If a consolation prize for UCLA is being in the Foster Farms Bowl with a freshman quarterback who threw for 3,350 yards with 20 touchdowns to only nine interceptions, that's an accomplishment. 

Rosen is a star in the making. He's shown flashes of being a potential superstar, and there have been times he's played like a freshman. Nebraska is a good team for Rosen to have a big day against, seeing how the Cornhuskers have given up almost 28 points per game. 

Plus, Nebraska is one of those teams that went 5-7 and made a bowl game. That in itself is a crime. UCLA should win this game easily.