Bowl Game Schedule 2015-16: Complete Predictions for Can't-Miss Matchups
The college football bowl season is upon us, as five games kicked off Saturday. With 35 more bowls, plus a national championship game, there is plenty more fun on the horizon.
Of course, the semifinal matchups (the Orange and Cotton bowls) are going to be must-see TV, but there are a few other bowls that don't share the spotlight but should be great viewing as well.
Let's take a look at the full remaining schedule as well as some analysis of three can't-miss games that help make bowl season the best time of the year:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| Dec. 21 | Miami Beach | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN | Western Kentucky (11-2) vs. South Florida (8-4) |
| Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN | Akron (7-5) vs. Utah State (6-6) |
| Dec. 22 | Boca Raton | 7 p.m. | ESPN | Temple (10-3) vs. Toledo (9-2) |
| Dec. 23 | Poinsettia | 4:30 p.m. | ESPN | Boise State (8-4) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5) |
| Dec. 23 | GoDaddy | 8 p.m. | ESPN | Bowling Green (10-3) vs. Georgia Southern (8-4) |
| Dec. 24 | Bahamas | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Middle Tenn. (7-5) vs. Western Michigan (7-5) |
| Dec. 24 | Hawaii | 8 p.m. | ESPN | San Diego State (10-3) vs. Cincinnati (7-5) |
| Dec. 26 | St. Pete | 11 a.m. | ESPN | Connecticut (6-6) vs. Marshall (9-3) |
| Dec. 26 | Sun | 2 p.m. | CBS Sports | Miami (Fla.) (8-4) vs. Washington State (8-4) |
| Dec. 26 | Heart of Dallas | 2:20 p.m. | ESPN | Washington (6-6) vs. Southern Miss (9-4) |
| Dec. 26 | Pinstripe | 3:30 p.m. | ABC | Indiana (6-6) vs. Duke (7-5) |
| Dec. 26 | Independence | 5:45 p.m. | ESPN | Tulsa (6-6) vs. Virginia Tech (6-6) |
| Dec. 26 | Foster Farms | 9:15 p.m. | ESPN | UCLA (8-4) vs. Nebraska (5-7) |
| Dec. 28 | Military | 2:30 p.m. | ESPN | Pittsburgh (8-4) vs. Navy (9-2) |
| Dec. 28 | Quick Lane | 5 p.m. | ESPN2 | Central Michigan (7-5) vs. Minnesota (5-7) |
| Dec. 29 | Armed Forces | 2 p.m. | ESPN | California (7-5) vs. Air Force (8-5) |
| Dec. 29 | Russell Athletic Bowl | 5:30 p.m. | ESPN | North Carolina (11-2) vs. Baylor (9-3) |
| Dec. 29 | Arizona | 7:30 p.m. | ASN | Nevada (6-6) vs. Colorado State (7-5) |
| Dec. 29 | Texas | 9 p.m. | ESPN | LSU (8-3) vs. Texas Tech (7-5) |
| Dec. 30 | Birmingham | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Auburn (6-6) vs. Memphis (9-3) |
| Dec. 30 | Belk | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN | NC State (7-5) vs. Miss. State (8-4) |
| Dec. 30 | Music City | 7 p.m. | ESPN | Texas A&M (8-4) vs. Louisville (7-5) |
| Dec. 30 | Holiday | 10:30 p.m. | ESPN | USC (8-5) vs. Wisconsin (9-3) |
| Dec. 31 | Peach | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Houston (12-1) vs. Florida State (10-2) |
| Dec. 31 | Orange | 4 p.m. | ESPN | No. 1 Clemson (13-0) vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (11-1) |
| Dec. 31 | Cotton | 8 p.m. | ESPN | No. 2 Alabama (12-1) vs. No. 3 Michigan State (12-1) |
| Jan. 1 | Outback | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Northwestern (10-2) vs. Tennessee (8-4) |
| Jan. 1 | Citrus | 1 p.m. | ABC | Michigan (9-3) vs. Florida (10-3) |
| Jan. 1 | Fiesta | 1 p.m. | ESPN | Notre Dame (10-2) vs. Ohio State (11-1) |
| Jan. 1 | Rose | 5 p.m. | ESPN | Iowa (12-1) vs. Stanford (11-2) |
| Jan. 1 | Sugar | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | Oklahoma State (10-2) vs. Ole Miss (9-3) |
| Jan. 2 | TaxSlayer | 12 p.m. | ESPN | Georgia (9-3) vs. Penn State (7-5) |
| Jan. 2 | Liberty | 3:20 p.m. | ESPN | Kansas State (6-6) vs. Arkansas (7-5) |
| Jan. 2 | Alamo | 6:45 p.m. | ESPN | Oregon (9-3) vs. TCU (10-2) |
| Jan. 2 | Cactus | 10:15 p.m. | ESPN | West Virginia (7-5) vs. Arizona State (6-6) |
| Jan. 11 | National Championship Game | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN | TBA |
Russell Athletic Bowl Could Surprise
The Russell Athletic Bowl between the No. 10 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 17 Baylor Bears is a matchup flying under the radar, but it should be a great game between two evenly matched teams.
Yes, North Carolina came up just short of winning the ACC championship and possibly entering the College Football Playoff but if we are being honest, this is not a top-four team in the country.
The Tar Heels are, however, a good team that knows how to score. They did it better than anyone else in the ACC—including the No. 1 Clemson Tigers—at 40.9 points per game. They also lost their only big test of the season against the Tigers, plus a game against the 3-9 South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Bears are a great test to see just how good this team really is.
Baylor was rolling this season with quarterback Seth Russell at 7-0 and averaging 55.3 points per game. However, he injured his neck and was ruled out for the season. Freshman Jarrett Stidham stepped in admirably, throwing for 419 yards in his first game in a win over Kansas State.
Now Stidham is hurt, along with running back Shock Linwood and All-American wide receiver Corey Coleman, and will not play in the bowl game. Those injuries certainly could take away from the game if Baylor is not able to score, but head coach Art Briles has a spread offensive system and playmakers that can allow for many quarterbacks to be successful.
Lynx Hawthorne, a wide receiver, was even used at quarterback in the regular-season finale against Texas. He'll be the second string behind Chris Johnson in the game, per Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News.
Despite the setbacks, Briles has faith in his team, per the Baylor Twitter account:
With all the injuries, everything points to Baylor not being able to be competitive in this game. However, it's bowl season, and sometimes crazy things happen.
Prediction: Baylor wins, 38-35.
Iowa vs. Stanford Could be One Rosy Matchup
If one or two more breaks had gone their way during the regular season, both the Iowa Hawkeyes and Stanford Cardinal could be a part of the College Football Playoff.
Instead, they ended up with a pretty good consolation prize in the Rose Bowl, and you won't hear Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz complaining. At 26 years old, he was the offensive line coach on a Hawkeyes team that shocked the country by playing in the 1982 Rose Bowl despite coming off 19 straight losing seasons.
He sees similarities in this Iowa team that finished the regular season undefeated, per Rick Brown of HawkCentral.com: “For this team to do what they’ve accomplished this year is really impressive, because I doubt anyone saw it coming. It really speaks to, like that 1981 team, a group that really believed in themselves.”
A 13-9 loss to the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Championship Game is nothing to hang its head about. But Iowa will have to be ready in the Rose Bowl for Christian McCaffrey and the Cardinal.
The sophomore running back finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting and broke Barry Sanders' NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a single season with 3,250.
Stanford dropped two games on the season but won the Pac-12 Championship Game one week after defeating the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Here is a look at what the Hawkeyes have to contend with in McCaffrey, per SportsCenter:
The Hawkeyes, which held Michigan State to 20 points under its season average, have a great defense, but it's going to take everything they have to try to stop McAffrey.
Prediction: Stanford wins, 30-24.
Alamo Bowl Has Potential to Be Most Entertaining Game
At the beginning of the season, a matchup of the Oregon Ducks and TCU Horned Frogs would have had offensive fans in a tizzy—and casual fans watching just to see all of the touchdowns.
Both teams went through some struggles with injuries and losses, falling off the national championship radar. However, both of these teams have NFL playmakers on their rosters and should make for a game that will have fans remembering the Alamo Bowl.
There will be plenty of offensive fireworks between two teams that average a combined 84.9 points per game, but some of that hinges on the availability of TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson.
The senior, who missed two-plus games at the end of the season with an injury, had 79 receptions, 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns. His availability is up in the air, per Travis L. Brown of the Star-Telegram:
Oregon stumbled to a 3-3 start before reeling off six straight wins, including two against Pac-12 Championship Game participants Stanford and USC, to end the season.
Vernon Adams Jr. threw 25 touchdowns for the Ducks, while the offensive star is running back Royce Freeman and his 1,706 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Adams, a senior, has a little more incentive to do well outside of just winning the game. Per Tyson Alger of OregonLive.com, he is treating it like an NFL job interview:
"I feel like it is. I try not to look at it like that, but deep down I think it is. If our team plays well and I do good in this game and the East/West shrine game then hopefully I get an invite to the combine or something and pro day.
"
His counterpart, Trevone Boykin, threw for 3,575 yards and 31 touchdowns this year and is every bit as important to his team.
However, if he doesn't have Doctson to throw to, the Horned Frogs could be in trouble. They already are most likely going to be without All-Big 12 center Joey Hunt and can't afford anymore injuries.
Look for Doctson, who played in a game against the Kansas Jayhawks even after he was initially ruled out for the season, to at least give it a go on the field, as this game could be the highest-scoring one of the bowl season.
Oregon is the hotter, and healthier, team right now and should pull out a close one.
Prediction: Oregon wins, 45-38.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
