College Football Bowl Picks 2016: Predictions on Most Overlooked Games Remaining

The New Year's Six is coming, and OK, we're all excited. There are only so many times you can watch a bowl matchup with nine people, all family members, in the stands of a game played in the middle of Idaho before you start to feel sad.

The Potato Bowl has feelings too, people.

But soon enough, we'll see packed crowds and games with actual stakes. Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington will battle for the national championship, while Penn State and USC go head-to-head in a matchup about which fanbase gets to be angriest about not making the playoff.

But interspersed around the New Year's Six are a few bowl games with relatively low stakes but high fun potential. Here's a look at the complete bowl schedule and some non-New Year's Six games to look forward to.

Bowl Schedule

Bowl	Date	Time (ET)	Location	Matchup	Pick
St. Petersburg	Dec. 26	11 a.m.	St. Petersburg, Fla.	Mississippi State vs. Miami (Ohio)	MSU
Quick Lane	Dec. 26	2:30 p.m.	Detroit	Boston College vs. Maryland	Maryland
Independence	Dec. 26	5 p.m.	Shreveport, Louisiana	NC State vs. Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt
Heart of Dallas	Dec. 27	Noon	Dallas	Army vs. North Texas	Army
Military	Dec. 27	3:30 p.m.	Annapolis, Maryland	Wake Forest vs. Temple	Temple
Holiday	Dec. 27	7 p.m.	San Diego	Minnesota vs. Washington State	WSU
Cactus	Dec. 27	10:15 p.m.	Phoenix, Ariz.	Baylor vs. Boise State	Boise
Pinstripe	Dec. 28	2 p.m.	New York	Northwestern vs. Pitt	Pitt
Russell Athletic	Dec. 28	5:30 p.m.	Orlando, Fla.	Miami (Fla.) vs. West Virginia	Miami
Foster Farms	Dec. 28	8:30 p.m.	Santa Clara, Calif.	Indiana vs. Utah	Utah
Texas	Dec. 28	9 p.m.	Houston	Kansas State vs. Texas A&M	Texas A&M
Birmingham	Dec. 29	2 p.m.	Birmingham, Ala.	USF vs. South Carolina	USF
Belk	Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Charlotte, N.C.	Virginia Tech vs. Arkansas	Virginia Tech
Alamo	Dec. 29	9 p.m.	San Antonio, Texas	Oklahoma State vs. Colorado	OSU
Arizona	Dec. 30	5:30 p.m.	Tucson, Ariz.	Air Force vs. South Alabama	Air Force
Liberty	Dec. 30	Noon	Memphis, Tenn.	TCU vs. Georgia	Georgia
Sun	Dec. 30	2 p.m.	El Paso, Texas	North Carolina vs. Stanford	Stanford
Music City	Dec. 30	3:30 p.m.	Nashville, Tenn.	Nebraska vs. Tennessee	Tennessee
Orange	Dec. 30	8 p.m.	Miami Gardens, Fla.	Michigan vs. Florida State	Michigan
Peach	Dec. 31	3 p.m.	Atlanta	Alabama vs. Washington	Alabama
Fiesta	Dec. 31	7 p.m.	Glendale, Ariz.	Ohio State vs. Clemson	Clemson
Taxslayer	Dec. 31	11 a.m.	Jacksonville, Fla.	Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky	Kentucky
Citrus	Dec. 31	11 a.m.	Orlando, Fla.	Louisville vs. LSU	Louisville
Outback	Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Tampa, Fla.	Florida vs. Iowa	Iowa
Cotton	Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Arlington, Texas	Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin	Wisconsin
Rose	Jan. 2	5 p.m.	Pasadena, Calif.	Penn State vs. USC	USC
Sugar	Jan. 2	8:30 p.m.	New Orleans	Auburn vs. Oklahoma	Oklahoma
CFP National Championship	Jan. 9	8:30 p.m.	Tampa, Fla.	TBD	Alabama

Cactus Bowl: Boise State vs. Baylor

Call this one the Morbid Curiosity Bowl. Baylor began the season 6-0 and went into a matchup with Texas as the eighth-ranked team in the country. The Longhorns, under a version of Charlie Strong who had yet to become a lame duck, pulled off a 35-34 upset after a field goal with less than one minute left.

The two teams combined for nearly 1,200 yards of total offense, and Baylor's loss didn't look so bad. Then Baylor lost again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

The Bears finished their regular season with six consecutive losses, becoming just the second team in NCAA history to win its first six contests and then drop its next half-dozen. The team has already started moving on to its next era, hiring Matt Rhule as its next coach.

Are the Bears just going to kick the can down the road and lose seven straight? The 2011 Illinois team that previously split the six and six went on to win its bowl game and clinch a winning season. 

Boise State is mostly just the filler in the strange pudding here. The Broncos are always fun to watch and tend to take pleasure in taking out Power Five teams—even ones on a downslope like Baylor.

Citrus Bowl: Louisville vs. LSU

This would be billed as a matchup of Lamar Jackson vs. Leonard Fournette, but the latter is skipping the bowl game to get his body right for the NFL draft.

So instead, let's talk about Derrius Guice—you know, the guy who led LSU in rushing this season. He had 620 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in LSU's last three games, including a 285-yard, four-touchdown performance against Texas A&M.

"He keeps shattering your expectations, and he is a tremendous teammate," quarterback Danny Etling told reporters, per James Bewers of The Advocate.

Louisville has done a solid job of bottling the run this season but has yet to face anyone with Guice's hot streak. Etling can also have some success against a secondary that's broken down at multiple points this season and ranks outside the top 60 in Football Outsiders' metrics.

As always, it will come down to what LSU can do to stop Jackson. The Heisman winner shattered record books as one of the best dual threats in the nation. Louisville's late-season swoon gave Deshaun Watson a chance to catch up on some Heisman ballots, but Jackson will serve as the most unique challenge LSU has faced all year.

"That kid that is like Michael Vick 2.0," LSU safety Jamal Adams said, per Andrew Lopez of NOLA.com. "That's a kid who has outstanding ability. And not only his running, but he can also chunk it down the field."

LSU finished with Football Outsiders' fourth-ranked defense and was a top-10 unit against the run and pass. Perhaps only Clemson had the same high level of defenders.