Bowl Games 2018-19: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Predictions for Top 25 Matchups

Call it the Christmas gift of the college football season.

Cynics tend to decry the bowl season and say that many of the games are useless matchups designed to create artificial interest in the sport, but true college football fans know that a majority of the games involve interesting/compelling games that are worth watching.

The biggest and most important of those involve the four teams in the College Football Playoffs. Top-ranked Alabama faces fourth-ranked Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, and second-ranked Clemson meets No. 3 Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl.

However, those are not the only important games. Fifteen of the bowl games involve teams that are ranked in the Top 25, and we make predictions on all of those games. We also give detailed looks at the Alabama-Oklahoma confrontation, as well as the Ohio State-Washington matchup in the Rose Bowl.

Top 25 2018-19 Bowl Schedule (Point spreads per OddsShark)

December 15

Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl
No. 21 Fresno State (-4.5) vs. Arizona State, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC. Winner: Fresno State wins and covers

December 26

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Boston College vs. No. 25 Boise State (-3), 1:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Boston College

December 28

Camping World Bowl
No. 16 West Virginia (-7)  vs. No. 20 Syracuse, 5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Syracuse             

Valero Alamo Bowl
No. 24 Iowa State vs. No. 13 Washington State (-4), 9 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Washington State wins and covers.

December 29

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 Michigan (-7.5), Noon ET, ESPN. Winner: Michigan wins and covers.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
No. 2 Clemson (-11.5) vs. No. 3 Notre Dame, 4 ET, ESPN. Winner: Notre Dame

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
No. 1 Alabama (-14) vs. No. 4 Oklahoma, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Alabama wins and covers.

December 31

AutoZone Liberty Bowl
No. 23 Missouri (-8) vs. Oklahoma State, 3:45 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Missouri wins but Oklahoma State covers.

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl
No. 22 Northwestern vs. No. 17 Utah (-6.5), 7 p.m. ET, FS1. Winner: Utah wins and covers.

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl
NC State vs. No. 19 Texas A&M (-4.5), 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Texas A&M wins and covers.

Tuesday, Jan. 1

Outback Bowl
No. 18 Mississippi State (-6) vs. Iowa, Noon ET, ESPN2. Winner: Mississippi State wins but Iowa covers.

VRBO Citrus Bowl
No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Penn State (-5.5), 1 p.m. ET, ABC. Winner: Penn State wins but Kentucky covers.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
No. 11 LSU (-7.5) vs. No. 8 UCF, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: UCF wins

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual
No. 9 Washington vs. No. 6 Ohio State (-5.5), 5 p.m. ET, ESPN. Winner: Ohio State wins but Washington covers.

Allstate Sugar Bowl
No. 15 Texas vs. No. 5 Georgia (-11), 8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN. Georgia wins and covers.

Games on ABC and ESPN can be live-streamed on WatchESPN or ESPN app, games on Fox can be live-streamed on Fox Sports App or Fox Sports Go, games on CBS can be live-streamed on CBS Sports app.

Jeffrey McWhorter/Associated Press

Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Georgia pushed the Crimson Tide to the limit in the SEC Championship Game. The Bulldogs led by 14 points late in the third quarter before a touchdown drew the Crimson Tide within seven points. Head coach Nick Saban replaced injured starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at that point with Jalen Hurts, and Alabama was able to respond with two touchdowns and a 35-28 victory.

The big issue will be Tagovailoa's overall health. He has a high ankle sprain, and head coach Nick Saban said that the strong-armed quarterback should be able to return to the practice field in two weeks, per Ben Jones of TideSports.com. That's when Alabama will begin the majority of its preparations for the playoff game, and that's good news if it works out that way.

Prior to that close call, Alabama had been the most dominant team in the nation. Their tightest win had been a 22-point victory over Texas A&M, and most of their wins had been by much greater margins.

Tagovailoa is either the favorite or a serious contender for the Heisman Trophy, and he has been the best player on the No. 1 team in the nation. Tagovailoa has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 3,353 yards, with 37 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Tagovailoa has an excellent crew of skill-position players to help him out. Wideout Jerry Jeudy has been excellent this season, and he leads the Alabama receiving crew with 59 catches for 1,103 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs III and Irv Smith Jr. have combined for 121 receptions, and 29 of them have been for touchdowns.

Running backs Damien Harris and Najee Harris have combined for 1,450 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Oklahoma will try to counter with one of the most explosive offenses in college football. Quarterback Kyler Murray is one of Tagovailoa's primary competitors for the Heisman Trophy (along with Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins), and he has been sensational.

Murray has completed 70.9 percent of his passes for 4,053 yards, with 40 TD passes and seven interceptions. Murray is also a breakaway threat as a runner, having gained 892 yards and reached the end zone 11 times.

The Sooner have a pair of big-play wideouts in Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb. Brown has caught 79 passes for 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Lamb has 57 receptions for 1,049 yards and has also caught 10 touchdowns.

Running backs Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon have combined for 1,949 yards and 24 touchdowns.

There's no doubt about Oklahoma's explosive offense, but they are just too vulnerable on defense to stay with Alabama. This will be another high-scoring game, and the top-seeded Crimson Tide will win by a comfortable margin.

Ohio State vs. Washington

The Rose Bowl will have its traditional Big Ten-Pac-12 matchup, and Ohio State could come into this game with quite a chip on its shoulder because the Buckeyes did not get selected for the College Football Playoffs.

The Buckeyes may have lucked out by not getting selected, because it just doesn't seem likely that they would have beaten Alabama.

Ohio State lost by 29 points in their lone defeat to Purdue, but the Buckeyes also had several close calls. They struggled to beat ordinary teams like Nebraska and Maryland, and they did not have the look of a championship team for much of the year.

Having said that, the Buckeyes have come around in their last two games with overpowering wins against Michigan and Northwestern in the Big Ten title game.

Haskins has had a remarkable season at quarterback, throwing for 4,580 yards with 47 touchdowns and eight interceptions. 

The Buckeyes have a pair of speedy receivers in Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill who are capable of breaking open any game. Campbell has caught 79 passes for 992 yards and 11 touchdowns so far this season, while Hill has caught 67 passes for 836 yards and six scores.

J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber are solid running backs who have combined for 1,887 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Ohio State's defense has been quite generous this season, as the Buckeyes are allowing 25.7 points per game.

Washington is not going to want to trade points with Ohio State, as the Huskies average 26.6 points per game. However, Washington can play aggressive and hard-hitting defense. The Huskies are allowing just 15.5 points per game.

Jake Browning is suitable at quarterback. He has thrown for 2,879 yards with 16 touchdowns. Browning gets a big lift in the backfield from Myles Gaskin, who has rushed for 1,147 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Wideout Aaron Fuller has caught 51 passes for 794 yards and four touchdowns.

Ohio State will find a way to win this game, but Washington will keep it close and get inside the 5.5-point spread.