Bowl Projections: Power Ranking the Most Exciting Bowl Games of the Season

The college football bowl season is about to start with a load of great games to look forward to. The first bowl game will be Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 17 between Temple and Wyoming. 

Then we go all the way through Christmas and New Year's until we finally come to an end on Jan. 9 in New Orleans with the BCS National Title on the line. 

There will be a lot of football played in that time, but only 10 of those games will be worth watching.

Which games will be the most exciting? Give a click through to find out. 

No. 10: Champs Sports Bowl: Dec. 29, Notre Dame vs. Florida State

This game has a lot of history behind it, from their days of being two of the best college football teams in the country in the early '90's. Now, they haven't been as successful, as they both come into this game with 8-4 records, but this game will be a close contest. 

We will see highlights of their epic games when they were No. 1 and No. 2 leading up to and during this game. Notre Dame and Florida State provide a close contest that goes down to the final minutes. 

No. 9: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl Dec. 31, Illinois vs. UCLA

This year, Illinois head coach Ron Zook was fired, just like UCLA's head coach Rick Neuheisel. They both will not be coaching in this game and should make for some interesting chatter in the telecast.

We will hear a lot of, "Well, maybe UCLA should hire this coach," and "Can this person win inside of the Big Ten?"

Plus does whomever wins this game give their head coach a Gatorade bath?

No. 8: Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl Jan 2, Ohio State vs. Florida

I don't know what a Tax Slayer is, or because they sponsor the Gator Bowl, they will overtake Turbo Tax. Anyway, what people will be talking about is Ohio State's new head coach, Urban Meyer. 

The game will be between two teams that had disappointing seasons, but have huge fanbases, so any bowl would have loved to have them play. The on-field action will be overshadowed by Florida's ex-coach and Ohio State's current coach, Meyer. 

No. 7: Go Daddy.com Bowl, Jan 8, Northern Illinois vs Arkansas State

It's the MAC champion vs. the Sun Belt champion in the last game before the BCS National Championship game. 

These two teams will put on an amazing show in Mobile, Ala., as both Northern Illinois and Arkansas State put up an average of 30 or more points a game while having matching 10-win seasons. 

They will provide a high-scoring offensive game that will be a great precursor to the defensive slugfest of the Alabama/LSU game. 

No. 6: Capital One Bowl, Jan. 2, Nebraska vs. South Carolina

Nebraska's first season in the Big Ten did not go as they planned. When they left the Big 12, they thought they would have an easy time adapting to their new conference. They did finish with an impressive 9-3 record, but had a disappointing 5-3 in the Big Ten. 

However, for South Carolina, they can finish a season that could have went really bad after they lost both Stephen Garcia and Marcus Lattimore. With a win, they will push their record to 11-2, with their two losses in the SEC.  

No. 5: Discover Orange Bowl, Jan 4, Clemson vs. West Virginia

The BCS Bowl Games are the five most exciting games of the bowl season, as these teams have fought hard all year to win their conferences and make these bowl games. In Clemson and West Virginia's case, they lucked out with an upset in their conference game (Clemson) or because their conference is awful (WVU.)

These two offenses possess two really good quarterbacks in Clemson's Tajh Boyd and West Virginia's Geno Smith. 

They will light these two defenses up to make for a very entertaining Orange Bowl. 

No. 4: Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 3, Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

Michigan has surprised a lot of people in college football this year. They finished inside of the top 14 of the final BCS Standings with an impressive 10-2 record. Michigan brings a high-powered offense and a very stingy defense into their Sugar Bowl game against the 10-2 Virginia Tech Hokies. 

Virginia Tech just cannot get past fellow ACC member the Clemson Tigers. Against teams that were not Clemson, Virginia Tech was 10-2; against the Tigers, 0-2. 

Virginia Tech's defense will keep the Hokies in this game. However, their offense will not be able to keep up with Robinson and the Wolverines. 

No. 3: Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Jan. 2, Oklahoma State vs. Stanford

It's the Andrew Luck vs. Justin Blackmon bowl. These two players, should they decide to come out to the 2012 NFL draft after this game, will be the top two picks. They are the best at their position in college football and will have amazing games showcasing their talents. 

This game will see an entertaining contest with two great passing attacks. It will be hard for both Stanford and Oklahoma State's defenses to contain Luck and Blackmon. 

Blackmon has the better game here and cements himself as a top pick in the NFL draft. 

No. 2: Allstate BCS Championship Game, Jan 9, Alabama vs. LSU

This is the rematch that has the college football world split down the middle. Some people really want to see these two teams go at it one more time, while the rest of the college world wants nothing to do with these two teams. 

Either way, it's going to be a great game for the championship in college football.

Let's just hope that this time around, someone scores a touchdown and the game isn't decided by three missed field goals by Alabama. 

No. 1: Rose Bowl Presented by VIZIO, Jan. 2, Wisconsin vs. Oregon

The Rose Bowl will be the best game during this year's bowl season. They have the pageantry of the parade before the game. It has two great teams playing in Wisconsin and Oregon. And we will get to see two phenomenal running backs go against each other in Wisconsin's Montee Ball and Oregon's LaMichael James.

Unlike the BCS National Title game, this will have a great combination of great defense and a lot of scoring. 

Wisconsin will edge out Oregon in this game because they have the better overall defense. Russell Wilson and Ball lead this explosive Wisconsin offense to a close victory and come back to Madison, Wis. with the Rose Bowl title. 

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