2011 College Football Bowl Predictions: The 3 Best Bowls Before New Year's

The college football bowl season is officially underway, and we’ve had some great games already, two of which were decided in the final minute of play.

Some of the games end up being duds, but with 19 bowls before New Year’s, you know that a number of them will be must-see television.

Here are the three bowls that will be the most exciting before the new year.

Champs Sports Bowl

Florida State and Notre Dame face off in the battle of the most disappointing teams of 2011. Both the Seminoles and Irish were projected to be great this year, but each team has had its problems this year that have kept them out of the Top 25 for most of the season.

But make no mistake, this game will be absolutely fantastic. FSU’s defense is one of the best in the country and hasn’t given up more than 20 points since the first week of October. Notre Dame can compete with any team in the country on offense and defense, but turnovers and poor special teams play have cost them nearly every game it's lost.

At 5:30 EST on December 29, you had better be watching ESPN.

Valero Alamo Bowl

Heisman winner Robert Griffin III will be featured in this game, which already is enough reason to watch it, but this should be a fantastic game all around.

Baylor has struggled mightily on defense and doesn’t play up to its potential away from home. Washington is scoring 31 points per game and allowing 33.

Without a doubt, this game will be a higher-scoring one, with a number of future NFL players on both teams. The game immediately follows the Champs Sports Bowl on ESPN, and you won’t want to miss it.

Military Bowl

In order to defend the triple option, you need a disciplined defense. If there is one word that absolutely cannot describe Toledo’s defense, it’s disciplined.

That said, Air Force’s defense has not been great either since Tim DeRuyter left. The rush defense ranks 113th out of 120 teams in the country, and Toledo’s offense ranks 14th in rushing yards per game and eighth in scoring offense.

This game will be an absolute shootout, but it also has an added dose of star power with Rocket receiver Eric Page. This is the most underrated bowl of the season, so make sure you get some friends on December 28 at 4:30 to watch it. They’ll thank you later.