With the conclusion of Saturday’s games, college football’s regular season comes to an end and now focuses on the bowl season, with 34 games set to take place between December 20 and January 8.
The bowl schedule includes the addition of two new games this year, the EagleBank Bowl in Washington, D.C. and the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl in Tampa, FL.
There are 34 Bowl Games to Bring the College Football Season to a Close
Of the 68 teams participating in bowl games, 45 are from BCS conferences. The ACC led all BCS conferences with 10 teams earning bids, followed by the SEC with eight, the Big 10 and Big 12 with seven each, the Big East with six and the Pac 10 with five.
Conference USA led all non-BCS conferences with six teams earning bids.
The EagleBank Bowl gets things kicked off on December 20 when Wake Forest takes on Navy. It’s the first of four games to be played that day, ending with the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl pitting BYU against Arizona.
Some of the more intriguing matchups include the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia featuring undefeated Boise State against TCU.
Boise State and Utah were the only FBS school’s to complete their regular seasons without a loss, but the Broncos failed to earn a BCS bowl bid.
On December 30 the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl features Oklahoma State against Oregon. The Cowboys lost three games this season, all against Big 12 South opponents, including Oklahoma which will square off against Florida for the BCS national title.
Oregon knocked off Oregon State on November 29 to prevent the Beavers from winning the Pac 10 conference championship and earning a Rose Bowl berth.
Texas Tech Will Face Ole Miss in the AT&T Cotton Bowl
The AT&T Cotton Bowl on January 2 has hard luck Texas Tech facing Ole Miss. The Red Raiders lost a chance to win the Big 12 conference and possible BCS national championship when they lost to Oklahoma on November 22. It was Texas Tech’s only loss this season.
Ole Miss is the only team to defeat Florida this season, winning 31-30 in Gainesville on September 27. The Rebels are making their first bowl appearance since their 31-28 victory over Oklahoma State in the 2004 Cotton Bowl.
Over $118 million will be paid out to participating teams, including $85 million for the five BCS bowl games. Payouts for non-BCS bowls range from $300,000 for the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, AL to $4.25 million for the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, FL.
For a complete list of bowl games, dates, times, television network and participating teams, click here.
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