Dylan Cleland, Editor in Chief, Jake Santo, Managing Editor
Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl – Alabama v. Washington – Dec. 31st, 3 p.m. – ESPN
The Alabama Crimson Tide have been a powerhouse rolling over teams to a 13-0 record and a SEC. Washington surprised a lot of people coming out of the PAC-12 and also captured a conference championship early in December. This will be the Huskies’ first appearance in a top tier bowl since 2001, when they played Purdue in the Rose Bowl. It will be entertaining to see if the Huskies will be able to perform against the stringent Alabama defense.
Playstation Fiesta Bowl – Clemson v. Ohio State – Dec. 31st, 7 p.m. – ESPN
Both of these are one-loss teams and were ranked No. 2 at the time of their lone losses. They continued the rest of the season with Clemson winning the ACC Championship and Ohio State missing out on the Big 10 Championship because of their loss to Penn State. However, the Buckeyes should not be overlooked as their 11-1 record was highlighted by a week 2 road win against Oklahoma.
2017 College Football Playoff National Championship – Jan. 9th, 8:30 p.m – ESPN
COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEW YEAR’S SIX GAMES
Capital One Orange Bowl – Florida State v. Michigan – Dec. 30th, 8 p.m. – ESPN
Michigan was one of the teams that nearly missed the top four. A two-loss season found them out of a chance at a conference championship, which essentially hurt them. A tight 14-13 loss at Iowa along with dropping a rivalry game against Ohio State was too much in the eyes of the committee, and the Wolverines found themselves on the outside looking in. For Florida State, Louisville and North Carolina were both ranked at the time of loss, and Clemson turned out as the ACC Champion. Therefore, the Orange Bowl is a good fit for the Seminoles as the second best team out of the ACC.
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – Western Michigan v. Wisconsin – Jan. 2nd, 1p.m. – ESPN
An interesting matchup is presented in the Cotton Bowl. Wisconsin is coming off of a loss to Penn State in the Big 10 Championship game. Western Michigan went a perfect 13-0 and captured the MAC Championship. Throughout the season the Broncos came to play every week, and that should alarm the Badgers.
Rose Bowl Games presented by Northwestern Mutual – Penn State v. USC – Jan. 2nd, 5 p.m. – ESPN
The Penn State Nittany Lions will be entering this year’s Rose Bowl Game with a chip on their shoulder. They finished the season with a Big Ten Championship, but were not invited to the College Football Playoff. Like the Nittany Lions, the Trojans started off the season weak, falling to 1-3 after Week 4. However, USC was able to finish the season on an 8-0 streak which included wins over Washington and Colorado.
Allstate Sugar Bowl – Auburn v. Oklahoma – Jan. 2nd, 8:30 p.m – ESPN
Oklahoma will be riding high after capturing the Big 12 Championship over Oklahoma State in their final game of the season. The Sooners rolled through conference play without a blemish on their record, but two early season losses against Houston and Ohio State kept the Sooners out of Playoff Contention. The Auburn Tigers are hungry after their loss to Alabama in the annual Iron Bowl between the two schools. This will be an interesting matchup to see the high octane offense of Oklahoma competing against the competitive defense of Auburn.
OTHER BOWL GAMES
New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Pitt v. Northwestern – Dec. 28th, 2 p.m. – ESPN
The Pitt Panthers come into their ninth consecutive bowl game appearance after finishing this season at 8-4. Pitt captured impressive wins over rival Penn State in early September and No. 2 Clemson in November. Northwestern has a record of 6-6, but that may be a deceiving. The Wildcats began the season with losses to Western Michigan and FCS Illinois State, but they were able to be competitive against Big Ten powerhouses Ohio State and Wisconsin. Northwestern captured bowl eligibility after a victory over in state rival, Illinois in the final game of their season.
Russell Athletic Bowl – West Virginia v. Miami – Dec. 28th, 5:30 p.m. – ESPN
The Miami Hurricanes football program is back on the map after being absent for some time. They had an 8-4 record with three losses coming against teams that finished with winning records and a bowl trip. On the contrary, WVU finished 10-2 with losses to ranked Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers and Hurricanes will present a tale of two teams as WVU finished with two more wins than Miami, but things get a little dicey when looking deeper than the records themselves.
Valero Alamo Bowl – Oklahoma State v. Colorado – Dec. 29th, 9 p.m. – ESPN
These two teams gave the College football world some different names to talk about this season. Colorado was a surprise to most, finishing 10-3 with road losses to Michigan and USC. The competition in the PAC 12 allowed the Buffaloes to have success and reach the conference championship where they came up short against CFP semifinalist Washington. The other side features a 9-3, Oklahoma State team that had a week two fluke loss to Central Michigan as well as a loss to Baylor and losing a chance at a conference title in the final week of the season against Oklahoma. With two teams on the rise in two different conferences, this matchup should provide a fast paced, action packed game.
Hyundai Sun Bowl – Stanford v. North Carolina – Dec. 30th, 2 p.m. – CBS
The North Carolina Tar Heels came into this season optimistically, where the Tar Heels may have had a chance at the ACC Coastal division, but losses against Duke and NC State cost any chance of that transpiring. The Stanford Cardinal, come into the Sun Bowl with a disappointing season which saw losses against conference foes Washington, Washington State and Colorado. Stanford and North Carolina are two teams who usually expect more, but still they are some of the better teams in College Football.
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl – Louisville v. LSU – Dec. 31st, 11 a.m. – ABC
Louisville comes into the game as an up and coming member of the ACC. Finishing the regular season with a 9-3 record, the Cardinals had an 9-1 record with only a loss to Clemson in mid November. However, a 36-10 routing at Houston and a mediocre performance against rival Kentucky moved Louisville out of New Year’s 6 contentions. The Cardinals did produce a decent season with the help of Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson. LSU struggled throughout the season with coaching issues as well as average performances in conference matchups. They finished 7-4, and no notable wins could be found on the Tigers schedule. Louisville would break a two game losing streak and end the season on a high note with a win, where LSU needs a win to continue the stability of their program.
In addition to these ten games that The Warrior has previewed, we have put together a podcast taking a deeper look into the 2016 College Football Bowl season. To catch the podcast visit theptwarrior.com, and for a complete list of bowls visit ESPN.com. Make sure to take some time out of your winter break to catch some exciting college football action.