2016/17 Bowl Schedule

The full bowl schedule has been officially announced.

Dec. 17
Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl
North Carolina Central vs. Grambling
12 p.m., ABC
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl
New Mexico vs. UTSA
2 p.m., ESPN
University Stadium, Albuquerque, N.M.

Las Vegas Bowl Presented by Geico
Houston vs. San Diego State
3:30 p.m., ABC
Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, Nev.

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
Appalachian State vs. Toledo
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, Ala.

AutoNation Cure Bowl
UCF vs. Arkansas State
5:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
9 p.m., ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, La.

Dec. 19
Miami Beach Bowl
Central Michigan vs. Tulsa
2:30 p.m., ESPN
Marlins Park, Miami, Fla.

Dec. 20
Boca Raton Bowl
Memphis vs. Western Kentucky
7 p.m., ESPN
FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, Fla.

Dec. 21
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
BYU vs. Wyoming
9 p.m., ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Dec. 22
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Idaho vs. Colorado State
7 p.m., ESPN
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho

Dec. 23
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl
Eastern Michigan vs. Old Dominion
1 p.m., ESPN
Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Louisiana Tech vs. No. 25 Navy
4:30 p.m., ESPN
Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas

Dollar General Bowl
Ohio vs. Troy
8 p.m., ESPN
Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Ala.

Dec. 24
Hawai'i Bowl
Hawai'i vs. Middle Tennessee
8 p.m., ESPN
Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii

Dec. 26
St. Petersburg Bowl
Miami (Ohio) vs. Mississippi State
11 a.m., ESPN
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla.

Quick Lane Bowl
Maryland vs. Boston College
2:30 p.m., ESPN
Ford Field, Detroit, Mich.

Camping World Independence Bowl
NC State vs. Vanderbilt
5 p.m., ESPN2
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, La.

Dec. 27
Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl
Army vs. North Texas
12 p.m., ESPN
Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
No. 24 Temple vs. Wake Forest
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md.

National Funding Holiday Bowl
Minnesota vs. Washington State
7 p.m., ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.

Motel 6 Cactus Bowl
Boise State vs. Baylor
10:15 p.m., ESPN
Chase Field, Phoenix, Ariz.

Dec. 28
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
No. 23 Pittsburgh vs. Northwestern
2 p.m., ESPN
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.

Russell Athletic Bowl
No. 16 West Virginia vs. Miami
5:30 p.m, ESPN
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

Foster Farms Bowl
Indiana vs. No. 19 Utah
8:30 p.m., Fox
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.

AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl
Texas A&M vs. Kansas State
9 p.m., ESPN
NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas

Dec. 29
Birmingham Bowl
South Florida vs. South Carolina
2 p.m., ESPN
Legion Field, Birmingham, Ala.

Belk Bowl
Arkansas vs. No. 22 Virginia Tech
5:30 p.m., ESPN
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

Valero Alamo Bowl
No. 12 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Colorado
9 p.m., ESPN
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

Dec. 30
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Georgia vs. TCU
12 p.m., ESPN
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, Tenn.

Hyundai Sun Bowl
No. 18 Stanford vs. North Carolina
2 p.m., CBS
Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Nebraska vs. No. 21 Tennessee
3:30 p.m., ESPN
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.

Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl
South Alabama vs. Air Force
5:30 p.m., Campus Insiders
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.

Capital One Orange Bowl
No. 6 Michigan vs. No. 11 Florida State
8 p.m., ESPN
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.

Dec. 31
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl
No. 20 LSU vs. No. 13 Louisville
11 a.m., ABC
Camping Ground Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

TaxSlayer Bowl
Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky
11 a.m., ESPN
EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Fla.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
No. 4 Washington vs. No. 1 Alabama
3 p.m., ESPN
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.

College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl
No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Clemson
7 p.m., ESPN
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

Jan. 2
Outback Bowl
No. 17 Florida vs. Iowa
1 p.m., ABC
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
No. 15 Western Michigan vs. No. 8 Wisconsin
1 p.m., ESPN
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual
No. 9 USC vs. No. 5 Penn State
5 p.m., ESPN
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

Allstate Sugar Bowl
No. 14 Auburn vs. No. 7 Oklahoma
8:30 p.m., ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, La.

Championship game is when??? Thanks for the listing sir.

Too many bowl games.

Seahawkfan80":3utqf2m0 said:

Championship game is when??? Thanks for the listing sir.

Click to expand...

Championship is January 7.

sc85sis":cbdq5iaz said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

SeatownJay":vq6y1jzp said:

sc85sis":vq6y1jzp said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

And those bowl names too. Sheesh.

Rose Bowl match up is excellent, and I'm looking forward to seeing WMU in the Cotton Bowl against a high ranked quality opponent.

Seahawk_Dan":2yg32d30 said:

SeatownJay":2yg32d30 said:

sc85sis":2yg32d30 said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

And those bowl names too. Sheesh.

Click to expand...

Lol yeah. May as well add a Charmin Ultra Soft bowl, or the Windex bowl.

cymatica":11gbz8bc said:

Seahawk_Dan":11gbz8bc said:

SeatownJay":11gbz8bc said:

sc85sis":11gbz8bc said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

And those bowl names too. Sheesh.

Click to expand...

Lol yeah. May as well add a Charmin Ultra Soft bowl, or the Windex bowl.

Click to expand...

I believe thats where my Ducks are playing.

cymatica":1d8j25cg said:

Seahawk_Dan":1d8j25cg said:

SeatownJay":1d8j25cg said:

sc85sis":1d8j25cg said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

And those bowl names too. Sheesh.

Click to expand...

Lol yeah. May as well add a Charmin Ultra Soft bowl, or the Windex bowl.

Click to expand...

Oh heck...lets go there...the Tidy Bowl...and the Cialis Bowl.

SeatownJay":34zdymjj said:

sc85sis":34zdymjj said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

I have never understood complaints like these. I mean, who cares how many bowl games there are or that teams with losing records are playing in the lowest tier bowl games? Why either of those things would bother anyone even the slightest bit is baffling to me.

It's simple, if there are bowl games you're not interested in, don't watch. No big deal and no one will care.

Chapow":275l4iea said:

SeatownJay":275l4iea said:

sc85sis":275l4iea said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

I have never understood complaints like these. I mean, who cares how many bowl games there are or that teams with losing records are playing in the lowest tier bowl games? Why either of those things would bother anyone even the slightest bit is baffling to me.

It's simple, if there are bowl games you're not interested in, don't watch. No big deal and no one will care.

Click to expand...

It matters to me because with this many bowl games you get ones played at 2pm ET on a Monday or Noon ET on a Tuesday that I can't watch.

SeatownJay":37dceb7q said:

Chapow":37dceb7q said:

SeatownJay":37dceb7q said:

sc85sis":37dceb7q said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

I have never understood complaints like these. I mean, who cares how many bowl games there are or that teams with losing records are playing in the lowest tier bowl games? Why either of those things would bother anyone even the slightest bit is baffling to me.

It's simple, if there are bowl games you're not interested in, don't watch. No big deal and no one will care.

Click to expand...

It matters to me because with this many bowl games you get ones played at 2pm ET on a Monday or Noon ET on a Tuesday that I can't watch.

Click to expand...

Fair enough.

Not an issue for me because I'll just DVR the games that I care to watch, but are on at times that I can't.

Being able to FF through the eleventy billion commercial breaks is a nice bonus too.

Chapow":72586433 said:

SeatownJay":72586433 said:

sc85sis":72586433 said:

Too many bowl games.

Click to expand...

I agree. This is the second year in a row we've had teams with a 5-7 record make it to bowl games.

Click to expand...

I have never understood complaints like these. I mean, who cares how many bowl games there are or that teams with losing records are playing in the lowest tier bowl games? Why either of those things would bother anyone even the slightest bit is baffling to me.

It's simple, if there are bowl games you're not interested in, don't watch. No big deal and no one will care.

Click to expand...

It's really the whole ideology of bowl games that's affected when you have 2/3 of FBS chools playing in the postseason. Mathematically, it appears if the same # of bowls continue, you're going to have teams with losing seasons playing every year. Many fans and media feel such teams do not deserve postseason games and won't watch.

This year there's 3 teams with losing seasons and 17 teams who were just 6-6 (many of those with only 5 wins against FBS opponents). The reasons are twofold why this could be a problem:

1) It cheapens the entire bowl system and ratings have dropped significantly the last several years for not just the newer games, but many older and established games also.

2) The matchups are affected. When it used to be an honor to make a bowl (7-4 minimum record and often 8-3), you had really compelling games- similarly ranked teams were pitted against each other and the lesser games were still interesting. The Independence Bowl used to frequently feature ranked SEC/Big 8/12 teams. This year it's 6-6 Vandy and 6-6 NC St. That's been the norm the last several years. The Liberty Bowl is similar. In the old days a smaller conference school was likely 9-2 and earned their bowl bid against a bigger conference school. Now they frequently pit small conference vs. small conference.

And yes, people simply don't have to watch. And that's the problem-they're not tuning in and they're not attending the games. Attendance has been down for years, even some of the major bowls. Almost every school has been losing money with their bowls. The payouts aren't enough to cover the ticket allocations that the schools must sell. As a result, the school eats the costs of all the thousands of tickets nobody bought.

There was a compelling article a few years back on yahoo sports that detailed why the bowl system is still in place as opposed to a 16 team playoff like every other level of college football. After many interviews with prominent, anonymous ADs, coaches, executives, it wasn't "tradition" or the enormous tv contracts from the BCS or anything along those lines. It really came down to the bowl system gives the illusion to the fans and boosters of a "successful" season. A teams wins a bowl it's a "great year" and the fans always remain and the money will always keep pouring in from the boosters and advertisers.

So there's always been a fear that a large playoff system-8, 16 etc. would likely affect negatively overall interest in a large conference school if it was never in the large playoff. Hence, this is why there's been such opposition by many to expanding the playoff. Instead we're left with a compromise of sorts and too many bowl games that no one cares about.

I was about to ask how do they decide who plays in which bowl, however, I thought I'd be proactive and look it up. Please excuse me now while I go and kill myself.