The 2012 Owljock Bowl Guide

Publicity photo of musician Lawrence Welk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the third year in a row, we are somewhat pleased to present our list of the 35 college football bowl games scheduled to be played between December 15, 2012 and January 7, 2013.  If the Mayans are wrong about their calendar, we should get through this without too much problem.

What's different about this list is not so much about who's playing in these games, but who's sponsoring them.  How many times have you clicked on ESPN (or some other network) during a bowl game and asked yourself, "Gee, this is a great game between two teams I've never heard of.  But what's a Belk?  Isn't he that guy who used to be on TV Saturday nights when I was a kid, and it was my parents' favorite show, and I hated it?"  Uh, sir, the man's name was Lawrence Welk.  Not Belk. 

So anyway, this is how the bowl guide works:  We list the name of the bowl game, when and where it's played, who's in it, who televises it, and what the title sponsor's business is.  The list comes from ESPN.com.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl:  Nevada vs. Arizona  (Albuquerque, NM  12/15)  ESPN
Clothing supplier.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Toledo vs. Utah State  (Boise, ID  12/15)  ESPN

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl:  Brigham Young vs. San Diego State  (San Diego, CA  12/20)  ESPN

Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Ball State  (St. Petersburg, FL  12/21)  ESPN  
Restaurant chain.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette  (New Orleans, LA  12/22)  ESPN
Shipping firm.

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl:  Washington vs. Boise State  (Las Vegas, NV  12/22)  ESPN
Auto repair shops.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl:  Fresno State vs. Southern Methodist  (Honolulu, HW  12/24)  ESPN
Hotel chain.

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Central Michigan  (Detroit, MI  12/26)  ESPN
Pizza delivery chain.

Military Bowl Presented By Northrup Grumman:  San Jose State vs. Bowling Green  (Washington, DC  12/27)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Belk Bowl:  Cincinnati vs. Duke  (Charlotte, NC  12/27)  ESPN
Regional department store chain.

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl:  Baylor vs. UCLA  (San Diego, CA  12/27)  ESPN
Online college.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl:  Ohio vs. Louisiana-Monroe  (Shreveport, LA  12/28)  ESPN
Nutrition supplements.

Russell Athletic Bowl:  Rutgers vs. Virginia Tech  (Orlando, FL  12/28)  ESPN
Sports apparel.

Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl:  Minnesota vs. Texas Tech  (Houston, TX  12/28)  ESPN
Auto repair shops.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl:  Rice vs. Air Force  (Fort Worth, TX  12/29)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  West Virginia vs. Syracuse  (New York, NY  12/29)  ESPN
Sports apparel.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl:  Navy vs. Arizona State  (San Francisco, CA  12/29)  ESPN2
Food giant collaborates with anti-hunger organization.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Texas vs. Oregon State  (San Antonio, TX  12/29)  ESPN
Energy company.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl:  Texas Christian vs. Michigan State  (Tempe, AZ  12/29)  ESPN
Sports-themed restaurant chain.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl:  North Carolina State vs. Vanderbilt  (Nashville, TN  12/31)  ESPN
Financial services.

Hyundai Sun Bowl:  Southern California vs. Georgia Tech  (El Paso, TX  12/31)  CBS
Automaker.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Iowa State vs. Tulsa  (Memphis, TN  12/31)  ESPN
Auto parts chain.

Chick-fil-A Bowl:  Louisiana State vs. Clemson  (Atlanta, GA  12/31)  ESPN
Chicken restaurant chain.

TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl:  Mississippi State vs. Northwestern  (Jacksonville, FL  1/1/13)  ESPN2
Tax preparation website.

Heart of Dallas Bowl:  Purdue vs. Oklahoma State  (Dallas, TX  1/1/13)  ESPNU
Non-profit for local charities.

Outback Bowl:  South Carolina vs. Michigan  (Tampa, FL  1/1/13)  ESPN
Restaurant chain.

Capital One Bowl:  Georgia vs. Nebraska  (Orlando, FL  1/1/13)  ABC
Financial services.

Rose Bowl Game Presented By Vizio:  Wisconsin vs. Stanford  (Pasadena, CA  1/1/13)  ESPN
Consumer electronics.

Discover Orange Bowl:  Northern Illinois vs. Florida State  (Miami, FL  1/1/13)  ESPN
Credit cards.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Louisville vs. Florida  (New Orleans, LA  1/2)  ESPN
Insurance.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:  Oregon vs. Kansas State  (Glendale, AZ  1/3)  ESPN
Snack food.

AT&T Cotton Bowl:  Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma  (Arlington, TX  1/4)  Fox
Communications giant.

BBVA Compass Bowl:  Pittsburgh vs. Mississippi  (Birmingham, AL  1/5)  ESPN
Financial services.

GoDaddy.com Bowl:  Kent State vs. Arkansas State  (Mobile, AL  1/6)  ESPN
Domain name registration.

Discover BCS National Championship Game:  Notre Dame vs. Alabama  (Miami, FL  1/7)  ESPN
Credit cards.