Another year, another Owljock Bowl Board. We once again bring you the college bowl season schedule and the sponsors (plus one TV personality) willing to take the leap from obscurity to--maybe more obscurity?
This season there's 43 NCAA-sanctioned bowls that span from coast to coast (and sometimes beyond), with not only teams' reputations on the line but also a national championship. As far as we know, games have yet to be canceled due to outbreaks of COVID and its other variants like they have been in the last couple of years.
But first . . .
- The College Football Playoff's final four this year is defending champion Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and TCU (this year's Cincinnati). What, no Alabama? Something's not right here. Well, after years of complaints that the same four schools get into the playoffs every year, the CFP has decided to extend its invitations to twelve teams beginning in 2024. The number should really be eight, but ESPN would have two more years on its TV contract by then . . .
- The Big Ten has become a national conference to compete with the Southeastern Conference, adding Southern California and UCLA from the Pac-12 beginning in 2024. And there may be more on the way if other conferences fail to keep its current members from leaving
- The TV landscape is also changing. To match the SEC's move from CBS to ESPN, the Big Ten has partnered with Fox, CBS and NBC to televise games starting next season replacing the Worldwide Leader.
If you think the quality of the bowl games lack something, you may be right. Not only are some players skipping games to save themselves for the NFL draft, but also for the transfer portal which allows them to change schools without penalty.
So here it comes. The bowl schedule includes who's playing, where's the game, where it's on TV (ESPN unless otherwise noted), along with a brief description of the game's main sponsor. Know the drill? Good. Let's go.
FRIDAY, 12/16
Hometown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: Miami-Ohio vs. Alabama-Birmingham (Nassau, Bahamas) ESPN.
Hometown Lenders is a mortgage lending firm.
Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: TX-San Antonio vs. Troy (Orlando, FL) ESPN
Duluth Trading sells work and outdoor apparel. The "cure" is for breast cancer research.
SATURDAY, 12/17
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Louisville (Boston, MA) ESPN
Wasabi is a cloud storage firm. Game played at Fenway Park.
Cricket Celebration Bowl: Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central (Atlanta, GA) ABC
Cricket is a wireless provider.
New Mexico Bowl: Southern Methodist vs. Brigham Young (Albuquerque, NM) ABC
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel: Washington State vs. Fresno State (Inglewood, CA) ABC
Jimmy Kimmel is a late night TV and awards show host. Stifel is a brokerage investment bank.
Lending Tree Bowl: Rice vs. Southern Mississippi (Mobile, AL) ESPN
Lending Tree is an online mortgage broker.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: Florida vs. Oregon State (Las Vegas, NV) ESPN
SRS is a building products distributor.
Frisco Bowl: North Texas vs. Boise State (Frisco, TX) ESPN
MONDAY, 12/19
Myrtle Beach Bowl: Marshall vs. Connecticut (Conway, SC) ESPN
TUESDAY, 12/20
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Eastern Michigan vs. San Jose State (Boise, ID) ESPN
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl: Liberty vs. Toledo (Boca Raton, FL) ESPN
RoofClaim is in roofing repairs.
WEDNESDAY, 12/21
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Western Kentucky vs. South Alabama (New Orleans, LA) ESPN
R+L Carriers is in the freight shipping and logistics business.
THURSDAY, 12/22
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Baylor vs. Air Force (Fort Worth, TX) ESPN
Lockheed Martin is a defense contractor.
FRIDAY, 12/23
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Louisiana vs. Houston (Shreveport, LA) ESPN
Radiance Technologies is a defense contractor.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Missouri (Tampa, FL) ESPN
Union Home Mortgage is a mortgage lender.
SATURDAY. 12/24
EasyPost Hawaii Bowl: Middle Tennessee State vs. San Diego State (Honolulu, HW) ESPN
EasyPost is an e-commerce online shipper.
MONDAY, 12/26
Quick Lane Bowl: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green (Detroit, MI) ESPN
Quick Lane is a chain of auto service shops.
TUESDAY, 12/27
Camellia Bowl: Georgia Southern vs. Buffalo (Montgomery, AL) ESPN
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: Memphis vs. Utah State (Dallas, TX) ESPN
SERVPRO is in disaster reparation services.
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. East Carolina (Birmingham, AL) ESPN
TicketSmarter is an online ticket broker.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oklahoma State (Phoenix. AZ) ESPN
Guaranteed Rate is a home mortgage lender. Game is at Chase Field.
WEDNESDAY, 12/28
Military Bowl Presented by Peraton: Central Florida vs. Duke (Annapolis, MD) ESPN
Peraton is a government security contractor.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Kansas vs. Arkansas (Memphis, TN) ESPN
AutoZone is a nationwide parts store chain.
San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl: Oregon vs. North Carolina (San Diego, CA) Fox
SDCCU is a Southern California-based financial services firm. Game played at Petco Park.
TaxAct Texas Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi (Houston, TX) ESPN
TaxAct is an online tax preparer.
THURSDAY, 12/29
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Syracuse vs. Minnesota (New York) ESPN
Bad Boy sells lawn mowers. Game played at Yankee Stadium.
Cheez-It Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Florida State (Orlando, FL) ESPN
Cheez-It is a cheese snack.
Valero Alamo Bowl: Texas vs. Washington (San Antonio, TX) ESPN
Valero is an energy company.
FRIDAY, 12/30
Duke's Mayo Bowl: Maryland vs. North Carolina State (Charlotte, NC) ESPN
Duke's Mayo is mayonnaise sold in the southeast.
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. UCLA (El Paso, TX) CBS
Tony the Tiger represents Kellogg's Frosted Flakes.
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Notre Dame vs. South Carolina (Jacksonville, FL) ESPN
TaxSlayer is an online tax preparer.
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Ohio vs. Wyoming (Tucson, AZ)
Barstool Sports is a sports website.
Capital One Orange Bowl: Tennessee vs. Clemson (Miami Gardens, FL) ESPN
Capital One is in banking and financial services.
SATURDAY, 12/31
TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Kentucky (Nashville. TN) ABC
TransPerfect is in translation services.
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Kansas State (New Orleans, LA) ESPN
Allstate provides insurance and financial services.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: Michigan vs. Texas Christian (Glendale, AZ) ESPN.
National championship semifinal. Vrbo handles vacation home rentals.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Georgia vs. Ohio State (Atlanta, GA) ESPN
National championship semifinal. Chick-fil-A is a chain of chicken restaurants.
MONDAY, 1/2/2023
ReliaQuest Bowl: Mississippi State vs. Illinois (Tampa, FL) ESPN2
ReliaQuest is in the cybersecurity business.
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: Louisiana State vs. Purdue (Orlando, FL) ABC
Cheez-It is a cheese snack.
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Southern California vs. Tulane (Arlington, TX) ESPN
Goodyear makes tires and flies blimps.
Rose Bowl Game: Utah vs. Penn State (Pasadena, CA) ESPN
MONDAY, 1/9/2023
CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T: Teams TBA (Inglewood, CA) ESPN
AT&T is a wireless provider and communications giant.
That is all.
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