College Football Playoffs, Bowl Matchups Set

With conference championship games behind us, the four teams in the College Football Championship are set, and the matchups in the other bowl games are too.

The semi finals for the College Football Championship will take place on New Year Eve. Number one seed Clemson (13-0) will meet #4 Oklahoma (11-1) in the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Clemson beat North Carolina in the ACC Championship game 45-37. Oklahoma won the Big 12 regular season title; that conference does not have a conference championship game.

The other semi final features #3 seed Michigan State (12-1) versus #2 Alabama (12-1) in the Cotton Bowl at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Alabama beat Florida 29-15 in the SEC championship while Michigan State handed Iowa its first loss of the season 16-13 in an exciting Big Ten championship game.

The winners will meet in the 2015-16 College Football Championship game on January 11th, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona.

If you thought the number of bowl games had reached the saturation point, there is evidence to support that position. Normally, teams need six wins to be bowl eligible, which means they would only be 6-6. However, there were not enough teams at .500 or better to fill out the slate, so three teams with 5-7 records–San Jose State, Nebraska, and Minnesota–will play in bowl games. Nebraska will play UCLA (8-4) in the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara, California on December 26th. Minnesota will play Central Michigan (7-5) in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit on December 28th. San Jose State will play Georgia State (6-6) in something called the Cure Bowl in Orlando on December 19th. We’ll make sure we set our DVR for that one.

Iowa (12-1) lost out on a College Football Playoff berth in its loss to Michigan State, but the Hawkeyes got a nice consolation prize. Iowa will go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 25 years and will face Pac-12 champ Stanford (11-2). Stanford beat USC 41-22 in the conference championship game, and will make its third Rose Bowl appearance in four years. USC (8-5) will play Wisconsin (9-3) in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 30th. It’s the first time USC and Wisconsin have met in a bowl game since the 1963 Rose Bowl, when #1 ranked USC beat #2 Wisconsin 42-37. Wisconsin trailed 42-14 and scored 23 unanswered points before falling short.

Brigham Young (9-3) will play Utah (9-3) in the Las Vegas Bowl on December 19th. It’s the 90 meeting between these in state rivals, and first since 2013. Utah leads the series 54-31-4. Utah had their sights set on bigger things, but losses to Arizona and UCLA in November killed those off. Speaking of Arizona…

The Wildcats (6-6) will play New Mexico (7-5) in the New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium in Albuquerque on December 19th. University Stadium is the home field of New Mexico, so the Lobos get another home game. Speaking of another home game…

Navy (9-2, with the Army-Navy game to be played December 12th) will play Pittsburgh (8-4) in the Military Bowl at Navy’s home field in Annapolis, Maryland on December 28th. Another service academy, Air Force (8-5) will play California (7-5) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas on December 29th. The game is sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Christmas Eve in the islands: Middle Tennessee (7-5) will play Western Michigan (7-5) in the Bahamas Bowl while Cincinnati (7-5) will play San Diego State (10-3) in the Hawaii Bowl in December 24th.

Some other games of note; all are played on New Year’s Day:

Michigan (9-3) vs. Florida (10-3) in the Citrus Bowl – Orlando; Notre Dame (10-2) vs. Ohio St. (11-1) in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona; and Oklahoma St. (10-2) vs. Mississippi (9-3) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.