2014-2015 College Football Bowl Games

Every year, I list all of the Bowl games, to basically have a guide for myself. I highlight the teams that  I want to win. For some reason, I find that sort of hard to do, especially this year, as I really do not have deep rooting interests in almost all of the games. I am not that much of a college football fan, but I have actually been getting more into it over the last couple of years, and I always enjoy the drama of the Bowl games.

It may help that my alma mater, Northern Illinois has been so good in recent years (a far cry from their record when I was a student.) While they are not in a power conference, they have won more games over the past few seasons than just about every team in the country. This year, they once again won the MAC Championship, exceeding most people's expectations, after losing Heisman Trophy Finalist Quarterback Jordan Lynch (whom the Chicago Bears should have kept in some playing capacity). The Huskies have lost their last couple of Bowl games though, and this year might be equally as tough, as they go against another Conference Champion, and one with only one loss on the season. So, that is really the only game I care about this year, but I will try to at least nominally pick a personal favorite in all the others. I will probably miss much of the NIU Bowl game on December 23 because I will be at work. There probably is not much I can do about it. Hopefully, they get a win!

The rankings I will use here are the latest Associated Press numbers, and not the ones from the big committee (with Condi Rice and others)  that picked four teams for a playoff for the first time ever. Thus, the #4 AP team is controversially out of national title contention while the #5 team will get a chance to win two games for the big prize. My small sense of college football knowledge tells me that the committee probably has it right. Eventually, there will be playoffs with more than four teams.

Is anybody going to find this post via Google when they search for the name of a school? Let me know in the comments what you think and who you are rooting for in any of these games, if you wish.

As is the case with my probably pointless NFL posts, these are not predictions.
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1. New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans, LA

Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack vs. Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

2. New Mexico Bowl
Albuquerque, NM

Utah State Aggies vs. Texas at El Paso Miners

3. Las Vegas Bowl
Las Vegas, NV

#23 Utah Utes vs. Colorado State Rams

4. Potato Bowl
Boise, ID

Western Michigan Broncos vs. United States Air Force Academy Falcons

5. Camellia Bowl
Montgomery, AL

South Alabama Jaguars vs. Bowling Green State Falcons

6. Beach Bowl
Miami, FL

Brigham Young Cougars vs. Memphis Tigers

7. Boca Raton Bowl
Boca Raton, FL

Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Northern Illinois Huskies

8. Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego, CA

United States Naval Academy Midshipmen vs. San Diego State Aztecs

9. Bahamas Bowl
Nassau, Bahamas

Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

10. Hawai'i Bowl
Honolulu, HI

California State, Fresno Bulldogs vs. William Marsh Rice Owls

11. Heart of Dallas Bowl
Dallas, TX

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Fighting Illini vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

12. Quick Lane Bowl
Detroit, MI

Rutgers, State University of New Jersey Scarlet Knights vs. North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels

13. St. Petersburg Bowl
St. Petersburg, FL

North Carolina State at Raleigh Wolfpack vs. Central Florida Knights

14. Military Bowl
Annapolis, MD

Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Hokies

15. Sun Bowl
El Paso, TX

#15 Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Duke Blue Devils

16. Indepedence Bowl
Shreveport, LA

Miami Hurricanes vs. South Carolina Gamecocks

17. Pinstripe Bowl
New York, NY

Boston College Eagles vs. Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions

18. Holiday Bowl
San Diego, CA

#25 Nebraska-Lincoln Cornhuskers vs. #24 Southern California Trojans

19. Liberty Bowl
Memphis, TN

Texas A&M Aggies vs. West Virginia Mountaineers

20. Athletic Bowl
Orlando, FL

Oklahoma Sooners vs. #18 Clemson Tigers

21. Texas Bowl
Houston, TX

Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Texas at Austin Longhorns

22. Music City Bowl
Nashville, TN

Notre Dame du Lac Fighting Irish vs. # 22 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Tigers

23. Belk Bowl
Charlotte, NC

#13 Georgia Bulldogs vs. # 20 Louisville Cardinals

24. Foster Farms Bowl
Santa Clara, CA

Maryland, College Park Terrapins vs. Leland Stanford Junior Cardinal

25. Peach Bowl
Atlanta, GA

#9 Mississippi Rebels vs. #6 Texas Christian Horned Frogs

26. Fiesta Bowl
Glendale, AZ

#21 Boise State Broncos vs. #12 Arizona Wildcats

27. Orange Bowl
Miami Gardens, FL

#8 Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science Bulldogs vs. #10 Georgia Institute of Technology Yellow Jackets

28. Outback Bowl
Tampa, FL

#19 Auburn Tigers vs. #17 Wisconsin-Madison Badgers

29. Cotton Bowl
Arlington, TX

#7 Michigan State Spartans vs. #4 Baylor Bears

30. Citrus Bowl
Orlando, FL

#16 Missouri-Columbia Tigers vs. Minnesota, Twin Cities Golden Gophers

31. Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA

#3 Oregon Ducks vs. #2 Florida State Seminoles

32. Sugar Bowl
New Orleans, LA

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. #5 Ohio State Buckeyes

33. Armed Forces Bowl
Fort Worth, TX

Houston Cougars vs. Pittsburgh Panthers

34. TaxSlayer Bowl
Jacksonville, FL

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Tennessee, Knoxville Volunteers

35. Alamo Bowl
San Antonio, TX

#11 Kansas State Wildcats vs. #14 California, Los Angeles Bruins

36. Cactus Bowl
Tempe, AZ

Washington Huskies vs. Oklahoma State-Stillwater Cowboys

37. Birmingham Bowl
Birmingham, AL

East Carolina Pirates vs. Florida Gators

38. GoDaddy Bowl
Mobile, AL

Toledo Rockets vs. Arkansas State Red Wolves

39. National Championship Game
Arlington, TX

Rose Bowl Winner vs. Sugar Bowl Winner

Ohio State over Florida State
Ohio State over Oregon
Alabama over Florida State
Oregon over Alabama