The college football bowl season is here, with 41 games to fill your appetite for postseason football around the holiday season. Some are more meaningful to others to fans and, ahem, players and coaches, but they’re all here and all available for sports bettors.
Starting with the Bahamas Bowl between Miami of Ohio and UAB on Dec. 16 and going through the Rose Bowl between Utah and Penn State on Jan. 2, there are 39 games that will have no impact on the national championship. That changes after the 2024 season, of course, when the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams, but for now, the great majority of bowl games are exhibitions and rewards for teams that finished .500 or better. That means, however, that many players will opt out of playing in the postseason, either to enter the NFL Draft or the transfer portal.
The two national semifinals, the Fiesta Bowl between No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU and the Peach Bowl between No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Ohio State, will have no such problem. Those four teams will be as close to full strength as possible for their run at a national title.
Either way, it’s wise to keep an eye on how betting lines move between now and kickoff. Here’s a list of all 41 bowl games, plus the national championship game on Jan. 9, with time, TV information and betting lines as of Wednesday, Dec. 7, from Caesars Sportsbook. All times Eastern.
Friday, Dec. 16
BAHAMAS BOWL (at Nassau, Bahamas)
UAB (-10, o/u 44½) vs. Miami (Ohio), 11:30 a.m., ESPN
CURE BOWL (at Orlando, Fla.)
No. 24 Troy (-1, o/u 54½) vs. No. 25 UTSA, 3 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 17
FENWAY BOWL (at Boston)
Louisville (-1½, o/u 44½) vs. Cincinnati, 11 a.m., ESPN
LAS VEGAS BOWL
No. 14 Oregon State (-10½, o/u 52) vs. Florida, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
L.A. BOWL (at Inglewood, Calif.)
Fresno State (-1½, o/u 54½) vs. Washington State, 3:30 p.m., ABC
LENDINGTREE BOWL (at Mobile, Ala.)
Southern Miss (-7, o/u 46½) vs. Rice, 5:45 p.m., ESPN
NEW MEXICO BOWL (at Albuquerque, N.M.)
SMU (-1½, o/u 70½) vs. BYU, 7:30 p.m., ABC
FRISCO BOWL (at Frisco, Texas)
Boise State (-10, o/u 56½) vs. North Texas, 9:15 p.m., ESPN
Monday, Dec. 19
MYRTLE BEACH BOWL (at Conway, S.C.)
Marshall (-10, o/u 40½) vs. UConn, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Dec. 20
FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL (at Boise, Idaho)
San Jose State (-3½, o/u 54½) vs. Eastern Michigan, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
BOCA RATON BOWL (at Boca Raton, Fla.)
Toledo (-4½, o/u 53½) vs. Liberty, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday, Dec. 21
NEW ORLEANS BOWL
South Alabama (-7½, o/u 54½) vs. Western Kentucky, 9 p.m., ESPN
Thursday, Dec. 22
ARMED FORCES BOWL (at Fort Worth, Texas)
Baylor (-6½, o/u 49½) vs. Air Force, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Friday, Dec. 23
INDEPENDENCE BOWL (at Shreveport, La.)
Houston (-6½, o/u 60½) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 3 p.m., ESPN
GASPARILLA BOWL (at Tampa, Fla.)
Wake Forest (-2½, o/u 63) vs. Missouri, 6:30 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 24
HAWAII BOWL (at Honolulu)
San Diego State (-7, o/u 49½) vs. Middle Tennessee, 8 p.m., ESPN
Monday, Dec. 26
QUICK LANE BOWL (at Detroit)
Bowling Green (-2½, o/u 48) vs. New Mexico State, 2:30 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Dec. 27
CAMELLIA BOWL (at Montgomery, Ala.)
Georgia Southern (-3½, o/u 67½) vs. Buffalo, noon, ESPN
FIRST RESPONDER BOWL (at Dallas)
Memphis (-7, o/u 62½) vs. Utah State, 3:15 p.m., ESPN
BIRMINGHAM BOWL
East Carolina (-9½, o/u 59½) vs. Coastal Carolina, 6:45 p.m., ESPN
GUARANTEED RATE BOWL (at Phoenix)
Wisconsin (-3, o/u 43) vs. Oklahoma State, 10:15 p.m., ESPN
Wednesday, Dec. 28
MILITARY BOWL (at Annapolis, Md.)
Central Florida (pick ’em, o/u 62½) vs. Duke, 2 p.m., ESPN
LIBERTY BOWL (at Memphis, Tenn.)
Arkansas (-4, o/u 68½) vs. Kansas, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
HOLIDAY BOWL (at San Diego)
No. 15 Oregon (-12, o/u 71) vs. North Carolina, 8 p.m., FOX
TEXAS BOWL (at Houston)
Ole Miss (-4, o/u 70) vs. Texas Tech, 9 p.m., ESPN
Thursday, Dec. 29
PINSTRIPE BOWL (at Bronx, N.Y.)
Minnesota (-7½, o/u 42) vs. Syracuse, 2 p.m., ESPN
CHEEZ-IT BOWL (at Orlando, Fla.)
No. 13 Florida State (-7½, o/u 65) vs. Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m., ESPN
ALAMO BOWL (at San Antonio)
No. 20 Texas (-6, o/u 68½) vs. No. 12 Washington, 9 p.m., ESPN
Friday, Dec. 30
DUKE’S MAYO BOWL (at Charlotte, N.C.)
Maryland (-1, o/u 48) vs. No. 23 NC State, noon, ESPN
SUN BOWL (at El Paso, Texas)
No. 18 UCLA (-7, o/u 57½) vs. Pitt, 2 p.m., CBS
GATOR BOWL (at Jacksonville, Fla.)
No. 21 Notre Dame (-3½, o/u 52) vs. No. 19 South Carolina, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
ARIZONA BOWL (at Tucson, Ariz.)
Ohio (-1, o/u 43) vs. Wyoming, 4:30 p.m., Barstool Sports
ORANGE BOWL (at Miami Gardens, Fla.)
No. 7 Clemson (-7, o/u 64) vs. No. 6 Tennessee, 8 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 31
SUGAR BOWL (at New Orleans)
No. 5 Alabama (-3½, o/u 54½) vs. No. 9 Kansas State, noon, ESPN
MUSIC CITY BOWL (at Nashville, Tenn.)
Kentucky (-2½, o/u 31½) vs. Iowa, noon, ABC
FIESTA BOWL (at Glendale, Ariz.) — CFP SEMIFINAL
No. 2 Michigan (-7½, o/u 59) vs. No. 3 TCU, 4 p.m., ESPN
PEACH BOWL (at Atlanta) — CFP SEMIFINAL
No. 1 Georgia (-6½, o/u 61½) vs. No. 4 Ohio State, 8 p.m., ESPN
Monday, Jan. 2
RELIAQUEST BOWL (at Tampa, Fla.)
No. 22 Mississippi State (-1, o/u 46½) vs. Illinois, noon, ESPN2
COTTON BOWL CLASSIC (at Arlington, Texas)
No. 10 USC (-2, o/u 62) vs. No. 16 Tulane, 1 p.m., ESPN
CITRUS BOWL (at Orlando, Fla.)
No. 17 LSU (-10, o/u 58) vs. Purdue, 1 p.m., ABC
ROSE BOWL GAME (at Pasadena, Calif.)
No. 8 Utah (-2½, o/u 52) vs. No. 11 Penn State, 5 p.m., ESPN
Monday, Jan. 9
CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (at Inglewood, Calif.)
Fiesta Bowl winner vs. Peach Bowl winner, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Potential matchup lines from Caesars Sportsbook (bets refunded if matchup doesn’t materialize):
Georgia (-8) vs. Michigan
Georgia (-17½) vs. TCU
Ohio State (-2½) vs. Michigan
Ohio State (-10½) vs. TCU
