College Football: Ranking New Year’s Eve Bowl Games
By John Bauman
What are the best New Year’s Eve college football bowl games?
Christmas belongs to the NBA. Weekends in December and January belong to the NFL. But New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? They belong to College Football.
The bowl schedule has been set up so that there are six excellent college football games all spaced out for your viewing enjoyment over the New Year’s holiday. The two playoff games are on New Year’s Day, but there are still some excellent games on New Year’s Eve. Today, I wanted to rank the three match-ups on New Year’s Eve. Let us know in the comments which match-up you are looking forward to most on Wednesday!
3. Boise State vs. Arizona
4 p.m., ESPN
Boise State is the non Power 5 conference team that made it into a New Years Six bowl. They rank as the #20 team in the nation coming into the contest and lost their only game against a ranked opponent all the way back in August (35-13 loss to Ole Miss).
Arizona also isn’t a really exciting opponent. Remember, they lost 51-13 in the Pac-12 championship, so at least we know that the Wildcats have something to prove to the nation.
This game should feature a lot of offense. Boise State ranks 9th in the country in points for, while Arizona ranks 27th in the same category. A lot of that offense should come from Jay Ajayi of Boise State, who has rushed for 1689 yards and 25 touchdowns this season.
This is a good bowl game, but it doesn’t match up to the level of the other two bowls on New Year’s Eve.
2. Mississippi State vs. Georgia Tech
8 p.m., ESPN
This match-up is a classic contrast of two different styles, conferences and types of team. Georgia Tech is a triple option attack, a throwback team to a different era in college football. Dan Mullen has led MSU in a different direction, opting for a spread attack that has been very effective this season.
Georgia Tech, despite being in what could be called “SEC country,” is in the ACC, while Mississippi State fought through the SEC this year.
The Bulldogs are also built off the type of blue chip recruits you only find in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. Mullen has recruited well over his time at Mississippi State and slowly has raised the profile of his program. Georgia Tech recruits the types of player that they need, not going after 4 and 5 star athletes but instead finding the right fits for their program.
All these contrasting styles should make for a really exciting football game. I can’t wait to see how Georgia Tech’s option attack holds up against a really good Bulldogs defense. Georgia Tech proved they could beat an SEC power when they knocked off Georgia in the last weekend of the season. Can they pull off another upset on New Year’s Eve? I can’t wait to watch and see.
1. Ole Miss vs. TCU
12:30 p.m., ESPN
The best game of the day is also the earliest game. This has a chance to be a clash between two strengths — the TCU offense and the Ole Miss defense. TCU ranks second in the country in Points For, averaging 46.8 points per game. Ole Miss is just as good on the other side of the football, allowing just 13.8 points per game, a mark which ranks first in the country.
This game also features some really talented players. TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin has thrown for 3714 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, and should be fun to watch against Rebel’s strong corners like Senquez Golson.
Finally, this game will be great because TCU has a huge chip on their shoulder, trying to prove to the College Football Playoff committee that they made a mistake not picking TCU for the 4-team playoff. TCU is going to come out of the tunnel with that in mind and play as hard as they’ve ever played to prove to the nation that they were one of the four best teams in the nation.
All three of these games should be really great games to watch! Let us know who you think is going to win each game and which game you are most excited to watch in the comments below!
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