Ranking every college football bowl game by sponsor
By Luke Norris
25. Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl
North Carolina Central vs. Grambling
Saturday, December 17, Noon on ABC
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
I’m just trying to knock out all of these military-named bowl games so I can start making jokes again. This is actually the first bowl game on the slate this year, which I suppose is cause for…wait for it…celebration. You know, because it’s the Celebration Bowl. As for the Air Force Reserve, they’re headquartered in Georgia and this game is in Atlanta. So there you go.
24. National Funding Holiday Bowl
Minnesota vs. Washington State
Tuesday, December 27, 7:00 PM on ESPN
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA
Just six days after the amazing San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, we get the National Funding Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. I’m not overly familiar with National Funding, but I’m told that I can get anywhere between $5,000 and $500,000 loaned to me with no collateral or downpayment AND I can be approved on the same day. Of course, I got all of that information from their own website but the woman at the top seems relatable so that’s good enough for me.
23. Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl
South Alabama vs. Air Force
Friday, December 30, 5:30 PM on Campus Insiders
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ
And speaking of loans (how about that dynamite segue), let’s not forget about Nova Home Loans, who have been sponsoring the Arizona Bowl since the beginning. Okay, that may be a little misleading seeing as the game was first played only a year ago but that’s not the point and it doesn’t make it any less true. And Nova just sounds a little better than National Funding, okay?
22. R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Saturday, December 17, 9:00 PM on ESPN
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
I’m still not quite certain how a privately owned freight shipping company based in Ohio ended up sponsoring a little bowl game but perhaps that’s the answer. The New Orleans Bowl obviously will never be as big as that other bowl game played in this stadium so perhaps R + L Carriers jumped on a cheap opportunity in the hopes that they’d catch one guy watching on the opening day of bowl games and say “I’ve got to know more about this company.” Or something like that.
21. Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Nebraska vs. Tennessee
Friday, December 30, 3:30 PM on ESPN
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
Actually, I’m not quite sure why I have Franklin American Mortgage all the way up here on this list. Perhaps I’m a sucker for Nashville or the Music City Bowl portion of this name but as with a couple of others on here, I’m sure the folks at Franklin really do care about putting you in a home. Or maybe they just like seeing their commercials on ESPN on a Friday afternoon. At least the game between Nebraska and Tennessee should be solid.