1 week Ago By David Kenyon
Although the 12-team College Football Playoff is certain to garner most attention, the 2024 bowl season is loaded with entertaining games. Sure, you might believe there are too many bowls—particularly due to the attention given to the chase for a national championship. And, look, everyone is entitled to their own wrong opinion.
You can think that. More football is good with me, though! Beyond the CFP, there are 35 bowls involving 70 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. While the results aren't necessarily critical, the games are not insignificant, either.
Plenty of programs and players are chasing records, and it doesn't hurt to begin the offseason on a celebratory note. The bowls are broken into groups chronologically and feature a brief preview of a few marquee matchups. All predictions are based on info available as of Dec.
12. Opt-outs and transfers may alter the players involved in the game. Frisco (Dec.
17): No. 25 Memphis (10-2) vs. West Virginia (6-6) West Virginia ended an up-and-down campaign with a blowout loss before the school moved on from coach Neal Brown.
Memphis, on the other hand, closed the regular season with an emphatic win at Tulane to hit double-digit wins again. I'll take stability over talent. Prediction : Memphis 33, West Virginia 27 LA (Dec.
18): California (6-6) vs. No. 24 UNLV (10-3) UNLV, similarly, has an interim after Purdue snagged Barry Odom.
In this situation, however, the Rebels' coaching change is less concerning than Cal needing to replace quarterback Fernando Mendoza. He entered the transfer portal, leaving Chandler Rogers—though he was a productive player at North Texas in 2023—to step in against a stingy UNLV defense. Prediction : UNLV 24, Cal 20 Gasparilla (Dec.
20): Tulane (9-4) at Florida (7-5) Ready for a hype train? Florida upset LSU and Ole Miss before smacking rival Florida State to salvage what looked like a disastrous year, and the Gators should be a comfortable win to reach 8-5. Tulane will be without quarterback Darian Mensah, who transferred to Duke. Prediction : Florida 31, Tulane 21 More Picks Salute to Veterans (Dec.
14) : South Alabama 31, Western Michigan 24 Boca Raton (Dec. 18) : James Madison 30, Western Kentucky 26 New Orleans (Dec. 19) : Sam Houston 23, Georgia Southern 20 Cure (Dec.
20) : Ohio 28, Jacksonville State 23 Armed Forces (Dec. 27): Oklahoma (6-6) vs. Navy (8-3) Jackson Arnold is leaving Oklahoma, so Michael Hawkins Jr.
is officially the QB to watch for the Sooners. They presumably won't have much trouble opposite Navy, provided an OU defense that is sixth nationally in yards allowed per carry does not collapse. Prediction : Oklahoma 31, Navy 14 Holiday (Dec.
27): No. 21 Syracuse (9-3) vs. Washington State (8-4) You like offense? Be sure to check out the Holiday Bowl—as long as John Mateer remains the quarterback at Washington State.
He's been the subject of not-so-secret transfer rumors in December. Either way, I'm taking Kyle McCord-led Syracuse. But if Mateer is playing for Wazzu, buckle up and be ready for an offensive showcase.
Prediction : Syracuse 38, Washington State 33 Las Vegas (Dec. 27): Texas A&M (9-3) vs. USC (6-6) Does the good or bad version of Texas A&M's defense show up? November was not kind to the Aggies, who dropped three of their four games in the closing month.
USC's run defense is the concern, though; Notre Dame scampered for 258 yards in the regular-season finale. Prediction : Texas A&M 27, USC 20 More Picks Myrtle Beach (Dec. 23) : UTSA 31, Coastal Carolina 27 Idaho Potato (Dec.
23) : Northern Illinois 24, Fresno State 20 Hawai'i (Dec. 24) : San Jose State 37, South Florida 31 GameAbove Sports (Dec. 26) : Pitt 29, Toledo 17 Rate (Dec.
26) : Kansas State 30, Rutgers 24 68 Ventures (Dec. 26) : Arkansas State 28, Bowling Green 23 Birmingham (Dec. 27) : Vanderbilt 24, Georgia Tech 21 Liberty (Dec.
27) : Texas Tech 34, Arkansas 30 Pop-Tarts: No. 18 Iowa State (10-3) vs. No.
13 Miami (10-2) On the busiest day of bowl season, the Pop-Tarts Bowl is the featured attraction—and not solely due to "toasting" the mascot into a giant, edible treat. Miami quarterback Cam Ward is expected to play, and a high-powered UM offense should be able to run all over Iowa State, too. Just don't expect Miami's defense—which, in short, is the reason the 'Canes didn't make the CFP—to stop ISU, either.
Prediction : Miami 34, Iowa State 28 Alamo: No. 17 BYU (10-2) vs. No.
23 Colorado (9-3) As with Ward at Miami, Colorado is expected to have quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter on the field. (Hunter may have a Heisman Trophy on his mantle by then, too). BYU's secondary poses a fascinating test for Colorado's talented offense, but the opposite matchup likely decides the game.
I'll take CU's defense over a BYU scoring attack that faded down the stretch. Prediction : Colorado 27, BYU 23 Independence: Marshall (10-3) vs No. 22 Army (11-1) Conference USA's champion takes on the AAC winner in a quietly awesome game.
Marshall made a heck of a statement to earn the league crown, obliterating Louisiana 31-3 on its home field. Army, meanwhile, was among the best stories of the 2024 season. Run defense will probably shape the result, and Army holds that advantage.
Prediction : Army 24, Marshall 17 More Picks Fenway : North Carolina 28, Connecticut 20 Pinstripe : Nebraska 23, Boston College 19 New Mexico : TCU 34, Louisiana 24 Arizona : Colorado State 24, Miami (Ohio) 23 Military : North Carolina State 28, East Carolina 24 Music City (Dec. 30): Iowa (8-4) vs. No.
19 Missouri (9-3) Between opt-outs and transfers, Iowa's roster has taken a heavy hit recently. The defense is still an agonizing thorn to play against, but somebody has to score. Give me Missouri in a low-scoring slog.
Prediction : Missouri 17, Iowa 13 ReliaQuest (Dec. 31): No. 11 Alabama (9-3) vs.
Michigan (7-5) Michigan is riding high after an upset of Ohio State. But, look, the Wolverines weren't great in 2024. That's not a controversial opinion.
They got up for a rivalry game—equal parts unexpectedly and impressively—to ruin OSU's pursuit of a Big Ten crown. But between the season overall for U-M and a rumored handful of opt-outs, this is a rough matchup if Bama quarterback Jalen Milroe plays. Prediction : Alabama 31, Michigan 14 Citrus (Dec.
31): South Carolina (9-3) vs. No. 20 Illinois (9-3) South Carolina rightfully didn't get the Playoff call because of its three losses, and also I would not want to play South Carolina.
This defense is a menace. Illinois needs quarterback Luke Altmyer to snap a trend of shaky performance against top competition, but I don't see it happening. Prediction : South Carolina 27, Illinois 13 More Picks Sun (Dec.
31) : Louisville 26, Washington 21 Texas (Dec. 31) : Baylor 34, LSU 30 Gator (Jan. 2) : Ole Miss 33, Duke 17 First Responder (Jan.
3) : Texas State 36, North Texas 28 Mayo (Jan. 3) : Minnesota 24, Virginia Tech 20 Bahamas (Jan. 4) : Buffalo 23, Liberty 21.
