Hello friends, and welcome to college football bowl season. We now have the matchups all set, the playoffs ready to go, and the travel plans being made. Before we get to a small preview of Notre Dame’s game against Iowa State let’s take a look at some of the best and worst bowl matchups to conclude the 2019 season.

The Bad

Boca Raton Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 21st 3:30 PM ET
SMU vs. FAU

Lane Kiffin has scampered off to Oxford, Mississippi and back into the lives of everyone in the SEC leaving this game a lot less appealing than it would otherwise. This bowl game is also played literally inside FAU’s home stadium which is lame.

Hawaii Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 24th 2:30 PM ET
Hawaii vs. BYU

This is the 13th bowl game in Hawaii football program history and the 11th time they are playing in a bowl game on their home island. So congrats on another home game, Warriors! Enjoy the beach!

Independence Bowl
Thursday, Dec. 26th 4:00 PM ET
Louisiana Tech vs. Miami

Are you sensing a theme? This game takes place just one hour west of campus for La Tech which is a bummer. Throw in one of the nation’s most disappointing teams in the Hurricanes and you have a special recipe for bowl game crap.

Quick Lane Bowl
Thursday, Dec. 26th 8:00 PM ET
Pitt vs. Eastern Michigan

Eastern Michigan gets the luxury of traveling 40 minutes east into the city of Detroit to play Pittsburgh. I’m having trouble coming up with a negatives for this game. It sounds amazing.

Cotton Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 28th 12:00 PM ET
#17 Memphis vs. #10 Penn State

This game is going head-t0-head with Notre Dame/Iowa State and with Memphis losing head coach Mike Norvell to Florida State and Penn State missing the Rose Bowl this game feels like a major downer. Otherwise, it has potential to be a good matchup it’s just missing a lot of luster.

Orange Bowl
Monday, Dec. 30th 8:00 PM ET
#9 Florida vs. #24 Virginia

The ACC needed a team to be ranked to make their choice for the Orange Bowl easier, I guess. In doing so, the playoff committee only dropped Virginia one spot after a 45-point loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship. This is a fantastic date and time slot that is going to be utterly wasted.

Sugar Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1st 8:45 PM ET
#5 Georgia vs. #7 Baylor

If you looked at this matchup in the pre-season with the teams a combined 22-4 I’m sure many would’ve been excited. However, both just lost in their league title games and Georgia in particular looks like a real big disappointment relative to their recent standards.

The Good

Las Vegas Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 21st 7:30 PM ET
#19 Boise State vs. Washington

Huskies head coach Chris Petersen is going out against his former team before he transitions into a roll with the University of Washington. That’s pretty cool.

Fiesta Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 28th 8:00 PM ET
#3 Clemson vs. #2 Ohio State

This could be the game of the season, can’t wait.

Music City Bowl
Monday, Dec. 30th 4:00 PM ET
Miss State vs. Louisville

There were rumors that Joe Moorhead was close to losing his job which seems a bit crazy. On the other side we have the improved Cardinals who could use an 8th win to bring some momentum into next year when they will play Notre Dame again, this time on Senior Day.

Sun Bowl
Tuesday, Dec. 31st 2:00 PM ET
Florida State vs. Arizona State

I don’t know if it’s actually been verified at the time of this writing but I did read that Mike Norvell wants to coach in the Seminoles’ bowl game. If that’s true this is an automatic watch against Coach Herm and a plucky Arizona State squad.

Outback Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1st 1:00 PM ET
#18 Minnesota vs. #12 Auburn

The Gophers have to be disappointed about how their season ended but they get one of the best bowl matchups of the season and a chance for P.J. Fleck to add a top notch win to his belt.

Citrus Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1st 1:00 PM ET
#14 Michigan vs. #13 Alabama

Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play. Please make all of Alabama’s receivers play.

Rose Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1st 5:00 PM ET
#6 Oregon vs. #8 Wisconsin

We have a couple contrasting styles offensively but a pair of defenses that can really get after it. On a national scale this probably doesn’t move the needle for a lot of folks but this could be a really good game, and frankly, it’s much better than if Utah was in this spot.

Iowa State Bullet Points

  • Head Coach Matt Campbell is finishing up his 8th season and 4th with the Cyclones.
  • Campbell was 36-15 at Toledo with 1st place ties in his division over his final two years but no conference title game berths in either season.
  • Since a debut 3-9 season, Campbell is currently 23-15 at Iowa State, has entered the discussion as one of the country’s top young coaches (he recently turned 40), and jumped into the spotlight with a 38-31 upset of eventual No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman back in 2017, followed up by a 14-7 upset over eventual No. 9 TCU a few weeks later.
  • Iowa State has lost this season to Iowa, Baylor, and Oklahoma by a combined 4 points. For a 7-5 team they are a healthy +105 in point differential.
  • From the possible Big 12 opponents to match up with Notre Dame, the Cyclones are by far the highest ranked (23rd) according to SP+ just 4 spots below the Fighting Irish.
  • Iowa State has generally played very close games, 9 of their contests in 2019 have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
  • For being noted as an upset-minded team, the Cyclones are 2-9 in their last 11 against ranked opponents.
  • Quarterback Brock Purdy is probably one of the best signal-callers in the country you’ve never watched play. He’s 20th nationally in passer rating and 2nd in the Big 12 behind Jalen Hurts. He was 6th nationally in passer rating last year as a true freshman. Through 22 career games, Purdy has accounted for 56 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
  • Purdy spreads the ball around well to his 4 main pass catchers, each of whom have at least 30 catches and 600 receiving yards.
  • Iowa State relies on true freshman running back Breece Hall (842 yards, 4.98 per carry) most of the time with a little of Purdy sprinkled in, as well.
  • The Cyclones defense has only caused 13 turnovers, tied for 112th nationally.
  • SP+ likes Iowa State’s defense (22nd, 3 spots higher than the Irish defense) than their offense (41st) which is abnormal for a Big 12 team.
  • Campbell is a former defensive end from Mount Union (sneaky tall 6’3″ get ready for the pictures next to Brian Kelly) but has carved out a coaching career on the offensive side of the ball. Nevertheless, Campbell’s transformation at Iowa State has largely been tied to defensive efficiency where he engineered a 10.4 point drop in opponent scoring after his first season and has kept the Cyclones’ defense at a very respectable 22.9 PPG and 25.3 PPG over the last 2 years.