2022-2023 college football bowl game watchability rankings
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It is one of the more fun articles any college football blogger gets to write every year: the watchability rankings for all the bowl games.
There are always some “dogs with fleas” matchups, and there are always some “ooooooh, I can’t wait to watch that one” matchups. There are other matchups which fit in between, the kinds of games where one says, “It’s not great, it’s not terrible, but it’s a bowl game, and it’s college football.
Let’s look at the bowl schedule and the 2022 bowl games through the prism of which games are most — and least — watchable. The bad bowls will be dealt with in a bundle, precisely because they’re not worth discussing in greater depth:
THE LEAST WATCHABLE BOWLS
42 — Arizona Bowl, Ohio-Wyoming
41 — Lending Tree Bowl, Rice-Southern Miss
40 — Boca Raton Bowl, Liberty-Toledo
39 — Quick Lane Bowl, Bowling Green-New Mexico State
38 — Potato Bowl, Eastern Michigan-San Jose State
37 — New Orleans Bowl, Western Kentucky-South Alabama
36 — Bahamas Bowl, Miami-Ohio vs UAB
35 — Hawaii Bowl, Middle Tennessee-San Diego State
34 — Camellia Bowl, Georgia Southern-Buffalo
33 — First Responder Bowl, Memphis-Utah State
32 — Birmingham Bowl, Coastal Carolina-East Carolina
31 — Music City Bowl, Iowa-Kentucky
30 — New Mexico Bowl, SMU-BYU
29 — Frisco Bowl, North Texas-Boise State
28 — Independence Bowl, Louisiana-Houston
27 — Myrtle Beach Bowl, Marshall-UConn
26 — Armed Forces Bowl, Baylor-Air Force
25 — Celebration Bowl, Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central
GUARANTEED RATE BOWL
Wisconsin vs Oklahoma State
Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz entered the portal, diminishing the level of intrigue surrounding this game.
PINSTRIPE BOWL
Syracuse vs. Minnesota
Hard to predict a winner, which makes this game interesting, but there probably won’t be much offense.
RELIAQUEST BOWL
Illinois vs. Mississippi State
Bret Bielema vs. Mike Leach, but this game will probably be ugly.
CITRUS BOWL
LSU vs. Purdue
LSU should blow the doors off the Boilermakers here. We’ll see if the Tigers can do that.
SUN BOWL
UCLA vs. Pittsburgh
No bowl game has been less watchable than the 2008 Sun Bowl, in which Pitt lost to Oregon State, 3-0. Arguably the worst bowl game in the past 50 years.
GASPARILLA BOWL
Wake Forest vs. Missouri
Moderately interesting teams, moderately interesting game.
TEXAS BOWL
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech
Ole Miss should win handily, but we’ll see if the SEC team can follow through.
DUKE'S MAYO BOWL
North Carolina State vs. Maryland
A matchup with lots of ACC intrigue.
CURE BOWL
UTSA vs. Troy
This is a good bowl game: two conference champions meet here.
UTSA won Conference USA, while Troy won the Sun Belt.
LA BOWL
Washington State vs. Fresno State
Washington State versus the Mountain West champion, led by a former Cal coach (Jeff Tedford) and a former Washington Husky QB (Jake Haener).
Lots to love from a Pac-12 perspective.
COTTON BOWL
Tulane vs. USC
If Caleb Williams plays, this game becomes much more watchable. If not, it’s a lot less watchable. We’ll see.
VEGAS BOWL
Florida vs. Oregon State
SEC versus Pac-12? Tasty.
FENWAY BOWL
Cincinnati vs. Louisville
This game, played in Fenway Park, just became a lot more interesting: Louisville coach Scott Satterfield left to take the Cincinnati job. These two teams play in a bowl, and more than that, they will share the same sideline in the Fenway Park layout for the game! Incredible!
MILITARY BOWL
UCF vs. Duke
Gus Malzahn vs. likely ACC Coach of the Year Mike Elko is a fascinating coaching matchup.
HOLIDAY BOWL
Oregon vs. North Carolina
This game should be a lot of fun, and it’s the first Holiday Bowl since 2019. The last two were wiped out by COVID-19.
LIBERTY BOWL
Kansas vs. Arkansas
The “Kansas” Bowl. How will the Jayhawks fare in their first bowl game in several years?
CHEEZ-IT BOWL
Oklahoma vs. Florida State
Teams which normally play in the Orange Bowl will now play in a lower-tier bowl. How will this one play out?
GATOR BOWL
Notre Dame vs. South Carolina
Spencer Rattler vs. Notre Dame’s defense. Very intriguing.
ROSE BOWL
Penn State vs. Utah
Not the sexiest Rose Bowl matchup, but it’s still the Rose Bowl.
SUGAR BOWL
Kansas State vs. Alabama
Not a dazzling stylistic matchup, but it should be competitive, and it’s the Sugar Bowl.
ALAMO BOWL
Texas vs. Washington
Steve Sarkisian vs. his former employer. Quinn Ewers vs. Michael Penix.
ORANGE BOWL
Tennessee vs. Clemson
This is the best non-playoff bowl matchup.
FIESTA BOWL
TCU vs. Michigan
No one predicted this matchup before the season began.
PEACH BOWL
Ohio State vs. Georgia
It’s a moment of truth for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes.
