If you could only use one word to describe this year's college football season, "unpredictable" would suffice.
One only needs to look to the No. 1 team in the country for proof: Notre Dame.
Who was expecting a team that entered the season unranked to reel off 12 straight victories? Who was expecting a team led by a quarterback who had never taken a snap in his collegiate career to beat Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford and Oklahoma en route to booking a spot in Miami?
Heck, a lot of people weren't even expecting the Fighting Irish, at 11-0, to beat USC—whose path this season has gone in the exact opposite direction—to cap off a dream regular season.
And the rest of the country has followed suit.
In the Orange Bowl, we have the powerhouse that is Northern Illinois, which raced to a 12-1 record, a thrilling MAC Championship win and a season to remember. The Huskies will represent DeKalb, Ill—yes, the same mighty DeKalb that boasts a population of 43,702 and an area of 12.6 square miles.
Showing up in the normally prestigious Rose Bowl for the Big Ten will be an unranked, five-loss Wisconsin team that benefited from a couple postseason bans and a 70-point effort against Nebraska in the Big Ten Championship Game.
If the bowl season follows in the footsteps of how the wacky, never-a-dull-moment 2012 regular season has played out, then you won't want to miss any of the following 35 games.
DEC. 15
Gildan New Mexico Bowl -- Albuquerque, NM
Nevada (7-5) vs. Arizona (7-5)
1:00 p.m.. ET, ESPN1:00 p.m.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl -- Boise, ID
Toledo (9-3) vs. Utah State (10-2)
4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN43
DEC. 20
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl -- San Diego, CA
San Diego State (9-3) vs. BYU (7-5)
8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Dec. 21
Beef 'O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl -- St. Petersburg, FL
Ball State (9-3) vs. UCF (9-4)
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
DEC. 22
R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl -- New Orleans, LA
East Carolina (8-4) vs. Louisiana- Lafayette (7-4)
12 p.m. ET, ESPN
MAACO Bowl Las Vegas -- Las Vegas, NV
Boise State (10-2) vs. Washington (7-5)
3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
DEC. 24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl -- Honolulu, HI
SMU (6-6) vs. Fresno State (9-3)
8 p.m. ET, ESPN
DEC. 26
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl -- Detroit, MI
Cental Michigan (6-6) vs. Western Kentucky (7-5)
6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Dec. 27
Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman -- Washington, D.C.
Bowling Green (8-4) vs. San Jose State (10-2)
3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Baylor (7-5) vs. UCLA (9-4)
9:45 p.m. ET ESPN
Belk Bowl -- Charlotte, NC
Duke (6-6) vs. Cincinnati (9-3)
6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
DEC. 28
AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl -- Shreveport, LA
Louisiana-Monroe (8-4) vs. Ohio (8-4)
5 p.m. ET, ESPN
Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl -- Houston, TX
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5)
9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Russell Athletic Bowl -- Orlando, FL
Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Rutgers (9-3)
5:30 p.m..m.
DEC. 29
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl -- Dallas, TX
Rice (6-6) vs. Air Force (6-6)
11:45 a.m. ET, ESPN
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl -- San Francisco, CA
Arizona State (7-5) vs. Navy (7-4)
3:15 p.m. ET, ESPN
New Era Pinstripe Bowl -- New York, NY
Syracuse (7-5) vs. West Virginia (7-5)
3:15 p.m. ET, ESPN,
Valero Alamo Bowl -- San Antonio, TX
Texas (8-4) vs. Oregon State (9-3)
6:45 p.m. ET, ESPN
Michigan State (6-6) vs. TCU (7-5)
10:15 - ESPN
DEC. 31
Franklin Am. Mortgage Music City Bowl -- Nashville, TN
Vanderbilt (8-4) vs. N.C. State (7-5)
12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Hyundai Sun Bowl -- El Paso, TX
Georgia Tech (6-7) vs. USC (7-5)
2 p.m. ET, CBS
AutoZone Liberty Bowl -- Memphis, Tenn.
Iowa State (6-6) vs. Tulsa (10-3)
3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
Chick-fil-A Bowl -- Atlanta, GA
LSU (10-2) vs. Clemson (10-2)
7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
JAN. 1
Purdue (6-6) vs. Oklahoma State (7-5)
Noon - ESPNUNoon
Capital One Bowl -- Orlando, FL
Georgia (11-2) vs. Nebraska (10-3)
TBA - ESPN
Outback Bowl -- Tampa, FL
South Carolina (10-2) vs. Michigan (8-4)
1 p.m. ET, ESPN
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl -- Jacksonville, FL
Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Northwestern (9-3)
TBA - ESPN2
Rose Bowl presented by VIZIO -- Pasadena, CA
Stanford (11-2) vs. Wisconsin (8-5)
4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Discover Orange Bowl -- Miami, FL
Northern Illionois (12-1) vs. Florida State 11-2)
8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
JAN. 2
Allstate Sugar Bowl -- New Orleans, LA
Florida (11-1) vs. Louisville (10-2)
TBA - ESPN
JAN. 3
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl -- Glendale, AZ
Kansas State (11-1) vs. Oregon (11-1)
8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
AT&T Cotton Bowl -- Arlington, TX
Texas A&M (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (10-2)
8 p.m. ET, Fox
JAN. 5
BBVA Compass Bowl -- Birmingham, AL
Pittsburgh (6-6) vs. Mississippi (6-6)-6)
1:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
GoDaddy.com Bowl -- Mobile, AL
Kent State (11-2) vs. Arkansas (9-3)
9 p.m. ET, ESPN
JAN. 7
Discover BCS National Championship -- Miami Gardens, FL
Notre Dame (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1)
8:30 p.m. - ESPN
Click on bowl for more information
We assume everyone here will watch Notre Dame-Alabama. That's the final act of a great season, and the last time for about eight months we'll see a meaningful college football game.
And you'll probably watch games like the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl. And maybe the Alamo Bowl and the Gator Bowl if you don't have anything going on those nights.
But as we get further down our rankings of the 2012-13 bowl games is where we separate the people who like college football pretty well from those who might need to get their heads examined.
Are you setting the DVR for East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl? How about canceling all plans with the significant other because you just can't miss Rice and Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl? Won't sit down to Christmas Eve dinner until the Hawaii Bowl between SMU and Fresno State is over? Well, we're with you.
Here are all 35 bowls, ranked from absolute must-see TV to must-see-a-psychiatrist if it's on your TV:
1. BCS Championship Game (Jan. 7, Miami): Notre Dame (12-0) vs. Alabama (12-1)
We're not going to lie: There's a good chance this isn't a shootout. But this should be a great game between two hard-nosed teams with great defenses, and there's a heck of a lot of history among the two programs, too.
2. Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 3, Glendale, Ariz.): Oregon (11-1) vs. Kansas State (11-1)
This is a game of old-school football vs. new-school football. Kansas State will try to pound the ball with quarterback Collin Klein while Oregon will use a bunch of different weapons to keep the Wildcats on their toes.
3. Cotton Bowl (Jan. 4, Arlington, Texas): Texas A&M (10-2) vs. Oklahoma (10-2)
It's not A&M and Texas, but it's a matchup of former Big 12 rivals. In terms of quarterbacks, one team had a potential Heisman candidate and the other has this year's probable winner.
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The Complete 2012-2013 College Football Bowl Game Schedule
Ranking all the bowl games, from 1 to 35
By Graham Watson | Dr. Saturday – Mon, Dec 3, 2012 12:14 AM EST
Bleacher Report Bowl Guide
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
SEC No. 7 vs. ACC No. 6
December 31, 2012 @ 12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Our Bowl Spotlight is on the Music City Bowl, in it's second season of sponsorship by Franklin American Mortgage Company and played at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
If you are bona fide college football fan in search of a new location to take in a bowl game and ring in the new year...Nashville is the place to be.
Click here for Bowl Spotlight page.
Bowl Spotlight
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