Welcome to bowl season! It’s the most glorious time of the year. And from the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Dec. 16 to the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 8, there will be 42 FBS postseason games played.
Not including the national title game, we have ranked all 41 bowl games from worst to best. Beyond the CFP bowls, there are many intriguing matchups to look forward to in the coming weeks.
(Full 2023 bowl game schedule with dates, times and TV channels)
41. Quick Lane Bowl (Dec. 26, 2 p.m., ESPN)Minnesota is the only sub-.500 team in a bowl game thanks to its Academic Progress Rate. The Gophers will play without QB Athan Kaliakmanis after he entered the transfer portal. Minnesota averages just 303 yards a game and gives up six yards a play. Bowling Green won five of its last six to get bowl eligible and its only loss in that span came to Toledo as the Rockets got a 59-yard TD to go ahead with 1:45 to go.
40. Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 21, 8 p.m., ESPN)The Bulls are bowling for the first time since 2018 under first-year coach Alex Golesh after winning just eight games over the last four seasons. One of USF’s six losses this season came by a score of 17-3 to Alabama in a game that was the catalyst for QB Jalen Milroe’s emergence after he didn’t play at all against the Bulls. Syracuse fired coach Dino Babers before the final week of the season and interim coach Nunzio Campanile got a 35-31 win over Wake Forest to get the Orange into a bowl game.
39. 68 Ventures Bowl (Dec. 23, 7 p.m., ESPN)South Alabama also gets to host a bowl game this season. The Jaguars had a 26-point win at Oklahoma State in Week 3 before losing to Central Michigan the following week. South Alabama has outscored its opponents by a combined 108 points thanks to midseason blowout wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Southern Miss. Eastern Michigan also lost to CMU and won its final two games of the season to qualify for the postseason.
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38. Potato Bowl (Dec. 23, 3:30 p.m., ESPN)QB Levi Williams’ powerful run in overtime got the Aggies a win over New Mexico in Week 13 to get to a bowl game. This will be Williams’ last game before he begins training to become a Navy SEAL. Georgia State lost its final five games and was outscored by at least three possessions in four of them before that dramatic defeat to Old Dominion.
37. Camellia Bowl (Dec. 23, Noon, ESPN)Butch Jones is back in a bowl game. The former Cincinnati and Tennessee coach has Arkansas State in the postseason for the first time since 2019. The Red Wolves won more games in 2023 than they had in Jones’ first two seasons with the program combined (five). NIU opened the season with a win at Boston College before losing four straight — including a game to Southern Illinois in Week 2. Huskies RB Antario Brown has rushed for 1,164 yards and 10 TDs on just 187 carries.
36. Famous Toastery Bowl (Dec. 18, 2:30 p.m., ESPN)The Monarchs got bowl eligible in the final week of the season in dramatic fashion. ODU scored 11 points in the final two minutes to turn a 24-14 deficit into a 25-24 win over Georgia State. Western Kentucky’s offense took a step back in 2023 despite the return of QB Austin Reed. He’s thrown for fewer yards and TDs per game this season.
35. Gasparilla Bowl (Dec. 22, 6:30 p.m., ESPN)UCF played in four games that were decided by one or two points this season and went 2-2 in them. This could be a close one. Georgia Tech is powered by the rushing duo of Haynes and Haynes. Both RB Jamal Haynes and QB Haynes King average six yards a carry. This game was originally reported to be a Military Bowl rematch of a year ago between UCF and Duke before an apparent swap of ACC teams with the Birmingham Bowl.
Gus Malzahn and the UCF Knights are staying in Florida for the Gasparilla Bowl. (Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
34. New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 16, 2:15 p.m., ESPN)The Gamecocks had a fantastic debut season at the FBS level under former West Virginia and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. RB Malik Jackson averages 6.5 yards a carry. Louisiana lost three consecutive games to begin November before becoming bowl-eligible with a 52-21 win over Louisiana-Monroe to end the season.
33. Myrtle Beach Bowl (Dec. 16, 11 a.m., ESPN)The Eagles were bowl eligible on Oct. 26 with a 44-27 win over Georgia State. That ended up mattering as GSU lost its last four games of the season. Ohio beat Iowa State in Week 4 and limits opponents to just 265 yards per game. MAC champ Miami (Ohio) is the only team to score more than 23 against the Bobcats.
32. Military Bowl (Dec. 27, 2 p.m., ESPN)Tulane will play this game without coach Willie Fritz after he was officially announced as Houston’s new coach on Sunday. The Green Wave were a win away from the Fiesta Bowl themselves, but lost 26-14 to the Mustangs. Virginia Tech sealed bowl eligibility in Week 13 with a 38-point win over rival Virginia.
31. Fenway Bowl (Dec. 28, 11 a.m., ESPN)SMU finished just one College Football Playoff rankings spot behind Liberty for the Group of Five’s New Year’s Six bowl berth. Instead of going to the Fiesta Bowl, the Mustangs make the trip to Boston to play a .500 team that they will share a conference with going forward. That’s a bummer for SMU.
SMU won the AAC championship in a game against Tulane but finished one spot behind Liberty for a New Year’s Six bowl. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
30. First Responder Bowl (Dec. 26, 5:30 p.m., ESPN)The Bobcats are in a bowl game for the first time ever after a season that included a win over Baylor and two other bowl-eligible Sun Belt teams. Rice is looking for its first winning season since 2014 and will be without QB JT Daniels as he’s been forced to medically retire due to multiple concussions.
29. Pinstripe Bowl (Dec. 28, 2:15 p.m., ESPN)The Scarlet Knights qualified for a bowl game as a non-COVID replacement for the first time since 2014. RB Kyle Monangai has rushed for 1,099 yards and seven scores. He’s the only Rutgers RB or WR with more than 500 total yards. Miami will be without QBs Emory Williams and Tyler Van Dyke as Williams suffered a season-ending injury against Florida State and Van Dyke has entered the transfer portal.
28. Frisco Bowl (Dec. 19, 9 p.m., ESPN)It’s our last chance to see UTSA seventh-year senior Frank Harris. He’s accounted for 22 total TDs and has thrown for over 2,500 yards in 10 games this season. Marshall won just two of its last eight games after a 4-0 start and needed a win over Arkansas State in the final week of the regular season to make a bowl.
27. Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 23, 7:30 p.m., ABC)The Wildcats won four of their last five games as interim coach David Braun was named the team’s permanent coach. Northwestern gives up more points and yards per game than it scores, but also relies on forcing nearly two turnovers a game. The Utes played all season without QB Cameron Rising — who is coming back for 2024 — and now will be missing backups Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes after they both entered the transfer portal. No. 4 QB Luke Bottari started for the Utes in the season-ending win over Colorado.
26. Independence Bowl (Dec. 16, 9:15 p.m., ESPN)The Red Raiders won three of their last four games to get bowl eligible, including a 16-13 win over Kansas and a 24-23 win over UCF. Cal was 3-6 with three games to go but scored wins over Washington State, Stanford and UCLA to get to the postseason for the first time since 2019.
25. Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 23, 10:30 p.m., ESPN)The Spartans lost out on a chance to play for the Mountain West title thanks to the conference’s computer tiebreakers. SJSU won six straight to end the season after a 1-5 start. Coastal Carolina makes the longest trek of the bowl season after a five-game win streak in the middle of the season got the Chanticleers bowl-eligible, but we’re guessing they…