Football 2018: Bowl Games

Until a few years ago, my favorite part of the college football season was the period between December 25th and January 1st of the following year, when the prestigious bowl games were played. I always watched any bowl game Texas A&M was playing in, plus at least 5-6 other games. My overall interest level began to taper off, and recently I've typically only watched the Texas A&M game and the three CFP games, with maybe an additional game, if I can find one that might let me see a team I hate get stomped.

This year, there are 11 teams from the SEC that will appear in bowl games:

• Thursday 12/27/18: Vanderbilt vs Baylor (Texas Bowl) UPDATE: The Bears outscored Vandy 45-38, and now believe they own the SEC.
• Friday 12/28/18: Auburn vs Purdue (Music City Bowl) UPDATE: Auburn demolished Purdue 63-14.
• Saturday 12/29/18: South Carolina vs Virginia (Belk Bowl) UPDATE: Virginia had little trouble shutting out the Gamecocks 28-0.
• Saturday 12/29/18: Florida (10) vs Michigan (7) (Peach Bowl) UPDATE: Auburn and Florida are making the Big Ten look very, very bad. The Gators won 41-15 in another romp.
• Saturday 12/29/18: Alabama (1) vs Oklahoma (4) (Orange Bowl CFP) UPDATE: Alabama jumped on the Sooners 28-0, then held on to win 45-34. Next up is another championship game matching Alabama and Clemson. Ho-hum.
• Monday 12/31/18: Missouri (23) vs Oklahoma State (Liberty Bowl) UPDATE: Two former Big 12 rivals met again, with Okie State eking out a 38-33 victory.
• Monday 12/31/18: Texas A&M (19) vs NC State (Gator Bowl) UPDATE: The Aggies were favored by a touchdown, but I had my doubts. I've been waiting several years to see Texas A&M beat a good opponent decisively, and it finally happened. The offense and defense both put on a show, and A&M leaves Florida with a 52-13 win. A 9-4 record is significantly better than what I expected last summer (7-6). Beating LSU and NC State makes my view of the future a little more optimistic. Finally, I guess it took Jimbo Fisher and his staff to transform Trayveon Williams from a serviceable RB to an SEC superstar.
• Tuesday 01/01/19: Mississippi State (18) vs Iowa (Outback Bowl) UPDATE: Iowa got by MSU with a close 27-22 win. I have no use for MSU, so I'm glad they lost.
• Tuesday 01/01/19: LSU (11) vs Central Florida (8) (Fiesta Bowl) UPDATE: The UCF winning streak ended in a 40-32 loss to LSU.
• Tuesday 01/01/19: Kentucky (14) vs Penn State (12) (Citrus Bowl) UPDATE: The Texas A&M win over Kentucky looks a little more impressive after UK beat Penn State in a close one, 27-24.
• Tuesday 01/01/19: Georgia (5) vs Texas (15) (Sugar Bowl) UPDATE: I read an article about this  game that suggested Georgia might not be fired up about playing in it after losing a chance to play in the CFP. The only reason I thought about watching this game was to see Texas U get their asses stomped, so I decided to watch a movie instead. Good decision, since Georgia lost 28-21.

The three SEC teams that didn't make it to a bowl game were Tennessee, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. The Aggies beat two of them (Arkansas, Ole Miss).

 There are two other games that I'll probably watch as long as they're competitive:

• Saturday 12/29/18: Notre Dame (3) vs Clemson (2) (Cotton Bowl CFP) UPDATE: Clemson earned the right to face off with Alabama again by rolling over the Irish in a 30-3 thumping.
• Tuesday 01/01/19: Washington (9) vs Ohio State (6) (Rose Bowl) UPDATE: My preference would have been a Washington win since I hate Ohio State, but things didn't work out. Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you. Ohio State won 28-23.

Bottom line: I watched Alabama vs Oklahoma, and Texas A&M vs N.C. State, and the teams I pulled for won in both games. If Georgia had whipped the longhorns, I would've been a perfect 3-0. All factors considered, I can't complain much.