Update 12/19: The college football bowl season starts tonight! Follow the link for a preview of tonight’s Rutgers-Central Florida game.
Update 12/14: The spreads and over-unders for every bowl game have now been posted below.
When I first saw the matchups for the 2009-10 college football bowl schedule, I have to admit that I was pretty underwhelmed. Yes, Alabama-Texas is the matchup that we should have for the BCS championship game, but none of the other matchups really jumped out at me as being all that compelling.
However, my frosty initial feelings have begun to thaw the more I read from people like Stewart Mandel, who know much more about college football than I do.
The one matchup I was most disappointed in was TCU playing Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. I thought it was a disservice to these two schools to not allow them to play one of the “big boys” for a shot to prove themselves on a national stage. But Fiesta Bowl CEO John Junker made a valid point in saying that if we all want schools like TCU and Boise state to be treated like the big schools, we should not be making distinctions about who they should play.
These are both undefeated, top-6 schools, thus making the Fiesta Bowl matchup one of the highlights of the bowl schedule, not some toss-away game where the BCS afterthoughts were placed.
Also, for any other naysayers of the 2009-10 college football schedule, I think Mandel summed up this year’s BCS schedule quite well:
In many ways, this is the best set of games the BCS has ever given us. For the first time in BCS history, there will be two matchups of undefeated teams (Alabama-Texas and TCU-Boise State). For the first time in three years, there will be two games pitting top-five teams (the title game and the Sugar Bowl). And for the first time since the BCS expanded to five games in 2006, all 10 berths went to Top 10 teams.
We’ll see how the games play out, but I’m willing to suspend my initial feeling of disappointment and give these games every opportunity to entertain and enthrall.
Now, let’s look at the TV schedule and point spreads for the 2009-10 college football bowl schedule. (Note: Spreads will be listed here as soon as they are posted by the powers that be.) We’ll start out by highlighting this year’s BCS schedule.
NCAA College Football Bowl TV Schedule and Spreads: BCS Games
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs Oregon
- Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl Date: Friday, January 1
- Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl Kickoff Time: 4:30 ET
- Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl TV: ABC
- Ohio State-Oregon Rose Bowl Spread: Oregon -3.5
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs Cincinnati
- Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl Date: Friday, January 1
- Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl Kickoff Time: 8:30 ET
- Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl TV: FOX
- Florida-Cincinnati Sugar Bowl: Florida -10
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs Boise State
- TCU-Boise State Fiesta Bowl Date: Monday, January 4
- TCU-Boise State Fiesta Bowl Kickoff Time: 8:00 ET
- TCU-Boise State Fiesta Bowl TV: FOX
- TCU-Boise State Fiesta Bowl Spread: TCU -7
Orange Bowl: Iowa vs Georgia Tech
- Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl Date: Tuesday, January 5
- Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl Kickoff Time: 8:00 ET
- Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl TV: FOX
- Iowa-Georgia Tech Orange Bowl Spread: Georgia Tech -4
BCS National Championship Game: Alabama vs Texas
- Alabama-Texas BCS Championship Date: Thursday, January 7
- Alabama-Texas BCS Championship Kickoff Time: 8:00 ET
- Alabama-Texas BCS Championship TV: ABC
- Alabama-Texas BCS Championship Spread: Alabama -5
As usual, all point spread listings are from when they were initially listed and certainly are subject to fluctuation throughout the weeks leading up to the bowl games. I include them here simply for your own entertainment purposes, but here are links to where you can find updated information:
Below is the TV schedule and point spread listing for every game on the 2009-10 college football bowl schedule. Hat tip to this college football bowl schedule for the assist in helping me put this post together.
Enjoy the bowls everyone. I’ll be back later this week with my picks for each bowl game.
2009-10 College Football Bowl Schedule
| Date | Bowl Game | Time | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Matchup | Spread | O/U |
| Sat. 12/19 | New Mexico Bowl | 4:30 pm | ESPN |
| Albuquerque, NM | Fresno State vs Wyoming | FRES -10.5 | 55 |
| Sat. 12/19 | St. Petersburg Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| St. Petersburg, FL | Central Florida vs Rutgers | RUT -2.5 | 44.5 |
| Sun. 12/20 | R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | 8:30 pm | ESPN |
| New Orleans, LA | Southern Miss vs Mid. Tenn. St. | USM -3.5 | 58 |
| Tues. 12/22 | MAACO Las Vegas Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| Las Vegas, NV | Oregon State vs BYU | ORST -2.5 | 60.5 |
| Wed. 12/23 | San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| San Diego, CA | Utah vs Cal | CAL -3 | 52.5 |
| Thurs. 12/24 | Sheraton Hawaii Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| Honolulu, HI | Nevada vs SMU | NEV -15 | 73 |
| Sat. 12/26 | Emerald Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| San Francisco, CA | Boston College vs USC | USC -9 | 44 |
| Sat. 12/26 | Meineke Car Care Bowl | 4:00 pm | ESPN |
| Charlotte, NC | Pitt vs North Carolina | PITT -3 | 44.5 |
| Sat. 12/26 | Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl | 1:00 pm | ESPN |
| Detroit, MI | Marshall vs Ohio | OHIO -2.5 | 49.5 |
| Sun. 12/27 | Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl | 8:30 pm | ESPN |
| Nashville, TN | Kentucky vs Clemson | CLEM -7 | 52.5 |
| Mon. 12/28 | Independence Bowl | 5:00 pm | ESPN2 |
| Shreveport, LA | Texas A&M vs Georgia | UGA -7 | 64 |
| Tues. 12/29 | Champs Sports Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| Orlando, FL | Miami (FL) vs Wisconsin | MIA -3 | 58 |
| Tues. 12/29 | EagleBank Bowl | 4:30 pm | ESPN |
| Washington, DC | UCLA vs Temple | UCLA -3.5 | 46.5 |
| Wed. 12/30 | Pacific Life Holiday Bowl | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| San Diego, CA | Arizona vs Nebraska | AZ -1.5 | 40 |
| Wed. 12/30 | Roady's Humanitarian Bowl | 4:30 pm | ESPN |
| Boise, ID | Bowling Green vs Idaho | BGSU -1.5 | 68 |
| Thurs. 12/31 | Texas Bowl | 3:30 pm | ESPN |
| Houston, TX | Navy vs Missouri | MIZZ -6.5 | 52.5 |
| Thurs. 12/31 | Bell Helicopter Armed Forces | 12:00 pm | ESPN |
| Forth Worth, TX | Houston vs Air Force | HOU -4.5 | 62 |
| Thurs. 12/31 | Brut Sun Bowl | 2:00 pm | CBS |
| El Paso, TX | Oklahoma vs Stanford | OU -8 | 56.5 |
| Thurs. 12/31 | Insight Bowl | 6:00 pm | NFLN |
| Tempe, AZ | Minnesota vs Iowa State | MIN -2.5 | 48.5 |
| Thurs. 12/31 | Chick-fil-a Bowl | 7:30 pm | ESPN |
| Atlanta, GA | Virginia Tech vs Tennessee | VT -4.5 | 49.5 |
| Fri. 1/1 | Outback Bowl | 11:00 am | ESPN |
| Tampa, Fl | Northwestern vs Auburn | AUB -7.5 | 54.5 |
| Fri. 1/1 | Capital One Bowl | 1:00 pm | ABC |
| Orlando, FL | Penn State vs LSU | PSU -2.5 | 44 |
| Fri. 1/1 | Konica Minolta Gator Bowl | 1:00 pm | CBS |
| Jacksonville, FL | West Virginia vs Florida State | WVU -2.5 | 60.5 |
| Fri. 1/1 | Rose Bow presented by Citi | 4:30 pm | ABC |
| Pasadena, CA | Ohio State vs Oregon | ORE -3.5 | 51.5 |
| Fri. 1/1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | 8:30 pm | FOX |
| New Orleans, LA | Florida vs Cincinnati | UF -10 | 57 |
| Sat. 1/2 | AT&T Cotton Bowl | 2:00 pm | FOX |
| Arlington, TX | Oklahoma State vs Ole Miss | MISS -3 | 50.5 |
| Sat. 1/2 | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | 5:30 pm | ESPN |
| Memphis, TN | Arkansas vs East Carolina | ARK -7.5 | 63.5 |
| Sat. 1/2 | International Bowl | 12:00 pm | ESPN2 |
| Toronto, Canada | South Florida vs Northern Illinois | USF -6.5 | 50 |
| Sat. 1/2 | PapaJohns.com Bowl | 2:00 pm | ESPN |
| Birmingham, Al | South Carolina vs Connecticut | USC -4.5 | 51.5 |
| Sat. 1/2 | Valero Alamo Bowl | 9:00 pm | ESPN |
| San Antonio, TX | Michigan State vs Texas Tech | TT -8 | 60.5 |
| Mon. 1/4 | Tostitos Fiesta Bowl | 8:00 pm | FOX |
| Glendale, AZ | Boise State vs TCU | TCU -7 | 55 |
| Tues. 1/5 | FedEx Orange Bowl | 8:00 pm | FOX |
| Miami, FL | Iowa vs Georgia Tech | GT -4 | 51 |
| Wed. 1/6 | GMAC Bowl | 7:00 pm | ESPN |
| Mobile, AL | Central Michigan vs Troy | CMU -4 | 63.5 |
| Thurs. 1/7 | BCS National Championship Game | 8:00 pm | ABC |
| Pasadena, CA | Texas vs Alabama | ALA -5 | 45 |
About Jerod Morris
