Bowl season means a lots of weird matchups in lots of weird places. That creates a slew of quirks that are both fun and, in some cases, historic. Before the nation turns its lonely eyes to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, here’s a list of ten cool nuggets this year’s bowl slate has given us.
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1— AKRON GOES MOUNTAIN
Akron has had football since 1990, but in all that time the Zips have never played a game west of the Central time zone. The Zips hosted Fullerton State in 1990 and Northern Arizona in 1991, both wins, but have never traveled to a western venue. That changes on Dec. 22, when the Zips go to Boise to play Utah State in the Potato Bowl.
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2 — THE NEW CREW
This year’s postseason welcomes three new teams to the fray, although one might be a bit more familiar than the others. Appalachian State, the winner of three straight FCS titles from 2005 through 2007 and the author of the famous upset of Michigan, qualified for the Camellia Bowl in just its second FBS season.
More remarkable than that is Georgia Southern. The Eagles won the Sun Belt in their first FBS season last year, but couldn’t go bowling because of transitional rules. This year the Eagles get a postseason game after an 8-4 season. They get Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl.
However, the most remarkable success story has to be Georgia State. The Panthers have only been playing football since 2010. In their first two FBS seasons, GSU won a single game. This year the Panthers went 6-6 to earn a spot in the Cure Bowl against San Jose State. It’s a remarkable building job by coach Trent Miles, and you can be sure that his team will come to play.
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3 — VEGAS STRIKES IT BIG
Over the last several years the Las Vegas Bowl has managed to score some exceptional matchups, but nothing can compare to what will go down in the desert in a few weeks. The Holy War, BYU versus Utah, will unfold at Sam Boyd Stadium. Not only is it one of the most heated rivalries in all of college sports, and not only is it the first time the game is ever played on a neutral field, but it’s the first meeting of the two since 2013. Conference realignment broke up the rivalry after being played every year since 1946. It’s Bronco Mendenhall’s last game coaching the Cougars, so expect a great game with big emotions on both sides.
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4 — TEAMS STAY AT HOME
Bowls are supposed to be rewards for seasons well done, but some teams get the added bonus of playing what amounts to playing a home game. Many bowls this year feature a team playing in its home state, and a few of those even have teams playing bowls on their own home field. New Mexico (New Mexico Bowl) and Navy (Military Bowl) are the lucky two teams that get to play their bowl in their own stadium. The list of teams playing in their home state is much deeper and includes: South Florida (Miami Beach Bowl), Louisiana Tech (New Orleans Bowl), UCLA (Foster Farms in Santa Clara, California), Central Michigan (Quick Lane in Detroit), Texas Tech (Texas Bowl in Houston), N.C. State (Belk Bowl in Charlotte), Auburn (Birmingham Bowl in Alabama), USC (Holiday Bowl in San Diego), Florida (Citrus Bowl in Orlando), Stanford (Rose Bowl), TCU (Alamo Bowl in San Antonio), and Arizona State (Cactus Bowl in Phoenix).
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5 — RIGHT TIME, WRONG SEASON
Look at the AP Top 25, and you’ll find Duke sitting in the top 10 and Indiana amidst the list of teams also receiving votes. That’s the Top 25 for basketball, at least, where Duke and Indiana are among the traditional power brokers in the sport. However, the schools’ respective football teams will meet at Yankee Stadium in the Pinstripe Bowl on Boxing Day.
Indiana could have packed in the season after rough losses to Ohio State, Iowa, and Michigan — all in Bloomington — but finished the season strong with two straight wins. Duke also hit a rough patch late in the year, a four-game skid kicked off by the controversial loss against Miami, but beat Wake Forest in the finale.
Expect a huge crowd: Duke and Big Ten schools traditionally have large alumni bases in the Big Apple.
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6 — FULL CIRCLE FOR BEAMER
Frank Beamer concludes his legendary career the day after Christmas against Tulsa in the Independence Bowl. It’s a perfect cherry on Beamer’s career, as his first bowl game leading the Hokies was also the Independence Bowl. Beamer’s Hokies beat Indiana in the 1993 game in Shreveport, 45-20.
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7 — DEJA VU FOR SPARTY
Michigan State will play in its second 2015 Cotton Bowl Classic in a few weeks. Yes, the Spartans will have played in the same exact bowl game game in two different football seasons. That’s because the first 2015 Cotton Bowl took place on New Year’s Day, when the Spartans won a wild game over Baylor, 42-41. The redux of the 2015 Cotton Bowl will take place on New Year’s Eve when Sparty plays Alabama in a playoff semifinal.
College football: where time is a flat circle in the twilight zone wrapped inside a wormhole.
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8 — HISTORY IN THE HEART OF DALLAS
Southern Mississippi began playing football in 1912. The Golden Eagles have never played a team from the state of Washington. The University of Washington began playing football in 1889. The Huskies have never played a team from the state of Mississippi. That will change in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, when Southern Miss and the Huskies meet.
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9 — THE BEST BOWL YOU SHOULD WATCH (but probably won’t)
Temple had a remarkable season highlighted by starting the season 8-0, and was ranked in the top 25 six times across the season. Toledo won at Arkansas and put together a 9-2 season (one game was cancelled), but the Rockets came out on the wrong side of a four-way tiebreak atop the MAC’s East division. These two top-flight mid-major programs will go head to head in the Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 22. It should not be missed.
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10 — ARTIFICIAL FINALE
After playing its entire season on natural grass, including the ACC title game, North Carolina will play on a plastic field to end its season. The Tar Heels play Baylor in a remarkably good matchup in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando.
