College football bowl games: Selection Sunday arrives

Bowling Green, which finished 8-4 and second in the MAC’s East Division, is headed to Washington, DC, to play in the Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman. The Falcons draw WAC runner-up San Jose State, which went 10-2 and features one of the country’s best defensive linemen in Travis Johnson (19 tackles for loss) and quarterbacks in David Fales (3,798 yards).

There are few groups more deserving of being honored and thanked than the members of the United States Armed Forces and their loved ones. The 2012 Military Bowl presented by Northrup Grumman, benefitting the USO, is just one small way to say ‘thank you’ to those that have sacrificed so much.

Iowa State, the ninth-place team in the Big 12, is headed to the Liberty Bowl, where they’ll face Conference USA champion Tulsa, a 10-game winner.

The Cyclones (6-6) finished the 2012 season having lost three of the final four games, but earned that all-important sixth win against Kansas on Nov. 17. It will be Iowa State’s third bowl game in the past seven years, and their second-straight appearance in the postseason (lost year year’s Pinstripe Bowl).

Oklahoma, ousted from the BCS by MAC champion Northern Illinois, will settle on the Cotton Bowl, regularly regarded as a bowl just a step shy, if that, of the BCS games in prestige. Texas A&M, 10-2 on the year, will represent the SEC, according to multiple reports from all over. The SEC!

The first Cotton Bowl game was played Jan. 1, 1937, between TCU and Marquette with TCU winning, 16-6. The Texas Longhorns have appeared in the most games, amassing an 11-10-1 record in 22 appearances.

It’ll be the Big 12’s West Virginia against the Big East’s Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl, according to multiple reports. Big East reunion!

A relative newcomer to the college football bowl scene, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl is a clash between schools typically from the Big East and Big 12 conferences, played in New York’s Yankee Stadium. Now in its third year of existence, the 2012 edition of the Pinstripe Bowl will be the sixth game of football played in the new Yankee Stadium since its construction in 2009. Played just before the new year, winners of the Pinstripe Bowl are awarded the George M. Steinbrenner Trophy.

Somehow, the Chick-fil-A ended up with a bowl game that might be better than one or two BCS games. 10-game winner LSU is headed to Atlanta, where they’ll take on Clemson, a 10-game winner from the ACC. Expect an exciting press conference battle between Dabo Swinney and Les Miles.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl (Peach Bowl to persistent Georgians) typically pairs the ACC’s second-best with one of the SEC’s non-incredible teams, leveling the playing field somewhat between the two local conferences. Held on New Year’s Eve, it’s built a reputation as one of the best non-BCS bowls, boasting the third-longest bowl sellout streak in the country and potential inclusion in the coming FBS playoff system.

Ball State, winners of six straight straight and the runner-up in the MAC’s West Division (behind only BCS-bound Northern Illinois) is headed to beautiful Tropicana Field for the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl. They’ll get Conference USA runner-up Central Florida, which went 9-4 after taking Tulsa to overtime.

The Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl typically pits a middling team from the Big East against a top team from Conference-USA, with the MAC and Sun Belt Conference sending teams if either of the original conferences do not have enough bowl eligible teams. The bowl began in 2008 as the magicjack St. Petersburg Bowl before Beef ‘O’ Brady’s took over the sponsorship in 2009.

Vanderbilt’s not going very far for its bowl game, staying right in Nashville for the Music City. They’re up against N.C. State, which beat Florida State (hooray!), but will be playing with an interim head coach (aww!). Winner gets James Franklin! (Just kidding.)

The Music City Bowl will be one of the several college football festivities on New Year’s Eve. It’s not one of the more high-profile bowls; throughout its history it has swapped conferences involved a bit, originally featuring the Big East before switching to the Big Ten and most recently the Atlantic Coast Conference. These days, the bowl typically features a lesser team from the ACC facing off against a lesser team from the Southeastern Conference.

In its first Big 12 season, 7-5 TCU is off to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.They’re up against 6-6 Michigan State from the Big Ten in a game that might not feature any points at all. These teams are good at defense and not always great at offense, you see.

This is the first year for the Wild Wings, which was previously known as the Insight and Copper, among other names and sponsors. Last year, each team brought a $3.3 million payout back to its conference. It’s been a Big Ten vs. Big 12 bowl for several years now, with other tie-ins over the years.

The Big Ten’s 8-4 Michigan Wolverines are headed to Tampa for the Outback Bowl. They’ll face a 10-game winner from the SEC East, South Carolina. Jadeveon Clowney chasing Denard Robinson! We’ll take it.

The Outback Bowl has been a fixture in the New Year bowl scene since the mid-1980s when it was known as the Hall of Fame Bowl, routinely being played on Jan. 1 or 2. Known as the Outback Bowl since the 1996 edition, the game currently features the third picks from the SEC and Big Ten conferences and has a payout of $7.2 million.

Nebraska’s going to have to hope its next game goes better than its last outing. They’ll face near-national title contender Georgia, which won 11 games but dropped the SEC Championship, in the Capital One Bowl, the second year in a row in Orlando for the Huskers.

The Capital One Bowl (the Tangerine Bowl and Citrus Bowl of yesteryear) usually pairs the second-best teams from the Big Ten and the SEC. Among non-BCS bowls, the bowl boasts the best matchup of the postseason schedule, as far as conference finish of each contender.

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, previously known as the San Francisco Bowl, Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl and Emerald Bowl, has been around since 2002. In recent years, it has featured several close contests, as four of the last five games have been decided by seven points or fewer. Since the 2006 season, the Pac-12 has sent a participant in each year but one, with the exception being 2011. This year’s game will feature a payout of $900,000.

TV schedule: Dec. 29, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN2

The Fiesta Bowl, still a BCS Bowl for the time being, traditionally pits the Big 12 champion against one of the BCS at-large teams. While the bowl has been the anchor bowl of the Big 12 champion since 1995, that arrangement will be in place only two more seasons, as the Big 12 champion will begin meeting the SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl starting with the 2014 season. It is undetermined at this time whether the Fiesta Bowl will be part of the rotating college football playoff starting in that season.

12-1 Kansas State earns the AQ spot, having won the Big 12 title outright. They’ll get Oregon, the obvious choice for the at-large pick, according to Pete Thamel.

Call it the Charlie Strong Bowl. According to Pete Thamel, 11-1 Florida from the SEC and Big East champion Louisville will meet in New Orleans.

The Sugar Bowl has traditionally been a matchup of the winners of the Big 12 and SEC conferences, but since the SEC has pretty much turned the BCS National Championship game into its auto-bid game, the Sugar Bowl has featured among the best at-large bids or, in last year’s case, a matchup of two teams many felt didn’t deserve to be there, the Michigan Wolverines and the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The Gator Bowl will get 9-3 Northwestern from the Big Ten and, according to Brandon Marcello, 8-4 Mississippi State from the SEC.

The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl typically pairs a middle-of-the-road team from the SEC (a spectacular conference) with the third or fourth best team in the Big Ten (a bad conference). So in the 2012 college football environment, this bowl has all the makings of a blowout, SEC-style. The Gator Bowl is one of six bowls to take place on New Years Day and, running since 1946, is the sixth oldest college bowl in the country.

Northern Illinois has done it, according to Pete Thamel. The MAC will reportedly get its first team into the BCS, where they’ll take on 11-2 ACC champion Florida State, which just survived Georgia Tech in a grueling conference title game after falling to Florida.

NIU boasts one of the most exciting players in the country in quarterback Jordan Lynch, but also just lost coach Dave Doeren to N.C. State.

The Big East’s Cincinnati and the ACC’s Duke will meet in the Belk Bowl, Brett McMurphy reports.

The Belk Bowl has been referred to by the Sports Business Journal as one of the top five startups in sports. It claims to hold the record for the highest attendance at a non-BCS bowl game and the second-largest attendance at a non-BCS bowl game. Teams from the ACC and Big East are ready to get their time in the spotlight by playing for a purse of $3.4 million.

The ACC’s Virginia Tech and Big East’s (for now) Rutgers will face off in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Brett McMurphy reports.

The Russell Athletic Bowl typically pits the No. 2 team from the Big East against the No. 3 team from the ACC. Few bowl games have undergone as many name changes as the Russell Athletic Bowl, which has been formerly known as the Sunshine Classic, Blockbuster Bowl, Carquest Bowl, MicronPC Bowl, MicronPC.com Bowl, Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl, Mazda Tangerine Bowl, and Champs Sports Bowl.

Notre Dame claims 11 national championships; Alabama claims anywhere from 14 to untold thousands. One of them will get to count even higher very soon. The Irish will play Alabama for the national title, and with Stanford, Wisconsin, Florida State, Kansas State and Louisville winning AQ spots, we know how just about the entire BCS will shake out.

The big question: can No. 20 Boise State or No. 21 Northern Illinois rise to that No. 16 spot in Sunday night’s BCS rankings, which would guarantee one of them a cut and likely squeeze out Oklahoma? After losses by No. 16 UCLA, No. 17 Kent State, and No. 18 Texas plus a humiliating loss by No. 12 Nebraska, it’s going to be very close. Very close.

It’s the Granddaddy of Them All! The 2013 Rose Bowl will be the main attraction on New Year’s Day, as always. It has traditionally featured the champion of the Big Ten battling with the champion of the Pac-12.

The Cardinal and Badgers have played five times all-time, with Wisconsin winning their 2000 Rose Bowl matchup.

It’s a classic matchup that pairs perhaps the two most storied college football programs ever, but also one that sends a preseason unranked team up against the preseason No. 1 and defending national champion. Alabama’s favored by 10.5 points already, according to 5Dimes.com. Monitor that one!

While many bowl games simply supply a travel destination for fans and a gift bag for players, there will be plenty on the line at the 2013 BCS National Championship.

The Armed Forces Bowl, with a storied tradition dating all the way back to 2003, pits a team from the Mountain West Conference against a team from Conference USA. The Mountain West tie-in gives the bowl access to one of the military academies, Air Force, and the Falcons will play in the game for the third time this season. They’ll get Rice, a Texas school.

The bowl also has arrangements with the other military academies should a conference not be able to fill its obligation, as happened when Army won the bowl in 2010. BYU, needing a landing spot as an independent, defeated Tulsa 24-21 in last season’s contest.

Somebody’s figured out a niche: after Louisiana-Lafayette set a New Orleans Bowl attendance record in 2011 (42,841), they’re back again this year. They’ll take on Conference USA’s East Carolina, which went 8-4.

The New Orleans Bowl, founded in 2001, was among the pioneers of ending the tradition of cool names like Liberty Bowl and Sugar Bowl and of just naming bowls after the cities in which they take place. Want a personality? Tough. This is a football game. It takes place in New Orleans. IT IS THE NEW ORLEANS BOWL, AND SHUT UP.

Update: This has reportedly changed. Georgia is now widely projected to the Capital One.

No. 9 Texas A&M enjoyed a heck of successful season in the program’s first year in the SEC, finishing 10-2 while having a magical freshman quarterback take the Heisman Trophy race by storm. Now the Aggies are headed to the Capital One Bowl, according Brett McMurphy of ESPN, although the announcement will not be official until Sunday.

The 2012 Aggies have ridden a strong defense to their 10-win season. They’ve given up an average of just 16 points per game, and held opponents to one score in four of their games. After an inconsistent start, the offense has seemingly found its legs, scoring an average of 44.8 points in each of its previous five games.

The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl will be Saturday, Dec. 15.

The Armed Forces bowl kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 29, at 11:45 a.m. ET at renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium and will be televised on ESPN.

After beating the Hawaii Rainbows on Friday night, the Air Force Falcons moved their season record to 6-5, making coach Troy Calhoun’s team bowl eligible for the sixth consecutive season. The Falcons will play in the Armed Forces Bowl for the fourth time in the past six years. In 2007, Cal beat Air Force in Fort Worth, and the Falcons went 1-1 against Houston in 2008 and 2009.