UCF vs. Arkansas State, Cure Bowl 2016 final score: Red Wolves leave Orlando with a win

Both sides are right. Bowls are a cynical money-making exercise, an excuse for ESPN inventory, and an outdated way for all the wrong people to maintain some semblance of control over college football. They’re also happy, bonus football.

We are at both extremes in 2016. We once again had 80 bowl bids to give out and fewer than 80 bowl-eligible teams, a sure sign of bloat and excess. We’re also loaded with perhaps more interesting bowl matchups than we’ve ever seen.

Bowl games are good. There are too many of them. Both things are true.

We’re holding steady at 41 on this year’s schedule, counting the National Championship, and again have multiple 5-7 teams that made it in because we ran out of 6-6 teams (Mississippi State and North Texas this time).

Football games are 60 minutes long.

Motivation is a tricky thing in bowl games. You might be rusty. You might be undergoing a coaching change. You might come out firing, only to find your attention span is not what it was a couple of months ago.

Arkansas State beat UCF in Saturday’s Cure Bowl in Orlando, 31-13. The Red Wolves capped an 8-5 season that also included a Sun Belt co-championship, while the Knights finished 6-7 with a loss in what was, basically, a home game. Arkansas State won eight of nine games after starting its season 0-4.

The Red Wolves had the advantage all game. They took a 17-0 first-quarter lead, and while the game settled way down after that, UCF never climbed far enough back. The Knights made it 17-10 at one point, but Arkansas State responded by scoring a couple of touchdowns (with a UCF field goal in between them) to put the game back out of reach. The game didn’t have a ton of suspense at any point.

The Cure Bowl is a pretty neat college football thing.

It is not, by any stretch, a big deal. It came into existence only last season, when San Jose State beat Georgia State, 27-16, in front of an announced crowd of 18,536 in Orlando. It is one of the least significant of all bowl games, at least in terms of prestige. And yet, the Cure Bowl is sort of amazing.

All wagers at -110 odds unless otherwise noted. Visit Odds Shark for updated lines throughout each game week.

College football bowl games are a different beast for bettors. Sure, the typical handicapping elements apply. Offense and defense matter. But there are some key elements at play that don’t apply as much during the regular season.

College football’s bowl season is upon us. A full schedule is here.

There are 40 bowl games spread from Dec. 17 to Jan. 2, with the National Championship on Jan. 9. Unless you’re watching on multiple monitors and are really committed, you won’t catch all of them. (If that is your plan, more power to you.)

Also, head over here for the fully updated bowl season calendar as it fills in, from the New Orleans Bowl through the Rose Bowl. We’ll also add picks, scores, and more to that calendar over time.

The Cure Bowl made its debut in college football’s postseason last year. It is not a prestigious game, and it’s very much a part of the industrial growth of this sport’s bowls, many of which are not that meaningful.