Friday Part 1
Noon, ESPN
Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman
North Carolina v. Temple
Nothing says fun like a bowl sponsored by a defense contractor. Also, wow, does the ACC have some horrendous bowl tie-ins or what? I guess it matches their horrendous teams. In any event, Mack Brown has brought North Carolina back to mediocrity. Temple avoided the Manny Diaz bullet and turned in a pretty good season. SP says this is pretty even with NC at 39 and Temple at 43.
3:20 p,. ESPN
New Era Pinstripe Bowl
Michigan State v. Wake Forest
Finally, some Big Ten action to wake up the senses. Nothing gets the pulse going like some Sparty offense. Usually you get a chance for snow in this New York based game, but some unseasonably warm temps across the north of the country (I slept with my windows open last night) means it's just another game. I always liked Dave Clawson and figured he could show something at a better school, but Wake does have a decently fun offense to watch, and it's always fun to see Sparty turn both teams into empty bean cans. Dantonio forever.
6:45 pm, ESPN
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
Oklahoma State v. Texas A&M
A couple halfway decent teams match up here. The Aggies have been mostly uncompetitive against good teams and beat bad teams mostly in a walk (except for Arkansas). So now they face off against a a decent team in Okie State and the Mullets. I haven't gotten to see Chuba Hubbard all season, so I hope to get an eyeball on this game.