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That time of year to see what we could have had, and whether we like it better or worse.

First my ideal scenario if you made me college football czar.  20 bowls.  5 tiers of 5-1-2, with the top tier doubling as an unseeded playoff, moving forward to a 4 team seeded playoff on home fields.  Also actually using the standings, not randomly assigning teams trying to get teams moved around.  You do better, you move up.  As the days progress the bowls get better.  January 1 is awesome again.  Willing to tinker slightly with how the teams are selected from the conferences.  Like Iowa at 8-4 getting left out because they lost to every team they'd be in a tiebreaker with

DECEMBER 24
MUSIC CITY		Auburn (7-5) vs. Georgia Tech (7-5)
COPPER		South Carolina (7-5) vs. WISCONSIN (7-5)
	.
DECEMBER 25
POTATO		Baylor (6-6) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5)
HAWAII		#23 Missouri (8-4) vs. Arizona State (7-5)
	.
DECEMBER 26
INDEPENDENCE		Oregon (8-4) vs. MICHIGAN STATE (7-5)
LAS VEGAS		#25 Boise State (10-3) vs. Stanford (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 27
TANGERINE		#18 Mississippi State (8-4) vs. NC State (9-3)
ALAMO		TCU (6-6) vs. UAB (10-3)
	.
DECEMBER 28
LIBERTY		#24 Iowa State (8-4) vs. Appalachian State (10-3)
HOLIDAY		#16 West Virginia (8-3) vs. #17 Utah (9-4)
	.
DECEMBER 29
GATOR		#10 Florida (9-3) vs. #12 PENN STATE (9-3)
HALL OF FAME		#20 Syracuse (9-3) vs. #22 NORTHWESTERN (8-5)
	.
DECEMBER 31
SUN		#13 Washington State (10-2) vs. Pittsburgh (7-6)
PEACH		#14 Kentucky (9-3) vs. #21 Fresno State (11-2)
JANUARY 1
COTTON		#15 Texas (9-4) vs. #19 Texas A&M (8-4)
CITRUS		#7 MICHIGAN (10-2) vs. #11 LSU (9-3)
ORANGE		#2 Clemson (13-0) vs. #5 Georgia (11-2)
ROSE		#6 OHIO STATE (12-1) vs. #9 Washington (10-3)
SUGAR		#1 Alabama (13-0) vs. #8 Central Florida (12-0)
FIESTA		#3 Notre Dame (12-0) vs. #4 Oklahoma (12-1)

Not a bad bowl, just has a bad name now.  Was the Copper Bowl, then the Cactus Bowl.

Not a bad bowl, just has a bad name now.  Was the Copper Bowl, then the Cactus Bowl.

But actually, I'm going to go ahead and disallow the bowls to be named after the sponsor.

Under the system in 1996 (Bowl Alliance)

18 games, 8 days

DECEMBER 18
LAS VEGAS		Appalachian State (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5)
	.
DECEMBER 25
ALOHA		Oregon (8-4) vs. WISCONSIN (7-5)
	.
DECEMBER 27
CARQUEST		Pittsburgh (7-6) vs. Memphis (8-5)
LIBERTY		#18 Mississippi State (8-4) vs. UAB (10-3)
COPPER		#25 Boise State (10-3) vs. Stanford (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 28
ALAMO		#22 NORTHWESTERN (8-5) vs. #24 Iowa State (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 29
HOLIDAY		#16 West Virginia (8-3) vs. #21 Fresno State (11-2)
	.
DECEMBER 31
INDEPENDENCE		#19 Texas A&M (8-4) vs. Army (9-2)
SUN		#17 Utah (9-4) vs. IOWA (8-4)
ORANGE		#5 Georgia (11-2) vs. #8 Central Florida (12-0)
	.
JANUARY 1
OUTBACK		#11 LSU (9-3) vs. #12 PENN STATE (9-3)
GATOR		#20 Syracuse (9-3) vs. Cincinnati (10-2)
PEACH		#14 Kentucky (9-3) vs. NC State (9-3)
COTTON		#13 Washington State (10-2) vs. #15 Texas (9-4)
CITRUS		#7 MICHIGAN (9-3) vs. #10 Florida (9-3)
ROSE		#6 OHIO STATE (12-1) vs. #9 Washington (10-3)
FIESTA		#3 Notre Dame (12-0) vs. #4 Oklahoma (12-1)
	.
JANUARY 2
SUGAR		#1 Alabama (13-0) vs. #2 Clemson (13-0)

I used to love that game on Christmas Day.  Felt like a bottom feed bowl, back when you actually had to be ok to go to a bowl, but it would be a solid team now.  Was generally a middle of the pack Pac 10 team vs. a middle of the pack major conference opponent, both being like 7-4.  I think MSU went once in the 90s and got blasted by Washington, like 56-31.

Under the system in 1990 (pre-Coalition)

19 games, 8 days

DECEMBER 8
CALIFORNIA		Appalachian State (10-2) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5)
	.
DECEMBER 15
INDEPENDENCE		South Carolina (7-5) vs. Pittsburgh (7-6)
	.
DECEMBER 25
ALOHA		Stanford (8-4) vs. Cincinnati (10-2)
	.
DECEMBER 27
LIBERTY		Auburn (7-5) vs. Army (10-2)
	.
DECEMBER 28
ALL-AMERICAN		NC State (9-3) vs. UAB (10-3)
BLOCKBUSTER		#23 Missouri (8-4) vs. #24 Iowa State (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 29
PEACH		#5 Georgia (11-2) vs. #20 Syracuse (9-3)
HOLIDAY		#21 Fresno State (11-2) vs. #22 NORTHWESTERN (8-5)
FREEDOM		#25 Boise State (10-3) vs. Oregon (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 31
JOHN HANCOCK		#17 Utah (9-4) vs. #19 Texas A&M (8-4)
COPPER		IOWA (8-4) vs. Utah State (10-2)
	.
JANUARY 1
HALL OF FAME		#7 MICHIGAN (10-2) vs. #11 LSU (9-3)
COTTON		#10 Florida (9-3) vs. #15 Texas (9-4)
GATOR		#16 West Virginia (8-3) vs. #18 Mississippi State (8-4)
CITRUS		#2 Clemson (13-0) vs. #12 PENN STATE (9-3)
ROSE		#6 OHIO STATE (12-1) vs. #9 Washington (10-3)
FIESTA		#13 Washington State (10-2) vs. #14 Kentucky (9-3)
SUGAR		#1 Alabama (13-0) vs. #3 Notre Dame (12-0)
ORANGE		#4 Oklahoma (12-1) vs. #8 Central Florida (13-0)

Under the system in 1973 (Big 10/Pac 10 Rose Bowl only rule)

11 games, 7 days

DECEMBER 17
LIBERTY		#23 Missouri (8-4) vs. NC State (9-3)
	.
DECEMBER 21
FIESTA		#21 Fresno State (11-2) vs. #24 Iowa State (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 22
TANGERINE		#18 Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5)
	.
DECEMBER 28
PEACH		#14 Kentucky (9-3) vs. Pittsburgh (7-6)
	.
DECEMBER 29
GATOR		#10 Florida (9-3) vs. #16 West Virginia (8-3)
SUN		#11 LSU (9-3) vs. #20 Syracuse (9-3)
BLUEBONNET		#8 Central Florida (13-0) vs. #19 Texas A&M (8-4)
	.
DECEMBER 31
SUGAR		#1 Alabama (13-0) vs. #2 Clemson (13-0)
	.
JANUARY 1
COTTON		#5 Georgia (11-2) vs. #15 Texas (9-4)
ROSE		#6 OHIO STATE (12-1) vs. #9 Washington (10-3)
ORANGE		#3 Notre Dame (12-0) vs. #4 Oklahoma (13-0)

Pre-1971 sub out Ohio State under the no repeat rule (they would have gone last year) and depending on how they treated who was the runner up, either Michigan or Northwestern would go to the Rose Bowl.