Bowl Games 2017-18: Complete Schedule of College Football Matchups

After a weekend of conference championship matchups, college football's final four was set Sunday. The College Football Playoff committee announced Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama will compete for the 2018 national championship in January, leaving 74 more teams to fill out the remaining bowl games.

For many, whatever bowl game they will be playing in represents a disappointment. Most teams go into the season with designs on winning a national championship—or at the very least competing for a conference title. The vast majority of these teams will instead play out their final moments of the season in sparsely populated stadiums in games intended to put something on national television on random Tuesdays and Wednesdays in December.

And that's fine.

Guys will get some cool swag and travel to locales they otherwise would not, and some will get to go out with a bowl win in their final collegiate game. That still matters to the players and coaches, even if the proliferation of bowl games and the advent of the College Football Playoff has quelled hype from the true bowl era.

There will also be some non-playoff matchups that are just plain fun.

For the most part, though, the focus will be on the College Football Playoff. Three teams made the committee's job easy. The ACC and SEC Championship Games were essentially play-ins, and Clemson and Georgia more than did their jobs to earn their spots. Clemson will likely enter the playoffs as the top seed after a dominant 38-3 win over Miami, which saw its once-promising season end with two straight losses.

Georgia avenged its lone loss of the season with a 28-7 win over Auburn. 

The only remaining factor—other than sussing out the seeding—was the committee's decision between Ohio State and Alabama. The Crimson Tide were idle after losing to Auburn in Week 13, so their only hope was for a team in the top four to lose and open up a spot.

Wisconsin did just that, losing 27-21 to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes were looking to earn the final playoff spot despite having two losses. It was a similar situation to the one Penn State was in a year ago, when the committee chose one-loss Ohio State over the two-loss Nittany Lions—even with James Franklin's team having a head-to-head win.

Urban Meyer was left on the outside looking in this time, when the committee chose Alabama as the No. 4 seed. CFP committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said Ohio State's blowout loss at Iowa played a heavy factor in the omission of the Big Ten champs. 

"As we saw Alabama play week in and week out, the selection committee believed Alabama was the better football team," Hocutt said on ESPN. "When we looked at Ohio State, when you looked at their resume, it was impressive, but it wasn't enough for the selection committee to place them in above Alabama."

Clemson and Alabama will play in a rematch of last year's title game in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia and Oklahoma will play in the Rose Bowl.

2017 Bowl Schedule

Saturday, Dec. 16

New Orleans Bowl (1 p.m., ESPN): Troy vs. North Texas

Cure Bowl (2:30 p.m., CBSSN): Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State

Las Vegas Bowl (3:30 p.m., ABC): Boise State vs. Oregon

New Mexico Bowl (4:30 p.m., ESPN): Marshall vs. Colorado State

Camellia Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN): Arkansas State vs. Middle Tennessee

Tuesday, Dec. 19

Boca Raton Bowl (7 p.m., ESPN): Akron vs. FAU

Wednesday, Dec. 20

Frisco Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN): SMU vs. Louisiana Tech

Thursday, Dec. 21

Gasparilla Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN): Temple vs. FIU

Friday, Dec. 22

Bahamas Bowl (12:30 p.m., ESPN): UAB vs. Ohio

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (4 p.m., ESPN): Central Michigan vs. Wyoming

Saturday, Dec. 23

Birmingham Bowl (12 p.m., ESPN): USF vs. Texas Tech

Armed Forces Bowl (3:30 p.m., ESPN): San Diego State vs. Army

Dollar General Bowl (7 p.m., ESPN): Appalachian State vs. Toledo

Sunday, Dec. 24

Hawaii Bowl (8:30 p.m., ESPN): Fresno State vs. Houston

Tuesday, Dec. 26

Heart of Dallas Bowl (1:30 p.m., ESPN): Utah vs. West Virginia

Quick Lane Bowl (5:15 p.m., ESPN): Duke vs. NIU

Cactus Bowl (9 p.m., ESPN): Kansas State vs. UCLA

Wednesday, Dec. 27

Independence Bowl (1:30 p.m., ESPN): Florida State vs. Southern Miss

New Era Pinstripe Bowl (5:15 p.m., ESPN): Boston College vs. Iowa

Foster Farms Bowl (8:30 p.m., Fox): Arizona vs. Purdue

Texas Bowl (9 p.m., ESPN): Texas vs. Missouri

Thursday, Dec. 28

Military Bowl (1:30 p.m., ESPN): Virginia vs. Navy

Camping World Bowl (5:15 p.m., ESPN): Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech

Alamo Bowl (9 p.m., ESPN): Stanford vs. TCU

Holiday Bowl (9 p.m., FS1): Michigan State vs. Washington State

Friday, Dec. 29

Belk Bowl (1 p.m., ESPN): Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest

Sun Bowl (3 p.m., CBS): Arizona State vs. NC State

Music City Bowl (4:30 p.m., ESPN): Kentucky vs. Northwestern

Arizona Bowl (5:30 p.m., CBSSN): New Mexico State vs. Utah State

Cotton Bowl Classic (8:30 p.m., ESPN): Ohio State vs. USC

Saturday, Dec. 30

TaxSlayer Bowl (12 p.m., ESPN): Mississippi State vs. Louisville

Liberty Bowl (12:30 p.m., ABC): Iowa State vs. Memphis

Fiesta Bowl (4 p.m., ESPN): Penn State vs. Washington

Orange Bowl (8 p.m., ESPN): Wisconsin vs. Miami

Monday, Jan. 1

Outback Bowl (12 p.m., ESPN2): Michigan vs. South Carolina

Peach Bowl (12:30 p.m., ESPN): Auburn vs. UCF

Citrus Bowl (1 p.m., ABC): Notre Dame vs. LSU          

Rose Bowl (5 p.m., ESPN): Oklahoma vs. Georgia

Sugar Bowl (8:45 p.m., ESPN): Clemson vs. Alabama

Monday, Jan. 8

College Football Playoff National Championship (8 p.m., ESPN)

This article will be updated to provide more information as it becomes available.