The Ultimate College Football Bowl Guide: Jimmy Kimmel Bowl? And The Guaranteed (Low Ratings) Bowl? Which To Watch And Not

"So, you played college football, grandpa?"

"Why, yes, angel."

"Did you ever play in a bowl game?"

"Kind of, but I don't want to talk about it, Virginia."

"What bowl was it, grandpa?

"Uh, The Jimmy Kimmel Bowl."

"Who the @&*$ is that?"

One of the few good things about COVID in 2020 was the cancellation of the first Jimmy Kimmel Bowl, named after the late night TV show host. The bowl will hold its second annual game on Dec. 16 in Inglewood, California. (Getty Images).

"Watch your language, sweetheart. He was a talk show host who faded away. And yes, Virginia, there was a Jimmy Kimmel Bowl. It wasn't around long, but it did outlast his late night talk show."

Welcome back to present day and to the 2022-23 College Football Bowl Season. This is your collge football bowl guide. Keep this around.

First Jimmy Kimmel Bowl Was Canceled

The first bowl to be named after a living human being will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, which naturally also airs his talk show. CNN might consider airing the bowl in the morning instead. It would probably do better than Don Lemon's CNN This Morning.

Fresno State (9-4) will play Washington State (7-5) in this K-Bowl at SoFi Stadium, which will also host the national championship game on Jan. 9th. Quite the curious pairing.

Last year, Utah State (red state) beat Oregon State (blue state), 24-13, in the inaugural Kimmel Bowl. Only blue states (California and Washington) in this year's game. Coincidence?

SHOULD WE HAVE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES?

The first Jimmy Kimmel Bowl was scratched in 2020 because of COVID-19. So, in this case, let's hear it for the Cancel Culture!

Perhaps Kimmel should have stayed with The Man Show as his talk show ratings continue to deteriorate. Now, that was a show. I would watch The Man Show Bowl. But, I'm not watching The Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented By Stifel (an investment firm).

We need to stifle some of these bowls, starting with that one. There are a whopping 43 bowls this season, counting the national title game. They commence on Friday, Dec. 16th.

They say the new 12-team College Football Playoff format set to start in the 2024 season will further deteriorate many bowl games. We can only hope.

Former Lipscomb University coach Trent Dilfer will coach Alabama-Birmingham in the Bahamas Bowl in Nassau on Dec. 16. (Photo by William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The eye opener will be the Bahamas Bowl between Miami of Ohio (6-6) and Alabama-Birmingham (6-6) at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 16th. It will be played in Nassau, The Bahamas. FOX doesn't know this yet, but OutKick will be covering in person.

The game will be at 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, a soccer arena named after a local Olympic track star. The question is, will the coaches and players be able to handle the elevation? The field is made of Celebration Bermudagrass. Yah Mon! Wonder if medicinal marijuana is allowed for any players suffering injuries?

No wonder Trent Dilfer took the UAB job.

Here is the list of all bowl games, incluing the four CFP games.

Bowls Not To Watch

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17

JIMMY KIMMEL LA BOWL - Fresno State (9-4) vs. Washington State (7-5, 1-point favorite), 3:30 p.m., ABC, Inglewood, California. ... See above.

LENDING TREE BOWL - Rice (5-7) vs. Southern Mississippi (6-6, 6-point favorite), 5:45 p.m., ESPN, Mobile, Alabama. ... Rice University in Houston was able to bypass the NCAA rule requiring at least six wins to be bowl eligible, as there are not enough eligible FBS teams. The tiebreaker for the multitude of five-win teams is Academic Progress Rate (APR). Rice leads the nation's five-win teams in that category at 994 and is sixth overall. Wow, I'm already drooling to see this football team play. Do they bring books and study on the sidelines?

-MONDAY, DECEMBER 19

MYRTLE BEACH BOWL - Connecticut (6-6) vs. Marshall (8-4, 10.5-point favorite), 2:30 p.m., ESPN, Conway, South Carolina. ... Want a quick fact about why there are too many bowls? UConn lost to College Football Playoff-bound Michigan, 59-0, back on Sept. 17.

-THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22

ARMED FORCES BOWL - Air Force (9-3) vs. Baylor (6-6, 6.5-point favorite), 7:30 p.m., ESPN, Fort Worth, Texas. ... Baylor has lost three straight, but finds itself in a bowl at .500 and favored to boot. What a country!

-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23

INDEPENDENCE BOWL - Louisiana (6-6) vs. Houston (7-5, 5-point favorite), 3 p.m., ESPN, Shreveport, Louisiana. ... Among the worst matchups as far as combined losses with 11.

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24

HAWAII BOWL - Middle Tennessee (7-5) vs. San Diego State (7-5, 3.5-point favorite), 8 p.m., ESPN, Honolulu. ... It's Christmas Eve! Move away from the remote. There is better stuff to do, including watching "Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever" on Lifetime, where movies go to die.

-MONDAY, DECEMBER 26

QUICK LANE BOWL - Bowling Green (6-6) vs. New Mexico State (6-6, 1-point favorite), 2:30 p.m., ESPN, Detroit. ... A team like New Mexico State that loses to Wisconsin (6-6) by 66-7 should not be allowed into a bowl. I don't care what its APR is. Schools that put headlines like this on their website should be disqualified as well - "Aggies Score Late But Fall to Big Ten Power Wisconsin, 66-7." So what if you scored late to cut it to 63-7? Oh, and a lot of class by Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst to opt for a 27-yard field goal later for the 66-7 final. And, excuse me, "Big Ten Power?" Chryst was fired a couple weeks later. At least he doesn't have to go to Detroit.

New Mexico State will play in the Quick Lane Bowl this month. (Photo by Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

-TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27

FIRST RESPONDER BOWL - Utah State (6-6) vs. Memphis (6-6, 9.5-point favorite), 3:15 p.m., ESPN, Dallas. A 6-6-6-6 pairing. Stay away.

GUARANTEED RATE BOWL - Oklahoma State (7-5) vs. Wisconsin (6-6, 4-point favorite), 10:15 p.m., ESPN, Phoenix. ... We should change this name to the "Guaranteed Low Ratings Bowl." No need to watch this one. Because Wisconsin - the most over-covered .500 college football team in OutKick history - will be all over the site as usual. Merry Christmas, Dave Hookstead!

-WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28

LIBERTY BOWL - Kansas (6-6) vs. Arkansas (6-6, 5-point favorite), , 5:30 p.m., ESPN, Memphis. ... Just give me death.

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31

MUSIC CITY BOWL - Iowa (7-5) vs. Kentucky (7-5, 3-point favorite), Noon, ABC, Nashville. ... Not even a lot of Kentucky fans are going to watch this one. Why? In addition to Kentucky losing five of its last eight, the Kentucky basketball team will be playing Louisville at home on the same day and time.

Bowls To Watch

-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16

BAHAMAS BOWL - Miami of Ohio (6-6) vs. Alabama-Birmingham (6-6, 11-point favorite), 11:30 a.m., ESPN, Nassau, Bahamas. Just watching a game at this location will be worth it. Surely Jimmy Buffet will sing the national anthem.

CURE BOWL - No. 24 Troy (11-2) at No. 25 Texas-San Antonio (11-2, 3-point favorite), 3 p.m. ESPN, Orlando, Florida. ... After you've come down from the Bahamas Bowl, this one will be a good pick-me-up and a nice appetizer for a long bowl season.

Jackson State Tigers head coach Deion Sanders speaks with his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, during the Orange Blossom Classic game against Florida A&M early this season in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo via Getty Images)

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17

CELEBRATION BOWL - North Carolina Central (9-2) vs. Jackson State (12-0, 18.5-point favorite), Noon, ABC, Atlanta. ... Coach Deion Sanders has vowed to coach Jackson State one more time before moving on completely to his new job at Colorado. But how many players will Jackson State still have after the largest NCAA Transfer Portal migration in history? "Beam me over Prime!"

-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30

ORANGE BOWL - No. 6 Tennessee (10-2) vs. No. 7 Clemson (11-2, 7-point favorite), 8 p.m., ESPN, Miami Gardens, Florida. ... The best of the non-CFP final four games. And another fresh one. This will be just the second meeting since 1976.

Alabama coach Nick Saban can't understand what his quarterback Greg McElroy was doing in this 2009 game at Auburn. (Photo by Getty Images)

So Many Bowl Games...

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31

SUGAR BOWL - No. 9 Kansas State (10-3) vs. No. 5 Alabama (10-2, 6-point favorite), Noon, ESPN, New Orleans. ... Alabama coach Nick Saban is not in the CFP for just the second time since it started in the 2014 season. In his last four bowl games that are not in the playoffs at Alabama, he is only 2-2. And he is 0-2 in such Sugar Bowls with poor showings in each - 31-17 to Utah in the 2008 season and 45-31 to Oklahoma in the 2013 season. Saban's college career, non-playoff bowl record is a below average 5-7 - 3-2 at Alabama, 2-2 at LSU and 0-3 at Michigan State. Perhaps this is why he was coming up with ridiculous reasons why the Tide should have made the playoff.

WHY ALABAMA IS NOT IN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL (FIESTA BOWL) - No. 3 TCU (12-1) vs. No. 2 Michigan (13-0, 9-point favorite), 4 p.m., ESPN, Glendale, Arizona. ... Thank you, CFP selection committee for not pairing Michigan and Ohio State after they just met on Nov. 26. Committee chairman Boo Corrigan will never admit they put Ohio State at No. 4 instead of No. 3 to make sure that didn't happen, but he did. And he has spoken out of all four sides of his mouth all season anyway. That bit of fixing also made for the first-ever Michigan-TCU football game. Now, that's fresh, which is what the CFP needs. By the way, did I mention Alabama is not in the CFP?

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL (PEACH BOWL) - No. 4 Ohio State (11-1) vs. No. 1 Georgia (13-0, 6.5-point favorite), 8 p.m., ESPN, Atlanta. ... Another fresh meeting here. These two have played only one other time - Georgia 21, Ohio State 14 on Jan. 1, 1993, in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. Oh, and Alabama is not in the field.

-MONDAY, JANUARY 2

COTTON BOWL - No. 16 Tulane (11-2) vs. No. 10 USC (11-2, 2.5-point favorite), Noon, ESPN, Arlington, Texas. ... Tulane is in one of the original New Year's Day bowls for the first time since Jan. 1, 1940, when it lost 14-13 to Texas A&M in the Sugar Bowl. The Aggies also won their last national title in that game. Tulane played in the Jan. 1, 1932, Rose Bowl, losing to USC, 21-12, as the Trojans won their second of 11 national crowns. Tulane coach Willie Fritz, who just Lane Kiffined Georgia Tech, is one win away from authoring the greatest turnaround in FBS college football history. The Green Wave was 2-10 last year in his sixth season in uptown New Orleans. USC could be in a national semifinal, but it lost 47-24 to No. 11 Utah in the Pac-12 title game and fell six spots from No. 4.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh congratulates tight end Luke Schoonmaker after defeating Purdue to win the Big 10 championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

-MONDAY, JANUARY 9

CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Michigan (14-0) vs. Georgia (14-0, 7.5-point favorite), 7:30 p.m., ESPN, Inglewood, California. Michigan wins, 34-31.

Bowls We Would Like To See

-FRIDAY, JANUARY 13

NCAA TRANSFER PORTAL BOWL - North vs. South, 8 p.m., The Home Shopping Network, Las Vegas. All 1,000 college football players who have entered the NCAA Quitter Portal - 950 of whom are either backups, spoiled brats or both - show their skills in something similar to the NFL Combine. But before they return home, Nick Saban correctly lectures them and their helicopter parents on why they should have stuck it out at their former schools for at least another year if possible. Because they would be better off. Saban then adds that his team should have been in the CFP.

-SATURDAY, JANUARY 14

NAME, IMAGE & LIKENESS BOWL - Every Man For Himself vs. Every Man For Himself, 11 p.m., Showtime After Hours, Hollywood. Various college football players prostitute themselves to various programs for various amounts of money, continuing to make college football sleazier and sleazier by the day.

All Other Bowls

-SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17

FENWAY BOWL - Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Louisville (7-5, 2.5-point favorite), 11 a.m., ESPN, Boston.

NEW MEXICO BOWL - SMU (7-5) vs. BYU (7-5, 1.5-point favorite), 2:15 p.m., ESPN, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

LAS VEGAS BOWL - Florida (6-6) vs. No. 14 Oregon State (9-3, 9-point favorite), 7:30 p.m., ABC, Las Vegas.

FRISCO BOWL - North Texas (7-6) vs. Boise State (9-4, 8.5-point favorite), 9:15 p.m., ESPN, Frisco, Texas.

-TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL - Eastern Michigan (8-4) vs. San Jose State (7-4, 4.5-point favorite), 3:30 p.m., ESPN, Boise, Idaho.

BOCA RATON BOWL - Toledo (8-5) vs. Liberty (8-4, 1-point favorite), 7:30 p.m., ESPN, Boca Raton, Florida.

-WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21

NEW ORLEANS BOWL - Western Kentucky (8-5) vs. South Alabama (10-2, 5.5-point favorite), 9 p.m., ESPN, New Orleans.

-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23

GASPARILLA BOWL - Missouri (6-6) vs. Wake Forest (7-5, 3.5-point favorite), 6:30 p.m., ESPN, Tampa, Florida.

-TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27

BIRMINGHAM BOWL - Coastal Carolina (9-3) vs. East Carolina (7-5, 7-point favorite), 6:45 p.m., ESPN, Birmingham, Alabama.

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are participating in college football bowl season, but it won't be at The Jimmy Kimmel Bowl. They will be in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by David Jensen/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

CAMELIA BOWL - Buffalo (6-6) vs. Georgia Southern (6-6, 3.5-point favorite), Noon, ESPN, Montgomery, Alabama.

-WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28

MILITARY BOWL - Duke (8-4) vs. Central Florida (9-4, 2.5-point favorite), 2 p.m., ESPN, Annapolis, Maryland.

HOLIDAY BOWL - North Carolina (9-4) vs. No. 15 Oregon (11-2, 10.5-point favorite), 8 p.m., FOX, San Diego.

TEXAS BOWL - Texas Tech (7-5) vs. Ole Miss (8-4, 4-point favorite), 9 p.m., ESPN, Houston.

-THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29

PINSTRIPE BOWL - Syracuse (7-5) v s. Minnesota (8-4, 7-poiint favorite), 2 p.m., ESPN, New York City.

CHEEZ-IT BOWL - Oklahoma (6-6) vs. No. 13 Florida State (9-3, 8-point favorite), 5:30 p.m., ESPN, Orlando, Florida.

ALAMO BOWL - No. 12 Washington (10-2) vs. No. 20 Texas (8-4, 6-point favorite), 9 p.m., ESPN, San Antonio.

But Wait, There's More!

-FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30

DUKE'S MAYO BOWL - No. 23 North Carolina State (8-4) vs. Maryland (7-5, 1.5-point favorite), Noon, ESPN, Charlotte, N.C.

SUN BOWL - Pittsburgh (8-4) vs. No. 18 UCLA (9-3, 4.5-point favorite), 2 p.m., CBS, El Paso, Texas.

GATOR BOWL - No. 19 South Carolina (8-4) vs. No. 21 Notre Dame (8-4, 4.5-point favorite), 3:30 p.m., ESPN, Jacksonville, Florida.

ARIZONA BOWL - Wyoming (7-4) vs. Ohio (9-4, 3-point favorite), 4:30 p.m., Barstool Sports TV, Tucson, Arizona.

-MONDAY, JANUARY 2

RELIAQUEST BOWL - Illinois (8-4) vs. No. 22 Mississippi State (8-4, 1-point favorite), Noon, ESPN2, Tampa, Florida.

CITRUS BOWL - Purdue (8-5) vs. No. 17 LSU (9-4, 6.5-point favorite), 1 p.m., ABC, Orlando, Florida.

ROSE BOWL - No. 11 Penn State (10-2) vs. No. 8 Utah (10-3, 2-point favorite), 5 p.m., ESPN, Pasadena, California.