Bowl Guide for Dec. 19-23: Five reasons to watch every game this week

Okay, listen, we get it. Most likely, you think bowl season starts on New Year's Eve. Maybe slightly earlier depending on when your team is playing. But regardless of whether or not you're aware of them, the bowls have already started, and there's plenty of college football action to get you through to the main event around New Year's.

Today, we'll be giving you five reasons to tune in to the seven bowls kicking off between the 19th and 23rd, in case you slept in on the 17th and missed the true start of the bowl season. Sure, it's an appetizer for the playoffs, but at the same time, sometimes appetizers are delicious little bacon-wrapped dates filled with goat cheese. Yum.

Miami Beach Bowl
Central Michigan (6-6, Mid-American Conference) v. Tulsa (9-3, American Athletic Conference)
Location: Marlins Park, Miami (Yes, really.)
Time: Monday, Dec. 19, 2:30 P.M. ET/11:30 A.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Central Michigan will be coming into this bowl with a bit of a chip on its shoulder, looking to establish legitimacy after that whole winning-against-Oklahoma-State-on-a-fluky-play thing (and also losing to in-state rival Eastern Michigan).
• Speaking of the Chippewas, Cooper Rush has largely been overlooked this season, despite having thrown for 23 touchdowns and nearly 3,300 yards. Look for him to have a huge game.
• On the Tulsa side of the ball, James Flanders is an incredibly dynamic playmaker who is ninth in total rushing yards this season. He'll be trying to lead Tulsa to their tenth win on the season.
• Across the two-year history of the Miami Beach Bowl, no game has been decided by more than 10 points, and no team has scored less than 35. Sure, those were completely different teams, but if history is any guide, this game will at least be slightly competitive.
• If nothing else, this game will be high-scoring. Tulsa has averaged over 41 points per game this season, so this game will likely either be a shootout or a blowout – both of which are fun in their own special ways.

Mascot edge: Hurricanes (Tulsa Golden Hurricanes) generally aren't kind to humans (Central Michigan Chippewas), but this one is so far inland who knows what their strength will be like by kickoff.

Boca Raton Bowl
Western Kentucky (10-3, Conference USA) vs. Memphis (8-4, American Athletic Conference)
Location: FAU Stadium, Boca Raton
Time: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 7 P.M. ET/ 4 P.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Let's start with this: Memphis has been averaging nearly 40 points per game, and Western Kentucky has averaged 45. Offense is fun to watch. Enough said.
• The Memphis Tigers were the team to finally knock Houston out of the national rankings back in November. They're legitimately scary, and should be fun to watch.
• Western Kentucky will be missing their former head coach Jeff Brohm, as he has just left to coach the Purdue Boilermakers. New head coach Mike Sanford will be looking to establish himself quickly by upsetting Memphis here.
• Keep an eye on the Hilltoppers' Taywan Taylor. He's second in the league in receiving yards, with 1,586 so far this season.
• Speaking of receivers, it'll be fun to watch Memphis' Anthony Miller as well. Getting him involved early will be key if Memphis wants to avoid an upset.

Mascot edge: Sorry Memphis Tigers, this isn't even a fair match. No one beats WKU's Big Red, mostly because no one is quite sure what the full superpowers of a giant, fuzzy red... whatever Big Red is are. 

Poinsettia Bowl
BYU (8-4, Independent) vs. Wyoming (8-5,  Mountain West Conference)
Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Time: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 9 P.M. ET/ 6 P.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• At a time during which the entire Midwest and Northeast will likely be covered in a thick, opaque layer of ice, it'll be nice to watch this game and pretend that you live somewhere habitable like San Diego.
• BYU will be playing angry, since their four losses of the season came by a combined 8 points. They won't be looking to drop another close one.
• Hey! Remember when the Cowboys beat Boise State on a safety, back when Boise State was ranked 13th? That was fun, right? Maybe something like that will happen at the Poinsettia Bowl?
• Speaking of Wyoming, a bowl win here would cap off what has truly been an amazing turn-around season for them, after losing 10 games last year.
• Watch Brian Hill. BYU is projected to win this game, but Wyoming's running back is no slouch – he's a top ten back in terms of yards per game and rushing touchdowns. He'll be key to any upset hopes.

Mascot edge: We've played enough Red Dead Redemption to know that Cougars (BYU) are the worst thing to happen to Cowboys (Wyoming). 

Potato Bowl
Colorado State (7-5, Mountain West Conference) vs. Idaho (8-4,  Sun Belt Conference)
Location: Albertsons Stadium, Boise
Time: Thursday, Dec. 22, 7 P.M. ET/ 4 P.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Okay, it's Idaho. Playing in the Potato Bowl. That's worth a watch, right? I can only assume that QB Matt Linehan will be imbued with potato-based superpowers before the game simply because of how appropriate it is.
• This is also one of Idaho's last bowl games ever, since they will be transitioning into the FCS in 2018. They'll be insanely motivated to get the W here, since it'll be one of their last chances.
• Colorado State finished their season with a 32 point victory over San Diego State, then the leader in the Mountain West division. The Rams aren't a team to sleep on.
• The Sun Belt has six teams in bowls this year, but none save for Troy are favored. Idaho isn't just representing themselves here – an upset would be a great look for their conference as well.
• The last meeting between Colorado State and Idaho came in 1976, with two Rams rushing for 100+ yards. That's bulletin-board material if I've ever heard it.

Mascot edge: Rams (Colorado State) against humans (Idaho Vandals) should be an easy win for the humans, but have ewe ever seen a happy ram?

Bahamas Bowl
Eastern Michigan (7-5, Mid-American Conference) vs. Old Dominion (9-3, Conference USA)
Location: Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau
Time: Friday, Dec. 23, 1 P.M. ET/10 A.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Eastern Michigan clinched their bowl berth in amazing fashion, after coming back from a 21-point deficit. They're very much a never-say-die squad.
• For Old Dominion, uh, this is a tall order. This is, however, the Monarchs' first bowl game ever, so expect them to be incredibly motivated.
• Watch David Washington. If Old Dominion is going to have a chance, he's going to need to have another great game -- worthy of a season that saw him throw 28 touchdown passes and only four picks.
• Eastern Michigan will be coming into the game motivated as well – it was only last season they were only able to win a single game. A bowl game would cap the Eagles turnaround very, very nicely.
• Every year, the Bahamas Bowl is a great chance for sportswriters like us to attempt to get press credentials in order to score a free flight and hotel in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Watching the game has to help our chances, right?

Mascot edge: If we were big fancy Monarchs (Old Dominion), we'd own all the Eagles (Eastern Michigan) we could as expert falconers.  

Armed Forces Bowl
Louisiana Tech (8-5, Conference USA) vs. Navy (9-4, American Athletic Conference)
Location: Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth
Time: Friday, Dec. 23, 4:30 P.M. ET/1:30 P.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Sure, pretty much the entire Navy team has gotten injured in the past few weeks. But hey! That means that this game against Louisiana Tech might actually be pretty competitive!
• It's always fun to watch short players at skill positions. You're probably bigger than the 5'8", 178 pound Trent Taylor. And yet, Taylor's become a legitimate receiving threat, racking up 10 touchdowns and 1,570 yards so far this year.
• So yeah, Tago Smith got hurt, but the current starting QB for the Midshipmen is no slouch either. Will Worth has already eclipsed the thousand-yard mark in both rushing and passing yards, and he'll look to add to that total against Louisiana Tech.
• Have I mentioned how much fun it is to watch Navy's triple-option offense? Or any triple-option offense for that matter? Because it is. It's a lot of fun. 
• Louisiana Tech, oddly enough, actually plays really, really well in the postseason. The Bulldogs upset Illinois two years ago, and last year handled Arkansas State. A win against Navy would make it three in a row.

Mascot edge: We hate to go against the Navy Midshipmen, but we've known quite a few bossy Bulldogs (Louisiana Tech) in our day.

Dollar General Bowl
Ohio (8-6, Mid-American Conference) vs. Troy (9-3, Sun Belt Conference)
Location: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile
Time: Friday, Dec. 23,  8:00 P.M. ET/5:00 P.M. PT
Channel: ESPN

• Okay, let's get this out of the way early. You'll get college football hipster cred just by watching this game for one minute. When it's New Year's Eve, and everyone else is watching the marquee games, sigh loudly and say that you preferred the quality of play of the Dollar General Bowl. You'll instantly become the coolest person at the party.
• Do you like defensive football? Watch this game, and follow Ohio. Their last win over Akron came without a single touchdown for either team, and the Bobcats held their opposition to three points.
• This season saw Troy become ranked for the first time in school history – it also became the first team ever from the Sun Belt conference to be ranked. A win against Ohio could propel them back into the rankings again.
• Tarell Basham is fun to watch, even if you're like me and love high-scoring games. The lineman has already notched himself 10 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss so far this season. Oh, and Basham was also the MAC's defensive player of the year. Keep an eye on him.
• Did we mention that Troy might be able to work its way into the rankings again with a win? For the second time in school history? For the second time in Sun Belt history? Go Troy!

Mascot edge: Sorry little Bobcats (Ohio), you're feisty, but no match for the Trojans (of Troy - but you knew that already from Latin class).