Bowl Season: How Important Is Each Game To Each Team?

There are hundreds of different ways to approach bowl season — let’s at least take a few different views of this unique part of FBS college football, something which separates it from every other American team sport. No best-of-seven series, no bracketed tournaments. You can call bowls one-game exhibitions. You can call them one-game championships. Whatever you might prefer to do, bowl games offer (now) 72 teams the chance to end their season with a win… and four teams (in the Rose and Sugar Bowls) a chance to reach the national championship game.

The two College Football Playoff semifinals are obviously the most significant bowl games. In the other 36 contests, just how much does a result mean for the 72 teams involved?

Take note: This is not about the importance of the moment so much as the importance of winning the game as opposed to losing it. This piece is really asking, “For which bowl teams does a win really, really matter?”

Here’s a rankings list, with brief remarks for noteworthy teams:

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WE’RE IN TRANSITION, OR WE JUST BEAT ARMY, OR A BOWL WIN DOESN’T DRAMATICALLY RESHAPE THE SEASON

72. Florida — Win or lose in Birmingham against East Carolina, a new regime is coming.

71. Oklahoma State — No Tyreek Hill in the Cactus Bowl, no expectations whatsoever.

70. Pittsburgh — You can see a theme here: Transitional coaching situations mean that the importance of a bowl result diminishes. Games are more important for teams with coaches who need to make statements.

69. Houston

68. Navy

Navy just defeated Army and now has a very short turnaround for the Poinsettia Bowl, with quarterback Keenan Reynolds at less than 100 percent (hamstring). Navy bagged a winning season and increased its winning streak over Army to 13 games. A bowl result won't radically reshape the way this season is remembered in Annapolis.

Navy just defeated Army and now has a very short turnaround for the Poinsettia Bowl, with quarterback Keenan Reynolds at less than 100 percent (hamstring). Navy bagged a winning season and increased its winning streak over Army to 13 games. A bowl result won’t radically reshape the way this season is remembered in Annapolis.

67. Penn State

66. Wisconsin

65. Iowa

64. South Carolina

63. West Virginia

62. Oklahoma

61. Texas A&M

60. Washington

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WE’RE FROM A SMALLER CONFERENCE, SO THIS BOWL MEANS A LOT TO US, EVEN THOUGH WE MADE A BOWL GAME LAST SEASON, AND EVEN THOUGH OUR GAME PROBABLY DOESN’T MEAN A LOT TO NATIONAL OBSERVERS, EITHER 

59. Bowling Green

58. Louisiana-Lafayette

57. Rice

56. San Diego State

55. Arkansas State

54. Utah State

53. Fresno State — The Bulldogs rate slightly higher on this list because they’re 6-7 and therefore have a little more to prove, both to themselves and the nation.

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WE’RE FROM A SMALLER CONFERENCE AND DID NOT MAKE A BOWL GAME LAST SEASON, SO THIS IS A REALLY BIG DEAL FOR US

52. Nevada

51. Central Michigan

50. Toledo

49. Western Kentucky

48. Air Force

47. UTEP

46. Louisiana Tech

Western Michigan's star running back, Jarvion Franklin, will get his big postseason moment on Boise's blue turf this Saturday in the Potato Bowl against Air Force. That's a sneaky-good matchup on Saturday's list of five games.

Western Michigan’s star running back, Jarvion Franklin, will get his big postseason moment on Boise’s blue turf this Saturday in the Potato Bowl against Air Force. That’s a sneaky-good matchup on Saturday’s list of five games.

45. Western Michigan — When you’re 1-11 in 2013, making a bowl in 2014 has to feel very special. 

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IT’S NOT WHERE EITHER OF US WANTED TO BE AT THE START OF THE SEASON, BUT IT’S NOTRE DAME VERSUS THE SEC, SO LET’S GET IT ON!

44. Notre Dame

43. LSU

WE’RE FROM A POWER CONFERENCE AND WOULD HAVE A BITTER TASTE IN OUR MOUTHS IF WE LOST OUR BOWL GAME

42. Boston College

41. Nebraska

40. Texas

39. Stanford

38. Arizona State

37. Rutgers

36. Auburn

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WE’RE SIMILAR TO TEAMS 36-42 ABOVE, BUT WE HAVE A LITTLE MORE TO PROVE, EITHER BECAUSE WE’RE ALWAYS FIGHTING FOR RESPECT; ARE A BIG UNDERDOG; HAVE A KEY INJURY IN OUR OFFENSIVE BACKFIELD; FACE A LITTLE EXTRA PRESSURE ON OUR COACHING STAFF; OR JUST HAVEN’T BEEN TO A BOWL IN A FEW YEARS

35. Cincinnati

34. UCF

33. North Carolina State

32. Clemson — The injury to Deshaun Watson gives the Tigers something to fight for in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

31. North Carolina

30. Maryland

29. East Carolina

28. Illinois

27. Arkansas

26. Louisville

25. Georgia

24. USC

23. Virginia Tech

22. Miami

21. Tennessee

20. Memphis

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THIS IS NOT A NEW YEAR’S SIX BOWL, BUT IT’S AN EXCELLENT MATCHUP, AND THAT MAKES IT A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT GAME — YOU WANT TO PLAY AND BEAT A QUALITY OPPONENT IN YOUR BOWL

19 and 18. Colorado State and Utah

17 and 16. Missouri and Minnesota — The Citrus Bowl? New Year’s Day? These programs? What a special treat for the Tigers and Golden Gophers.

15 and 14. Kansas State and UCLA

13 and 12. Marshall and Northern Illinois

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"Hey, Big 12! We're really good!" -- The message BYU wants to send in its bowl game, even though the Big 12 won't expand next year or the year after that. BYU is trying to plant seeds that will sprout several years down the line.

“Hey, Big 12! We’re really good!” — The message BYU wants to send in its bowl game, even though the Big 12 won’t expand next year or the year after that. BYU is trying to plant seeds that will sprout several years down the line.

SPECIAL CATEGORIES, NON-NEW YEAR’S SIX GAMES

11. BYU — The Cougars need to draw (positive) national attention to their football brand. Their game against Memphis in Miami is hugely important for that reason.

10. South Alabama — IT’S OUR FIRST BOWL GAME EVER!

9. Duke — WE HAVEN’T WON A BOWL SINCE JANUARY OF 1961!

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THE NON-PLAYOFF NEW YEAR’S SIX GAMES

8 and 7. Arizona and Boise State.

6 and 5. Ole Miss and TCU — The imbalanced nature of this matchup prevents it from occupying the 4-and-3 slot.

4 and 3. Georgia Tech and Mississippi State.

2 and 1. Michigan State and (numero uno) Baylor — The Big Ten-Big 12 debate gets a real, live argument-settler just hours before Ohio State plays in the playoff game Baylor and TCU both thought they should have gained instead. Yeah, this is the biggest non-playoff bowl of them all.

About Matt Zemek

Editor, @TrojansWire | CFB writer since 2001 |

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