Ah, it's back. The smell in the air of freshly cut grass, the twinkle in the eye of men and women surrounding a television, the taste of eggnog mixed with the whiskey from the lips of fans in fun-colored jerseys. Yes, the time we've waited all year for is finally here again.
Of course, Christmas is nice, but I'm talking about College Football Bowl season. Yes, that time of the year when fans sit around a TV to watch 42 games all across America as their team hopes to bring home some hardware to their case. 82 teams (plus a National Championship) will battle all the way from the Bahamas to Yankee Stadium to prove they are deserving of being in the postseason.
Now look, 42 games take a lot of time to watch and some of them aren't going to be fun to watch unless you actually went to school there. Now I'm saying that seeing a 5-7 Minnesota team take on the Chippewas is exciting to some, but most of the country will not be watching it.
With that in mind, I decided to look through all of the games in College Bowl season and give you a full breakdown of the can't-miss games of the 2015 season. If your school didn't make the list, I apologize and better luck next season.
Top Early Bowl Game: BYU vs. Utah
Yes. The Holy War is on the list without a doubt. How could the BYU Cougars and the Utah Utes not make this list. For those who don't understand the "Holy War" slogan, BYU is in Utah and is named after Brigham Young, one of the main followers of the Mormon religion. While Utah slowly fell off of the wagon, the Utes still are a top program in the PAC12 under Kyle Whittingham. Both of these teams have high tempo offenses led by BYU's Tanner Magnum and the Utes' Travis Wilson. The Cougars will miss head coach Bronco Mendenhal (he booked a gig in Virginia) and the Utes lost star running back Devontae Booker—regardless, the Holy War is still a great game to watch.
Top Defensive Game: Boca Raton Bowl
Toledo was one of the more underrated teams this past season, which makes it no surprise that Matt Campbell left the program and moved to a Power Five conference when he signed a new contract with Iowa State. Still, I'm more so talking about Matt Rhule's greatest player making at least 20 tackles. Tyler Matakevich has been one of the most underrated players in four years of college football. He has had over a hundred tackles in each season for the Owls and will finish his career for the Owls in the Boca Raton Bowl. Expect the Owls to have a huge defensive game against the Rockets, and that will be all thanks to Matakevich paving the way.
Top Offensive Game: Valero Alamo Bowl
When you have a West Coast offense meet up with one of College Football's top scoring offenses, expect fireworks to fly deep in the heart of Texas. Both offenses average over 500 yards of total offense and the Horned Frogs average 41 points a game. While the Ducks average 43.6 points a game, they also give up 36.8 points on average a game. Both offenses are high-speed tempo that like to come on the field and score as quickly as possible. Expect both these teams to put up at least 30 points and possibly finish the day with over a thousand total yards of offense at the end of the day.
Game with the Most NFL Prospects: Battle Frog Fiesta Bowl
The last times these two met up in Arizona, the Irish featured players such as Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Anthony Fasano while the Buckeyes featured players such as Ted Ginn, Jr., AJ Hawk and former Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith. This year, it's the same type of battle for goths these schools. Combined, the Irish and Buckeyes feature 21 players who could go as early as the first three rounds. The 10-2 Irish power offense feature players such as running back CJ Prosise, wide receiver Will Fuller and potential number one overall pick Ronnie Stanley. They will be forced to against outside linebacker Darron Lee, safety Von Bell and potential number one overall pick Joey Bosa. This game also features players such as linebacker Jaylon Smith, Sheldon Day and offensive tackle Taylor Decker. All of these players have early first round grades and fans will be blessed to meet in Glendale to see some future NFL stars play one last time.
Most Underrated Game: Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
While Houston isn't a Power Five team, they are without a doubt one of the top programs in College Football in 2015. All Tom Herman has done is turn a program that has yet to find success since Kevin Sumlin left into a high tempo offense that averages 486 yards of offense and roughly 41 points a game. The Florida State Seminoles are favored to win by 73 percent over the Cougars come New Year's Eve. That is very high for a team who once struggled in several games to pull out a win. It is a very good shot that the Seminoles will win this game in Atlanta, but there is no reason they should favored that high. Greg Ward, Jr., has proven to be a poor man's JT Barrett and that is what will be the key to success for the Cougars when they try to prove the country wrong come Jan. 31.
