The bowl schedule has been laid out with the complete list of games beginning this month and through to the 2017 year. While we have circled some matchups we are looking forward to seeing, we can’t help but think about what could have been with some intriguing potential contests we would have preferred to watch instead. Here is a look at the dream bowl games the fans would really like to see this holiday season.
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Michigan Wolverines
If the criteria for reaching the playoff were solely being one of the four best teams in the country than both of these teams would be playing in this year’s semi-final. The defending national champion Crimson Tide are still undefeated and clearly the top team in the country but the Wolverines stumbled down the stretch and ended up on the outside looking in after finishing behind Penn State and Ohio State in the Big Ten. The combination of Michigan’s talent and Jim Harbaugh’s antics would have made the Wolverines the perfect opponent for Saban and Alabama. The Crimson Tide will be tough to stop in these playoffs but at least we would have seen an intriguing matchup that it seemed a lot of unbiased college football fans were pulling for throughout the year.
Louisville Cardinals vs. Washington State Cougars
Lamar Jackson put on one show after another throughout his Heisman trophy season as the Cardinals averaged 43.5 points per game. Meanwhile, the Cougars also scored in bunches as they averaged 40.3 points per game. Jackson and Washington State’s Luke Falk would have one more chance to put on a show matched up against one another on the biggest stage in a bowl game and that would be must-see television. Bobby Petrino vs. Mike Leach would be an intriguing coaching showdown as both are among the most creative offensive minds in the game.
Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State shocked the world with an upset win over the Buckeyes back in October 22nd and went on to win a Big Ten championship, but they were left out of the playoff for a reason. There are many that think they weren’t even the second-best team in their conference. It would make sense to pit them against Ohio State one more time in order to settle the debate and figure out if they are in fact the better team. The Buckeyes had the tougher schedule but losing to Penn State didn’t doom their chances of reaching the playoff (they’ll play Clemson on New Year’s Eve). A matchup with Penn State would definitively tell us whether the committee make the right choice for the College Football Playoff.
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Miami Hurricanes
Georgia was extremely disappointing in Kirby Smart’s first season at the helm while Miami didn’t live up to expectations either. That makes the Mark Richt bowl the perfect matchup for these two programs with a chance one of those coaches to end the season on a high note. Georgia fired Richt for a lot less than what Smart struggled with this season, so he would have the opportunity to pay them back with a chance to really let the Bulldogs have it while finishing the year on a high note in Miami.
On paper, this would be a pretty even matchup with a lot of intriguing talent on both sides. Georgia did limp their way through the season, losing to ranked teams three times. They fell short to Ole Miss in a blow out, played Tennessee rather close but still lost, and then were manhandled by Florida. However, they did beat No. 9 Auburn.
As for Miami, they had a relatively disappointing season as well as some people thought they might be ACC contenders at the beginning of the year. It turned out that they were far from it. A four-game losing streak, which included losses to North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Notre Dame, is what sunk their season. However, they finished the year with four straight wins. A matchup with Georgia would be a sexy matchup that many people would love to see.
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