It's the most wonderful time of the year.... BOWL TIME!!!  With so many bowl games, and more than half of the teams that play in the FBS making a bowl, this column will focus on all the bowl games played prior to the new year.  I'll cover the new year's and BCS bowls later. 

As a reward for all their hard work this season, any team that has a record of at least .500 or better, or in UCLA's case, a losing record, gets the reward of playing in a bowl game sponsored by a company most people have never heard of in a location most of their fans won't travel too. 

And for your viewing pleasure, the fans get such great matchups like Temple v. Wyoming, and Florida International v. Marshall.  Compelling television indeed.

What kind of swag do you think the players in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl get?  A bag of potatoes, and disposable razor, a gift card to Wal Mart and a Nintendo Game Boy with Legend of Zelda is my guess.  

First, some Bowl nominations:

Worst Location: It was between Boise, El Paso, and Detroit.  The only thing that would make the Detroit game worse was if it was played outside.  Congrats Detroit.

Worst Sponsor Name:  Since Gaylord Hotels is no longer a sponsor, congratulations to Taxslayer.com.  Their sister company, taxcheats.com, was rejected as a sponsor.  Their offshore company, taxshelters.com, was also rejected.

Worst Team:  a 6-7 UCLA teams is pretty bad.  but when you put them against an Illinois team that is on a 6 game losing streak, you get not only two bad teams that have both fired their coaches, but also....

Worst Bowl Matchup: the worst game of the bowl season.  Bruins v. Fightin' Illini. 

Since I'm only covering bowl games played this year... let's go in chronological order....

Gildan New Mexico Bowl - Temple v. Wyoming - The Owls head west to take on the Cowboys in the first bowl game of the season.  Temple is going to their second bowl game in 3 years, which is nothing short of a miracle considering prior to 2009, they had not been to a bowl since 1979.  The Cowboys are led by dual threat QB Brett Smith.  Temple has a solid D, so this will be a close game.  24 - 17 Owls.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - Ohio v. Utah State - Frank Solich leads his Bobcats against the Aggies of Utah State.  I haven't even seen highlights of these two teams this year so I have no clue how this one will play out.  Let's say.... Aggis 41 - Bobcats 31.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - SDSU v. Ragin' Cajuns - Talk about home field advantage.  The Aztecs get to party in Narlins' (Is that how they say it down there?  I have no idea and I can't understand cajun.  Everything I know about Louisiana I've learned from True Blood.  That is one creepy state.  I hope the Vampries don't like the cold and stay in the south.  I wouldn't mind seeing a Minotaur though.) On the other hand, I've been to San Diego, or Northern Tijuana.  The best thing about the drive to San Diego is the sign  on the 5 of the family running across the freeway.  I am not joking.  Cajuns 30 - Aztecs 24. 

Beef O'Brady's Bowl - Marshall v. Florida International - Does anyone care about this bowl?  No?  Didn't think so.  Panthers 32 - Thundering Herd 24

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl - TCU v. La Tech - Last year's Rose Bowl champs have fallen to one of 2 bowl games in San Diego. Wouldn't this make much more sense for La Tech to play in the New Orleans Bowl and SDSU to play in the Poinsettia Bowl?  Does it make sense to have a bowl game in Boise?  When will we have our first bowl game overseas?  The NFL already plays in England, can a Bowl game really be that far behind?  I'm predicting the Apple Cuba Bowl in Havana will exist by 2025.  It will pit the 4th place Big East team, let's say... University of Alaska - Juneau against the 16th place SEC team... let's say.... Florida Gulf Coast University.  It will be epic.  As for this game.. not so much.  La Tech 35 - TCU 27

Maaco Las Vegas Bowl - Arizona State v. Boise - Finally a decent matchup!  Boise lost a game this year, so instead of a $13 million BCS payday, they get shipped to Vegas against ASU, who just hired Pitt's HC.  And by the way, Pitt's HC let his former players know he was leaving by TEXTING them while on the plane to Arizona to his new job.  You stay classy Todd Graham. Then again, it's Pitt, so I'd probably want to get the hell out of there as fast as I could too.  On an unrelated note, Mark May is a douchebag.  It can't be long until coaches start calling plays via twitter.  Petersen turned down the UCLA, and supposedly the PSU job as well.  That is a man that REALLY loves Boise, Idaho.  He's going to love flying to the east coast in November to play at Syracuse.  Boise 34 - Sun Devils 31

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - Nevada v. So Miss - Mahalo! Now THIS is a bowl game I'd want to be part of! Although there's probably quite a few places I'd rather be than Southern Mississippi or Reno.  In fact, I'd rather be anywhere than the state of Mississippi.  As would Larry Fedora, who bolted for Tobacco Road after winning Conference USA. Which team can stave off island fever long enough to win on the Big Island?  I'm going with the Golden Eagles 40 - Wolf Pack 35

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl - Mizzou v. North Carolina - Do companies just try to buy bowl naming rights just to screw with us?  I think big corporations form shell companies with horrific names and buy bowl naming rights just to write it off.  I have no clue what AdvoCare V100 is, does, or sells.  I'm guessing it's either motor oil, or some kind of patch to help people stop doing crystal meth.  Mizzou is on it's way to the SEC while the Tar Heels are welcoming their new coach... and anxiously awaiting march madness.  Tigers 37 - Tar Heels 29. 

Little Caesars Bowl - W Mich v. Purdue - Congrats to these two teams for putting in all their hard work and getting a bowl game in .... Detroit.  In December. They should play this game in the parking lot of Ford Field, on the asphalt.  That would be the only way they could actually get me interested in this game and even then I still may not watch.  Boilers 17 - W Mich 14.

Belk Bowl - NC State v. Louisville - A home game for N.C. State, and I think Louisville somehow was a co-champ of some sort in the Big East.  In fact, I think the entire league, save for Pitt, shared part of the Big East championship.  To determine who got the BCS bid, they determined who was most desperate to leave the conference and gave it to West Virginia.  NC State has Russell Wilson, er, wait. The Wolfpack has Senior Mike Glennon leading a good passing attack.  Louisville has a terrible offense but a very solid D.  This game is strength v. strength, or weakness v. weakness of Louisville's O and NC State's D.  Wolfpack 24 - Cardinal 21

Military Bowl - Presented by Northrop Grumman - Toledo v. Air Force - I feel like this bowl should be played in Baghdad, and by 2025 when Iraq is a thriving democracy and a regional power keeping Iran in check, and with their brand new Haliburton Stadium built for the World Cup, it will be.  In the meantime, this game is played in the capital of political dysfunction and back door deals, D.C.  As for Toledo, they have a potent offense and terrible D.  The Falcons run a one dimensional ground based offense.  This one will be a shootout.  45-35 Rockets.

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl - Cal v. Texas - The Holiday is typically one of the best non-BCS bowl games every year.  This year should be no different.  Texas is still suffering from post-McCoy trauma, even though they still have Case McCoy on campus.  They also have Jaxon Shipley, Jordan's brother.  Can the two little brother's of two NFL players be that bad?  Cal is stuck in neutral with Tedford at the helm while rival Stanford has taken off.  Longhorns 28 - Golden Bears 24.

Champs Sports Bowl - Florida State v. Notre Dame - Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!  In a battle of Rudy v. the 2nd most powerful SEC in this country, who wins?  I'm going with the Securities & Exchange Commission.  Would you eve drink a sports drink called "Rudy! Dream Big!"?  Apparently the bottle is smaller than ever other sports drink and you buy it as a last resort when no other drinks are available.  Retailers refused to carry the drink for years but that damn little Elf persistent.  Maybe a little too much so, since the SEC nailed him for a pump & dump scheme.  FSU's return to national prominence will have to wait  until next year.  Seminoles 35 - Irish 32

Valero Alamo Bowl - Washington v. Baylor - Heisman winner RGIII!!!  The kid is sick.  If you haven't watched him this year, tune in, it may be his last college game.  He's a ridiculous athlete that can actually play QB too.  UW faded down the stretch despite a decent offense.  The Huskies D is a mess.  RGIII is going to have a field day.  56-31 Bears. 

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl - There are zero military academies in the Armed Forces Bowl.  And although I'm very interested in buying a Bell Helicopter for Chistmas, I'm not sure I can fit it into my budget.  BYU v. Tulsa - 5 star QB prospect Jake Heaps is transferring after losing his starting job for BYU this year. The newly minted independent school has an ok offense and a solid D.  Tulsa has a wide open spread offense and, like many schools that run the spread, a horrible D.  The Golden Hurricane will end up Cougar meat.  27-24 BYU. 

New Era Pinstripe Bowl - Rutgers v. Iowa State - You know how you know when a baseball team is dominant?  They have their own Bowl game.  The Yankees host the Cyclones & Scarlet Knights in the Bronx.  Rutgers is one dimensional on offense, but shockingly it's all in the passing game.  Their rushing game is one of the worst in the nation.  The D is solid, but they also played against Big East teams, soooo... Iowa State knocked the Okie State Cowboys out of the national title game.  And thank god they did so we can get an all SEC rematch! How much would that have sucked having to watch a non-SEC team in the BCS championship.  Thank you Iowa State.  As a reward, I predict you win in the Bronx.  33-27 Cyclones.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl - Miss St v. Wake Forest - Two 6-6 teams kickoff in Nashville for a bowl sponsored by a mortgage company.  Interesting that a mortgage company is spending cash to sponsor a bowl while the housing market is still in the crapper.  The Bulldogs passing game is terrible, their running game slightly better, but their D is a top 20 defense in the nation.  They also played a tough schedule in the SEC West.  The Demon Deacons are the opposite, with a solid passing game and a bad running game and D.  I can see this one being a blowout.  Bulldogs 47 - Deacons 17. 

Insight Bowl - Iowa v. Oklahoma - Iowa has lost to every ranked team they've played this year, plus Iowa State & Minnesota.  The Hawkeyes do have a good RB in Coker.  He is a poor man's Monte Ball.  He won't run away from you, but he'll try to run over you.  The Sooners got bit hard by the injury bug this year.  They lost their starting RB, LB, and one of the best WR's in the game in Ryan Broyles.  Yet this still managed 9 wins.  The Sooners got dismantled by Okie State in their last game.  They may take out some frustrations on the Hawkeyes.  41-17 Sooners.

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas - Texas A&M v. Northwestern - In case you didn't know where the Meineke Car Care Bowl is played, they even put it in title of the bowl game.  Is there another Meineke Car Care Bowl being played somewhere else and they don't want us to get confused?  I was looking forward to the MCCB of North Dakota.  Another matchup of two 6-6 teams.  Northwestern lives & dies by Dan Persa.  If he's on, their offense is tough to stop.  The Wildcats D is terrible.  Likewise, A&M has Ryan Tannehill who is just as difficult to stop, and like the Wildcats, the Aggies D is terrible. This is the Wildcats 4th bowl game in a row, and despite being competitive in all of them, including two OT games, they have yet to come out with a win.  This one is going to be a shootout. 49-45 Northwestern.

Hyundai Sun Bowl - Ga Tech v. Utah - I hear El Paso is beautiful this time of year.  The Yellow Jackets take their old school option offense out west for a matchup against the spread offense of the Utes.  Utah's first season in the Pac-12 didn't go as well as planned.  They lost to bottom feeder Colorado in the last game of the regular season and had to go to OT to beat Wazzu.  Ga Tech had a tough second half of the season, going 2-4, including getting destroyed by arch-rival Georgia.  So which team actually cares about this game?  Whichever team that is wins easily.  31-10 Yellow Jackets.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl - Cincy v. Vanderbilt - Cincy, another co-champ of the Big east, takes on a Vandy team that has played tough all season despite having less talent on the roster than just about every other SEC team.  Cincy has a tough D and a middling O.  Vandy has a horrific passing game, ok running game and a good D.  This one is going to be a defensive battle.  27-20 Vandy.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - UCLA v. Illinois - How does Kraft expect to Fight Hunger when they have the worst bowl matchup of the year?  They'd have a better chance of fighting hunger by canceling this game and using that money to send a bunch of yellow cheese slices wrapped in plastic to African countries in need. On the plus side, maybe the players will get a family size Mac N' Cheese in the swag for this game.  That will feed a college student for weeks.  Will UCLA fans bother taking the 60 minute flight north to San Fran?  Will Illini fans even bother watching this on TV?  Illini 28 - Bruines 24. 

Chick-Fil-A Bowl - Virginia v. Auburn - Chick-Fil-A sponsors bowl games... and the anti-gay movement.  So make sure you Eat More Chickin'... and hate on gays! Life after Newton has not been kind to Auburn.  The Tigers passing game is ranked 106th in the nation and their D is 80th in points against.  The Tigers have also suspended top RB Michael Dwyer for a violation of team rules.  Rumor is he may transfer, so who knows what he did.  What does a player in the SEC have to do to get kicked off the team?  I mean seriously, they don't have to go to class, they get extra benefits, hell they even get in fights outside of bars and stomp people (Ahem, Jordan Jefferson at LSU) and stay on the team. Cam Newton was kicked out of Florida for stealing laptops, so I guess that's the bar. Virginia has an average offense and a solid D.  Mike London is a good coach who has been recruiting very well for the Cavs. Will the defending champs fall all the way to 7-6?  Will they be able to find a QB to buy for next season?  Cavaliers 23-17. 

Happy Holidays everyone!!