Pop-Tarts Bowl: Miami Hurricanes (10-2) vs Iowa State Cyclones (10-3)
Key Facts: IT’S THE BATTLE OF WEATHER SYSTEMS!! The Hurricanes vs Cyclones! Starting with the Hurricanes, their recent bowl history is startling. They have lost 11 of their last 12 bowl games, including their last 5 appearances! That is shockingly bad. Is Mario Cristobal’s bowl record any better? Not really! His last bowl win is in the 2019 Rose Bowl. Iowa State isn’t much better in bowl games, they have only won one of their last 5 bowl appearances. That one win? Matt Campbell’s Cyclones best Mario Cristobal’s Ducks 34-17 in the 2021 Fiesta Bowl. Opt outs will be something to watch, expect Cam Ward and other key Hurricanes to opt out. Ward being out will force the Hurricanes to lean on their run game and they could find success doing that because by far the Cyclones biggest weakness this year is stopping the run.
Previous Meetings: This is a FIRST TIME MATCHUP! This battle of weather systems has been a long time waiting. The Hurricanes have played Iowa 4 times, while Iowa State has played Florida State twice and played UCF for the first time this year but they haven’t played anyone else from Florida. In terms of other weather system matchups, Iowa State has played Tulane 4 times, and Miami FL has played them 12 times. Miami FL and Iowa State have both played Tulsa 4 times so yes all 4 Weather System named FBS programs have played each other!
Motivation Edge: Iowa State will relish at the shot at taking down a big name program. Both teams are disappointed to miss the playoff but especially Miami FL is after how much they invested to get there and how close they came. In general it’s hard to tell how much either team gets up for bowl games.
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop: Miami Redhawks (8-5) vs Colorado State Rams (8-4)
Key Facts: It’s been a long wait for Colorado State, this is the Rams first bowl appearance since the 2017 New Mexico Bowl. Jay Norvell has some more recent bowl experience. He’s 2-1 in bowl games including winning in this location in the 2018 Arizona Bowl. Miami hasn’t been very successful in recent bowl appearances. The Redhawks are 1-4 in their 5 appearances under Chuck Martin. Their only win coming in the 2021 Frisco Football Classic, also known as the famous bowl game that was thrown together at the last moment so that all bowl eligible teams could bowl.
Previous Meetings: These programs have faced off twice before with Miami winning both meetings. This included a 2003 matchup in Fort Collins where Ben Roethlisberger and the Redhawks rolled to a 41-21 win over a Colorado State team that was ranked in the top 25 in preseason.
Motivation Edge: It’s hard to be more excited than Colorado State who is breaking a long bowl less streak. That’ll provide a lot of excitement for the Rams. This game is a new destination for Miami as well so expect them to be ready for this one as well.
Go Bowling Military Bowl: East Carolina Pirates (7-5) vs NC State Wolfpack (6-6)
Key Facts: East Carolina doesn’t have a lot of recent bowl history, it’s generally been a challenging decade for the Pirates. They won their last appearance 53-29 in the 2022 Birmingham Bowl. NC State hasn’t been good in bowls lately. The Wolfpack have lost their last 4 bowl appearances, their last win coming in a 52-31 win over Arizona State in the 2017 Sun Bowl. Both teams got hot late in the year after a rough start to the season. NC State won 3 of their last 5, while ECU won 4 of their last 5 games.
Previous Meetings: These are two programs that are very familiar with each other. They’re in-state foes that play pretty frequently, meeting 32 times with NC State leading the series 19-13. The Wolfpack have won the last 3 matchups but East Carolina won the 3 before that. Their most recent meeting was in 2022 when an upset minded ECU team took a ranked NC State squad to the brink but missed what would have been the game winning FG at the final whistle.
Motivation Edge: East Carolina was coached for a large part of the season by interim HC Blake Harrell. The hot finish earned him the full time gig. What better way to make a statement than take down an in-state ACC foe? Better believe the Pirates will be juiced for this one. NC State might not be as excited for this one there was talk of the Wolfpack reaching the playoffs entering the season and this isn’t what they imagined.
Valero Alamo Bowl: Colorado Buffaloes (10-2) vs BYU Cougars (10-2)
Key Facts: BYU generally brings it for bowl games, the Cougars have won 4 of their last 6 bowl appearances. It’s been a very long rough road for Colorado when it comes to bowl games. The Buffaloes have gone 20 years without winning one, their last win coming in the 2004 Houston Bowl when they beat a very good UTEP team 33-28. Colorado’s two most recent bowl appearances have both come in the Alamo Bowl but the Buffaloes were blown out on both occasions.
Previous Meetings: These programs may be in neighboring states and currently in the same conference but they haven’t played often. There’s only 12 meetings between the programs, Colorado leads the series 8-3-1. Their most recent meeting was in the 1988 Freedom Bowl. Colorado took a 17-14 lead in the 4th quarter of that game but the Cougars made 2 FGs to win it 20-17. Prior to that and a 1981 meeting they haven’t met since 1947.
Motivation Edge: BYU’s team has been quietly offended that they were never involved in the At-Large discussion for the Playoff. The Cougars had multiple quality wins and beat SMU in Dallas but somehow were excluded from all discussions. Colorado is taking this game seriously, it looks like every key player will play and they don’t see this as an exhibition. Travis Hunter mentioned multiple times in his Heisman speech that the job wasn’t finished and they have one more game, as a bowl game enjoyed I was happy to hear him say that.
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Army Black Knights (11-2) vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-7)
Key Facts: Obviously this bowl had the craziest lead up to it with Marshall originally being slated to play here but most of the roster transferred or opted out along with the coaches being gone so Marshall didn’t really have anyone to play. Louisiana Tech being nearby managed to be ready as a replacement. The Bulldogs really found a lot of momentum this season on defense, that is where their strength is. The Bulldogs have a very good recent bowl history, they lost their last time out in the 2020 New Orleans Bowl, but that loss broke a 6 game bowl win streak. Army has been excellent in bowls as well, the Black Knights have won 4 of 5 bowl appearances under Jeff Monken. As we know their triple option offense is very difficult to prepare for.
Previous Meetings: These programs have only met twice. They did a home and home series in 2008 and 2013. Army won both meetings a 14-7 win in 08 and 35-16 in 2013.
Motivation Edge: Army clearly shows up to bowl games ready to prove a point and this go around they want to get the bad taste out of their mouths following the loss to their rival. Louisiana Tech spent several weeks thinking their season was done and suddenly after this call up they have a new season ahead of them another opportunity to play together.
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