College football bowl schedule – December 16, 2023

The first flurry of action in the 2023 college football bowl schedule is set to begin. College football fans can rejoice as the bowl season is finally set to get underway.

While there are a number of folks who don’t care about bowl games, they’re missing out on some of the best and most bizarre matchups that this sport is able to produce. And bowl games are some of the most fascinating things you can witness with college football.

There are a number of games that span between mid December and early January. And this is the end of the 2023 college football season. So, go ahead and buckle up and enjoy the weird and wild gridiron action that will be in front of you.

On December 16, 2023, the 2023 bowl season officially begins. We’ve got some intriguing matchups and plenty of potential fun. Some clashes of styles and the possibility of plenty of points.

Let’s go over the schedule for this Saturday slate of college bowl action.

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How to watch college football bowl games – December 16, 2023

Here’s what the college football schedule looks like for Saturday, December 16:

Georgia Southern (6-6) vs Ohio (9-3)
10:00 AM CST on ESPN
Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC – Myrtle Beach Bowl
Howard (6-5) vs Florida A&M (11-1)
11:00 AM CST on ABC
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA – Cricket Celebration Bowl
Jacksonville State (8-4) vs Louisiana (6-6)
1:15 PM CST on ESPN R+L Carriers
Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Bowl
Miami (OH) (11-2) vs Appalachian State (8-5)
2:30 PM CST on ABC
FBC Mortgage Stadium, Orlando, FL – Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl
New Mexico State (10-4) vs Fresno State (8-4)
4:45 PM CST on ESPN
University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM – Isleta New Mexico Bowl
UCLA (7-5) vs Boise State (8-5)
6:30 PM CST on ABC
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA – Starco Brands LA Bowl
California (6-6) vs Texas Tech (6-6)
8:15 PM CST on ESPN
Independence Stadium, Shreveport, LA – Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl

An early matchup between Georgia Southern Eagles and Ohio Bobcats provides a clash of styles

The first bowl game of the 2023 bowl season kicks off at 10 a.m. Bright and early. The Georgia Southern Eagles and Ohio Bobcats will meet up in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in South Carolina.

The Eagles boast a fun Air Raid offense that simply hasn’t been good enough in recent weeks. While I enjoy the way Clay Helton puts a team on the field, Georgia Southern has lost its last four games and just looks dreadful. Meanwhile, Ohio has a stout defense and is 9-3 on the year.

This is a contest that Helton really needs to win given that his style of football has not worked in recent weeks and generally isn’t beloved by most Georgia Southern football fans.

Expect very different brands of football to be featured in this contest.

Howard and Florida A&M are set to meet in the Celebration Bowl

Yes, we’re putting the Celebration Bowl in this bowl schedule. It’s a pretty fascinating showcase of HBCU college football and it deserves some attention.

This year, over in the Celebration Bowl, Howard and a really formidable Florida A&M team are set to meet up. This historic and fun meeting of HBCU foes kicks off early and it’ll be interesting to see how these two teams match up with each other.

Howard is just 6-5 on the season, but the Bison have shown some potential in recent weeks. Will that be enough when considering how FAMU has had a much better season in 2023? The Rattlers are 11-1 and have been one of the best FCS teams around this season.

CUSA and Sun Belt Clash as Jacksonville State and Louisiana square off in New Orleans

Rich Rodriguez has done an incredible job of making the Jacksonville State Gamecocks a lot of fun to watch this season. They weren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but Jacksonville State was a fantastic and thrilling team that gave most of its fellow Conference USA teams plenty of headaches this season.

And it’ll be interesting to see how the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns try to slow Rich Rod’s offense down.

It’s probably safe to assume that plenty of points will be put up in this bowl game as Louisiana allows over 28 points per game (and scores over 32 points per game) while Jacksonville State averages nearly 30 points per game on offense and holds foes to 20.3 points per game.

Sun Belt vs MAC Showdown – Miami (Ohio) and Appalachian State set to impress in Orlando

Over in Orlando, Miami (Ohio) and Appalachian State are set to meet up in the Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl.

Miami has been really impressive all season and by far one of the most fascinating MAC teams to watch. And while App State hasn’t been consistently great, they’ve been intriguing to watch (and difficult to stop) in recent weeks.

This could conceivably be one of the best bowl games of this season. App State has won five of its last six games. Miami, at 11-2, has also won five of its last six games.

Go enjoy some G5 bowl fun and watch this one.

Let’s go out West and enjoy New Mexico State vs. Fresno State

I love New Mexico. It’s a beautiful state. I happen to love Las Cruces, it’s an underrated town.

And I really love what Jerry Kill has accomplished in reviving the New Mexico State football program. He’s done a heck of a job and really should be considered for numerous accolades for the way he guided the Aggies to a 10-4 record so far this season.

Kill is now looking to lead New Mexico State to its 11th win of the year. Which, if you know nothing else about this program, you should know that it’s really difficult to get that many wins there.

Fresno State, unfortunately, will not have Jeff Tedford leading the Bulldogs in this contest. As such, we’re not getting as good a bowl game as we could. Hopefully Tedford is able to take care of his health and hopefully we get to see a lot of fun in the New Mexico bowl.

UCLA and Boise State are set to compete in a West Coast bowl contest

This UCLA football season hasn’t been what Chip Kelly and the Bruins wanted, but it’s led to an interesting bowl matchup with a really weird Boise State Broncos team. And while I’m not particularly invested in either team here, I’m interested in seeing how this one plays out.

Kelly needs a win to go into next year with some momentum (though it feels like he might be a year behind on what happened with Dana Holgorsen this year). UCLA is entering into a new conference and it could really use something positive to talk about right now after what has largely been an underwhelming season.

Boise State, meanwhile, is also in a weird place and is in the midst of breaking in a new era of football. A new head coach is officially in place with the Broncos and he’s a pretty familiar face for Boise State football fans.

If the Broncos can pull off a win here, Spencer Danielson will be 4-0 and Chip Kelly will be under some pretty intense pressure to start UCLA’s time in the Big Ten.

California and Texas Tech will wrap up the day in Shreveport

This beautiful day of college football bowl fun will finish in the Independence Bowl.

While there are plenty of jokes that people like to crack about this contest, I genuinely and truly love the city of Shreveport. I don’t know if my wife will ever let me move there, but I’ve had great pizza in the city and I really enjoyed the pace everything moved at in town.

Plus, the bar scene is better than I expected. I could see myself moving to Shreveport. I truly could.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me ramble about what small Southern cities I could see myself living in. You came here to read about how the California Golden Bears are making the trip all the way from the West Coast to play in the Independence Bowl.

This is going to be a pretty good preview for a team that is now inexplicably part of the ACC going forward. Get used to traveling across the country, I suppose.

Texas Tech and offensive coordinator Zach Kittley didn’t have the sort of season that Red Raiders fans wanted to see, but this offense is still pretty potent.

Meanwhile, Cal was forced to replace Jake Spavital (someone that many Texas Tech fans will be familiar with as he’s coached around in the Air Raid family tree at establishments outside of Lubbock) as the Bears OC left for *checks notes* the Baylor Bears.

So, truly, who knows what we’ll see in this one? I’m here for a little bit of bizarre football though.

The Underdog Tribune