Arkansas State part of first slate of bowl games

Camellia, New Orleans, Las Vegas among weekend matchups

By the Times Sports Staff

sports@theeveningtimes. com It’s bowling season!

No, not that kind of bowling… college football bowl time is here. It all gets started this Friday, when the Bahamas Bowl kicks off the postseason.

Buffalo takes on Charlotte in a battle of 7-5 teams that will have a few days to enjoy in the tropics before squaring off. Buffalo is favored to win in a close contest.

Then on Saturday, Arkansas State is set to make its ninth consecutive bowl game appearance, facing Conference USA member Florida International in the 2019 Camellia Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 4:30 p.m..

The Red Wolves are making their 17th alltime bowl appearance and their second at the Camellia Bowl, where they played Middle Tennessee in 2017. With its matchup against the Panthers, A-State will remain the only Sun Belt team to ever face a Conference USA opponent in the bowl game.

Since its inaugural year in 2014, the Camellia Bowl has featured a Sun Belt versus Mid-American matchup in four of the six contests. Arkansas State also becomes the second program to ever appear in the Camellia Bowl twice, joining Appalachian State (2015 and 2016).

FIU completed the regular season with a 6-6 overall record and 3-5 mark in conference play.

The Panthers are making a school-record third consecutive bowl-game appearance.

Arkansas State holds a 6-2 all-time record against Florida International in a series that dates back to the 2005 season. A-State won the first three meetings, as well as the last two played in 2011 and 2012. Both FIU wins in the series have been by a touchdown or less, while five of A-State’s six victories have been by at least 14 points.

The Red Wolves will play their first game against a Conference USA opponents since playing Middle Tennessee in the 2017 Camellia Bowl. A-State, which shared the Sun Belt Conference with five current C-USA members at some point between 2001-13, has played eight of the 14 teams comprising the league today.

An A-State victory (the Red Wolves are 4-point favorites) would give it four bowl wins over the last nine seasons (201119), mark its eighth alltime bowl victory and its second under Anderson.

The contest will appear on ESPN Other Saturday Bowl Games include:

• Frisco Bowl: Utah State (-9 favorite) vs.

Kent State Kent State is back in a bowl for the first time since 2012, the longest drought of any of this year’s bowl teams.

• New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State (-4 favorite) vs. Central Michigan

• Cure Bowl: Georgia Southern (-5 favorite) vs. Liberty. Georgia Southern passed the ball 136 times this season, and was never intercepted.

• Boca Raton Bowl: Southern Methodist (-3 favorite) vs. Florida Atlantic. Florida Atlantic intercepted the ball 1.6 times a game, best in the country.

• Las Vegas Bowl: Washington (-3 favorite) vs. No. 19 Boise State • New Orleans Bowl: No. 20 Appalachian State (-17) vs. University of Alabama at Birmingham. Appalachian State is 4-0 in bowl games in the top division.

It only ramps up as we get closer to Christmas, with even more bowl games next week, including: • Dec. 23, Gasparilla Bowl: Central Florida (-17 favorite) vs. Marshall The biggest point spread of the postseason. Central Florida was 9-3 and ranked for the first part of the year. Marshall was 8-4, against an easier Conference USA schedule.

• Dec. 24, Hawaii Bowl: Brigham Young University (-1 favorite) vs. Hawaii Hawaii played in the Hawaii Bowl last year as well, losing by 17 to Louisiana Tech.

• Dec. 26, Independence Bowl: Miami (-7 favorite) vs. Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech played the weakest schedule of any bowl team, ranked only 140th by Jeff Sagarin, behind many Football Championship Subdivision teams.

• Dec. 26, Quick Lane Bowl: Pitt (-10 favorite) vs. Eastern Michigan

• Dec. 27, Military Bowl: North Carolina (-5) vs. Temple

• Dec. 27, Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State (-3 favorite) vs. Wake Forest

• Dec. 27, Texas Bowl: Texas A& M (-6) vs. No.

25 Oklahoma State Chuba Hubbard of Oklahoma State has run for 1,936 yards, the most in the nation.

• Dec. 27, Holiday Bowl: No. 16 Iowa (-1 favorite) vs. No. 22 Southern California Kicker Keith Duncan of Iowa made 29 field goals, four more than anyone else.

• Dec. 27, Cheez-It Bowl: Air Force (-2 favorite) vs. Washington State Anthony Gordon of Washington State leads the nation in pass completions, attempts and yardage. Air Force commits just over three penalties a game, the best rate in the country.

• Dec. 28, Cotton Bowl: No. 10 Penn State (-7) vs. No. 17 Memphis It is harder to run against Penn State than any other team; it gives up 2.6 yards per rush.

Luckily, Memphis is a pass-heavy offensive team.

• Dec. 28, Camping World Bowl: No. 15 Notre Dame (-3 favorite) vs. Iowa State Many football statisticians consider recovering fumbles to be mostly luck. Notre Dame has 17 fumble recoveries, the most in the country.

The Night Before the Night Before:

• Dec. 30, Orange Bowl: No. 9 Florida (-13) vs.

No. 24 Virginia

• Dec. 30, First Responder Bowl: Western Kentucky (-2 favorite) vs. Western Michigan

• Dec. 30, Music City Bowl: Mississippi State (-3 favorite) vs. Louisville • Dec. 30, Redbox Bowl: California (-6 favorite) vs. Illinois Illinois has six defensive touchdowns, the most in the country.

New Year’s Eve Bowl Games:

• Dec. 31, Belk Bowl: Virginia Tech (-3) vs.

Kentucky

• Dec. 31, Sun Bowl: Arizona State (-5 favorite) vs. Florida State

• Dec. 31, Liberty Bowl: Kansas State (-1) vs. No.

23 Navy Navy still has a game to play on Saturday, against Army; it is a 10 favorite-point favorite.

Navy ran the ball more than any other team this season, 60 times a game.

Second and third were Army and Air Force.

Kansas State’s Joshua Youngblood ran back three kickoffs for touchdowns, more than anyone else.

• Dec. 31, Arizona Bowl: Wyoming (-7) vs.

Georgia State

• Dec. 31, Alamo Bowl: No. 11 Utah (-6 favorite) vs. Texas Texas fell the farthest from its preseason ranking, slipping from No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to a 7-5 record.

New Year’s Day (AKA The Big Ones):

• Jan. 1, Rose Bowl: No. 8 Wisconsin (-3) vs. No. 6 Oregon Oregon beat Utah for the Pac-12 Conference championship and will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin made the biggest leap up the rankings, from No.

19 in the preseason poll to No. 8 in the playoff ranking.

• Jan. 1, Sugar Bowl: No. 5 Georgia (-7 favorite) vs. No. 7 Baylor Georgia gave up one rushing touchdown all season.

• Jan. 1, Citrus Bowl: No. 13 Alabama (-7) vs.

No. 14 Michigan Alabama played in all five national semifinals before this season. Although it is ranked only No. 13 after losing twice, it is in the top four in many computer rankings, rather than Oklahoma. Michigan also tends to outpunch its ranking with computers.

Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama is the top passer by adjusted yards per attempt, but many think Joe Burrow of L.S.U., the Heisman Trophy favorite who ranks third and is not recovering from a significant injury, will go ahead of Tagovailoa in the draft.

• Jan. 1, Outback Bowl: No. 12 Auburn (-7 favorite) vs. No. 18 Minnesota Auburn played the second toughest schedule in the country, according to Sagarin, trailing only South Carolina, which did not make a bowl.

Auburn beat six bowl teams: Oregon, Tulane, Kent State, Texas A& M, Mississippi State and Alabama. It lost to three, Florida, Georgia and L.S.U., all of whom are in the top 10.

The Last Gasp (Just a Little More Football):

• Jan. 2, Birmingham Bowl: No. 21 Cincinnati (-6 favorite) vs. Boston College

• Jan. 2, Gator Bowl: Tennessee (pick) vs.

Indiana

• Jan. 3, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio (-6 favorite) vs. Nevada

• Jan. 4, Armed Forces Bowl: Tulane (-7) vs.

Southern Miss

• Jan. 6, Lending Tree Bowl: Louisiana (-14) vs.

Miami (Ohio) This is a new name for this bowl, which was formerly the Dollar General Bowl (and before that the Go Daddy, GMAC and Mobile Alabama Bowl).

With all this football, it’s going to be a holiday season to remember.

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