The New year’s six bowl games started in 2014 and has produced some of the best matchups of all time. It has six of the ten oldest bowl games ever Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and the Cotton Bowl. This year’s games are not lacking in anything when it comes to exciting and interesting matchups. 

To start up these amazing slate of games, number 17 Memphis takes on number 10 Penn State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. Memphis is coming off a thrilling AAC championship game against Cincinnati in a 29-24 win. Penn State, on the other hand, failed to reach the Big Ten Championship game as Ohio State took their spot, but they are still favorites. Both of these teams have capped off very great seasons, as Memphis ended 12-1 and Penn State ended 10-2 respectively. With both teams having solid players on each side of the ball, this one should be a very exciting matchup.

The next game is the Capital One Orange Bowl containing number nine Florida and number 24 Virginia. Florida is having problems of their own currently as their starting quarterback at the beginning of the year, Feleipe Franks, has entered the transfer portal. They will have to overlook this as Virginia, who is coming off an embarrassing beat down against Clemson, is looking to win their first Orange Bowl title in their first ever Orange bowl appearance. 

Number eight Wisconsin faces number six Oregon in the Rose Bowl game. Wisconsin blew a chance at a Big Ten Championship as they were up 21-7 against the Buckeyes, but were unable to capitalize. If it weren’t for Ohio State making the playoffs, Wisconsin would not be here. For Oregon, they are coming off a big time Pac 12 Championship win against Utah 37-15. Unfortunately for the Ducks, it’s almost near impossible to make the playoffs with two losses. 

SEC runner up Georgia and Big 12 runner up Baylor face off in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Both teams were defeated in their respective conference championship games. Georgia was just throttled by LSU 37-10 and just didn’t look like the team they have been all year. Opposite for Baylor, they lost a heartbreaker against Oklahoma 30-23 in an overtime thriller. Baylor has been the complete opposite of the average Big 12 team, they have a great defense. With both teams having amazing defenses, this should be a low scoring game that will be decided late.

Now we get into the big games, the College Football Playoff games. 

Heavy favorite LSU battle Oklahoma in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. LSU was ranked number two going into conference championship weekend, but that was until they embarrassed Georgia and Ohio State was given a run for their money against Wisconsin. Oklahoma, however, were looking on the outside looking in as they sat at number six. With a Utah loss in the Pac 12 Championship, Oklahoma was able to sneak into the playoffs at number four. Heisman front runner Joe Burrow and the Tigers are going to give Oklahoma’s mediocre defense nightmares, but Oklahoma has a very high flying offense of their own so this one should be a high scoring affair. 

In what is probably the most intriguing matchup of them all, the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl includes number two Ohio State taking on number three Clemson. Ohio State is coming off a shaky Big Ten Championship game against Wisconsin, they won 34-21, but they were down as much as 21-7 and had to comeback. Clemson on the other hand, they are coming off a dominant performance in the ACC championship 62-17. When this matchup was announced, Clemson was actually a slight favorite even though they are ranked below Ohio State. Ohio State has two players heading to New York for the Heisman trophy in Justin Fields and Chase Young. Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence just missed the cut for Heisman but is an exciting player and should give Ohio State scares down the field. 

For the first time in a while, all of the New Year’s Six games are very intriguing and should all be fun to watch. For the College Football Playoffs, it will be very interesting to see if any teams upset their favorite opponents and make it to the National Championship.