ESPN releases complete 2017-18 college football bowl schedule
ESPN has released the final list of all of the bowl games that will be televised for the 2017-2018 season.
ESPN has released the college football bowl schedule for the upcoming season. I’m stoked–once this list comes out, it means that football season is not too far away. It’s the only thing that gets me through the heinous summer in Atlanta, frankly. ESPN will televise 35 of the games, with their network partner ABC hosting some of the marquee bowl games.
There are a surprising number of mid-December games this season, kicking off with five games on Dec. 16, and a variety pack scattered throughout the month. The month of December is jam-packed, with a bowl game almost every day except Christmas Day.
Of course, the New Year’s Six are always the ones that everyone keeps their eye on, but the smaller bowls usually bring the most drama. The Cotton Bowl starts off the big games on Dec. 29, followed by the Fiesta Bowl and the Orange Bowl on the 30th.
There are no New Year’s Eve bowl games this year — the only reason I can think of for that is the utter debauchery that must have occurred. Just kidding. It is probably to avoid a scheduling conflict with the end of the NFL regular season.
However, New Year’s Day boasts the Peach Bowl, the Outback Bowl, the Citrus Bowl and as tradition dictates, the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. The Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl will comprise the Playoff Semifinal games, and the CFP will take place a week later on Monday, Jan. 8. So without further ado, here is the complete list.
Here’s the complete bowl schedule, released by ESPN’s Derek Volner on Wednesday.
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Sat, Dec. 16 | Noon | Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl | ABC |
| 1 p.m. | R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | ESPN | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Las Vegas Bowl | ABC | |
| 4:30 p.m. | Gildan New Mexico Bowl | ESPN | |
| 8 p.m. | Raycom Media Camellia Bowl | ESPN | |
| Tue, Dec. 19 | 7 p.m. | Boca Raton Bowl | ESPN |
| Thu, Dec. 21 | 8 p.m. | St. Petersburg Bowl | ESPN |
| Fri, Dec. 22 | 12:30 p.m. | Bahamas Bowl | ESPN |
| 4 p.m. | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | ESPN | |
| Sat, Dec. 23 | 12 p.m. | Birmingham Bowl | ESPN |
| 3:30 p.m. | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | ESPN | |
| 7 p.m. | Dollar General Bowl | ESPN | |
| Sun, Dec. 24 | 8:30 p.m. | Hawai’i Bowl | ESPN |
| Tue, Dec. 26 | TBD | Quick Lane Bowl | ESPN |
| TBD | Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl | ESPN | |
| TBD | Cactus Bowl | ESPN | |
| Wed, Dec. 27 | 1:30 p.m. | Independence Bowl | ESPN |
| 5:15 p.m. | New Era Pinstripe Bowl | ESPN | |
| 9 p.m. | Texas Bowl | ESPN | |
| Thu, Dec. 28 | 1:30 p.m. | Military Bowl presented by Northrop Grumman | ESPN |
| 5:15 p.m. | Camping World Bowl | ESPN | |
| 9 p.m. | Valero Alamo Bowl | ESPN | |
| Fri, Dec. 29 | 1 p.m. | Belk Bowl | ESPN |
| 4:30 p.m. | Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl | ESPN | |
| 8:30 p.m. | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic* | ESPN | |
| Sat, Dec. 30 | Noon | TaxSlayer Bowl | ESPN |
| 12:30 p.m. | AutoZone Liberty Bowl | ABC | |
| 4 p.m. | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl* | ESPN | |
| 8 p.m. | Capital One Orange Bowl* | ESPN | |
| Mon, Jan 1 | Noon | Outback Bowl | ESPN2 |
| 12:30 p.m. | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl* | ESPN | |
| 1 p.m. | Citrus Bowl | ABC | |
| 5 p.m. | College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual* | ESPN | |
| 8:45 p.m. | College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl* | ESPN | |
| Mon, Jan 8 | 8 p.m. | College Football Playoff National Championship Presented By AT&T | ESPN |
*New Year’s Six bowl game
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Who do you think will make it to this year’s College Football Playoff? We could see another rematch of Alabama and Clemson and there would be no complaints.