January 1
Citrus Bowl: Auburn vs. Wisconsin
1 p.m. ET, ABC – Orlando, Fla.
Outback Bowl: Minnesota vs. Texas A&M
1 p.m. ET, ESPN – Tampa, Fla.
January 2
Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Duke*
3 p.m. ET, ESPN – Birmingham, Ala.
Gator Bowl: Indiana vs. Mississippi State
7 p.m. ET, ESPN – Jacksonville, Fla.
January 3
Idaho Potato Bowl: San Diego State vs. Buffalo
3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN – Boise, Idaho
January 4
Armed Forces Bowl: Air Force vs. North Texas*
11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN – Fort Worth, Texas
January 6
Mobile Alabama Bowl: Louisiana vs. Ball State
7:30 pm ET, ESPN – Mobile, Ala.
The Skinny
Auburn’s 7-2 record and Top-15 ranking hasn’t done much to quiet the criticism surrounding head coach Gus Malzahn. The Tigers won again on Saturday, but the 20-14 victory over 3-6 Ole Miss did little to inspire optimism over the future of the offense.
The Tigers boast one of the nation’s best defenses, but the offense has predictably struggled around a true freshman quarterback. Bo Nix has shown flashes, but he still makes plenty of freshmen mistakes, and after the transfer of Joey Gatewood, Malzahn is short of options on the Plains if something happens to Nix. Auburn has November matchups against Georgia and Alabama at Jordan-Hare; I’m betting it takes at least a split of those games for Malzahn to see 2020.
Indiana continues to pile up the victories, moving to 7-2 on the season after a blowout win over hapless Northwestern on Saturday. With three regular season games remaining, the Hoosiers have already matched its highest number of wins since 2007. One more victory would give Indiana its best season since 1993.