Ranking 5 must-watch College Football Bowl Games this season

After an exciting finish to the 2021 college football season, we now have a great postseason slate schedule with tons of great college football bowl games on the docket.

We’re taking a look at the best games (outside of the College Football Playoffs) you need to have circled on your calendar for the next few weeks.

We’ll start with an honorable mention and then rank the five best match-ups that were just announced.

Honorable mention: Penn State vs Arkansas

Taking place Jan. 1 at 12 PM ET on ESPN, the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4) have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2021 college football season. They’re going to a bowl game for the first time in five years. Penn State played one of the toughest schedules in all of college football and managed to finish the season 7-5. These two teams have never met before in a football game, and it’s one that should be hard-nosed, competitive, and entertaining.

 No 5. Fiesta Bowl (Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State)

Despite losing their head football coach to LSU (and subsequently watching him adopt a southern accent in a matter of days), the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are reinvigorated with Brian Kelly’s replacement: Marcus Freeman. Head Coach Marcus Freeman will make his debut at the helm of the Irish in the team’s bowl game against Oklahoma State at the Fiesta Bowl.

The Irish lost one game this season, to College Football Playoff-bound Cincinnati early in the season. Oklahoma State had just one loss throughout the entire regular season but lost the Big 12 Conference Championship game to Baylor.

These are two of the best teams outside of the CFB Playoff picture and will put on an absolute show on Jan. 1 at 1 PM ET on ESPN.