Ranking 5 must-watch College Football Bowl Games this season

No 4. Citrus Bowl (Iowa vs Kentucky)

The Citrus Bowl will feature the Iowa Hawkeyes taking on another surprising success story from the 2021 season: Kentucky.

The Hawkeyes got smashed by one of the best teams in all of college football in the Big Ten Championships, but that shouldn’t distract fans from the fact that Iowa had a great season. They earned three wins over Top 25 teams (Indiana, Iowa State, and Penn State) and lost two games during the entire regular season.

Kentucky started off the season 6-0 with wins over Mizzou, South Carolina, Florida (who was ranked No. 10 at the time), and LSU. QB Will Levis and RB Chris Rodriguez proved to be one of the best backfields in the SEC and will look to push Iowa’s defense to its limits.

Iowa and Kentucky square off Jan. 1 at 1 PM ET on ABC.

No 3. Alamo Bowl (Oregon vs Oklahoma)

Both of these teams were ranked inside the Top five at various points in the season, often at the same time. So, it’ll be a treat to see these two teams go at with such talented rosters and firepower. However, these two teams could be without a proper head coach leading up to the game.

Legendary Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is taking over the helm of the Sooners for one night only to tide the team over while they search for their replacement after Head Coach Lincoln Riley left for the sunny skies and warm beaches at USC in Southern California.

Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal is rumored to be heavily considering an offer to become the next head coach at Miami in South Florida. It would leave the Oregon Ducks scrambling to find a replacement for what has been a modern Pac-12 powerhouse.

Despite the coaching situations being in flux, these athletes are going to go out there and compete in what many thought could have been a National Championship-level game early in the season.

Oregon and Oklahoma will face off Dec. 29 at 9:15 PM ET on ESPN