Fifty years ago, there were eleven bowl games in major college football.

They had their relatively small affairs – the Liberty Bowl (No. 10 Maryland vs. Tennessee), the Tangerine Bowl (No. 15 Miami (Ohio) vs. Georgia), the Bluebonnet Bowl (No. 13 NC State vs. Houston). , the Sun Bowl (Mississippi State vs. North Carolina), the Peach Bowl (Vanderbilt vs. Texas Tech) and the Fiesta Bowl (No. 17 BYU vs. Oklahoma State).

Then you had the most important thing. On December 30, No. 6 Auburn played (and beat) No. 11 Texas in the Gator Bowl. On December 31, No. 8 Nebraska outlasted No. 18 Florida in the Sugar Bowl. And in a tripleheader on New Year’s Day, No. 7 Penn State defeated No. 12 Baylor in the Cotton Bowl, No. 5 USC upset No. 3 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and No. 9 Notre Dame upset No. 2 Alabama in a bowl for the second time in a row, this time in the Orange Bowl.

And that was it. No. 1 Oklahoma, which was locked out of the postseason — which feels almost more like an ancient relic than having just 11 bowls — handily won the national title, USC finished No. 2 in the AP poll and No. 4 Michigan. eliminated from the postseason due to the Big Ten’s “only one team bowls” policy, moved up to No. 3 with Ohio State’s loss.

Bowl season has, let’s say, further developed in the half century since then. (To those who scoff and say the old days were definitely better: you’re wrong.) 82 of the FBS’s 134 teams, as well as two red-hot FCS HBCU teams, will play in at least one postseason game next week. Four playoff teams play in one each Couple of major bowls, and then two of them meet in Atlanta for a national title game is not a bowl.

Getting into the ins and outs of bowl season can be a pretty confusing experience if you don’t already know, and that’s before we even know how many players are opting out or entering the transfer portal or how many teams are being led by an interim leader become trainers. But aside from the playoff games, you really shouldn’t look at bowl season on a micro level. The best thing to do is just turn on the TV and enjoy the bowl game that’s on. (And there is almost always a bowl game begins.)

To prepare for this macro experience, I’m going to lump together the 40 or so bowl games – excluding the first-round CFP games, which aren’t technically bowls, or the Cotton and Orange Bowl semifinals which there are no teams yet – in 13 categories. Some shells appear in several places; just join in.

Here’s something you need to know about every game on the Loaded Bowl schedule.

Jump to a section:
Hunting ring, record | Break in QB?
Justifying byes | Five favorites
CFP near misses | Strong finishers
Accept the silliness | Preview of 2025
Successful QBs | Unique challenges
Redemption time | 7-6 or 6-7
First bowl, new coach