While, in most cases, it’s an honor to compete in a bowl game in hopes of capping the season off on a positive note, some games just don’t live up to the hype.
That’s the case with the games listed below as we take a look at the five worst bowl matchups of the 2024-25 season, from bad to horrible. Here’s the worst bowl games for the upcoming bowl season from Heartland College Sports.
No. 5 – Fenway Bowl
(6-6) North Carolina vs. UConn
Why: The 2024 Fenway Bowl could be renamed to two different games, in my opinion: the Basketball Bowl or the Hurry-Up-and-Wait Bowl.
Starting with the latter, the game is the final game for the North Carolina Tar Heels before the debut of new head coach Bill Belichick. While that might seem like an exciting watch, UNC fans are chomping at the bit for the season to end so they can get Belichick on campus. In the case of UConn, the team did go 8-4, but their best win was… UMass? Temple? Rice? They didn’t win a game against Power 4 competition. In fact, their four losses were to the four Power 4 teams in the schedule: Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest and Syracuse. Records can be deceiving. Unfortunately, a matchup between the ACC’s 13th-best team and the second-best of three independent teams just doesn’t have much hype for the casual college football fan to enjoy.
Related: Bill Belichick Will Open Up His UNC Career vs. Big 12 Team
No. 4 – Armed Forces Bowl
(6-6) Oklahoma vs. (8-3) Navy
Why: Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s first season in the SEC unfolded unlike anything Sooners fans had initially expected, while the rest of the world of college sports got to say, “I told you so.” Despite insistence from Oklahoma fans that the team was in much better standing than Nebraska when moving to the Big Ten, the Sooners quickly became the SEC’s Nebraska. Pair that with a mass exodus of skill position players and talent on both sides of the ball, and quarterback Jackson Arnold officially signing with Auburn, this is not the OU football program we’ve come to expect since Bob Stoops took over 25 years ago. Meantime, Navy is coming off a victory in the epic Army-Navy game, but it’s not exactly the sexiest football to watch. Between OU and Navy, we might get a combined 200 passing yards. This game will be over and 2.5 hours and will be missing juice from the start.
No. 3 – New Mexico Bowl
(8-4) TCU vs. (10-3) Louisiana
Why: In an effort to avoid sounding like Desmond Howard on ESPN’s College GameDay, I understand why we’re discussing this matchup. I just don’t understand the thought process.
TCU got absolutely hammered in the selection process while fellow 8-4 Big 12 teams, Kansas State, Baylor, and Texas Tech, all get to take on members from the SEC or Big Ten. Instead, the Horned Frogs are greeted by the second-best team in the Sun Belt Conference. Make no mistake, Louisiana is a fun team and deserves post-season recognition, but between TCU being a private school with a smaller alumni base than most bigger, public institutions, along with Louisiana being a classically overlooked Group of 5 program, this game will be lacking when it comes to casual college football fan interest.
No. 2 – LA Bowl
(6-6) California vs. (10-3) UNLV
Why:Â The reason the Louisiana Bowl ranks as low as it does on this list is for reasons other than what was transcribed on the football field in 2024. The transfer portal saw multiple key contributors from California depart this offseason, namely starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Plus, Cal did not beat a bowl eligible team this season and ended the 2024 regular season with a brutal 38-6 loss to SMU. On UNLV’s side of the matchup, the team lost head coach Barry Odom to Purdue after back-to-back 9-win seasons. UNLV fans will be sad to say goodbye to players like quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams and see who steps up to help Dan Mullen have continued success with the program. But the casual fan will not find much excitement in this game.
No. 1 – Military Bowl
(7-5) East Carolina vs. (6-6) NC State
Why: Outside of fans of the two programs, the matchup does not excite the general public. NC State has lost a plethora of playmakers, including electric wide receiver KC Concepcion to the transfer portal from a team that finished 10th in the ACC. East Carolina, while sporting a slightly better record than the Wolfpack at 7-5, has zero high-end wins and lost some of their tougher games (Army and Navy) by double-digits. The game just screams snooze fest, if you aren’t a member of either team’s alumni base. Of course, the other way to make this one mildly interesting will be to place wager on either side.
