Bowl season officially kicked off this past weekend when Washington absolutely destroyed Boise State in the Bucked Up LA Bowl. With many Big 12 teams deciding to opt out of bowl games (a list that includes Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas, and UCF), the conference only has seven teams playing in bowl games this year, plus Texas Tech, which will be representing in the College Football Playoff.
With Texas Tech getting the No. 4 seed and a bye in the College Football Playoff, they will have the most interesting game of the postseason. However, there are some other games that should be entertaining as well. Before we get too deep into the holiday season, it’s time to start marking our calendars and making plans for when Big 12 football will be on our televisions again.
Let’s take a look at my totally subjective most-to-least watchable games in the Big 12 this Bowl Season.
Pop-Tarts Bowl: No. 22 Georgia Tech vs No. 12 BYU
Saturday, December 27th
BYU comes into this matchup as a 4.5 favorite over the Yellow Jackets. Both of these teams had solid seasons, with Georgia Tech struggling a bit down the stretch. The Cougars’ only two losses came at the hands of Texas Tech, one of the best teams in the country. Both of these teams offer strong running games and fun quarterback play between Haynes King at GT and Bear Bachmeier at BYU. This game could come down to late in the game, but I expect BYU to pull it out and continue the reign of Big 12 Pop-Tarts Bowl champions.
Holliday Bowl: No. 17 Arizona vs SMU
Friday, January 2nd
Both of these teams have high-powered offenses and could light up the scoreboard in this one. This matchup will come at the end of bowl season as it is featured in primetime on the last day before the College Football Playoff continues with the semi-finals. Hopefully, Arizona can put on a show and put the Big 12 in a positive light to close out the basic bowl season.
Alamo Bowl: No. 16 USC vs TCU
Tuesday, December 30th
TCU’s season didn’t go as planned. They were hoping to compete for a Big 12 championship, and that didn’t pan out. After starting the season strong in the national spotlight against North Carolina in Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut, it was an up-and-down season for the Horned Frogs. USC was pretty steady throughout the season, and this should make for a fun game. The over/under is 57.5 points, so a lot of points are expected in this one. If TCU can get a win over a historical program like USC, it could go a long way toward boosting its profile going into the 2026 season.
Sun Bowl: Arizona State vs Duke
Wednesday, December 31st
The Sun Devils will take on the Blue Devils in what should actually be a pretty fun game. Duke ended up winning the ACC in a remarkable turn of events. Arizona State is the only team to beat Texas Tech this season. When both of these teams play at the top of their game, they are fun to watch. Yes, there are some transfer portal defects and NFL Draft opt-out concerns as far as players who will or won’t be playing for both schools, but for the players that are left, they will be looking to put on a show on New Year’s Eve afternoon.
Texas Bowl: LSU vs No. 21 Houston
Saturday, December 27th
LSU fell off the map a bit this season, firing its head coach and sliding from SEC contender to big-time pretender. Houston, on the other hand, seemingly came out of nowhere to be a big-time competitor in the Big 12. No one knows for sure which team will show up hungry for a win, but the Cougars are a three-point favorite, and getting a win over a program like LSU would be fantastic for a Houston program looking to remain top-of-mind throughout the offseason.
Liberty Bowl: Navy vs Cincinnati
Friday, January 2nd
With the announcement that Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby will be hitting the transfer portal, this game got knocked down pretty low in these rankings. If Sorsby were playing, this would have been a really fun game and close to the top of the list. Instead, it ranks near the bottom. Navy quarterback Blake Horvath will make this game worth watching alone. He has been a staple for the Midshipmen football team for years now. While the triple option offense can get boring at times, it does give a fun throwback to old school Big 8 football fans. Tune in to see if Cincy can pull off the upset as they are currently a touchdown underdog.
Las Vegas Bowl: Nebraska vs No. 15 Utah
Wednesday, December 31st
I’m not sure how Nebraska got stuck in this situation, but here we are. A former Big 12 team will take on a new Big 12 team, and they aren’t really on the same level. Utah was competing for a Big 12 title all year, while Nebraska mostly held its ground in the middle of the Big 10 conference standings all season. Utah is an astounding 16.5-point favorite in this one. It was recently confirmed that Nebraska’s former starting quarterback, Dylan Raiola, will be transferring, but that didn’t affect the spread, as he was injured and not likely to play in the game anyway. Utah is just the better team from top to bottom and should dominate its way to a win in Kyle Whittingham’s final game as the Utes’ head coach. If there’s nothing going on at 2:30 in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, it would be a fine game to tune into. Otherwise, you might be better off taking a nap to gear up for the evening’s festivities.
The Big 12 lost out on a few bowl games due to opt-outs, but there should still be plenty of fun to be had throughout the 2025-2026 bowl season as the season wraps up.
