Bowl season is back in Orlando, here are the matchups

Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl

Appalachian State Mountaineers (8-5) vs Miami (OH) Redhawks (11-2)

FBC Mortgage Stadium (UCF), December 16th at 3:30pm on ABC

The Cure Bowl is preparing for it’s 9th game now in the Orlando area and has garnered a reputation for competitive matchups, especially for being on opening day of bowl season. Each of the last 4 games ended in a one score game and this years matchup looks to continue that history. Hosting a bowl game for the first time is FBC Mortgage Stadium, better know as the Bounce House and home of the UCF Knights, as UCF continues to make their facilities recognizable as a tourism contributor in the area.

App State returns to bowl season after missing last seasons festivities for the first time in 7 years, and what was once an FCS (Division II) powerhouse has turned into a perennial participant in bowl season. Led by starting QB Joey Aguilar (JR) and his 3546 passing yards, good for 9th in the country, and WR Kaedin Robinson (JR) and his 10 touchdown receptions, App State looks to beat you with a high powered passing attack.

But Miami (OH) looks to keep that in check with a defense that ranked 7th in the country in points allowed. Defensive lineman Caiden Woullard (JR), who led the Mid-America Conference with 9.5 sacks, will look to keep pressure on the passing game throughout.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

#18 North Carolina State Wolfpack (9-3) vs #25 Kansas State Wildcats (8-4)

Camping World Stadium, December 28th at 5:45pm on ESPN

The rebranded Pop-Tarts Bowl, having been played at Camping World Stadium since 2001 after starting in Miami, looks to identify itself away from the New Years day games by consistently pulling in some of the best matchups outside of the big day. Last season the game featured Florida State taking on Oklahoma and brought in 61,000+ in attendance, higher than the Citrus Bowl matchup and 3 other New Years Day games. Now a lot of that can be attributed to the bowl organizers (smartly) bringing in Florida State and matching them up with a top tier school like Oklahoma. And while this years matchup doesn’t have that same draw, it is still a great Power 5 matchup between ranked ACC and Big 12 contenders.

NC State finished off the season with 5 straight wins against ACC opponents and a big part of that was the return of 6th year senior starting QB Brennan Armstrong who threw for 334 yards and 3 TDs against North Carolina to end the season.

Kansas State rode an up and down season after finishing 2022 as Big 12 Champs and a Sugar Bowl appearance, but the Wildcats played the 8th hardest schedule in the country according to strength of schedule ratings and plan on showing why they finished 10th in points per game. Starting QB Will Howard (SR) has entered the transfer portal, leaving freshman QB Avery Johnson as the expected starter. Expect the Wildcats to lean on RB DJ Giddens (SO) who lead the team in rushing with 1075 yards and 9 TDs and a defense led by DB Jacob Parrish (SO) who had 3 interceptions this season.

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

#17 Iowa Hawkeyes vs #21 Tennessee Volunteers

Camping World Stadium, January 1st at 1:00pm on ABC

What’s considered the biggest of the games here in Orlando, the Citrus Bowl has been played at the downtown stadium since 1947 and hasn’t missed a year since. And while the stadium and game have gone through different sponsors and name changes, many still refer to both as only the Citrus Bowl. But this year’s Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium, while being only 1 of 5 games on that day does have something the other’s don’t. It will be the only game that day aired on local tv. Each of the other bowl games will air on ESPN or ESPN2 while the Citrus Bowl will air on ABC. Truly the game of the people. But beyond that, they secured one of the more “opposites attract” type of games of the season.

Iowa has been synonymous with the idea of “Big 10 Football” for years with the biggest, strongest athletes on the offensive line and defense. But they may have taken that to another level this season after finishing the season 4th in points against and 274.8 yards per game but finishing 130th out of 133 teams in offense points per game. LB Jay Higgins (SR) was second in the country in total tackles but this really is a total team defense that take assignments very seriously and force teams into changing their offense. And that is where a school like Tennessee is such an interesting matchup.

Head coach Josh Heupel and his style of offense should be very familiar to Orlando college football fans, he was head coach at UCF for 3 season before going to UT in 2021, and it hasn’t changed much in the years since he left. The Volunteers finished 41st in points per game this season after finishing 1st in 2022, but the no-huddle, quick strike offense that Tennessee runs still wreaks havoc on teams that can’t matchup with their raw talent. 6th year senior QB Joe Milton took over as starter this season and at times was criticized for not running the offense up to expectations, but is still produced solid numbers finishing with 20 TD passes and nearly 3000 yards. Another NFL Draft prospect to watch from that Tennessee offense is RB Jaylen Wright (JR) who led the team with 1013 yards on the ground.

*All games as listed on each game site

**All team and player stats from Sports-Reference.com

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