The 12-team College Football Playoff is finally set to get underway, but those aren’t the only games that should be appointment viewing this month. From the biggest brands to a special showdown in the Aloha State, there are plenty of college football postseason games you won’t want to miss this season.
Here are this year’s most intriguing non-CFP bowl games, in chronological order:
Hawaii Bowl: Cal vs. Hawaii, 8pm ET on Dec. 24 (ESPN)
This matchup is the perfect backdrop for any Christmas Eve family festivities — and also for those parents who will be stuck assembling toys into the wee hours. It’s a matchup that pits two University of Hawaii legends against each other, with two former record-setting quarterbacks on opposite sidelines in Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang and Cal interim head coach Nick Rolovich. Add in one of the most electrifying freshman quarterbacks in the country — Bears QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, the Hawaii native who recently announced he’ll return to Cal for his sophomore season under new head coach Tosh Lupoi — and you’ve got a game that should deliver a ton of points and some monster passing plays. Seriously, this should be a blast. Plus, you’ve got arguably the nation’s best kicker in this game — and Hawaii’s first-ever consensus All-American — in Kansei Matsuzawa, who is an awesome story in his own right. He taught himself how to kick field goals by watching kicks on YouTube!
Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State vs. Clemson, Noon ET on Dec. 27 (ABC)
If we had told you back in August that Penn State was playing Clemson in the postseason, you’d probably assume we were talking about the national championship game — or maybe a CFP semifinal matchup. Certainly, not a game played at a baseball stadium in late December. But that’s where we are. It wasn’t the season that either program hoped for, especially with both beginning the season in the top five of the preseason AP poll. The two teams combined for 11 losses this year (and one fired head coach), and neither appears all that excited about this matchup. Dabo Swinney has said at least 26 Clemson players will be unavailable in the game, due to injuries and opt-outs, though quarterback Cade Klubnik said he will play. A good amount of Penn State’s stars are expected to play, too, largely due to contractual obligations. So, there will be a lot of talent on the (baseball) field for this matchup, and it should still be worth your time. Besides ... it could be a good trivia answer someday.
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. BYU, 3:30pm ET on Dec. 27 (ABC)
Of course we had to highlight the Pop-Tarts Bowl! It’s the best (relatively) new addition to the bowl lineup, and we can’t wait to see what the organizers have up their sleeves this year. We already know we’ll have two teams of edible mascots competing against one another for the honor of being sacrificed at game’s end. Both BYU coach Kalani Sitake and Georgia Tech coach Brent Key seem to be all-in on the bowl’s antics, which means that the vibes surrounding this matchup are very, very good. Plus, you’ve got two very good football teams that just missed out on the CFP squaring off against one another. It’ll be a high-level matchup and a final send-off for Yellow Jackets legend Haynes King, the dual-threat quarterback who has given so much to this program over the past few years.
BREAKING: We’re getting six (!) edible mascots at this year’s @PopTartsBowl!
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) November 18, 2025
- six edible mascots, three on Team Sprinkles and three on Team Swirls
- fans get to vote on which mascot team to sacrifice to Mouth Heaven at game’s end, the biggest edible mascot sacrifice EVER pic.twitter.com/lHuJ6wrPsd
ReliaQuest Bowl: Iowa vs. Vanderbilt, Noon ET on Dec. 31 (ABC)
Our friends at the Sickos Committee might be the only ones more excited for this matchup than we are. On the one hand, you have the Hawkeyes, who love to muddy up games and win with defense, special teams and maybe one long Mark Gronowski run. On the other, you have arguably the most polarizing player in college football since Johnny Manziel — his pal, Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia. It’ll be the final collegiate game for the Heisman Trophy runner-up and the college football legend who turned Vanderbilt into a 10-win program that can realistically set its sights on the College Football Playoff. He’ll be hard to replace, especially when it comes to total offensive production, but he’ll forever be associated with the Commodores’ resurgence. As will head coach Clark Lea, who decided to stay put at his alma mater after an incredible season.
Citrus Bowl: Michigan vs. Texas, 3pm ET on Dec. 31 (ABC)
This matchup should serve as a tasty appetizer ahead of the evening’s Cotton Bowl quarterfinal game. It’s another game featuring two teams that hoped they’d have better seasons than they did. Texas, ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, expected to be in the CFP for the third consecutive year. Arch Manning was far from a flop, but the ups and downs of the first-year starter were bumpy. Though the regular season ended on a high note with an upset win over then-No. 3 Texas A&M, it wasn’t enough to propel the Longhorns into the CFP field. Still, this is a star-studded team that has shown its ceiling is quite high; it beat three teams ranked in the CFP selection committee’s top 15. And even with significant staffing changes — Steve Sarkisian announced this week that defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski is out and Will Muschamp (!) is in — this will still be an instructive performance. We can’t say the same for the other sideline, as Michigan comes into this game amid the fallout of the Sherrone Moore scandal. Interim head coach Biff Poggi has seemingly stabilized the program from an on-field standpoint, handling the bowl game prep and trying to maintain strong relationships with current players. But without knowing who will be the new full-time head coach of the Wolverines, it’s hard to know if highly touted freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, breakout receiver Andrew Marsh and others will return to Ann Arbor for another season.
So, while there may not be a ton to take from this game into 2026 on the Michigan side, there’s always a lot at stake in Big Ten-SEC postseason matchups. And this should be a fun one, even with all of the off-field headlines surrounding it.
