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College Football Bowl Season Week 1: Three storylines you can’t miss
Bowl season is here! Forget all the negativity, the opt-outs and the no-shows - this most famous of traditions, streaming live and free on DAZN, is the last college football we will get for eight months.
The postseason is not just about the playoffs; Every bowl game on the schedule has something to offer over the holiday period.
So let's embrace games in baseball stadiums, coaches getting drowned in mayonnaise, and Pop-Tart mascots being lowered into a toaster, and dive into three bowl matchups to keep an eye on this weekend.
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Battle of the Conference Champs
First played in December 2020, the Myrtle Beach Bowl invites schools to Conway, South Carolina, for a weekend of fun by the Atlantic Ocean. Hosted at Brooks Stadium, home to Coastal Carolina, 20,000 fans can watch their team battle it out on the famous teal turf.
With historical tie-ins to Conference USA, the MAC, Sun Belt and American conferences, the Myrtle Beach Bowl was created by ESPN Events and essentially has the licence to select a combination of whichever Group of Five teams it chooses. This tends to lend itself to more exciting matchups & bigger scoring games.
Previous winners include UTSA, Ohio, Marshall, Tulsa and App State. But this year’s contest looks set to be the best to date as two conference champs head to the coast.
In a tightly contested race for the MAC, Western Michigan prevailed, finishing 9-4 on the year and suffocating favourites Miami (OH) in the championship game. That avenged a loss to the RedHawks in Week 9 - the only conference game the Broncos allowed more than 21 points.
They face off against a Kennesaw State team that won ten of their last eleven games, lifting the C-USA trophy after beating reigning champs Jacksonville State 19-15. Much like WMU, that was a payback win for the Owls, who know how to see out close games, with six one-score victories this season.
This game will be decided by the battle between the Owls’ offense and the Broncos’ defense. Head coach Jerry Mack has tons of experience at the college and pro level, and in one season installed his ‘Veer & Shoot’ offense. The result? A four-headed backfield monster that has 2,000 rushing yards, complementing sophomore sensation Amari Odom, who has starred at quarterback.
This offense will face off against a defense that ranks 7th in the nation in yards allowed per game (161.1) and knows how to get to the quarterback. Edge rusher Nadame Tucker is a name to look out for, having registered 14.5 sacks, 55 tackles and 4 forced fumbles this season.
Two evenly matched teams. One iconic setting. The Myrtle Beach Bowl is not to be missed - make sure you have the remote handy come 4pm on Friday.
A $1.125m Pirate’s Booty
In fact, do not relinquish the television until the end of Friday night, for straight after the Myrtle Beach Bowl comes the Gasparilla Bowl, a game named after a mythical pirate.
José Gaspar, also known by his nickname ‘Gasparilla’, was a Spanish raider who supposedly terrorised the Gulf of Mexico, amassing a huge fortune by capturing vessels and ransoming hostages. So fittingly, this bowl game is held at Raymond James Stadium - home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which has a pirate ship in one stand.
If that backdrop doesn’t entice you, then perhaps the two teams competing will. Memphis has been one of the strongest G5 programs in recent years, frequently proving they can mix it with the power conferences. They’ll face NC State, a team capable of causing upsets, having knocked off ranked Virginia and Georgia Tech this season.
This game is particularly interesting for the Tigers, with head coach Ryan Silverfield leaving for Arkansas in November. Silverfield compiled a 50-25 record in Memphis, including two 10+ win seasons. He’s replaced by Charles Huff, a coach with a growing reputation after working wonders at Marshall and then Southern Miss.
NC State have enjoyed similar stability, with Dave Doeren being in charge for 13 seasons. The Wolfpack may be more recognised as a basketball school, but eleven bowl games during his tenure tell you how Doeren has elevated the standard in Raleigh.
Some names to keep watch for in this one: Wolfpack running back Hollywood Smothers, not just for the awesome name alone, but for his ball-carrying skills. A strong performance on Friday night could see him top 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career.
For Memphis, they have an explosive weapon on the outside in receiver Cortez Braham, and shutdown corner Kamari Wilson already has 78 tackles, four pass breakups and two interceptions on the year.
A further incentive for both schools is the $1.125m payout for the winners. Always one of the better postseason games, this year’s Gasparilla Bowl looks to be jam-packed with big plays.
Pac-12 Potato Punch-Up
Think bowl season is all beaches and sunshine? Think again. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is the longest-running cold-weather bowl game in college football, having been played under different names since 1997.
Since 2011, it has been sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commission, a marketing board that represents the potato growers in the state. This unique affiliation has given the game something of a cult status in the bowl calendar, furthered by the matchup being played on Boise State’s blue turf amidst wintery conditions.
Historically, the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features a Mountain West team, unsurprisingly given its geographic footprint. This year, that team will be Utah State - their final season in the conference before they head to the Pac-12 in 2026.
The Aggies will face off against future conference rivals Washington State, adding further interest to the matchup. Both schools reside in remote outposts in their states but have reasons to be optimistic as they embrace a new era of football on the West Coast.
2025 was Bronco Mendenhall’s first year at the helm in Logan, and he immediately guided the Aggies to a bowl game. There’s been some recent turmoil at Utah State in the coaching ranks, but landing Mendenhall was seen as a coup - the experienced head coach has been a success at BYU, Virginia and New Mexico and has nearly 150 wins to his name.
Conversely, ‘Wazzu’ have just lost their leader to Iowa State; Jimmy Rogers had only one year in Pullman before moving on, and the Cougs moved quickly to land Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore. Moore has had success developing talents such as Brady Cook, Luther Burden and Ahmad Hardy, bringing optimism to the Pacific Northwest.
This game is less about what we know and more about what we don’t; it will be intriguing to see how these two programs stack up against one another ahead of next year’s conference realignment. Plus, you know, the winner receives a trophy full of potatoes. What more could you possibly ask for?
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