College Football Bowl Season Week 2: What to look out for

The College Football Bowl season is in full swing, and Week 1 did not disappoint.

There were Xbox consoles being won in Frisco, Blue Hens winning on their postseason debut, and a team with cowprint helmets being beaten for a trophy full of potatoes. Explain all this to a college football newbie, and it’s highly likely they will think you are insane.

Don’t expect things to get any less crazy in Week 2, with another sixteen showcase games on the schedule, streaming live and free on DAZN. Here are three matchups not to be missed:

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Alo-Ho-Ho-Ha

For most of us, spending Christmas on a tropical island is a pipe dream. So perhaps the best we can do is to get cosy under a blanket and tune into the Hawaii Bowl, where the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Cal Golden Bears square off late on Christmas Eve.

So late, in fact, that it’s actually Christmas Day before this game kicks off in the UK (1am). But if there’s one game this week that’s worthy of staying up for, it’s probably this one.

Hawaii, naturally, has plenty of history with this bowl game, which has been played since 2002. Affiliated with the Mountain West, if the Warriors are eligible for the postseason, then this game usually features them for obvious logistical reasons. And 2025 has seen a football renaissance on the islands.

Hawaii have been fighting to get back to the halcyon days under June Jones for some time, recently turning to former star quarterback Timmy Chang to change their fortunes. It’s taken four years, but Chang has finally got his run-and-shoot offense cooking, with the Warriors posting an 8-4 regular-season record.

They face a Cal team that hasn’t disgraced themselves in 2025, but a 7-5 record wasn’t good enough for Jeff Tedford to keep his job. The Bears have appointed ex-alumni Josh Tupoi as their new head coach, and he’ll be looking to kick off a new era in style.

Cal’s rookie quarterback phenom, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, heads back to his native homeland ready to put on a show. Meanwhile, for Hawaii, keep an eye on Japanese kicker Kansei Matsuzawa - aka ‘The Tokyo Toe’ - who taught himself how to kick by watching YouTube videos and has been nearly perfect in 2025.

Sun, sand, and football. All as Santa is out delivering presents. What’s not to love?

Things Get Tasty In Orlando

College football is known for its variety of traditions and pageantry. But when it comes to bowl season, all of that is turned up a notch. In a conscious drive to differentiate themselves from the next game, sponsors are keen to buy into the madness - and since 2023, no bowl has done a better job than the one in Orlando, Florida.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl has only existed for three years, even if the game it sponsors has been around since the fall of the Berlin Wall. And in the past two contests, they have done a great job of encapsulating the spirit of bowl season.

Starting off with just one mascot and then doubling to two last season, 2025’s iteration will have SIX life-sized Pop-Tarts prowling the sideline, each one a different flavour. And the best part? The winning team will decide which one they get to eat after the clocks hit zero.

Yep, that’s right. One of the mascots will be lowered into a giant toaster, and a big Pop-Tart will come out at the bottom, completely edible. If that’s not worth turning on DAZN at 8.30pm on Saturday, I don’t know what is.

For any of the purists out there, this bowl game also pits two power conference programs with twenty wins between them against each other. Both BYU and Georgia Tech had strong seasons in 2025, and in Bear Bachmeier and Haynes King boast two of the best quarterbacks in college football.

But let’s not pretend this one is about football. Frosted cherry or wild berry? Hot fudge sundae or cookies & creme? The perfect post-Christmas treat.

America’s Game Meets America’s Pastime

One of the more unique aspects of bowl season is the venues where the games are played. From NFL stadia to fields built on the sides of mountains and even matchups in the Bahamas, bowl games have historically offered teams, fans and families an opportunity to visit new and unusual destinations.

One such quirky tradition is college football’s penchant for playing games at homes reserved for a different US Sport. Baseball is built into American culture, hugely popular in its own right. And two of the most famous teams on the diamond - the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees - play host to a bowl game during the holidays.

This year’s Pinstripe Bowl, held at Yankee Stadium, is worth checking in on; two teams that flattered to deceive this year, both Penn State and Clemson, have something to prove. Is Dabo Swinney on the hotseat? And how will Matt Campbell do in his first game as head coach of the Nittany Lions? 

Meanwhile, the Fenway Bowl in Boston has boxed clever and invited two fairly local programs, hopefully guaranteeing a good crowd. UConn beat two Power 4 schools on the way to a 9-3 record, and will face an Army team licking their wounds after losing so agonisingly to rivals Navy two weeks ago.

With these games overlapping on Saturday, you’ll need to get two screens on the go. Which teams are more suited to the bullpen instead of the sidelines? Keep your eye out for a few curveballs as all four try to end 2025 in style.

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