It’s officially bowl season in college football! Headlined by the two College Football Playoff semifinal matchups on New Year’s Eve, bowl season is always an entertaining way to wrap up the year in college football. With a series of compelling contests taking place across the country, there is plenty of opportunity for fans to take in the action. Here’s a look at the most in-demand tickets of bowl season, using insights from SI Tickets.
1. Peach Bowl: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Ohio State
Dec. 31, 8 p.m. ET, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
The defending-champion Bulldogs continue their chase for a second straight national championship in a familiar building. Stetson Bennett and the Dawgs have already won twice this season in Atlanta, in their opener against Oregon and the SEC championship game against LSU. Can they make it 3–0 in Atlanta and 14–0 on the season? To do so, Kirby Smart’s defense will have to slow down Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud and the high-flying Buckeyes, who have a new lease on life after sneaking into the College Football Playoff despite their loss to Michigan.
The Buckeyes defense had looked much improved for a lot of the season but gave up 45 points in that blowout loss to the Wolverines the last time OSU hit the field. Bennett, a fellow Heisman finalist, has tons of weapons at his disposal offensively and leads an offense that averages nearly 40 points per game. The UGA offense will also likely have the crowd on its side, with this game being played around 90 minutes from campus. This will be a hot ticket for the Georgia faithful, and for Ohio State to pull the upset, they’ll have to do it in a hostile environment.
2. Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 TCU
Dec. 31, 4 p.m. ET, State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
Michigan’s path to the College Football Playoff has been a dominant one. Not only did the Wolverines not lose a game en route to a 13–0 regular season, but Jim Harbaugh’s team played just two one-score games all season. They own top-10 marks nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and the Michigan running game has hardly missed a beat with Blake Corum sidelined.
The team standing in the way of Michigan’s spot in the title game in January is TCU, the lone CFP team from outside the powerhouse Big Ten and SEC. The Horned Frogs have surprised all year long in Sonny Dykes’s first season, riding the wave of a quarterback who wasn’t even expected to start in the preseason to a 12–0 streak. That QB, Max Duggan, is off to New York as a Heisman finalist on the heels of an impressive performance in the Big 12 championship to help the Horned Frogs stay in the game against Kansas State. Pulling this upset would be one last stunner in a season full of them for this surprising TCU bunch, but it won’t be easy.
3. Rose Bowl: No. 8 Utah vs. No. 11 Penn State
Jan. 2, 5 p.m. ET, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
It may not be part of this year’s College Football Playoff, but the Rose Bowl is still the Granddaddy of Them All for a reason. It’s a special day on the college football calendar, and this year’s matchup should be plenty of fun.
Utah makes its second straight appearance in the Rose Bowl after beating USC in the Pac-12 championship game. Last year’s game was a shootout of epic proportions against Ohio State, as the Utes put up 45 points but came up just short after a record-setting performance from Buckeyes wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. This year’s game seems likely to be far lower-scoring: Penn State gives up just 18 points per game (10th-best in FBS), while Utah has a top-25 defense of its own. That said, the Utes have proven they can put up points when needed, with the 47 they scored against USC in the Pac-12 title game the latest example.
4. Gator Bowl: No. 19 South Carolina vs. No. 21 Notre Dame
Dec. 30, 3:30 p.m. ET, TIAA Bank Stadium, Jacksonville
Perhaps no team enters bowl season with more momentum than South Carolina, which roared to life in the season’s final two weeks with wins over Tennessee and Clemson that wreaked havoc on the College Football Playoff race. While those big wins weren’t enough to secure the Gamecocks a New Year’s Six bowl game, a win here would mean South Carolina would clinch their first nine-win season since 2017, marking the first season ending the year ranked since the Steve Spurrier era in Columbia.
To do so, they’ll need to knock off a Notre Dame team that won’t have its starting quarterback. Drew Pyne, who started the team’s final 10 games of the season, entered the transfer portal following the regular season. That means Notre Dame will turn to Tyler Buchner, who gets a second chance after getting hurt in the team’s second game against Marshall. The Gator Bowl could be an audition for Buchner as the potential starter next season in South Bend.
5. Orange Bowl: No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 7 Clemson
Dec. 30, 8 p.m. ET, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
It’s fitting for these two iconic orange schools to face off in the Orange Bowl. The keys to the Clemson offense are officially in the hands of star freshman Cade Klubnik after DJ Uiagalelei was benched against North Carolina and subsequently entered the transfer portal. Will Klubnik show up in this one and make a case for why he could be in next season’s Heisman conversation? Tennessee’s defense has been known to give up points, including the 63-point outburst they surrendered against South Carolina in the game that shuttered the Vols’ playoff hopes.
Meanwhile, it’s an opportunity for Tennessee to finish strong in what has been an outstanding second season under Josh Heupel. This offense may not be quite as explosive with Joe Milton in at quarterback over Hendon Hooker, but the Vols are still one of the most dynamic teams to watch in college football and could lock up the program’s best finish in more than two decades with a win.
