Chances are, if you're reading this newsletter, you're used to consuming bowl season in bulk. But even the most bowl-enthusiastic viewers among us have conflicts (if for no other reason than a few of these games are scheduled for the same time), and it becomes useful to know which to prioritize. So a few years ago, we started up an annual Bowl Watchability Ranking. The idea is simple: to rate each FBS bowl on a scale of 1 (it's football) to 5 (probably all-time fun football) and stack them up, 1-39 (or whatever). I (Alex Kirshner) asked the rest of our staff to rate every game. New for this year, we opened up a Google form that we sent around on Twitter, so the public's weighed in with a vote as well. What follows is the Watchability Score for 39 FBS bowls in 2019-20. (As always, you should consume the Celebration Bowl and the various playoffs in FCS, Division II, and Division III, too. Jason's got a whole multi-level postseason calendar, with notes on every bowl's weirdest year ever, right here.) All times are p.m. Eastern unless otherwise noted. The absolute must-watches Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Fiesta semifinal #2 Ohio State vs. #3 Clemson 12/28, 8, ESPN 5.0 Peach semifinal #1 LSU vs. #4 Oklahoma 12/28, 4, ESPN 4.8 Cheez-It Air Force vs. Washington State 12/27, 10:15, ESPN 4.4 Las Vegas #19 Boise State vs. Washington 12/21, 7:30, ABC 4.3 Outback #12 Auburn vs. #18 Minnesota 1/1, 1, ESPN 4.3 Ohio State-Clemson sets up as the best on-paper semifinal ever, with two teams who'd be #1-seed good in most years. That also has a REVENGE GAME angle, and Ohio State might have a chance now that its assistant coaching staff is less – how can I say this? – Schiano-ish. I suspect our group would've pumped up the Cheez-It a bit no matter what, given last year's all-time beautiful mess between Cal and TCU. But the pairing of a Mike Leach air raid with a service academy triple-option attack makes this one of the best schematic culture clashes in football history. The Chris Petersen Bowl will at least have lots of wholesome sentimentality, and Auburn-Minnesota is a ripe opportunity for Auburn to ruin someone's day. Will that be Auburn? Will that be Minnesota? Yes. A really good chance to be really good Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Cotton #10 Penn State vs. #17 Memphis 12/28, 12, ESPN 4.1 Gator Tennessee vs. Indiana 1/2, 7, ESPN 4.0 Liberty #23 Navy vs. Kansas State 12/31, 3:45, ESPN 4.0 Hawaii BYU vs. Hawaii 12/24, 8, ESPN 3.9 Citrus #13 Alabama vs. #14 Michigan 1/1, 1, ABC 3.7 Texas #25 Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M 12/27, 6:45, ESPN 3.7 Rose #6 Oregon vs. #8 Wisconsin 1/1, 5, ESPN 3.6 Holiday #16 Iowa vs. #22 USC 12/27, 8, FS1 3.5 New Orleans #20 Appalachian State vs. UAB 12/21, 9, ESPN 3.5 Several of these are likely to be great. I'm partial to the Liberty Bowl, which pits two strong rebound teams, one of whom beat Oklahoma. I also like Penn State-Memphis, because the idea of Memphis beating a Big Ten big boy with either an interim coach or FSU's head coach pleases me. Bama-Michigan will be a bit of a downer for everyone involved, in part because a bunch of guys might not play. That sets up well for Michigan to win and fans to spend the offseason claiming a breakthrough. Alabama fans might claim their team didn't care, and that they're not actually mad over this loss. One of those assertions could be true! If you were picking one bowl to make a whole weekend of, you could do a lot worse than drinking on Bourbon Street with a bunch of App State fans. Hardworking, middle-class bowls Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Redbox Illinois vs. Cal 12/30, 4, Fox 3.3 Boca Raton SMU vs. FAU 12/21, 3:30, ABC 3.2 Camping World #15 Notre Dame vs. Iowa State 12/28, 12, ABC 3.2 Military North Carolina vs. Temple 12/27, 12, ESPN 3.2 Belk Kentucky vs. Virginia Tech 12/31, 12, ESPN 3.1 Bahamas Charlotte vs. Buffalo 12/20, 2, ESPN 3.0 Music City Missisippi State vs. Louisville 12/30, 4, ESPN 2.9 Orange #9 Florida vs. #24 Virginia 12/30, 8, ESPN 2.9 Sun Florida State vs. Arizona State 12/31, 2, CBS 2.9 Gasparilla UCF vs. Marshall 12/23, 2:30, ESPN 2.8 Alamo Texas vs. #11 Utah 12/31, 7:30, ESPN 2.6 Cure Liberty vs. Georgia Southern 12/21, 2:30, CBSSN 2.6 Armed Forces Tulane vs. Southern Miss 1/4, 11:30 a.m., ESPN 2.4 These bowls are just trying to pay their mortgages. We should be doing all we can to help them do that, and that includes watching what we can. Iowa State came a two-pointer away from beating Oklahoma and could definitely hurt Notre Dame's feelings. Texas-Utah will be fun for a lot of people, because either Utah will stomp the Horns or someone in Texas gear will grab a microphone and declare his program back. Florida-UVA in the Orange Bowl is notable because UVA is joining the list of the worst BCS/New Year's Six/etc. teams ever. Now watch them win. (Probably not! But maybe!) Did a good and trusted friend forward you this email? Thank them for their good taste and then mash this button to subscribe yourself. The hunt for diamonds in the rough Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Mobile/LendingTree/whatever Louisiana CAJUNS vs. Miami (Ohio) 1/6, 7:30, ESPN 2.3 Independence Miami vs. Louisiana Tech 12/26, 4, ESPN 2.3 Arizona Georgia State vs. Wyoming 12/31, 4:30, CBSSN 2.3 First Responder WKU vs. Western Michigan 12/30, 12:30, ESPN 2.3 Camellia Arkansas State vs. FIU 12/21, 5:30, ESPN 2.1 Tropical Smoothie/Frisco/etc. Kent State vs. Utah State 12/20, 7:30, ESPN2 2.1 New Mexico San Diego State vs. Central Michigan 12/21, 2, ESPN 2.0 2018's First Responder Bowl was the most efficient bowl ever, in that it got canceled in the first quarter. This never happens. We'll see if 2019 can somehow be more memorable, though that is a tall order. I don't ever tell someone not to watch a football game, but I can't in good consience urge you to watch San Diego State. However, if the New Mexico Bowl organizers finally take heed and play ball with our offer to name that game "The Banner Society New Mexico Bowl," I might reconsider. Well, here's the Sugar Bowl Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Sugar #5 Georgia vs. #7 Baylor 1/1, 8:45, ESPN 1.8 "Wow, look at all these Florida homers who work for this website," a Georgia fan might be thinking right now. Look. Our somewhat Gator-heavy group did rate this game worse than the hundreds and hundreds of people who filled out the public ballot, but even the democratic public sees UGA-Baylor as no more enjoyable a viewing experience than the Illinois-Cal Redbox Bowl. These are football games Bowl Matchup Date, time, TV WATCH SCORE Birmingham #21 Cincinnati vs. Boston College 1/2, 3, ESPN 1.8 Potato Ohio vs. Nevada 1/3, 3:30, ESPN 1.7 Quick Lane Pitt vs. Eastern Michigan 12/26, 8, ESPN 1.7 Pinstripe Wake Forest vs. Michigan State 12/27, 3:20, ESPN 1.6 Any of the teams in the Birmingham, Quick Lane, and Pinstripe could decide to swap with any of the others, and the ADs of those schools would not notice. Having said that, every bowl game is actually good (yes, even the Pinstripe, which could easily become a four-OT spectacle), and anyone complaining about the overall bounty of them just sounds like someone from the 1920s. If you'd like to start your own, here's the step-by-step guide. You're gonna need to give it a very silly name.