College football bowl games: Who plays today Monday, January 2? | Dates, times and matchups

With the final few bowl games of the college football season upon us, it’s time for a look at the schedule for this first Monday of the new year and let us be the first to tell you, it’s going to be lit!

Bowl Game schedule for Monday 2nd, January

With the arrival of 2023, Bowl season is about to reach its exciting climax and you know what that means. The best and brightest teams of the college football are about to go head-to-head for the NCAA’s biggest prize in the College Football Playoffs. On the other hand, there are a handful of teams that will be playing who didn’t make it to college football’s biggest party. From the Trojans who freely scored touchdowns, to Utah who didn’t, there are collection of sides that will no doubt be unhappy to have missed out on the playoffs, but will be gunning for a win today. Let’s take a look:

Mississippi State vs Illinois

Down in Tampa, Mississippi State will take on Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Suffice to say, it’s been a tough time in recent weeks for the Bulldogs, with the team still processing the death of coach Mike Leach on December 12th. Indeed, Leach will be honored ahead of Monday’s game, with both teams set to wear helmet decals in his honor. It goes without saying that they will be dead set on bringing a close to a tragic moment with a win, which in turn will give them their first nine-win season since 2017. On the other side, Illinois will be seeking to close out their best season in 15-years with what would represent the program’s first trophy in more than a decade.

LSU vs Purdue

The Tigers saw a much-improved performance in 2022. Finishing atop the SEC West courtesy of a pair of wins against ranked teams, including Alabama back on November 5th. Though in the end they fell to No. 1 seeded Georgia in the SEC Championship, it was definitely a good year for the program. Indeed, they finished above .500 for the first time since they won the national championship back in 2019. Where Purdue’s Boilermakers are concerned, the big news out of the camp is that they will be taking the field with a new coach. While Jeff Brohm’s departure will likely have raised eyebrows, the reality is Purdue can still secure a nine-win season which would of course go a long way to increasing their chances when it comes to recruitment later this year.

No. 10 USC vs. No. 16 Tulane

Though it’s stating the obvious, 2022 was a breakout year for Caleb Williams who fittingly claimed the Heisman Trophy after a sensational campaign. While it’s true that he couldn’t be as dominant in the Pac-12 championship game against Utah, the sophomore is definitely looking the part coming into this one. Where Tulane is concerned, the Green Wave is coming off of a nine-win surge that has definitely turned heads this year. As they prepare to take on USC, you can bet they’re going to give everything to become only the fourth Group of Five team to capture a New Year’s Six crown, joining the likes of Boise State (2014), Houston (2015) and UCF (2017) in the winner’s circle.

No. 8 Utah vs. No. 11 Penn State

As we mentioned above the Utah were able to put down a Caleb Williams led USC in the Pac-12 championship game and we’ll be the first to tell you, they did so convincingly. As they head into this one, they will be hoping that Cameron Rising can lead them to glory against their Big Ten foe. As for how that foe looks, Penn State are not just here to make up numbers. Consider for a moment, that the Nittany Lions were in the playoff picture for the large majority of the season until a 41-17 loss to Michigan derailed them. This is all to say, expect fireworks from a team that is filled with talent such as offensive tackle Olu Fashanu.