The main event of New Year’s week starts Tuesday night when the quarterfinal round of the new 12-team College Football Playoff gets underway with Penn State and Boise State meeting in the Fiesta Bowl. Before that, however, there’s a solid undercard to whet your appetite for the game that will ring in 2025. Tuesday’s pre-playoff lineup features four bowl games, with the Sunshine and Lone Star States featured prominently.
This foursome of contests involves plenty of name-brand football programs, though they’d all undoubtedly rather be playing later in the week. Nevertheless, here’s a look at the teams on the slate that will help you plan your day of gridiron viewing. ReliaQuest Bowl - No.
11 Alabama vs. Michigan Time/TV/location: Noon ET, ESPN, Tampa, Fla. Why watch: It’s a juicy pairing from the standpoint of being a rematch of a playoff semifinal from a year ago, but it pretty much goes without saying that neither squad is delighted to be here.
The Crimson Tide are likely the more disgruntled of the two having been the last team on the outside looking into the expanded field. The Wolverines showed some fight down the stretch by taking down Ohio State , but many of the players on both sides of the ball responsible for that won’t be taking part. Alabama QB Jalen Milroe will play, though whether he’ll be back next season remains the subject of speculation.
Nevertheless, his presence here is good news for standout freshman WR Ryan Williams. Michigan’s top RBs Ka.