2025 Bowl Mania: Birmingham Bowl Preview

Following Saturday’s busy schedule, Monday provides a reprieve with just a single college football game to keep tabs on.

It is the final day of bowl season until the CFP semifinals the first week of January where only one game will be played.

Let’s take a look at the main attraction on Monday afternoon.

JLab Birmingham Bowl

Georgia Southern vs. Appalachian State (Monday, 2 PM ET – ESPN)

As much as I will die on the hill defending Bowl Mania, sometimes even I need to admit that the current landscape of college football has created difficult to explain (and justify) wonkiness. This matchup in Birmingham isn’t just a rivalry game – it’s one that occurred less than two months ago as a Sun Belt Conference tilt. While this matchup has been played 40 previous times dating back to 1932, this will be the first time in its history that it will be played outside Boone, North Carolina and Statesboro, Georgia. The Mountaineers didn’t meet the six-win threshold to qualify for a bowl game on merit alone, but managed to find a way in thanks to the numerous opt outs and declines by other programs.

In November, Appalachian State spotted Georgia Southern a 16-point lead before a furious fourth quarter comeback came up just short. The Mountaineers were the Sun Belt’s worst pass defense this season and the Eagles took advantage of that, seeing JC French throw for 352 yards in the contest. Appalachian State loses a lot of pieces from its defensive front that won’t be available for this game, potentially giving Georgia Southern options in terms of how to break down the defense. However, leading rusher OJ Arnold is not expected to play in this game so it could be a similar gameplan for the Eagles. The Mountaineers ran a pass heavy offense this season but will be without both of the quarterbacks (AJ Swann and JJ Kohl) that did the majority of the work at quarterback. While this is the biggest concern in terms of Appalachian State’s ability to move the football, it’s also an opportunity to evaluate for next season. If the players were willing to accept this bowl bid, something tells me that they’ll be ready to go no matter the circumstances. Beating a team twice in the same season is difficult, and doing it against a rival is even tougher. Georgia Southern probably should win, but this feels like a spot where bowl season quirkiness can win the day.

My Pick: 27-23 Appalachian State

Bowl Mania Confidence: 3 points