2025 Bowl Mania: GameAbove Sports Bowl, Rate Bowl and First Responder Bowl Preview

A Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.

For those that do not, you still received a gift if you stayed up for the conclusion of the Hawai’i Bowl on  Christmas Eve.

Leave it to Cal to jump out to a 21-point lead, blow said lead, regain control with less than two minutes remaining in the game, then allow a touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining to a backup quarterback who was only in the game because Hawai’i’s starter had to come out for a play.

For the neutral viewer, the bowl game has been absolute cinema the past two seasons. Worth every yawn produced on Christmas Day.

While college football cedes center stage in the American sports landscape today, things resume quickly and ramp up significantly not far down the road.

Let’s take a look at the Boxing Day action.

GameAbove Sports Bowl

Central Michigan vs. Northwestern (Friday, 1 PM ET – ESPN)

Neither team is particularly far from Detroit, but it will probably feel more like a home game for the Chippewas, who play around 150 miles from the Motor City. It was an up-and-down year for both teams this season, but this game will be an opportunity to evaluate the depth of both the Big Ten and MAC as a whole. Both Northwestern and Central Michigan will want to control the line of scrimmage and pace of play, allowing the defense to stay fresh and also to limit the number of opportunities by the opposition. Neither team will want to play catch-up football, as the offenses aren’t designed to play quickly nor air it out aggressively.

The Chippewas are on paper balanced offensively, which really means that they prefer to keep the football on the ground. It is a running back room by committee, which should allow Central Michigan to counter Northwestern’s size with depth. On the other side, the Wildcats do have a star at the running back position in Caleb Komolafe who is expected to play in this game after missing the regular season finale. The sophomore is just 114 yards from eclipsing the 1,000 yard rushing mark this season, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by a Northwestern player since Evan Hull in 2021. Expect the Wildcats to give Komolafe a good opportunity to reach that mark, and if he does the team should be in good position to win this game.

My Pick: 26-17 Northwestern

Bowl Mania Confidence: 22 points

Rate Bowl

New Mexico vs. Minnesota (Friday, 4:30 PM ET – ESPN)

This is one of my favorite matchups of the entire bowl season, thanks in large part to a high level of confidence that both teams want to be in Phoenix to play and win this game. PJ Fleck’s reputation in bowl season is a positive one – his teams are 8-2 overall and 6-0 specifically at Minnesota in the postseason. New Mexico is perhaps the best underdog story in FBS this season, and Jason Eck has been a fun personality to get to know along the way. The Lobos got the short end of the stick when it came to the Mountain West title game, so this opportunity to end the year with hardware won’t be taken for granted. I expect them to scrap it up with the bigger, stronger Big Ten opponent.

The Golden Gophers are pretty much what you would expect from a Coach Flex team, with one important distinction. Excellent at taking care of the football and methodical offensively, Minnesota is actually not very good at running the ball. This may have been difficult anyway, as New Mexico boasts the Mountain West’s second best run stopping defense. Instead, this game may come down to turnovers. Minnesota’s +7 turnover margin may be enough to overcome its lack of sexiness offensively, especially if New Mexico (-6 margin) helps it out. I don’t see this game producing a ton of points for the reasons already mentioned, but I do think it will be a very close game and neither team will be unwilling to take chances. I don’t really have a dog in this fight but would love to see the Lobos and their fan base come away with something given how special of a season it has been for that program.

My Pick: 17-13 New Mexico

Bowl Mania Confidence: 23 points

SERVPRO First Responder Bowl

FIU vs. UTSA (Friday, 8 PM ET – ESPN)

If there is one thing to know about the Golden Panthers, it’s that they’re hot heading into this game. FIU began the year 3-5 with several uncompetitive losses, and the chances of ending up in the postseason seemed low. But Willie Simmons did a nice job rallying the troops in his first season as head coach and his team reeled off four straight victories in which the running game successively produced more yards in each of those four contests. They’ll take on a Roadrunners squad that was pretty inconsistent this season, which resulted in UTSA missing expectations (both Around The Corn’s as well as internally, most likely).

Injuries and opt outs could unfortunately have a significant impact on this one. Additionally, while FIU has relied on the run game this season, quarterback Keyone Jenkins has been a leader for the program for years and is very talented in his own right. He has been injured and his status for the game is unclear. If he plays, the fact that it is a groin injury that he has been dealing with may still limit his mobility. If he doesn’t, backup Joe Pesansky is also working back from an injury that kept him out of the season finale. Running back Kejon Owens, who has amassed nearly 1,300 rushing yards this season, may be leaned upon even moreso than usual in this one. Keeping the ball out of the hands of UTSA’s offense will be key, as the Roadrunners can put points on the board quickly. Owen McCown continued to develop this season and was hardly to blame for the team’s inconsistencies this season. I think the Roadrunners are the more talented football team, but whether the defense shows up is frankly anyone’s guess. If it does, McCown & Co. will put a lot of pressure on the Golden Panthers to keep pace. It’s something that FIU managed to do fairly well during its current win streak, so it should be an interesting contest.

My Pick: 37-31 UTSA

Bowl Mania Confidence: 26 points