Carla and Crappy Show: The 2018 Bowlapalooza Edition

Bowl season is upon us, which can only mean one thing … it’s time for our #CnCShow annual roast of the 3,613 meaningless (but ridiculously fun) college football games that will happen between now and early January, in a show that we lovingly call Bowlapalooza.

In addition to our #GroupOfFiveAfterDark correspondent AJ Kufic, we’re typically joined by a cast of thousands. This year, however, we apparently needed to work on making more friends, because the only person we could bribe to return is Carla’s husband, David Fox, a recovering sports journalist. But we’ve regrouped and carried on. (At least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.)

After a conversation about the existing College Football Playoff and our desires for a new version of said playoff, here are the bowl games that made the cut this year:

DXL Frisco Bowl (8 p.m ET Wed., Dec. 19, ESPN)
San Diego State (7-5) vs. Ohio (8-4)
Crappy gets the first bowl game this year as his Bobcats are playing a bowl that is somehow (remarkably) not in San Francisco. Ohio has won four of its last five games … SDSU has lost four of five. Hmm.

Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl (12:30 p.m. ET Fri., Dec. 21, ESPN)
Florida International (8-4) vs. Toledo (7-5)
David takes this one because don’t these two teams play each other every year? Isn’t FIU in the MAC South? We kid. Only slightly.

Jared Birmingham Bowl (12 p.m. ET Sat., Dec. 22, ESPN)
Memphis (8-5) vs. Wake Forest (6-6)
David’s second pick. A Group of Five team finally plays a team from a major conference … and it’s Wake Forest. (Insert sad trombone here.) Also, who the heck is Jared Birmingham?

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (3:30 p.m. ET Sat., Dec. 22, ESPN)
Houston (8-4) vs. Army (10-2)
As an Army veteran, Crappy takes this bowl … and the Black Knights, a team that’s riding high after another win over rival Navy. Houston has a prolific offense … but Army runs the triple-option and has the ninth-best defense in the country.

Cheez-It Bowl (9 p.m. ET Wed., Dec. 26, ESPN)
California (7-5) vs. TCU (6-6)
Carla takes this game because … snacks! Seriously, you may need a box of Cheez-Its to get through this game, which features two lackluster offenses. This is Cal’s first bowl appearance since 2015.

Walk-On’s Independence Bowl (1:30 p.m. ET Thurs., Dec. 27, ESPN)
Temple (8-4) vs. Duke (7-5)
Nope. This is in fact not a basketball game. It’s an actual college football game that Carla picked because Temple interim head coach Ed Foley is an amazing human being who happened to give one of the best press conference speeches ever in mid-December.

Camping World Bowl (5:15 p.m. ET Fri., Dec. 28, ESPN)
West Virginia (8-3) vs. Syracuse (9-3)
Oh, hey … AJ finally gets a game! Despite Will Grier sitting this one out, there’s still a lot of intrigue here. Dino versus Holgo? This could get stupid silly.

Redbox Bowl (3 p.m. ET Mon., Dec. 31, FOX)
Michigan State (7-5) vs. Oregon (8-4)
AJ picks this game for many reasons, but two in particular stand out — it’s sponsored by a physical media company in the heart of Silicon Valley, and no one will see it because it’s being played in Santa Clara during rush hour. But if you ever wanted to attend a bowl game for $25, this is the game for you!

As always, we’re incredibly grateful to David and AJ for joining us. The #CnCShow will be back with our first of two College Football Playoff preview shows at the end of the month. Happy holidays … and enjoy this most wonderful football time of the year!