College bowl games are as much a part of the holiday season as champagne at New Years or running up your credit card bill. Whether you’re watching the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl or rooting on your alma mater as they chase the national championship, it can be a tricky proposition if you’ve joined the growing number of people who have cut the cable cord.
The local sports bar is an option, but it’s inevitably a crowded, distracting one. And not everyone has friends close by who are into the same team.
Fortunately, you have options. Here’s a look at who’s playing in which bowl games in 2019 and 2020—and some options to watch the games if your current TV setup proves problematic.
What is the 2019-2020 college bowl schedule?
While bowl games used to largely take place on or around the same day, they’re much more widely spread out these days, filling a 24 day window. Here’s who’s playing where this year.
Monday, Dec. 30
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl – Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. Western Michigan Broncos, 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Louisville Cardinals, 4 p.m. ET on ESPN
Redbox Bowl – California Golden Bears vs. Illinois Fighting Illini, 4 p.m. ET on Fox
Capital One Orange Bowl – Florida Gators vs. Virginia Cavaliers, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Tuesday, Dec. 31
Belk Bowl – Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Kentucky Wildcats, 12:00p.m. on ESPN
Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl – Florida State Seminoles vs. Arizona State Sun Devils, 2 p.m. ET on CBS
AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Navy Midshipmen vs. Kansas State Wild Cats, 3:45 p.m. ET on ESPN
NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl – Wyoming Cowboys vs. Georgia State Panthers, 4:30 ET on CBS Sports Network
Valero Alamo Bowl – Utah Utes vs. Texas Longhorns, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Wednesday, Jan. 1
Vrbo Citrus Bowl – Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide, 1 p.m. ET on ABC
Outback Bowl – Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Auburn Tigers, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual – Oregon Ducks vs. Wisconsin Badgers, 5 p.m. ET on ESPN
Allstate Sugar Bowl – Georgia Bulldogs vs. Baylor Bears, 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN
Thursday, Jan. 2
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl – Boston College Eagles vs. Cincinnati Bearcats, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl – Indiana Hoosiers vs. Tennessee Volunteers, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Friday, Jan. 3
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – Ohio Bobcats vs. Nevada Wolf Pack, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Saturday, Jan. 4
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl – Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles vs. Tulane Green Wave, 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN
Monday. Jan. 6
LendingTree Bowl – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns vs. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks, 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Monday, Jan. 13
College Football Playoff National Championship – Clemson Tigers vs. LSU Tigers, 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
How can I watch college bowl games for free?
Watching a bowl game for free without cable is a little trickier than an NFL game, since so many are broadcast on cable channels. To catch the ones that are being broadcast by networks, though, the best way to watch on a big screen is with a good HD antenna. Local and regional games are broadcast by ABC and CBS, meaning you’ve got a good chance of capturing some games over the air, which costs nothing beyond the equipment prices.
Be sure to test the antenna in multiple locations in your home to find the most reliable signal.
Can I watch college bowl games games online?
There are loads of online options to watch bowl games, some completely free and others with free trial periods. If you’re not near a TV, you can log into ESPN.com or the ESPN app, CBS offers its All Access streaming service, which has a one week free trial, followed by a $6 monthly charge. And ABC’s Web site and app will let you watch live programming on the go.
Prefer another option? Here are a few that work just as well.
- ESPN+ – Stream live sports and original series with this premium service. The downside? There’s no free trial.
- Disney+ – There is, however, a free trial for Disney’s bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. You’ve got seven days to enjoy the services for free, after which you’ll pay $12.99 per month for all three combined.
- Locast.org – This free service lets you watch local broadcast channels with no monthly fees or contracts. The hiccup is: It only services part of the country.
- Sling TV – Dish Network’s Sling is one of the OG cord cutter options. It has an extensive selection of ESPN options in its lower tiered “Orange” plan. That will run you $30 per month, but you won’t get Fox Sports in that bundle. (For that, you’ll also need to subscribe to Sling’s “Blue” plan, which bumps the cost to $45-per-month.) You’ll have a 7-day free trial first.
- AT&T TVNow – Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T’s streaming service will run you $65 per month and up after a 7-day free trial.
- PlayStation Vue – The free trial is 5 days. Subscription packages start at $50 per month.
- Hulu with Live TV – You can try the service free for a week. Once that’s up, you’ll pay $45 per month.
- YouTube TV – After a seven day trial, you can expect monthly charges of $50.
- Fubo TV – This sports-focused cord cutting service carries CBS in most markets. There’s a seven-day free trial, followed by monthly charges of $55.
Can I watch college bowl games games on Amazon?
Sadly, no. No college bowl games are currently scheduled to stream on Amazon this year.