College football TV schedule and open thread: Bowl games kickoff

Do you have your holiday shopping done? Have you already seen The Last Jedi? If you have a free afternoon and/or evening, college football’s bowl season starts today.

With only five options on deck today, I’m simply going to give you the slate, rather than pick certain selections out.

Early (12:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Eastern):

Troy vs. North Texas (1:00 p.m., ESPN/WatchESPN): The first contest of the 2017-18 bowl season features the Mean Green from Conference USA (who Florida defeated at home in 2016 in a shutout game mostly memorable for Luke Del Rio being injured) and the Sun Belt’s Troy in the New Orleans Bowl. The Trojans, you may recall, defeated LSU in Baton Rouge earlier this season and are returning to Louisiana to play in the Superdome.

Which corporate entity is sponsoring this football game: Friends, this here match-up is the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. I had to google R+L Carriers, and by doing so I learned that R+L Carriers is an Ohio based freight shipping company.

Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State (2:30 p.m., CBSSN:): In Orlando today, the Hilltoppers and Panthers meet in the Cure Bowl. Both teams are sporting six wins, though Western Kentucky has lost four of their last five. Georgia State managed to make it to six wins despite having a game rescheduled due to Hurricane Irma.

Which corporation is sponsoring this football game: The title sponsor is car dealer Autonation, in a partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which will receive some funds from the bowl game.

Afternoon (3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern):

Boise State vs. Oregon (3:30 p.m., ABC/WatchESPN): The No. 25 Mountain West Champion Broncos are in the Las Vegas Bowl for the fourth time, and will be facing three-time Las Vegas Bowl participant Oregon. These two west coast offensive stalwarts have only played twice, in 2008 and 2009, both of which were Boise State victories (and the second of which featured the infamous LeGarrette Blount punch).

Which corporation is sponsoring this football game: The Las Vegas Bowl has a terrible website, is owned by ESPN Events, and sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a Las Vegas tourism entity.

Marshall vs. Colorado State (4:30 p.m., ESPN/WatchESPN): The New Mexico Bowl pits the Thundering Herd against the Rams for the first time ever. Colorado State will look to get more than seven wins for the first time in Mike Bobo’s tenure (the Rams have won seven games each of the last three years he has been with the program) and to secure their first bowl win under Bobo. Meanwhile, Marshall teams are 4-0 in their bowl appearances under Doc Holliday, with their last appearance having come in 2015.

Which corporation is sponsoring this football game: The Gildan New Mexico Bowl is sponsored by Gildan, a Canadian manufacturer of very ordinary clothing for screen printing purposes.

Evening ( 7:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Eastern):

Middle Tennessee vs. Arkansas State (8:00 p.m., ESPN/WatchESPN): The Blue Raiders and Red Wolves meet in Montgomery, Alabama. Both teams can score, throw the ball a bit, and one of them features the Sun Belt’s best offense (Arkansas State). Both teams have had uneven seasons. There have been some highs though, including Middle Tennessee defeating a Syracuse team which took down No. 1 Clemson back in October.

Which corporation is sponsoring this football game: The Raycom Media Camellia Bowl is, obviously, sponsored by Raycom Media. Raycom is based in Montgomery, where the game is being played, and is a private television broadcasting and production company.

And here’s your schedule table.