ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, has announced the matchups for its 18 owned and operated college football bowl games for the 2021-22 Bowl Season.
The Bahamas Bowl (noon ET, ESPN) and Tailgreeter Cure Bowl (6 p.m., ESPN2) kick off the schedule on Friday, Dec. 17. Seventeen of the ESPN Events bowl games will air on ESPN while the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 18 will air on ABC at noon. The schedule also includes the addition of the inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston on Wednesday, Dec. 29 (11 a.m., ESPN) and the new Frisco Football Classic, which will be played Thursday, Dec. 23 (5:30 p.m., ESPN2) in Frisco, Texas.
The entire 18-game ESPN Events bowl games in 2021-22:
Bahamas Bowl
The Bahamas Bowl will be played on Friday, Dec. 17 at noon on ESPN. Middle Tennessee (Conference USA) will face Toledo (Mid-American Conference) at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. The Bahamas Bowl debuted in 2014 and is the longest-running international bowl game in college football history.
Tailgreeter Cure Bowl
The Tailgreeter Cure Bowl, which debuted in 2015, is set for Friday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) will play Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois at Exploria Stadium in Orlando.
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
The eighth edition of the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 18 at 11 a.m. on ESPN and ESPN Radio. Appalachian State (Sun Belt) will face Western Kentucky (Conference USA) at FAU Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla.
Cricket Celebration Bowl
The Cricket Celebration Bowl will be contested Saturday, Dec. 18, at noon on ABC. The annual matchup of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) conference champions, which debuted in 2015, will feature South Carolina State (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) against Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl
The PUBG MOBILE New Mexico Bowl will be played Saturday, Dec. 18 at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN Radio. The University of Texas-El Paso (Conference USA) and Fresno State University (Mountain West) will participate in the 16th edition of the New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium in Albuquerque.
Myrtle Beach Bowl presented by TaxAct
The Myrtle Beach Bowl presented by TaxAct is set for Monday, Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. The second edition of this bowl matches Old Dominion (Conference USA) against Tulsa (American Athletic Conference) at Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
The 25th Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is slated for Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. The game will be played at Albertsons Stadium on the campus of Boise State University and will feature Wyoming (Mountain West Conference) and Kent State (Mid-American Conference).
Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl
The Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl will be played Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The fourth installment of this bowl will match San Diego State (Mountain West Conference) against Conference USA champion UTSA at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
The 19th edition of the bowl will feature Army (Independent) against Missouri (SEC) at Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of TCU, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Frisco Football Classic
The new Frisco Football Classic will be played Thursday, Dec. 23 at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. Miami (Ohio) (Mid-American Conference) and North Texas (Conference USA) will meet in this game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
The Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl will be played Thursday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The bowl, which debuted in 2008, will feature a matchup of Sunshine State programs when UCF (American Athletic Conference) faces Florida (SEC) at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Easypost Hawai’i Bowl
The Easypost Hawai’i Bowl will be played on Christmas Eve, Friday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The 19th edition of the bowl will match Memphis (American Athletic Conference) against host Hawai‘i (Mountain West) at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa campus.
TaxAct Camellia Bowl
The TaxAct Camellia Bowl will be played on Christmas Day, Saturday, Dec. 25, at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN. The bowl game, which debuted in 2014, will match Georgia State (Sun Belt) against Ball State (Mid-American Conference) at the historic Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
The TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 28 at noon on ESPN. The 15th installment of the Birmingham Bowl will pit Houston (American Athletic Conference) against Auburn (SEC) at the new Protective Stadium.
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl is set for Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 3:15 p.m. on ESPN. In the 12th edition of the bowl game, Air Force (Mountain West) will play Louisville (ACC) at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the SMU campus in Dallas.
Wasabi Fenway Bowl
The inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl will be played Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 11 a.m. on ESPN. The first college football bowl game to be played at Fenway Park, the historic home of the Boston Red Sox, and the first Division 1 FBS bowl game to be contested in New England, will match SMU (American Athletic Conference) against Virginia (ACC) in Boston, Mass.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
The SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl will be played Thursday, Dec. 30 at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN. In the 30th year of the bowl, Wisconsin (Big Ten) will face Arizona State (Pac-12) at the event’s new home at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
TaxAct Texas Bowl
The TaxAct Texas Bowl will be played Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 9 p.m. on ESPN. In the bowl’s 16th year, Kansas State (Big 12) will face LSU (SEC) at NRG Stadium in Houston, marking the eighth year both conferences are affiliated with the Texas Bowl.
About ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of 35 collegiate sporting events nationwide. The roster includes five early-season college football games, 17 college bowl games, 12 college basketball events, and a college softball event, which accounts for approximately 400 hours of live programming, reaches nearly 64 million viewers and attracts over 800,000 attendees each year. With satellite offices in more than 10 markets across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
ESPN Telecasts Four Most-Viewed College Football Games of the 2021-22 Season
The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship was one for the record books, as Georgia secured its first national title since 1980. The viewership of ESPN’s MegaCast presentation reflected the excitement surrounding the Alabama-Georgia showdown, with 22.6 million viewers tuning in across ESPN networks.
The Dawgs’ thrilling 33-18 victory over the SEC Champion Crimson Tide was up 19 percent from last year’s national championship contest between Alabama and Ohio State. The matchup peaked with 25.4 million viewers.
The Circle City showdown is the top event on cable since the 2020 LSU/Clemson national championship game and the most-viewed non-NFL sporting event during that span on any network. In fact, the top five non-NFL sports events during that time have been CFP Semifinal and Championship games.
The main ESPN telecast of Monday night’s showcase is the second-most-viewed non-NFL telecast (sports or non-sports) on a single network since February 2020. ESPN’s presentation of the action from Indianapolis is the most-watched TWDC telecast since the 2021 NFL Wild Card Game.
The share of TV viewers tuned in to this year’s CFP National Championship on ESPN networks was the best on record in the CFP era. 29 percent of people and 38 percent of adults 18-49 watching television Monday night were tuned in to the CFP National Championship.
Streaming Creates MegaCast Magic Across all ESPN3/ESPN App exclusive feeds, streaming minutes were up 33 percent over 2020. Outside of the linear telecasts, Alabama’s Hometown Radio MegaCast was the most-streamed feed for both uniques and minutes. The Alabama and Georgia Hometown Radio MegaCast viewing options saw substantial year-over-year gains across AMA (up 75 percent), uniques (up 30 percent), minutes (up 85 percent), starts (up 20 percent) and minutes/viewer (up 35 percent).
New Year’s Six and National Championship Up Double Digits YOY The New Year’s Six and CFP National Championship were up 16 percent over last year’s edition, notching 14.2 million average viewers across the seven games. The CFP semifinals and national championship game registered 18.9 million average viewers, on par with last year’s CFP when the semifinals were on New Year’s Day.
This year’s New Year’s Six finished up double digits year-over-year, averaging 12.7 million viewers, and every bowl of the 2021 New Year’s Six surpassed 7.5 million viewers for just the third time of the CFP era. The non-Semifinal New Year’s Six bowls recorded nearly 11 million viewers per game, ranking third out of the eight years of the CFP.
Putting A Bow on Bowl Season Bowl Season delivered in the 2021-22 season, with 29 of 31 non-NY6 bowls this season surpassing one million viewers. Eighteen bowls drew more than two million viewers and nine topped three million. The 31 non-NY6 bowl games registered 2.6 million viewers across ESPN networks, up 12 percent year-over-year. On ESPN, bowl games recorded 2.5 million viewers per game, up 24 percent from 2020 and slightly up from 2019. Of the 27 bowls with a viewership comparison to 2019, 10 had their best audience since at least 2017 and seven had their best since at least 2015.
Across the regular season and postseason, ESPN networks delivered the four most-viewed games of the 2021-22 season (CFP National Championship, both CFP Semifinals and The Rose Bowl Game) and 59 of the top 100 games overall. ESPN networks were responsible for 62 percent of live game college football minutes viewed this season across all nationally measured linear networks.
Coming off the College Football Playoff National Championship, Alabama will participate in their annual A-Day activities on Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Crimson Tide will also have their Pro Day televised by SEC Network on Tuesday, March 23 at noon.
Coming off the College Football Playoff National Championship, Alabama will participate in their annual A-Day activities on Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Crimson Tide will also have their Pro Day televised by SEC Network on Tuesday, March 23 at noon.
Alabama’s Pro Day, with ESPN CFB analyst and former Crimson Tide QB Greg McElroy reporting on site, is one of four pro days airing on SEC Network this spring. Georgia kicks things off on Wednesday, March 17 at 11 a.m., with Bulldog great Matt Stinchcomb reporting live from Athens, as well as host Peter Burns and analyst RomanHarper in studio. For Alabama’s Pro Day on the 23rd, host Dari Nowkhah will be joined by Harper in studio and analyst Gene Chizik from home.
On Wednesday, March 31, SEC Network will have four hours of pro day coverage featuring LSU and Florida, with ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark live from Baton Rouge and Gator legend Chris Doering reporting from Gainesville. In studio, Burns and Harper will be on the desk, with Chizik live from home.
Pro Day events typically include weight room weigh-ins, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump as well as the 40-yard dash, 60-yard shuttle and position workouts for players entering the NFL Draft.
SEC Network’s Pro Day programming is part of its comprehensive spring football coverage, which includes additional SEC spring games live on SEC Network+. All spring football programming will re-air through the spring on SEC Network, including Spring Access shows from Florida and Kentucky.
SEC NETWORK PRO DAYS
Date
Time (ET)
School
Reporter
Wed, Mar 17
11 a.m.
Georgia
Matt Stinchcomb
Tue, Mar 23
Noon
Alabama
Greg McElroy
Wed, Mar 31
11 a.m.
LSU/Florida
Ryan Clark (LSU) Chris Doering (Florida)
TV SCHEDULE – SEC SPRING FOOTBALL GAMES
Date
Time (ET)
School
Network
Sat, Mar 20
2 p.m.
Missouri: Black & Gold Spring Game
SEC Network+
Sat, Apr 17
Noon
Mississippi State: Maroon-White Game
SEC Network+
Vanderbilt: Black and Gold Spring Game
SEC Network+
1 p.m.
Alabama: A-Day
ESPN
LSU: National L-Club Spring Game
SEC Network+
2 p.m.
Georgia: G-Day
SEC Network+
Auburn: A-Day
SEC Network+
3 p.m.
Arkansas: Red-White Spring Game
SEC Network+
Sat, Apr 24
2 p.m.
South Carolina: Garnet-Black Spring Game
SEC Network+
Texas A&M: Maroon & White Game
SEC Network+
4 p.m.
Tennessee: Orange & White Game
SEC Network+
5 p.m.
Ole Miss: Grove Bowl
SEC Network+
SPRING ACCESS SHOWS
Date
Time (ET)
School
Network
TBD
TBD
Florida Football: Spring Access
SEC Network
TBD
TBD
Kentucky Football: Spring Access
SEC Network
About SEC Network The Southeastern Conference and ESPN launched SEC Network on August 14, 2014. The network televises hundreds of games across the SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming includes in-depth analysis and storytelling in studio shows such as SEC Nation, Thinking Out Loud and Rally Cap, daily news and information with SEC Now, original content such as TrueSouth, SEC Storied and SEC Inside, and more. Hundreds of additional live events are available for streaming exclusively on SEC Network’s digital companion, SEC Network+, via the ESPN App and SECNetwork.com. The network is also available in more than 135 countries throughout Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia via ESPN Player, ESPN’s sports streaming service in the region.
University of Maryland head coach Mike Locksley has landed a big fish in Alabama quarterback transfer, Taulia Tagovailoa.
Taulia, the younger brother of former Alabama standout quarterback and No. 5 overall draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tua Tagovailoa, spent one year at Alabama as the third string quarterback last season behind his brother and Mac Jones.
While it was thought that Taulia would perhaps transfer to a Florida school to join his brother and family in the Sunshine State (Tua was drafted by the Miami Dolphins), Taulia made the decision to join former Alabama offensive coordinator, Locksley in College Park.
A 5-foot-11, 208-pound quarterback, Tagovailoa finished 9-of-12 for 100 yards in five games played at Alabama during the 2019 season, where the Crimson Tide went 11-2 and won the Citrus Bowl over Michigan.
Tagovailoa did play in five games last season, so he did not preserve his redshirt status and has three years of eligibility left. The fifth-ranked dual-threat quarterback of the 2019 class, according to ESPN, will have to seek a waiver in order to play in 2020. Regardless of when he gets on the field, this is a big catch for Locksley and the Terps.
“Taulia has outstanding field vision and excellent pocket awareness,” said Locksley in a press release. “He’s a twitchy passer that has the ability to make and extend plays in and outside of the pocket because of his above-average athleticism. Taulia has terrific touch and trajectory on his throws and delivers the ball with above-average accuracy. He’s a highly competitive player that will bring great competition to a good quarterback room.”
While Taulia did not play for Locksley at Alabama, he is joining the man who helped his brother reach incredible statistical heights with the Crimson Tide.
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 3,189 yards and a school-record 37 touchdowns as the Crimson Tide offense averaged 47.9 points and 527.6 yards per game with Locksley at the play calling helm. The Locksley-Tua Tagovailoa combination helped Alabama set school records for points scored (623), single-season total offense (6,859 yards) and passing yards (4,231) in a season.
Taulia is undoubtedly excited as he heads to Maryland and a situation with only two other quarterbacks to compete against.
“I’m so excited to start the next chapter of my career at the University of Maryland,” said Tagovailoa in a press release. “I’m incredibly grateful to all of the amazing people at Alabama, but am also thrilled to join the Terrapin Football Family. I have a great relationship with Coach Locksley and am excited to see what he’s building. I can’t wait to be part of it and I plan on working incredibly hard both on and off the field to make my family, teammates, coaches and fans proud.”
The Terps are slated to open its 2020 season on September 5 as it welcomes the Towson Tigers to Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
