The New Year arrived with a bang as college football fans eagerly tuned in to watch their favorite teams compete in the New Year’s Day bowl games. The traditional “New Year’s Six” featured six major Division 1 bowl games including the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games showcased some of the top schools and teams in the country as they headed towards the College Football Playoff National Championship.
On January 1, five bowl games took place, including two College Football Playoff semifinals. The action kicked off with the Reliaquest Bowl, where Wisconsin faced off against LSU. This was followed by the VRBO Fiesta Bowl featuring Liberty vs. Oregon, and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl with Iowa taking on Tennessee. The Rose Bowl saw the University of Michigan battle against the University of Alabama, and the evening concluded with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, featuring Texas vs. Washington.
For fans who couldn’t attend the games in person, there were various options to watch the matchups on TV and online. ESPN and ESPN+ provided livestreams for the Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl, while ABC aired the Citrus Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Additionally, services like DirecTV Stream allowed fans to stream the games online, some offering free trials for new users.
The New Year’s Day bowl games marked the end of another exciting Bowl Season, which featured a total of 43 games this year. The College Football Playoff National Championship is set to take place on January 8, ending the bowl season with a climactic finale.