Yikes, I almost forgot to put up the bowl schedule for all those who’d rather be couch potatoes than go shopping or attend Christmas parties.

There’s already one game completed (the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, in which Temple defeated Wyoming 37 – 15 earlier today), another in progress (the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl [no, I am not kidding], in which Ohio is playing Utah State right now, and one later this afternoon (the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl [still not kidding], in which San Diego State plays Louisiana-Lafayette.

Here’s SI’s Austin Murphy with a little pointed sneering at the BCS:

In the spirit of the holidays, let us spare the BCS the mockery it so richly deserves and focus on the games it has bequeathed us, a mixed bag of matchups ranging from the recycled (No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama in the title game) to the sublime (No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 4 Stanford in what should be a pyrotechnical Fiesta) to the ridiculous (What on earth were you thinking, Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan, passing over two top 10 teams in favor of No. 11 Virginia Tech—coming off a four-touchdown loss to Clemson—and No. 13 Michigan?).

True, Hoolahan’s head-shaking decision reeks of cronyism and is the latest in a long list of reasons to nuke the BCS. But that’s not our focus here—we’re celebrating the teams, the games, the players!

The reason Hoolahan picked Virginia Tech, I’m pretty sure, is that he thought the Hokies’ fans would travel the relatively short distance from Blacksburg to New Orleans for the game he runs in far greater numbers than, say, No. 7 Boise State’s fans would travel from Idaho. I’m not saying he’s wrong, but a game between the Broncos and the Michigan Wolverines might possibly be a lot better than the one he chose.

Here’s Sports Illustrated preview of all of them.