By Doug Halberstadt

Sports Columnist

’Tis the season may not just refer to the holidays any longer. It can also be applied to the college football bowl game schedule.

Starting this Saturday, Dec. 19, and continuing for the following 20 days, a total of 34 different bowl games will be available for college football fans to pick and choose.

It all starts with Wyoming (6-6) taking on Fresno State (8-4) in the New Mexico Bowl. It culminates with the BCS National Championship Game featuring Alabama (13-0) and Texas (13-0) battling it out for the crystal football trophy.

Sandwiched in between those two games, an additional 64 teams will compete in another 32 bowl games. For all of the die-hard college football fans in our area, I have compiled a comprehensive list of all of those games, including the date, teams, records and which network will televise the game.

• St. Petersburg Bowl: Dec. 19—Rutgers (8-4) vs. University of Central Florida (8-4), ESPN

• New Orleans Bowl: Dec. 20—Southern Mississippi (7-5) vs. Middle Tennessee (9-3), ESPN

• Las Vegas Bowl: Dec. 22—BYU (10-2) vs. Oregon State (8-4), ESPN

• Poinsettia Bowl: Dec. 23—Utah (9-3) vs. California (8-4), ESPN

• Hawaii Bowl: Dec. 24—SMU (7-5) vs. Nevada (8-4), ESPN

• Little Caesar’s Bowl: Dec. 26—Ohio (9-4) vs. Marshall (6-6), ESPN

• Meineke Bowl: Dec. 26—North Carolina (8-4) vs. Pittsburgh (9-3), ESPN

• Emerald Bowl: Dec. 26—USC (8-4) vs. Boston College (8-4), ESPN

• Music City Bowl: Dec. 27—Clemson (8-5) vs. Kentucky (7-5), ESPN

• Independence Bowl: Dec. 28—Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5), ESPN

• Eagle Bank Bowl: Dec. 29—Temple (9-3) vs. UCLA (6-6), ESPN

• Champs Sports Bowl: Dec. 29—Miami (9-3) vs. Wisconsin (9-3), ESPN

• Humanitarian Bowl: Dec. 30—Bowling Green (7-5) vs. Idaho (7-5), ESPN

• Holiday Bowl: Dec. 30—Nebraska (9-4) vs. Arizona (8-4), ESPN

• Sun Bowl: Dec. 31—Stanford (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-5), CBS

• Armed Forces Bowl: Dec. 31—Air Force (7-5) vs. Houston (10-3), ESPN

• Texas Bowl: Dec. 31—Missouri (6-6) vs. Navy (8-4), ESPN

• Insight Bowl: Dec. 31—Minnesota (6-6) vs. Iowa State (6-6), NFL Network

• Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Dec. 31—Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Tennessee (7-5), ESPN

• Outback Bowl: Jan. 1, 2010—Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5), ESPN

• Capital One Bowl: Jan. 1, 2010—Penn State (10-2) vs. LSU (9-3), ABC

• Gator Bowl: Jan. 1, 2010—Florida State (6-6) vs. West Virginia (9-3), CBS

• Rose Bowl: Jan. 1, 2010—Ohio State (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-2), ABC

• Sugar Bowl: Jan. 1, 2010—Florida (12-1) vs. Cincinnati (12-0), FOX

• International Bowl: Jan. 2, 2010—South Florida (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5), ESPN2

• Cotton Bowl: Jan. 2, 2010—Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. Mississippi (8-4), FOX

• Papa John’s Bowl: Jan. 2, 2010—U CONN (7-5) vs. South Carolina (7-5), ESPN

• Liberty Bowl: Jan. 2, 2010—East Carolina (9-4) vs. Arkansas (7-5), ESPN

• Alamo Bowl: Jan. 2, 2010—Michigan State (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (8-4), FOX

• Fiesta Bowl: Jan. 4, 2010—Boise State (13-0) vs. TCU (12-0), FOX

• Orange Bowl: Jan. 5, 2010—Iowa (10-2) vs. Georgia Tech (11-2), FOX

• GMAC Bowl: Jan. 6, 2010—Central Michigan (11-2) vs. Troy (9-3), ESPN

There you have it, all 34 bowl games listed in one central location. If you are one of those fans who is going to try to watch all of those games, you might want to cut out this column and keep it with you. I don’t know how else anyone could keep all of those games straight.

Doug Halberstadt can be reached via e-mail at Dougster61@aol.com.

From the Dec. 16-22, 2009 issue