2016–17 NCAA football bowl games

The 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games were a series of college football bowl games which completed the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The games began on December 17, 2016, and aside from the all-star games ended with the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship which was played on January 9, 2017.
The total of 41 team-competitive postseason games in FBS, including the national championship game, was unchanged from the previous year. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, this was the eleventh consecutive year that teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games. To fill the 80 available team-competitive bowl slots, a new record of 20 teams with non-winning seasons participated in bowl games—17 had a.500 season, and three losing teams with sub-.500 records. This was the fifth time in six years that teams with actual losing records were invited to bowl games. None of the six teams that played in bowls on December 26 had a winning record.

Schedule

The schedule for the 2016–17 bowl games are below. All times are EST.

College Football Playoff and Championship Game

The College Football Playoff system was used to determine a national champion of Division I FBS college football. A 13-member committee of experts ranked the top 25 teams in the nation after each of the last seven weeks of the 2016 season. The top four teams in the final ranking then played a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advancing to the National Championship game.
The semi-final games were held at the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl as part of a yearly rotation of three pairs of six bowls. Their winners advanced to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on January 9, 2017. As with the 2015 season, the two semi-final bowls were held on New Year's Eve, as the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl are guaranteed exclusive TV time slots on January 2 if New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, regardless of whether they will be hosting a semifinal game.
To reduce the impact of the semi-final games' New Year's Eve scheduling—a factor that led to lower viewership of the 2015 semi-finals in comparison to 2014, it was announced on March 8, 2016, that the kickoff times of the two bowls would be pushed forward to 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm ET. CFP commissioner Bill Hancock suggested that starting the games earlier would allow viewers to partake in both the CFP games and New Year's festivities. As the earlier start intrudes on the early afternoon window for New Year's Six games, the 2016 Orange Bowl was instead held as a primetime game on December 30, 2016. As a result, the "New Year's Six" bowls were stretched across a period of four days, rather than two consecutive days of three games each. In July 2016, Hancock announced that future semi-finals, when not hosted by the Rose and Sugar Bowl games, will generally be held on the final Saturday of the year.
Of the Power Five conferences, The Big Ten was represented with four teams in the New Year's Six, whereas the ACC, SEC and Pac-12 had two teams each. The Big 12 was again left out of the semifinals, and had just one team in the New Year's Six. The Group of 5 was represented by the MAC.
File:Raymondjames2005.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Raymond James Stadium, site of the National Championship game

Date	Game	Site	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 30	Orange Bowl	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL 8:00 pm	No. 11 Florida State Seminoles No. 6 Michigan Wolverines	ACC Big Ten	Florida State 33 Michigan 32
Dec. 31	Peach Bowl	Georgia Dome Atlanta, GA 3:00 pm	No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide No. 4 Washington Huskies	SEC Pac-12	Alabama 24 Washington 7
Dec. 31	Fiesta Bowl	University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, AZ 7:00 pm	No. 2 Clemson Tigers No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes	ACC Big Ten	Clemson 31 Ohio State 0
Jan. 2	Cotton Bowl Classic	AT&T Stadium Arlington, TX 1:00 pm	No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers No. 15 Western Michigan Broncos	Big Ten MAC	Wisconsin 24 Western Michigan 16
Jan. 2	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA 5:00 pm	No. 9 USC Trojans No. 5 Penn State Nittany Lions	Pac-12 Big Ten	USC 52 Penn State 49
Jan. 2	Sugar Bowl	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm	No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners No. 14 Auburn Tigers	Big 12 SEC	Oklahoma 35 Auburn 19
Jan. 9	College Football Playoff National Championship	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL 8:30 pm	No. 2 Clemson Tigers No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide	ACC SEC	Clemson 35 Alabama 31

Non-CFP bowl games

On April 11, 2016, the NCAA announced a freeze on new bowl games until after the 2019 season. While bowl games had been the purview of only the very best teams for nearly a century, the NCAA had to lower its postseason eligibility criteria repeatedly, eventually allowing teams with losing records to participate in bowls due to there being not enough bowl-eligible teams, while also having to allow teams from the same conference to meet in the 2015 Arizona Bowl due to the lack of eligible teams to meet its other tie-ins. For the 2016–17 bowl season, [|63% of the 128 teams] playing in Division I FBS were deemed eligible and received invites to fill the 80 available slots.
Prior to the moratorium, multiple new bowl games were proposed for or approved to begin play in 2016, including one in Myrtle Beach, the Medal of Honor Bowl, the Sun Belt/American Austin Bowl, and a Mountain West/Pac-12 bowl in Melbourne, Australia. The Sun Belt subsequently announced that it would become a new primary tie-in for the Arizona Bowl.

Date	Game	Site	Television	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Dec. 17	New Mexico Bowl	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM 2:00 pm	ESPN	New Mexico Lobos UTSA Roadrunners	Mountain West C-USA	New Mexico 23 UTSA 20
Dec. 17	Las Vegas Bowl	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV 3:30 pm	ABC	San Diego State Aztecs Houston Cougars	Mountain West American	San Diego State 34 Houston 10
Dec. 17	Camellia Bowl	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL 5:30 pm	ESPN	Appalachian State Mountaineers Toledo Rockets	Sun Belt MAC	Appalachian State 31 Toledo 28
Dec. 17	Cure Bowl	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 5:30 pm	CBSSN	Arkansas State Red Wolves UCF Knights	Sun Belt American	Arkansas State 31 UCF 13
Dec. 17	New Orleans Bowl	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA 9:00 pm	ESPN	Southern Miss Golden Eagles Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns	C-USA Sun Belt	Southern Miss 28 Louisiana–Lafayette 21
Dec. 19	Miami Beach Bowl	Marlins Park Miami, FL 2:30 pm	ESPN	Tulsa Golden Hurricane Central Michigan Chippewas	American MAC	Tulsa 55 Central Michigan 10
Dec. 20	Boca Raton Bowl	FAU Stadium Boca Raton, FL 7:00 pm	ESPN	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Memphis Tigers	C-USA American	Western Kentucky 51 Memphis 31
Dec. 21	Poinsettia Bowl	SDCCU Stadium San Diego, CA 9:00 pm	ESPN	BYU Cougars Wyoming Cowboys	Independent Mountain West	BYU 24 Wyoming 21
Dec. 22	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl	Albertsons Stadium Boise, ID 7:00 pm	ESPN	Idaho Vandals Colorado State Rams	Sun Belt Mountain West	Idaho 61 Colorado State 50
Dec. 23	Bahamas Bowl	Thomas Robinson Stadium Nassau, Bahamas 1:00 pm	ESPN	Old Dominion Monarchs Eastern Michigan Eagles	C-USA MAC	Old Dominion 24 Eastern Michigan 20
Dec. 23	Armed Forces Bowl	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX 4:30 pm	ESPN	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs No. 25 Navy Midshipmen	C-USA American	Louisiana Tech 48 Navy 45
Dec. 23	Dollar General Bowl	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL 8:00 pm	ESPN	Troy Trojans Ohio Bobcats	Sun Belt MAC	Troy 28 Ohio 23
Dec. 24	Hawaii Bowl	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI 8:00 pm	ESPN	Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders	Mountain West C-USA	Hawaii 52 Middle Tennessee 35
Dec. 26	St. Petersburg Bowl	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, FL 11:00 am	ESPN	Mississippi State Bulldogs Miami RedHawks	SEC MAC	Mississippi State 17 Miami 16
Dec. 26	Quick Lane Bowl	Ford Field Detroit, MI 2:30 pm	ESPN	Boston College Eagles Maryland Terrapins	ACC Big Ten	Boston College 36 Maryland 30
Dec. 26	Independence Bowl	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA 5:00 pm	ESPN2	NC State Wolfpack Vanderbilt Commodores	ACC SEC	NC State 41 Vanderbilt 17
Dec. 27	Heart of Dallas Bowl	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX 12:00 pm	ESPN	Army Black Knights North Texas Mean Green	Independent C-USA	Army 38 North Texas 31
Dec. 27	Military Bowl	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD 3:30 pm	ESPN	Wake Forest Demon Deacons No. 24 Temple Owls	ACC American	Wake Forest 34 Temple 26
Dec. 27	Holiday Bowl	SDCCU Stadium San Diego, CA 7:00 pm	ESPN	Minnesota Golden Gophers Washington State Cougars	Big Ten Pac-12	Minnesota 17 Washington State 12
Dec. 27	Cactus Bowl	Chase Field Phoenix, AZ 10:15 pm	ESPN	Baylor Bears Boise State Broncos	Big 12 Mountain West	Baylor 31 Boise State 12
Dec. 28	Pinstripe Bowl	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY 2:00 pm	ESPN	Northwestern Wildcats No. 23 Pittsburgh Panthers	Big Ten ACC	Northwestern 31 Pittsburgh 24
Dec. 28	Russell Athletic Bowl	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 5:30 pm	ESPN	Miami Hurricanes No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers	ACC Big 12	Miami 31 West Virginia 14
Dec. 28	Foster Farms Bowl	Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, CA 8:30 pm	Fox	No. 19 Utah Utes Indiana Hoosiers	Pac-12 Big Ten	Utah 26 Indiana 24
Dec. 28	Texas Bowl	NRG Stadium Houston, TX 9:00 pm	ESPN	Kansas State Wildcats Texas A&M Aggies	Big 12 SEC	Kansas State 33 Texas A&M 28
Dec. 29	Birmingham Bowl	Legion Field Birmingham, AL 2:00 pm	ESPN	South Florida Bulls South Carolina Gamecocks	American SEC	South Florida 46 South Carolina 39
Dec. 29	Belk Bowl	Bank of America Stadium Charlotte, NC 5:30 pm	ESPN	No. 22 Virginia Tech Hokies Arkansas Razorbacks	ACC SEC	Virginia Tech 35 Arkansas 24
Dec. 29	Alamo Bowl	Alamodome San Antonio, TX 9:00 pm	ESPN	No. 12 Oklahoma State Cowboys No. 10 Colorado Buffaloes	Big 12 Pac-12	Oklahoma State 38 Colorado 8
Dec. 30	Liberty Bowl	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN 12:00 pm	ESPN	Georgia Bulldogs TCU Horned Frogs	SEC Big 12	Georgia 31 TCU 23
Dec. 30	Sun Bowl	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX 2:00 pm	CBS	No. 18 Stanford Cardinal North Carolina Tar Heels	Pac-12 ACC	Stanford 25 North Carolina 23
Dec. 30	Music City Bowl	Nissan Stadium Nashville, TN 3:30 pm	ESPN	No. 21 Tennessee Volunteers Nebraska Cornhuskers	SEC Big Ten	Tennessee 38 Nebraska 24
Dec. 30	Arizona Bowl	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ 5:30 pm	ASN	Air Force Falcons South Alabama Jaguars	Mountain West Sun Belt	Air Force 45 South Alabama 21
Dec. 31	Citrus Bowl	Camping World Stadium Orlando, FL 11:00 am	ABC	No. 20 LSU Tigers No. 13 Louisville Cardinals	SEC ACC	LSU 29 Louisville 9
Dec. 31	TaxSlayer Bowl	EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL 11:00 am	ESPN	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Kentucky Wildcats	ACC SEC	Georgia Tech 33 Kentucky 18
Jan. 2	Outback Bowl	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL 1:00 pm	ABC	No. 17 Florida Gators Iowa Hawkeyes	SEC Big Ten	Florida 30 Iowa 3