MAC Bowl Games Ranked by Watchability

It’s that time of they year, friends and neighbors, when you’ve only got 39 games and the championship game standing between you and the desolate offseason without any college football other than the underwear Olympics at the NFL Combine and/or the ever-spinning coaching carousel. So, over the next month or so you’ve got ample opportunity to watch football, but should you?

The SBNation mothership and Alex Kirshner took it upon themselves to rank every bowl game this bowl season in terms of watchability. SPOILER: The MAC didn’t make the top of the list. That’s not a surprise. It was somewhat surprising, to me at least, that the MAC also didn’t make the bottom of the list. Usually when it comes to any sort of ranking that touches on watchability or national interest, the MAC comes up a little bit short.

Two MAC bowls got the designation of “Try to Catch Most of These” but admittedly, one of them is presumably less about the MAC and more about the opposing staff. I’m under no misgivings that the Boca Raton Bowl is high on the list likely solely because of Lane Kiffin and the high powered Owls offense. But the Owls shouldn’t sleep on the Zips, as they are capable of beating anyone if they decide to actually get it done. The talent is there. The results? Eh. This group also has the game that will have my eyes glued to it, the Dollar General Bowl. For the MAC to get respect on a national stage (more than they already have, at least) there needs to be a signature win in bowl season. The Rockets are the most likely candidate to give the masses the eye-popping result that will be exciting, intriguing, and watchable.

#19: Boca Raton Bowl (Akron Zips vs. Florida Atlantic Owls)
#22: Dollar General Bowl (Toledo Rockets vs. Appalachian State Mountaineers)

Three MAC games are grouped into the “Hunt for Diamonds in the Rough” category. I consider this the storyline bowls, especially for the MAC aficionados. For Ohio, it was the season that could have been if they hadn’t caught Akron on a hot night. Their reward? The existing/not existing/existing UAB football squad. For NIU, it’s the final stanza of an up and down year that saw head coach Rod Carey oscillate between fanbase hope, anger, tepid acceptance, and anger again. And then there’s CMU who had their own shot at a division title, won the Michigan MAC trophy, and endured their own stretch of frustration.

#30: Bahamas Bowl (Ohio University Bobcats vs UAB Blazers)
#31: Quick Lane Bowl (Northern Illinois Huskies vs Duke Blue Devils)
#36: Potato Bowl (Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Wyoming Cowboys)

You can check out the rankings in their entirety here, if you want to see where any other bowl games fall on the spectrum. Vote below on which bowl is the most watchable in your mind.