Don’t miss out on any college football bowl games — Here’s how to watch!

As the year comes to an end, so too does the 2019 college football season. Between the holiday shopping, binge eating and attempts to honor New Year’s resolutions, you’ll find college football bowl games, and lots of ‘em.

Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl season kicks off December 20 and climaxes with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on January 13. In that nearly four-week period we’ll be treated to over 40 bowl games. 

Earlier in the season, we covered how to watch college football in general, but now you’re wondering how to watch every college football bowl game. We’ve got that covered, too. Read on for a full breakdown of how to watch the bowl games, including what channels they’re on, how to get those channels with or without cable, plus the full FBS bowl game broadcast schedule.

What channels are the FBS bowl games on?

ESPN is set to host the vast majority of bowl games this year. In fact, if there weren’t a few games happening at the same time, ESPN likely would air every one of them. Here’s a look at which channels will broadcast bowl games and how many they have scheduled. 

• ESPN – 31 bowl games, including the playoff semifinals and championship game
• ABC – Five bowl games
• ESPN 2 – Two bowl games
• CBS – One bowl game
• CBS Sports Network – Two bowl games
• FOX Sports 1 – One bowl game
• FOX – One bowl game

Cable TV providers with channels to watch the bowl games

Nearly every major TV provider offers local channels, ESPN and ESPN2 with their basic cable packages. The exceptions are DIRECTV’s SELECT package and economy base packages, such as AT&T’s U-Basic TV and Xfinity’s Basic TV plan. These packages have your local channels, but do not include ESPN.

FOX Sports 1 and CBS Sports Network are also available from most providers, but may only be available with higher-tiered packages or add-on sports packages. Refer to our channel guides to find which TV providers and packages offer the channels you need to watch the bowl games.

How to watch the bowl games without cable

If you don’t have cable, you can pick up local channels, ABC, CBS and Fox, with a good digital TV antenna. That’ll get you a few games, but without ESPN, you’re missing out on 75% of the action, including the playoffs. 

To get ESPN without cable, and added sports channels including CBS Sports Network and Fox Sports 1, you’ll need an over-the-top streaming service. ESPN is not available to live stream without a TV provider login, and an ESPN+ subscription does not include live streaming on ESPN.

Streaming services to watch college football bowl games

AT&T TV Now, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV are the best streaming services for watching the bowl games. A subscription to any of these services will run you around $50/mo., but many offer free trial periods you can use to stream the bowl games for free.

Bowl game schedule 2019-2020

Here’s the broadcast schedule (Eastern Time) for the 2019 bowl season, courtesy of NCAA.com.

December 20

• Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl 2 p.m. | ESPN
  Buffalo vs. UNC Charlotte
  Nassau, Bahamas – Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium

• Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl 7:30 p.m. | ESPN2
  Utah State vs. Kent State
  Frisco, TX – Toyota Stadium

December 21

• Celebration Bowl 12 p.m. | ABC
  Alcorn State vs. North Carolina A&T
  Atlanta, GA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium

• New Mexico Bowl – 2 p.m. | ESPN
  Central Michigan vs. San Diego State
  Albuquerque, NM – Dreamstyle Stadium

• Cure Bowl – 2:30 p.m. | CBSSN
  Liberty vs. Georgia Southern
  Orlando, FL – Exploria Stadium

• Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl – 3:30 p.m. | ABC
  SMU vs. Florida Atlantic
  Boca Raton, FL – FAU Stadium

• Camellia Bowl – 5:30 p.m. | ESPN
  Florida International vs. Arkansas State
  Montgomery, AL – Cramton Bowl

• Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl – 7:30 p.m. | ABC
  Boise State vs. Washington
  Las Vegas, NV – Sam Boyd Stadium

• R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl – 9 p.m. | ESPN
  Appalachian State vs. UAB
  New Orleans, LA – Mercedes-Benz Superdome

December 23

• Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl – 2:30 p.m. | ESPN
  UCF vs. Marshall
  Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium

December 24

• Hawai’i Bowl – 8 p.m. | ESPN
  Hawai’i vs. BYU
  Honolulu, HI – Aloha Stadium

December 26

• Walk-On’s Independence Bowl – 4 p.m. | ESPN
  Louisiana Tech vs. Miami
  Shreveport, LA – Independence Stadium

• Quick Lane Bowl – 8 p.m. | ESPN
  Pittsburgh vs. Eastern Michigan
  Detroit, MI – Ford Field

December 27

• Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman – 12 p.m. | ESPN
  North Carolina vs. Temple
  Annapolis, MD – Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

• New Era Pinstripe Bowl – 3:20 p.m. | ESPN
  Michigan State vs. Wake Forest
  New York, NY – Yankee Stadium

• Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl – 6:45 p.m. | ESPN
  Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
  Houston, TX – NRG Stadium

• San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl – 8 p.m. | FS1
  USC vs. Iowa
  San Diego, CA – SDCCU Stadium

• Cheez-It Bowl – 10:15 p.m. | ESPN
  Air Force vs. Washington State
  Phoenix, AZ – Chase Field

December 28

• Camping World Bowl – 12 p.m. | ABC
  Notre Dame vs. Iowa State
  Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium

• Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – 12 p.m. | ESPN
  Penn State vs. Memphis
  Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium

• College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – 4 p.m. | ESPN
  No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Oklahoma
  Mercedes-Benz Stadium – Atlanta, GA

• College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl – 8 p.m. | ESPN
  No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Clemson
  Glendale, AZ – State Farm Stadium

December 30

• SERVPRO First Responder Bowl – 12:30 p.m. | ESPN
  Western Kentucky vs. Western Michigan
  Dallas, TX – Gerald J. Ford Stadium

• Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl – 4 p.m. | ESPN
  Mississippi State vs. Louisville
  Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium

• Redbox Bowl – 4 p.m. | FOX
  California vs. Illinois
  Santa Clara, CA – Levi’s Stadium

• Capital One Orange Bowl – 8 p.m. | ESPN
  Florida vs. Virginia
  Miami Gardens, FL – Hard Rock Stadium

December 31

• Belk Bowl – 12 p.m. | ESPN
  Virginia Tech vs. Kentucky
  Charlotte, NC – Bank of America Stadium

• Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl – 2 p.m. | CBS
  Florida State vs. Arizona State
  El Paso, TX – Sun Bowl

• AutoZone Liberty Bowl – 3:45 p.m. | ESPN
  Navy vs. Kansas State
  Memphis, TN – Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium

• NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl – 4:30 p.m. | CBSSN
  Wyoming vs. Georgia State
  Tucson, AZ – Arizona Stadium

• Valero Alamo Bowl – 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
  Utah vs. Texas
  San Antonio, TX – Alamodome

January 1

• Vrbo Citrus Bowl – 1 p.m. | ABC
  Michigan vs. Alabama
  Orlando, FL – Camping World Stadium

• Outback Bowl – 1 p.m. | ESPN
  Minnesota vs. Auburn
  Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium

• Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual – 5 p.m. | ESPN
  Oregon vs. Wisconsin
  Pasadena, CA – Pasadena, CA

• AllState Sugar Bowl – 8:45 p.m. | ESPN
  Georgia vs. Baylor
  New Orleans, LA – Mercedes-Benz Superdome

January 2

• TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl – 3 p.m. | ESPN
  Boston College vs. Cincinnati
  Birmingham, AL – Legion Field

• TaxSlayer Gator Bowl – 7 p.m. | ESPN
  Indiana vs. Tennessee
  Jacksonville, FL – TIAA Bank Stadium

January 3

• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl – 3:30 p.m. | ESPN
  Ohio vs. Nevada
  Boise, ID – Albertsons Stadium

January 4

• Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl – 11:30 a.m. | ESPN
  Southern Mississippi vs. Tulane
  Fort Worth, TX – Amon G. Carter Stadium

January 6

• Lending Tree Bowl – 7:30 p.m. | ESPN
  Louisiana vs. Miami (Ohio)
  Mobile, AL – Ladd-Peebles Stadium

January 13

• College Football Playoff National Championship Game – 8 p.m. | ESPN
  Teams TBD
  New Orleans, LA – Mercedes-Benz Superdome

Are you ready for some (or a whole lot of) football?

There are over 40 games in the 2019-2020 college bowl season. To watch the college bowl matchups, you’ll want a cable TV package or over-the-top streaming service that includes your local channels and ESPN. If you plan on streaming a college football bowl game, you’ll also need a reliable high-speed internet connection. 

Visit Allconnect.com to shop for home services, including TV and internet, and check out our Resource Center for more tips and tricks on how to watch your favorite sports.