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
| Channel | AT&T TV NOW | fuboTV | Hulu + Live TV | Sling TV | YouTube TV |
| Locals | ✔ | ✔ (ABC not included) | ✔ | ✔ | |
| ESPN | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| ESPN2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| CBS Sports Network | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Fox Sports 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
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.
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