Cable and broadcast networks will televise more than 40 college football bowl games over the next month as the sport counts down to its National Championship game.

The first of the bowl games kicks off on ESPN December 16 as Miami (Ohio) battles UAB in the Bahamas Bowl and Troy faces UTSA in the Cure Bowl. The bowl season concludes on January 9 with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the winners of the New Year’s Eve Fiesta Bowl (Michigan-TCU) and Peach Bowl (Georgia-Ohio State), both of which will air on ESPN. 

Below is the list of the major 2022-23 college football bowl games*

December 16

• Bahamas Bowl: Miami (Ohio)-UAB (ESPN) 
• Cure Bowl: Troy-UTSA (ESPN)

December 17

• Fenway Bowl: Cincinnati-Louisville (ESPN)
• Celebration Bowl: Jackson State-N.C. Central (ABC)
• Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State-Florida (ESPN)
• LA Bowl: Washington State-Fresno State (ABC)
• LendingTree Bowl: Rice -Southern Mississippi (ESPN)
• New Mexico Bowl: Southern Methodist-Brigham Young (ABC)
• Frisco Bowl: Boise State-North Texas (ESPN)

December 19

• Myrtle Beach Bowl: Marshall-UConn (ESPN)

December 20

• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Eastern Michigan-San Jose State (ESPN)
• Boca Raton Bowl: Liberty-Toledo (ESPN)

December 21

• New Orleans Bowl: South Alabama-Western Kentucky (ESPN)

December 22

• Armed Forces Bowl: Baylor-Air Force (ESPN)

December 23

• Gasparilla Bowl: Wake Forest-Missouri (ESPN)
• Independence Bowl: Houston-Louisiana (ESPN)

December 24

• Hawai'i Bowl: Middle Tennessee State-San Diego State (ESPN)

December 26

• Quick Lane Bowl: Bowling Green–New Mexico State (ESPN)

December 27

• First Responder Bowl: Memphis-Utah State (ESPN)
• Birmingham Bowl: Coastal Carolina-East Carolina (ESPN)
• Camellia Bowl: Buffalo-Georgia Southern (ESPN)
• Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Oklahoma State-Wisconsin (ESPN)

December 28

• Military Bowl: Duke-UCF (ESPN)
• Liberty Bowl: Arkansas-Kansas (ESPN)
• Holiday Bowl: Oregon-North Carolina (Fox)
• Texas Bowl: Texas Tech-Ole Miss (ESPN)

December 29

• Pinstripe Bowl: Minnesota-Syracuse (ESPN)
• Cheez-It Bowl: Florida State-Oklahoma (ESPN)
• Alamo Bowl: Washington-Texas (ESPN)

December 30

• Orange Bowl: Tennessee-Clemson (ESPN)
• Duke's Mayo Bowl: NC State-Maryland (ESPN)
• Sun Bowl: UCLA-Pitt (CBS)
• Gator Bowl: South Carolina-Notre Dame (ESPN)
• Arizona Bowl: Ohio-Wyoming (Barstool)

December 31

• Fiesta Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal): Michigan-TCU (ESPN)
• Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal): Georgia-Ohio State (ESPN)
• Music City Bowl: Iowa-Kentucky (ABC)
• Sugar Bowl: Alabama-Kansas State (ESPN)

January 2

• ReliaQuest Bowl: Mississippi State-Illinois (ESPN2)
• Citrus Bowl: LSU-Purdue (ABC)
• Cotton Bowl Classic: USC-Tulane (ESPN)
• Rose Bowl Game: Utah-Penn State (ESPN)

January 9

• College Football Playoff National Championship Game (ESPN)

* NCAA.com

ESPN scored a pair of ratings wins during the first week of the year, topping both the primetime and total day charts.

ESPN, on the strength of its New Year’s Day College Football Playoff games, averaged 6.4 million viewers during the week of Dec. 28, 2020 to Jan. 4, 2021, according to Nielsen. ESPN’s Jan. 1 Alabama-Notre Dame and Ohio State-Clemson CFP semifinal telecasts averaged nearly 19 million viewers.

The cable news channels took the next three slots, with Fox News finishing second with 1.7 million and CNN in third with 1.5 million, followed by MSNBC and Hallmark Channel, both averaging 1.4 million viewers.

Read Also: Fox News Grabs 2020 Ratings Crown 

HGTV and TNT tied for sixth with 1.2 million, followed by TLC (953,000), History (943,000) and TBS (928,000), said Nielsen.

ESPN topped the total day race with 2.4 million viewers, followed by CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and Hallmark Channel, reported Nielsen. 

Rob Riggle is set to host CMT's Ultimate Kickoff Party, just one week prior to the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, premiering Jan. 9 at 9 p.m., the network announced today.

Live from the College Football National Championship, the special will also broadcast on 119 iHeartMedia country stations across the country.

The lineup includes, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Big & Rich, Brett Eldredge, Jake Owen, Maddie & Tae and Thomas Rhett. Aloe Blacc will join Lady Antebellum and Jessie James Decker (“Redneck Island”) will be the network's social correspondent for the event.

CMT and College Football Playoff have joined for this first-time partnership to celebrate and kick off the year for college football.