Some bowl games produce fascinating matchups. Others produce complete duds. Here is my subjective ranking of most intriguing bowl games for the 2017 season.
| CBS Rank | ||||||
| 1 | Dec. 29 | Belk | Wake Forest (7-5) vs. Texas A & M (7-5) | 1:00 | ESPN | 29 |
| 2 | Jan. 1 | Sugar | Alabama (11-1) vs. Clemson (12-1) | 8:45 | ESPN | 1 |
| 3 | Jan. 1 | Peach | UCF (12-0) vs. Auburn (10-3) | 12:30 | ESPN | 6 |
| 4 | Dec. 28 | Holiday | Washington St. (9-3) vs. Michigan St. (9-3) | 9:00 | FOX | 14 |
| 5 | Dec. 29 | Cotton | Southern California (11-2) vs. Ohio St. (11-2) | 8:30 | ESPN | 3 |
| 6 | Jan. 1 | Outback | Michigan (8-4) vs. South Carolina (8-4) | 12:00 | ESPN 2 | 20 |
| 7 | Jan. 1 | Rose | Georgia (12-1) vs. Oklahoma (12-1) | 5:00 | ESPN | 2 |
| 8 | Dec. 29 | Music City | Kentucky (7-5) vs. Northwestern (9-3) | 4:30 | ESPN | 21 |
| 9 | Dec. 28 | Alamo | Stanford (9-4) vs. TCU (10-3) | 9:00 | ESPN | 9 |
| 10 | Dec. 16 | Las Vegas | Boise State (10-3) vs. Oregon (7-5) | 3:30 | ABC | 19 |
| 11 | Dec. 30 | Orange | Miami (10-2) vs. Wisconsin (12-1) | 8:00 | ESPN | 5 |
| 12 | Dec. 30 | Fiesta | Washington (10-2) vs. Penn State (10-2) | 4:00 | ESPN | 4 |
| 13 | Jan. 1 | Citrus | Notre Dame (9-3) vs. LSU (9-3) | 1:00 | ABC | 8 |
| 14 | Dec. 29 | Arizona | Utah State (6-6) vs. New Mexico State (6-6) | 5:30 | CBSS | 36 |
| 15 | Dec. 28 | Camping World | Virginia Tech (9-3) vs. Oklahoma State (9-3) | 5:15 | ESPN | 7 |
| 16 | Dec. 29 | Sun | NC State (8-4) vs. Arizona State (7-5) | 3:00 | CBS | 18 |
| 17 | Dec. 30 | Liberty | Iowa State (7-5) vs. Memphis (10-2) | 12:30 | ESPN | 10 |
| 18 | Dec. 27 | Texas | Texas (6-6) vs. Missouri (7-5) | 9:00 | ESPN | 27 |
| 19 | Dec. 23 | Birmingham | Texas Tech (6-6) vs. South Florida (9-2) | 12:00 | ESPN | 13 |
| 20 | Dec. 16 | New Orleans | Troy (10-2) vs. North Texas (9-4) | 1:00 | ESPN | 15 |
| 21 | Dec. 23 | Dollar General | Appalachian State (8-4) vs. Toledo (11-2) | 7:00 | ESPN | 11 |
| 22 | Dec. 23 | Armed Forces | San Diego State (10-2) vs. Army (8-3) | 3:30 | ESPN | 16 |
| 23 | Dec. 24 | Hawaii | Fresno State (9-4) vs. Houston (7-4) | 8:30 | ESPN | 22 |
| 24 | Dec. 22 | Bahamas | UAB (8-4) vs. Ohio (8-4) | 12:30 | ESPN | 24 |
| 25 | Dec. 22 | Famous Idaho Potato | Central Michigan (8-4) vs. Wyoming (7-5) | 4:00 | ESPN | 31 |
| 26 | Dec. 26 | Cactus | Kansas State (7-5) vs. UCLA (6-6) | 9:00 | ESPN | 32 |
| 27 | Dec. 28 | Military | Virginia (6-6) vs. Navy (6-5) | 1:30 | ESPN | 38 |
| 28 | Dec. 19 | Boca Raton | Akron (7-6) vs. Florida Atlantic (10-3) | 7:00 | ESPN | 37 |
| 29 | Dec. 30 | Taxslayer (Gator) | Louisville (8-4) vs. Mississippi State (8-4) | 12:00 | ESPN | 12 |
| 30 | Dec. 26 | Quick Lane | Duke (6-6) vs. Northern Illinois (8-4) | 5:15 | ESPN | 33 |
| 31 | Dec. 21 | Gasparilla | Temple (6-6) vs. Florida International (8-4) | 8:00 | ESPN | 34 |
| 32 | Dec. 27 | Foster Farms | Arizona (7-5) vs. Purdue (6-6) | 8:30 | FOX | 26 |
| 33 | Dec. 16 | Cure | Western Kentucky (6-6) vs. Georgia St. (6-5) | 2:30 | CBSS | 35 |
| 34 | Dec. 16 | Camellia | Arkansas State (7-4) vs. Middle Tenn. (6-6) | 8:00 | ESPN | 28 |
| 35 | Dec. 20 | Frisco | Louisiana Tech (6-6) vs. SMU (7-5) | 8:00 | ESPN | 30 |
| 36 | Dec. 26 | Heart of Dallas | Utah (6-6) vs. West Virginia (7-5) | 1:30 | ESPN | 23 |
| 37 | Dec. 27 | Pinstripe | Iowa (7-5) vs. Boston College (7-5) | 5:15 | ESPN | 17 |
| 38 | Dec. 27 | Independence | Southern Miss (8-4) vs. Florida State (6-6) | 1:30 | ESPN | 39 |
| 39 | Dec. 16 | New Mexico | Marshall (7-5) vs. Colorado State (7-5) | 4:30 | ESPN | 25 |
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 