Thursday bowl matchups
Thursday’s bowl games
Birmingham
Matchup: (25) South Florida (10-2, AAC) vs. South Carolina (6-6, SEC)
Logistics: at Birmingham, Alabama, 11 a.m. (ESPN).
Line: South Florida by 10.
Series record: South Carolina leads 1-0.
What’s at stake
South Florida is trying to end its season with a school-record 11th victory. The Bulls lost coach Willie Taggart to Oregon earlier this month, but hired former Texas coach Charlie Strong to replace him. The Bulls’ interim coach is T.J. Weist. South Carolina is trying to win a bowl game in coach Will Muschamp’s first season.
Key matchup
South Florida QB Quinton Flowers vs. South Carolina’s defense: The Bulls’ offense set all kinds of school records this season thanks to Flowers, who threw for 2,546 yards and 22 touchdowns and also ran for 1,425 yards and 15 touchdowns. South Carolina’s defense has been very good at times this season and is giving up just 204 yards per game through the air.
Belk
Matchup: (18) Virginia Tech (9-4, ACC) vs. Arkansas (7-5, SEC)
Logistics: at Charlotte, North Carolina, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Line: Virginia Tech by 5.
Series Record: First meeting.
What’s at stake
The Hokies are looking for their fourth bowl victory in the last five seasons. A win would give them their first 10-win season since 2011 and make Justin Fuente the first Virginia Tech coach to win 10 games in his first season. Arkansas is looking to become the only SEC West program to win a bowl game in each of the last three seasons. The Razorbacks looking for their fourth win against a ranked opponent this season.
Key matchup
Virginia Tech QB Jerod Evans vs. Arkansas LB Brooks Ellis: The dynamic Evans has already established school single-season records for yards passing, TD passes and total yards from scrimmage. But he can also run the ball, ranking 10th in the ACC at 58.4 yards per game along with 10 TDs. Ellis, a senior, is the rock of the Arkansas defense and is 15 tackles shy of 300 for his career.
Alamo
Matchup: (13) Oklahoma State (9-3, Big 12) vs. (11) Colorado (10-3, Pac-12)
Logistics: at San Antonio, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Line: Colorado by 3.
Series Record: Colorado leads 26-19-1.
What’s at stake
Colorado wants to cap its best season in more than a decade –dubbed “The Rise” – with a win that would suggest a long-term turnaround under fourth-year coach Mike MacIntyre, The AP college football Coach of the Year. For Oklahoma State, a Cowboys victory would be a boost for the Big 12, which could use one after getting shut out of the College Football Playoff for the second time in three seasons.
Key matchup
Colorado assistant coach Joe Tumpkin vs. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. Tumpkin has a tall task. Normally Colorado’s safeties coach, he’ll be calling the defensive plays against Gundy, an offensive mastermind. Colorado defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt left the program earlier this month to join the staff at Oregon, leaving Tumpkin to game plan against one of the best offenses in the country behind QB Mason Rudolph.