This is a great year to be a second- or third-tier bowl.

No one can cast aspersions on non-New Year's Day bowls. That's because they're all non-New Year's Day bowls. It's as close as we'll get to bowl parity.

Here's a look at the remaining pre-January 2 bowls.

Motor City Bowl

Memphis 31, Akron 27: No bowl is more aptly named this year. It's all about cars.

Akron is the home of the Goodyear World of Rubber Museum. Memphis leads the free world in car thefts. You also have Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams, whose Heisman Trophy campaign featured a model racing car, available on eBay for $300 (with Williams' autograph).

Champs Sports Bowl

Clemson 34, Colorado 23: How can a bowl with "Champs" in its name invite a team that lost its last game by 67 points?

But don't judge Colorado solely on its 70-3 loss to Texas in the Big 12 championship game. It lost a week earlier to Nebraska 30-3 and the week before that to Iowa State 30-16.

In the Big 12 North, that constitutes a championship run. It also gets your coach fired.

Insight Bowl

Arizona State 37, Rutgers 27: The Scarlet Knights would have been a better match for Colorado. They gave up 101 points in losing two of their last three games.

The Sun Devils rank third in the country in passing despite losing starting quarterback Sam Keller to a season-ending injury in the eighth game. His stand-in, Rudy Carpenter, has completed 68 percent of his passes.

MPC Computers Bowl

Boston College 33, Boise State 27: You don't need a computer to figure out how close these teams are. Boise State is listed 14th alphabetically among Division I-A schools. Boston College is 15th.

If you have enough self-discipline not to follow the football, keep an eye on Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and Boise State offensive tackle Daryn Colledge. Kiwanuka is a two-time All-Big East selection and is a first-team All-American this year. Colledge is a two-time, All-WAC selection and has started 51 consecutive games.

Alamo Bowl

Michigan 30, Nebraska 23: This matchup comes eight years too late. The Wolverines and Cornhuskers didn't get to play each other in 1997 when they split the national championships.

Want to make it interesting? Put the championship trophies on display and let the winner take all.

Emerald Bowl

Georgia Tech 31, Utah 20: The Utes have the nation's 12th-ranked offense. The Yellow Jackets have the nation's 12th-ranked defense.

Against that defense, the Utes can only hope quarterback Brett Ratliff is no one-game wonder. Subbing for an injured Brian Johnson, Ratliff made his first college start in the last game against Brigham Young. He rushed for 112 yards and passed for four touchdowns.

Holiday Bowl

Oregon 34, Oklahoma 27: If you still think Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is a defensive guru, you haven't been paying attention.

I'm not just referring to the 55 points Southern Cal scored on the Sooners in a national championship mismatch last January. The Sooners ranked 49th in the country this season in scoring defense.

Music City Bowl

Minnesota 31, Virginia 24: If you can't stop the run against the Gophers, you're in big trouble. Minnesota, which ranks second in the country in rushing, can run the ball even against good defenses (see last year's Music City Bowl against Alabama for details).

Virginia ranks 59th in the country against the run. That's not good enough.

Sun Bowl

UCLA 48, Northwestern 40: Warning: Defensive coordinators should watch this game under medical supervision.

Northwestern is last among 117 teams in yards allowed per game. UCLA is 111th.

Conversely, the Bruins rank seventh in points per game, and the Wildcats rank eighth in yards per game.

Independence Bowl

South Carolina 27, Missouri 20: Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks are football's odd couple when it comes to bowl games.

This will be Spurrier's 12th bowl game in his last 12 seasons as a college coach. This will be South Carolina's 12th bowl in its last 112 seasons.

Peach Bowl

Miami 23, LSU 13: This is as good as it gets for the Peach Bowl: Not one, but two top-10 teams. It's also the antithesis of the Sun Bowl: two top-five defenses and offenses that have struggled.

LSU's offensive problems have been compounded by an injury to starting quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who suffered a separated shoulder in the SEC championship game. He's listed as questionable.

So is LSU's offense.

Meineke Bowl

North Carolina State 16, South Florida 13: The Bulls might be the happiest 6-5 team in the country. They're making their first bowl appearance in their 10-year history; coach Jim Leavitt just had his contract extended through 2012 at an average of $1 million per year.

Liberty Bowl

Fresno State 41, Tulsa 31: Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll called the Bulldogs a top-10 team after the Trojans had to come from behind for a 50-42 victory. They've been making him look silly ever since.

First, they lost to Nevada. Then they lost to Louisiana Tech.

They're too good a team to lose four in a row, but don't tell them that.

Houston Bowl

TCU 27, Iowa State 17: Both teams will remember the regular season for the games they lost.

A 21-10 loss to SMU in the second game cost the Frogs an unbeaten season. An overtime loss to Kansas in the last game cost the Cyclones a berth in the Big 12 championship game.

Record: 193-58 (.769) overall, 128-114 (.529) against the spread.