It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Thirty bowl games in just 22 days feature teams and matchups between schools that might never get the chance to play anytime during the season.

This season, 30 non-BCS bowls will feature teams from across the country. Teams that just missed out on BCS bowls — Kansas State, Boise State, Houston — teams that had surprisingly strong seasons — Baylor, Georgia, Michigan State — and teams that faltered down the stretch — Oklahoma, Penn State, Notre Dame.

All of the games are interesting matchups, so mark your calendars.

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MWC: Mountain West Conference

WAC: Western Athletic Conference

MAC: Mid-Atlantic Conference

C-USA: Conference USA

ACC: Atlantic Coast Conference

SEC: Southeastern Conference

Pac-12: Pacific 12 Conference

The BCS (that schedule HERE) may have the glory, but the heart of the bowl season comes from the 30 non-BCS bowls that comprise a loaded schedule of 60 teams playing in the span of 23 days.

Bowls from Hawaii to Yankee Stadium will span the country throughout bowl season and provide entertainment all through the holiday season.

This year’s slate is highlighted by strong matchups which include:

• Capital One Bowl: Short-changed Michigan State — loser of the three-way battle for two BCS spots for the Big Ten — against preseason national championship favorite Alabama.
• Chick-fil-A Bowl: Conference runners-up from both the ACC and SEC title games, as Steve Spurrier and South Carolina take on Florida State.
• Cotton Bowl: Surprise Big 12 contender Texas A&M will take on perennial SEC power LSU.
• Insight Bowl: Teams in their respective conference races until the later part of the season will face off in Glendale as Iowa takes on Missouri.
• MAACO Bowl Las Vegas: Utah and Boise State, two of the strongest non-AQ teams this season, face off in an arranged matchup only available because of the lack of eligible Pac-10 teams.

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The non-BCS bowl matchups have been finalized and are as follows:

December 18: New Mexico Bowl (BYU vs. UTEP)

December 18: uDrove Humanitarian Bowl (Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State)

December 18: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Ohio vs. Troy)

December 21: Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl (Louisiville vs. Southern Miss)

December 22: MAACO Bowl Las Vegas (Utah vs. Boise State)

December 23: San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego State vs. Navy)

December 24: Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (Tulsa vs. Hawaii)

December 26: Little Caesars Bowl (Florida International vs. Toledo)

December 27: AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (Georgia Tech vs. Air Force)

December 28: Champs Sports Bowl (NC State vs. West Virginia)

December 28: Insight Bowl (Iowa vs. Missouri)

December 29: Military Bowl (Maryland vs. East Carolina)

December 29: Texas Bowl (Illinois vs. Baylor)

December 29: Valero Alamo Bowl (Oklahoma State vs. Arizona)

December 30: Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (Army vs. SMU)

December 30: New Era Pinstripe Bowl (Kansas State vs. Syracuse)

December 30: Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (North Carolina vs. Tennessee)

December 30: Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (Nebraska vs. Washington)

December 31: Meineke Car Care Bowl (Clemson vs. USF)

December 31: Hyundai Sun Bowl (Miami (FL) vs. Notre Dame)

December 31: Autozone Liberty Bowl (UCF vs. Georgia)

December 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl (Florida State vs. South Carolina)

January 1: TicketCity Bowl (Texas Tech vs. Northwestern)

January 1: Outback Bowl (Penn State vs. Florida)

January 1: Capital One Bowl (Michigan State vs. Alabama)

January 1: Gator Bowl (Michigan vs. Mississippi State)

January 6: GoDaddy.com Bowl (Miami (OH) vs. Middle Tennessee State)

January 7: AT&T Cotton Bowl (Texas A&M vs. LSU)

January 8: BBVA Compass Bowl (Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky)

January 9: Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (Boston College vs. Nevada)

And who said the non-BCS bowls were boring?

After nearly three weeks of exciting action, the non-BCS bowl season is complete, 29 games in all, each with a story of their own.

It all started with the New Mexico Bowl, which took two overtimes to complete as Wyoming edged Fresno State 35-28. And in a moment of pure symmetry, 18 days late in the final non-BCS bowl game, the GMAC Bowl was another two overtime thriller, as Central Michigan stole the victory away from Troy 44-41.

Here’s a final run down of all of the non-BCS bowls and their final scores. Winners in RED.

December 19: New Mexico Bowl (Wyoming 35 vs. Fresno State 28)

December 19: St. Petersburg Bowl (Rutgers 45 vs. UCF 24)

December 20 New Orleans Bowl (Middle Tennessee State 42 vs. Southern Miss 32)

December 22: Las Vegas Bowl (BYU 44 vs. Oregon State 20)

December 23: Poinsettia Bowl (Utah 37 vs. California 27)

December 24: Hawaii Bowl (SMU 45 vs. Nevada 10)

December 26: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl  (Ohio 17 vs. Marshall 21)

December 26: Car Care Bowl (North Carolina 17 vs. Pittsburgh 19)

December 26: Emerald Bowl (Boston College 13 vs. Southern California 24)

December 27: Music City Bowl (Clemson 21 vs. Kentucky 13)

December 28: Independence Bowl (Texas A&M 20 vs. Georgia 44)

December 29: EagleBank Bowl (UCLA 30 vs. Temple 21)

December 29: Champs Sports Bowl (Miami (FL) 14 vs. Wisconsin 20)

December 30: Humanitarian Bowl (Idaho 43 vs. Bowling Green 42)

December 30: Holiday Bowl (Nebraska 33 vs. Arizona 0)

December 31: Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force 47 vs. Houston 20)

December 31: Sun Bowl (Oklahoma 31 vs. Stanford 27)

December 31: Texas Bowl (Missouri 13 vs. Navy 35)

December 31: Insight Bowl (Minnesota 13 vs. Iowa State 14)

December 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech 37 vs. Tennessee 14)

January 1: Outback Bowl (Northwestern 35 vs. Auburn 38)

January 1: Capital One (Penn State 19 vs. LSU 17)

January 1: Gator Bowl (Florida State 33 vs. West Virginia 21)

January 2: International Bowl (South Florida 27 vs. Northern Illinois 3)

January 2: Papajohns.com Bowl (Connecticut 20 vs. South Carolina 7)

January 2: Cotton Bowl (Oklahoma State 7 vs. Ole Miss 21)

January 2: Liberty Bowl (East Carolina 17 vs. Arkansas 20)

January 2: Alamo Bowl (Michigan State 31 vs. Texas Tech 41)

January 6: GMAC Bowl (Central Michigan 44 vs. Troy 41)

Despite the importance of the BCS bowls, there are 29 other bowls which include very interesting matchups between members of all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.

Here is a full schedule of the non-BCS bowls which begin on December 19th with the New Mexico Bowl, and end three weeks later on January 6th with the GMAC Bowl.

Non-BCS Bowl Schedule

December 19: New Mexico Bowl (Wyoming vs. Fresno State)

December 19: St. Petersburg Bowl (Rutgers vs. UCF)

December 20 New Orleans Bowl (Middle Tennessee State vs. Southern Miss)

December 22: Las Vegas Bowl (BYU vs. Oregon State)

December 23: Poinsettia Bowl (Utah vs. California)

December 24: Hawaii Bowl (SMU vs. Nevada)

December 26: Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (Ohio vs. Marshall)

December 26: Car Care Bowl (North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh)

December 26: Emerald Bowl (Boston College vs. Southern California)

December 27: Music City Bowl (Clemson vs. Kentucky)

December 28: Independence Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Georgia)

December 29: EagleBank Bowl (UCLA vs. Temple)

December 29: Champs Sports Bowl (Miami (FL) vs. Wisconsin)

December 30: Humanitarian Bowl (Idaho vs. Bowling Green)

December 30: Holiday Bowl (Nebraska vs. Arizona)

December 31: Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force vs. Houston)

December 31: Sun Bowl (Oklahoma vs. Stanford)

December 31: Texas Bowl (Missouri vs. Navy)

December 31: Insight Bowl (Minnesota vs. Iowa State)

December 31: Chick-fil-A Bowl (Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee)

January 1: Outback Bowl (Northwestern vs. Auburn)

January 1: Capital One (Penn State vs. LSU)

January 1: Gator Bowl (Florida State vs. West Virginia)

January 2: International Bowl (South Florida vs. Northern Illinois)

January 2: Papajohns.com Bowl (Connecticut vs. South Carolina)

January 2: Cotton Bowl (Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss)

January 2: Liberty Bowl (East Carolina vs. Arkansas)

January 2: Alamo Bowl (Michigan State vs. Texas Tech)

January 6: GMAC Bowl (Central Michigan vs. Troy)

Enjoy!!!