Best, Worst of Bowl Season

With college football bowl season set to begin today, Dennis Dodd tells you which of the 34 are appointment viewing, and which you should avoid at all costs. The top three:

• BCS title game—Alabama vs. Texas (Jan. 7, ABC): Storied traditions, a Heisman winner … and coaches with combined salaries of $9 million.
• Fiesta Bowl—Texas Christian vs. Boise State (Jan. 4, Fox): Hey, if Texas beats Alabama after TCU wins here in a blowout, Horned Frogs could be national champs.
• Las Vegas Bowl—Oregon State vs. Brigham Young (Dec. 22, ESPN): Early matchup of ranked teams promises some serious offense.

And the bottom three:

• St. Petersburg Bowl—Rutgers vs. Central Florida (Saturday, ESPN): “How big a deal can a bowl be when one of the head coaches misses the pre-bowl press conference?” Dodd wonders of the Scarlet Knights’ Greg Schiano.
• New Orleans Bowl—Southern Mississippi vs. Middle Tennessee State (Sunday, ESPN): Most interesting tidbit is that both coaches used to be coordinators at bigger schools. Yawn.
• Little Caesars Pizza Bowl—Ohio vs. Marshall (Dec. 26, ESPN): “Try to find some redeeming value to this bowl: How about Snoozer! Snoozer!”

For the full list, go to CBS Sports.
(More Bowl Championship Series stories.)