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The second weekend of bowl season rolls around, with three more games including arguably the best matchup of the season yet.
Friday, Dec. 21, Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN
Ball State Cardinals (9-3) vs. UCF Golden Knights (9-4)
It's not a marquee matchup, but these were two of the better non-AQ teams: Ball State's only losses were to No. 12 Clemson, and in conference to eventual championship game participants Northern Illinois -- now in the Orange Bowl -- and Kent State. The Golden Knights swept through their C-USA competition for the most part, but couldn't beat Tulsa, falling both in a regular season matchup by two points and losing in overtime in the conference championship game. They'll have somewhat of a home-field advantage, playing at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg while the Cardinals have to come all the way from Indiana. UCF are seven-point favorites.
Saturday, Dec. 22, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, 12 p.m., ESPN
East Carolina Pirates (8-4) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (8-4)
An even matchup between C-USA and the Sun Belt. Like Ball State-UCF, these teams did very well in their conferences, with ECU losing only one game -- against UCF -- and Louisana-Lafayette losing back-to-back ugly games against North Texas and Arkansas State, but otherwise sweeping through conference play. The Ragin' Cajuns will be playing right down the road from home, and are 4.5-point favorites.
Saturday, Dec. 22, Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, 3:30 p.m., ESPN
Washington Huskies (7-5) vs. No. 20 Boise State Broncos (10-2)
The first game featuring a ranked team this bowl season and second featuring a team from a power conference, this should be an entertaining matchup. The Huskies might have lost five games this year, but it's the games they won that show their potential: Steve Sarkisian's squad knocked off No. 8 Stanford -- the eventual PAC-12 Champions -- and then-No. 7 Oregon State. Boise State gets another shot at a power conference squad after losing 17-13 in their only game against one, a Michigan State team that ended up going 6-6. Their only other loss of the year was to San Diego State.