If the College Bowl Season were a music festival, the headliners wouldn't be taking the stage till the Saturday before New Years' Day when the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl host the Playoff Semifinals. The opening acts on the GridCard this week are little-known teams such as Louisiana-Lafayette, North Texas, Florida International, and Georgia Southern. But the Day That Music Died--the end of college football for the year--is rapidly approaching so the GridCard will take what it can.
The NFL has two games scheduled for Saturday: the Texans @ Jets and the Browns @ Broncos. And the GridCard has several key NCAAM basketball matchups in the First Game, including Notre Dame vs Purdue, and Butler vs Indiana in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis--and last year's National Champs, Villanova, visiting Kansas.
The Second Game features more second-tier bowl games, more NCAAM basketball, and more NFL clashes, including Patriots @ Steelers, Eagles @ Rams, and Saints @ Panthers. The Second Game runs through Friday afternoon, finishing up with Western Michigan vs BYU in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl--which sounds as though it should edible, fans tailgating after the game until the whole stadium is gone.
Note: There is a difference between games listed @ and games listed vs.
The college bowl games (and the Crossroads Classic basketball games) are played at neutral sites and so listed as vs. The @ indicates home field/court advantage, usually the team listed second.