Bowl season starts before the 2020 college football season ends.
That is par for the course for what has been an unprecedented college football season played through the COVID-19 pandemic. Several teams have accepted bowl bids, and SMU will play UTSA in the Tropical Care Smoothie Bowl on Saturday.
MORE: Eight College Football Playoff scenarios
That is the start of what promises to be a bowl season that will include teams opting out and bowl ties being tested from now until the College Football Playoff championship game. Stadium's Brett McMurphy first reported several of the early bowl matchups .
This season's semifinals are scheduled for Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl Game, which was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The Playoff championship game will be Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Sporting News tracks the 2020-21 college football bids here.
College football bowl schedule 2020-21
Monday, Dec. 21
| Myrtle Beach Bowl | North Texas vs. Appalachian State | 2:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Tuesday, Dec. 22
| Famous Idaho Potato Bowl | Nevada vs. Tulane | 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Boca Raton Bowl | UCF vs. BYU | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Wednesday, Dec. 23
| R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl | Georgia Southern vs. Louisiana Tech | 3 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Montgomery Bowl* | Memphis vs. FAU | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN2 |
Thursday, Dec. 24
| New Mexico Bowl | Hawaii vs. Houston | 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Friday, Dec. 25
| Camellia Bowl | Buffalo vs. Marshall | 2:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Saturday, Dec. 26
| Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl | UAB vs. South Carolina | 12 p.m. ET | ABC |
| Cure Bowl | Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina | 12 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| SERVPRO First Responder Bowl | UTSA vs. Lousiana | 3:30 p.m. ET | ABC |
| LendingTree Bowl | Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky | 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Tuesday, Dec. 29
| Cheez-It Bowl | Oklahoma State vs. Miami | 5:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | Texas vs. Colorado | 9 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Wednesday, Dec. 30
| Duke's Mayo Bowl | Wisconsin vs. Wake Forest | 12 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| TransPerfect Music City Bowl | Missouri vs. Iowa | 3:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Thursday, Dec. 31
| Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl | Mississippi State vs. Tulsa | 12 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| AutoZone Liberty Bowl | West Virginia vs. Tennessee | 4 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Arizona Bowl | San Jose State vs. Ball State | 4 p.m. ET | CBSSN |
| Texas Bowl | TCU vs. Arkansas | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN |
Friday, Jan. 1
| Vrbo Citrus Bowl | Northwestern vs. Auburn | 1 p.m. ET | ABC |
Saturday, Jan. 2
| TaxSlayer Gator Bowl | Kentucky vs. N.C. State | 12 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Outback Bowl | Indiana vs. Ole Miss | 12:30 p.m. ET | ABC |
New Year's Day Six bowls
| DATE | BOWL GAMES | TEAMS | TIME | TV |
| Dec. 30 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic | Florida vs. Oklahoma | 7:15 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Jan. 1 | Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl | Cincinnati vs. Georgia | 12:30 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Jan. 2 | PlayStation Fiesta Bowl | Oregon vs. Iowa State | 4 p.m. ET | ESPN |
| Jan. 2 | Capital One Orange Bowl | Texas A&M vs. North Carolina | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN |
College Football Playoff schedule
| DATE | BOWL GAMES | TEAMS | TIME |
| Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game (CFP Semifinal) | Alabama vs. Notre Dame | 5 p.m. ET |
| Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal) | Clemson vs. Ohio State | 8:45 p.m. ET |
| Jan. 11 | CFP National Championship | TBA vs. TBA | 8 p.m. ET |