College football and New Year’s: The history bowl games falling around the occasion

Former Georgia QB Aaron Murray appears on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich" to talk about the controversy in the College Football Playoff.

Ringing in the New Year often comes with college football. The bowl games have a tradition of being held on one of the two days, including the semifinal matchups. 

Many bowl games happen on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, with the championship matchup happening about a week later. 

To round out the 2023-24 season, the semifinal games will be held on Jan. 1. Michigan will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl and Washington will play Texas in the Sugar Bowl. 

The Rose Bowl is the oldest bowl game in the United States. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)

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The winners of each of these games will battle it out for the championship a week later, on Jan. 8.

The Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl make up the bowl games. These games are held annually, with four teams playing in the semifinal games. The four teams are picked by a 13-member selection committee to play in the College Football Playoff (CFP). 

"The selection committee ranks the teams based on the members’ evaluation of the teams’ performance on the field, using conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents to decide among teams that are comparable," the CFP website states. 

"Each committee member will create a list of the 30 teams he or she believes to be the best in the country, in no particular order. Teams listed by three or more members will remain under consideration. At the conclusion of any round, other teams can be added to the group of teams