Insider: Breaking down the bowls, PGA TOUR-style

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Jonathan Byrd and Lucas Glover were on opposite sides at the Wells Fargo Championship, but they would be united for Clemson at the Orange Bowl.

Once you're finished with that last helping of potatoes and gravy and opened that final present under the tree, there's only one thing left to do: turn on the television and watch football. After all, the bowl season is the most wonderful time of the year. And those who enjoy their football can get their fill of it for the next three weeks.

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Our little mission this week is to take some of the college bowl games and match the top golf alumni from those fine institutions against each other. There is some occasional stretching involved at times, but the exercise provides a few interesting possibilities.

Remember: This is for information purposes only. No wagering is allowed.

Cotton Bowl, Kansas State vs. Arkansas: There's not a Kansas State grad on TOUR, so the Wildcats will be forced to borrow Gary Woodland from arch-rival Kansas for this competition. Woodland won't agree to wear the color purple of his rival school, but Arkansas representative John Daly will somehow find a way to incorporate it in his palette.

Orange Bowl, West Virginia vs. Clemson: West Virginia has no representation on the PGA TOUR, but Clemson has enough to start its own mini-tour. And given this is the Orange Bowl, Clemson will simply provide two orange-clad gladiators to meet. How about Jonathan Byrd vs. Lucas Glover?

Independence Bowl, North Carolina vs. Missouri: Putting guru Stan Utley is a Mizzou grad and he'll compete in a short-game skins contest against Tar Heel legend Davis Love III, who likes to occasionally visits the Polo outlet stores in Shreveport, where the Independence Bowl is based.

Fiesta Bowl, Stanford vs. Oklahoma State: This should be fun, since they used to live in the same neighborhood. Stanford sends Tiger Woods to the first tee to meet Charles Howell III. You can feel the tension in the air, as Tiger is still angry about CH3 not returning the hammer he borrowed a year or so ago. Charles swears he returned the hammer, but that Tiger still has his circular saw.

Las Vegas Bowl, Arizona State vs. Boise State: Arizona State's greatest alumni golfer is Phil Mickelson, who meets Boise State legend Troy Merritt. Mickelson is favored unless the game is played on blue artificial turf.

Gator Bowl, Florida vs. Ohio State: The organizers of this one opted to go old-school because of the television potential. Mark Calcavecchia (Florida) will meet Jack Nicklaus (Ohio State), a pair that combined to win 19 major championships. Some lucky fan will win the putter that Calc promises to mutilate after the round.

Rose Bowl, Wisconsin vs. Oregon: Wisconsin sends Jerry Kelly (he's the Badgers volunteer assistant coach) against Oregon's Ben Crane. This would be a fun-loving group to be around. Kelly might even get recruited to be in the next music video.

Chick-fil-A Bowl, Virginia vs. Auburn: This is a match between guys who appear ready to experience a breakthrough on the PGA TOUR, as Steve Marino (Virginia) meets Jason Dufner (Auburn). Marino has been second in four events and Dufner lost the 2011 PGA Championship in a playoff.

Ticketcity Bowl, Penn State vs. Houston: Penn State drafts native son Jim Furyk, who actually played at Arizona, to compete in this contest against President Cup captain Fred Couples. Furyk is coming off a great week in Australia, even though Couples spent the entire 12-hour plane trip trying to help Furyk get that loop out of his swing.

BCS Championship: The football game has No. 1 LSU against No. 2 Alabama in a rematch of their regular-season showdown. The golf version would match No. 1 money winner Luke Donald vs. No. 2 Webb Simpson in a rematch of their Fall Series smackdown that took place at Disney. Donald won the first time around and went on to become the first player to actually lead the PGA TOUR and European Tour in cash register receipts for the same season.

Enjoy the viewing. The real games start again in just a couple of weeks.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.