The Baylor Bears declined a potential Birmingham Bowl invite after multiple teams backed out, raising questions about optics, recruiting struggles, and fan frustration as the Bears head into a turbulent offseason.

Tennessee has a 67.5 percent chance to defeat Illinois in the Music City Bowl, according to ESPN's FPI . Nolan Analytics projects the Vols to defeat Illinois, 31-24, following the announcement of the bowl game. The Music City Bowl will mark the first meeting all time between the Vols and Fighting Illini.

Two more regular season weeks remain for college football programs to make their case for bowl eligibility with plenty of spots available. There’s still plenty to play for down the stretch with 63 programs already punching their ticket to bowl eligibility.

Get in the holiday spirit and grab your remote. This one's for the college football purists out there. All times below Eastern.

With the Cyclones and Wildcats declining bowl games, the spots fall to teams with 5-7 records and the highest APR scores.

The Broncos (9-4) will play in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Conway, S.C., against Kennesaw State (10-3) of Conference USA. The game is scheduled for Dec. 19 at Brooks Stadium. It's a meeting of conference champions. Kickoff is 11 a.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Texas State football will face Rice Jan. 2 at 12 p.m. CT in the Armed Forces Bowl, a source told the American-Statesman.

The bowl game Notre Dame is expected to play in if they don't make the College Football Playoff has surfaced online.