Kinder's Texas Bowl

Kick-off is 6:30pm on New Year's Eve at Reliant Stadium, which makes this a different proposition from the afternoon bowl game people assume it is. You are choosing between the game and a New Year's Eve dinner, and the game runs long enough that you should decide which one you are actually doing.

The teams are announced late: the game pairs a Big 12 team with an SEC team, and the matchup is set only once the regular season shakes out in early December. Tickets go on sale before anyone knows who is playing, so the cheap seats move first and the price swings hard once two travelling fanbases are named.

Reliant Stadium parks by coloured lot and sells parking ahead through JustPark. On New Year's Eve the exit is the problem rather than the entrance, so pre-booking a lot near your exit route is worth more than being close to the gate.

The official site is kinderstexasbowl.com, which has the ticket waitlist and the parking and arrival guide. The game is on ESPN if you decide on dinner after all.