College football bowl schedule 2012: Busy local bowl schedule moves on without Ohio State

When SB Nation broke down the entire college football bowl schedule, Jason Kirk offered up the most important bit of analysis for the local Cleveland market: "[u]nbeaten Ohio State isn't here, because players and coaches no longer associated with the school broke rules that don't matter."

In any case, the Cincinnati Bearcats, Bowling Green Falcons, Ohio Bobcats and Kent State Golden Flashes will all play post-season games. Here is a quick breakdown each matchup.

Belk Bowl | Cincinnati Bearcats vs. Duke Blue Devils | Dec. 27, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Cininnati finished the season with four wins in their last five games, so they should be primed to take down the Duke Blue Devils in the Belk Bowl. Duke dropped their final four games of 2012, which pushed their record to 6-6 overall. The 9-3 Bearcats should be at an advantage.

Military Bowl | Bowling Green Falcons vs. San Jose State Spartans | Dec. 27, 3:00 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Bowling Green Falcons ripped off seven wins in their final eight games, and they bring the No. 9 scoring defense into a matchup with the No. 24 San Jose State Spartans. The Spartans own one of the top passing offenses in the FBS (No. 11 in passing yards per game), so it should be interesting to see if the Falcons' defense holds up under pressure.

Independence Bowl | Ohio Bobcats vs. University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks | Dec. 28, 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Bobcats lost three of their last four games and stumbled into the bowl season, but they can salvage the campaign with a win over LA-Monroe. The Warhawks finished the regular season winners of seven of their last nine contests, so the Bobcats will have to recapture their early-season form to compete.

GoDaddy Bowl | Kent State Golden Flashes vs. Arkansas St. Red Wolves | Jan. 6, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Kent State lost out on the big bowl prize when Northern Illinois knocked them off in the conference championship game, so they've been pushed to the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan. 6 despite an impressive 11-2 record on the season. They have still drawn a tough opponent. Arkansas State has posted at least 26 points in every game this season and they've only scored less than 30 points one time in 2012. Will Kent State's defense hold up? Here's what the crew at Shutdown Fullback had to say: