College football’s bowl season kicks off Saturday with three games, including Ohio University vs. Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on the blue turf in Boise. Here are five other facts you can use to amaze your friends when the holiday party talk turns to football:

1. There are 35 bowl games, including the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on New Year’s Eve. That blockbuster features a team with a losing record (UCLA) and a team with a six-game losing streak (Illinois).

2. There are no bowl games on New Year’s Day. Unfortunately, Jan. 1, 2012, falls on a Sunday, which means football fans will have to settle for the final week of the NFL regular season. But there are six bowl games scheduled for Monday, Jan. 2.

3. Ten of the Big Ten’s 12 schools are going bowling. Only three — Purdue, Illinois and Michigan — are listed as favorites by the Las Vegas bookmakers. Five of the six Jan. 2 games feature teams from the proud Midwest conference.

4. The Sugar Bowl welcomes Michigan and Virginia Tech. It’s the first Sugar matchup in decades without a team ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. Wouldn’t Baylor and Robert Griffin III vs. Michigan and Denard Robinson have been a more attractive game?

5. The BCS national championship game is Jan. 9 in New Orleans. LSU plays Alabama for the big trophy, and LSU is tough to beat in the Louisiana Superdome. Just ask any Ohio State Buckeye who suited up against the Bayou Bengals four years ago in the “neutral” Superdome.