College football bowl predictions heading into Selection Sunday
By Staff
Well well well, here we are. The long, strange, winding, weird journey of college football has led us to this: the precipice of Bowl Season. And if things haven’t been bizarre enough, let’s try and untangle this Cobbler’s Knot.
There are a billion bowl games (41 actually) and not enough teams over .500 to fill the gaps. But hey, that’s what happens when only half of the Big 12 decides to play like champions. Same goes for the SEC East – woof. But hey, let’s just stow that negativity away for another day. After all, while there may be some teams filing for petitions to be included in Bowl Season, it very well could give us some excellent match-ups (look down to the Texas Bowl). Also, some of the most unsuspecting games can present the best finishes.
With that, let’s jump right in with both feet. Official announcements are around the corner, so enjoy the predictions and hypothesizing while you can – real life is much more scary.
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*Filling bowl vacancy for another conference’s allotment
**Finished season with losing record, but admitted to a bowl via petition
| DATE | BOWL | TEAMS | |
| 12/19 | Cure | Colorado St.* (American) vs. App State (Sun Belt) | |
| 12/19 | New Mexico | New Mexico (MWC) vs. Ohio* (C-USA) | |
| 12/19 | Las Vegas | BYU (MWC or BYU) vs. Washington St. (Pac-12) | |
| 12/19 | Camellia | Arkansas St. (Sun Belt) vs. Toledo (MAC) | |
| 12/19 | New Orleans | Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) vs. Middle Tenn St. (C-USA) | |
| 12/21 | Miami Beach | Tulsa (American) vs. Marshall (C-USA) | |
| 12/22 | Idaho Potato | Utah St. (MWC) vs. Akron (MAC) | |
| 12/22 | Boca Raton | Temple (American) vs. Northern Illinois (MAC) | |
| 12/23 | Poinsettia | Nevada (MWC) vs. W. Michigan (MAC) | |
| 12/23 | GoDaddy | C. Michigan (MAC) vs. Georgia State (Sun Belt) | |
| 12/24 | Bahamas | Bowling Green (MAC) vs. Western Kentucky (C-USA) | |
| 12/24 | Hawaii | Cincinnati (American) vs. Boise State (MWC or BYU) | |
| 12/26 | St. Petersburg | South Florida (American) vs. S. Mississippi (C-USA) | |
| 12/26 | Sun | San Jose St.** (ACC) vs. UCLA (Pac-12) | |
| 12/26 | Heart of Dallas | Kansas State (Big 12) vs. Lousiana Tech (C-USA) | |
| 12/26 | Pinstripe | Miami (ACC ) vs. Indiana (Big Ten) | |
| 12/26 | Independence | Duke (ACC) vs. Arizona* (SEC) | |
| 12/26 | Foster Farms | Utah (Pac-12) vs. Nebraska** (Big Ten) | |
| 12/28 | Military | Virginia Tech (ACC) vs. Navy (American) | |
| 12/28 | Quick Lane | Arizona St.* (Big Ten) vs. Louisville (ACC) | |
| 12/29 | Arizona | San Diego St. (MWC) vs. Illinois** (C-USA) | |
| 12/29 | Armed Forces | Air Force (MWC) vs. Washington* (Big Ten) | |
| 12/29 | Russell Athletic | Pittsburgh (ACC) vs. Baylor (Big 12) | |
| 12/29 | Texas | Texas A&M (SEC) vs. Texas** (Big 12) | |
| 12/30 | Birmingham | Memphis (American) vs. Auburn (SEC) | |
| 12/30 | Belk | Mississippi State (SEC) vs. NC State (ACC) | |
| 12/30 | Music City | Tennessee (SEC) vs. Penn State (Big Ten) | |
| 12/30 | Holiday | USC (Pac-12) vs. Wisconsin (Big Ten) | |
| 12/31 | Peach | Florida State (at-large) vs. Houston (Group of 5) | |
| 1/1 | Outback | Northwestern (Big Ten) vs. LSU (SEC) | |
| 1/1 | Citrus | Florida (SEC) vs. Michigan (Big Ten) | |
| 1/2 | TaxSlayer | Georgia (SEC) vs. North Carolina (ACC/Big Ten/Notre Dame) | |
| 1/2 | Liberty | Arkansas (SEC) vs. West Virginia (Big 12) | |
| 1/2 | Alamo | TCU (Big 12) vs. Oregon (Pac-12) | |
| 1/2 | Cactus | Texas Tech (Big 12) vs. California (Pac-12) |
New Year’s Six
| DATE | BOWL | TEAMS | |
| 1/1 | Fiesta | Notre Dame (at-large) vs. Ohio State (at-large) | |
| 1/1 | Rose | Iowa (Big Ten) vs. Stanford (Pac-12) | |
| 1/1 | Sugar | Ole Miss (SEC) vs. Oklahoma State (Big 12) |
College Football Playoff
| DATE | BOWL | TEAMS | |
| 12/31 | Cotton (semifinal) | Alabama (CFP No. 2) vs. Michigan State (CFP No. 3) | |
| 12/31 | Orange (semifinal) | Clemson (CFP No. 1) vs. Oklahoma (CFP No. 4) |