Get ready for Clemson-Alabama V: Collision Course

Oh and other bowl games and stuff.  But yeah.  CLEMSON AND BAMA Y’ALL!

Alright it’s bowl projection time.  I would say postseason projections but I am not including conference championship games since those are technically also postseason games.  Yet the Army/Navy Game, which is after the conference championship games, is still a regular season.  College football ladies and gentlemen!  Anyway, most of these games are on when the World Juniors are on and they are games that many say they won’t watch because there’s too many bowl games.  Who cares.  It’s college football so I will watch it.

Let us begin with the College Football Playoff matchups.  I think you have a good idea of who will go here if you have read all the conference previews (and you did, RIGHT?).  Remember, the rankings I have here are the rankings I believe these teams will be going into the bowl season.  I know some will be very wrong but I am hoping to hit on most and I have a feeling the CFP is a good start on my behalf:

December 28th	Fiesta Bowl	#2 Oklahoma	#3 Alabama
December 28th	Peach Bowl	#1 Clemson	#4 Michigan

Two of these were automatics.  Bama and Clemson are easy picks since everyone (and I do mean everyone) is selecting those two for the CFP.  Now yes I don’t have Bama undefeated but they will win the SEC and that will be enough.  I think Oklahoma gets in as the Big XII champ after running the table.  Their schedule is not THAT difficult for a Power Five team so other than a couple games (Texas, Iowa State) they shouldn’t have much of a problem.  Finally, yes….BIG BLUE!  This could be Jim Harbaugh’s best chance to win the Big Ten…or even the Big Ten East.  Ohio State has a new head coach and a new starting quarterback.  Michigan State will drop a game or two they really shouldn’t.  Penn State also will have some growing pains with a new quarterback.  Really, the Wolverines will do enough and win the Big Ten Championship which will have them high enough .  I have Michigan losing one conference game but it won’t be to tOSU!  It will be to Penn State.  Other than that, I think Michigan has the schedule and the team to run the table (including beating the Buckeyes) and then winning the Big Ten title over Nebraska.  Now this won’t be easy as the #5 team will give them a run for their money but I will discuss that below.

This leads us to the New Year’s Six where only two of the four games are actually on New Year’s Day (who said college football had to make sense?):

January 1st	Sugar Bowl	#6 Georgia	#11 Texas
January 1st	Rose Bowl	#8 Ohio State	#5 Utah
December 30th	Orange Bowl	#13 Syracuse	#7 Notre Dame
December 28th	Cotton Bowl	#9 Washington	#10 Memphis

I can see some debate here with these picks, as per usual.  The top 11 teams will go to either the CFP or the NY6 so that is pretty much on par with a lot of people and with CFP history.  Georgia will get in after losing their conference championship to Bama.  They should be high enough in the rankings that they wouldn’t fall out of the NY6 or the Top 10 (I see UGA being #4 going into conference championship weekend).  I think Memphis will beat up most of the teams they face and sneak into the Top 10 undefeated.  Notre Dame might be more talented but with a slightly tougher schedule, they will “fall” to the Orange Bowl.  Ohio State should be in the Top 10 all season and even a season-ending loss to Michigan won’t push them out.  Texas, Syracuse and Washington also won’t even be in their conference championship but will leap over the CCG losers to get here.  Finally, it’s Utah’s year.  I think it will be a close call at the end of the year between the Utes and Michigan for the #4 spot but I can’t see The Committee leaving Michigan out.  This is where being a college football blueblood certainly helps.

The lowest seed in here is at #13 and that’s the Syracuse Orange.  The ACC Champion is contractually obligated to go to the Orange Bowl.  Since Clemson is obviously in the CFP, Syracuse would be the highest ranked team to go here.  Honestly this is a good-case scenario as the last thing the powers that be want is like the #20 team getting into the New Year’s Six.  I get it’s all about bowl tie-ins but still, some would be upset for sure, especially if you are the #12 team (which this year I have LSU in that spot).

Now for the rest of our bowl matchups:

January 6th	Dollar General Bowl	Toledo	Louisiana
January 4th	Armed Forces Bowl	Northwestern	San Diego State
January 3rd	Idaho Potato Bowl	Fresno State	Ohio
January 2nd	Gator Bowl	#18 Florida	Michigan State
January 2nd	Birmingham Bowl	Kentucky	#21 Army*
January 1st	Citrus Bowl	#12 LSU	#15 Nebraska
January 1st	Outback Bowl	#22 Texas A&M	#17 Penn State
December 31st	Alamo Bowl	Iowa State	#14 Oregon
December 31st	Arizona Bowl	Utah State	Troy
December 31st	Liberty Bowl	Auburn	Baylor
December 31st	Sun Bowl	USC	#16 Miami
December 31st	Belk Bowl	Mississippi State	#24 NC State
December 30th	Redbox Bowl	Wisconsin	Stanford
December 30th	Music City Bowl	Tennessee	Virginia Tech
December 30th	First Responder Bowl	Arizona State*	Marshall
December 28th	Camping World Bowl	Oklahoma State	Florida State
December 27th	Cheez-It Bowl	Wyoming*	Washington
December 27th	Holiday Bowl	#25 Iowa	#20 Washington State
December 27th	Texas Bowl	South Carolina	TCU
December 27th	Pinstripe Bowl	Purdue	Virginia
December 27th	Military Bowl	Pittsburgh	UCF
December 26th	Quick Lane Bowl	Minnesota	UAB*
December 26th	Independence Bowl	Southern Miss*	Liberty*
December 24th	Hawaii Bowl	BYU	Cincinnati
December 23rd	Gasparilla Bowl	Navy	Florida Atlantic
December 21st	New Orleans Bowl	Louisiana Tech	Appalachian State
December 21st	Las Vegas Bowl	UCLA	#19 Boise State
December 21st	Camellia Bowl	Buffalo	Arkansas State
December 21st	Boca Raton Bowl	Houston	Western Michigan
December 21st	Cure Bowl	SMU	Georgia Southern
December 21st	New Mexico Bowl	Air Force	North Texas
December 20th	Frisco Bowl	Temple	Northern Illinois
December 20th	Bahamas Bowl	Eastern Michigan	FIU

Oh and they are adding more games next season!  Bowl games are starting in Boston and Myrtle Beach with ones in Los Angeles and Chicago proposed.  Look, it’s more college football.  If games don’t go to FOX Sports One, Canadian college football fans won’t bat an eye.  I mean should they actually have more of a structure with the bowl season, especially considering ESPN owns more than half the bowls?  Of course.  But it won’t happen anytime soon which is messed.  Anyway, some notes on the fun-time magical bowl season:

• I have three games predicted between ranked teams: LSU-Nebraska in the Citrus, TAMU-Penn State in the Outback, & Iowa-Wazzu in the Holiday.  Three very good matchups for bowl season that people would watch no matter the time of year.
• One asterisk (*) means the conference tie-in couldn’t be satisfied or that BYU wasn’t able to secure their Hawaii Bowl bid.  Two asterisks (**) means we have got into APR territory.  If you notice, no APR teams in there.  Actually, I had exactly the right amount of teams.  I think that’s the first time ever.
• Some of the better matchups include:
  • the three ranked-on-ranked matchups mentioned above
  • Northwestern-SDSU in the Armed Forces Bowl
  • Kentucky-Army in the Birmingham Bowl
  • USC-Miami in the Sun Bowl
  • Purdue-UVA in the Pinstripe Bowl
  • ISU-Oregon in the Alamo Bowl
  • UCLA-Boise in the Las Vegas Bowl

As for the actual College Football Playoff semi-final games, I have Clemson and Alabama both winning relatively easily.  Then we get Clemson-Bama V.  I include the semi-final matchup these two teams had as well.  And yes, Clemson will repeat.

Next up is my most accurate report I do (other than the schedules): the Coaching Hot Seat Report.  I will follow that with my worst post in terms of accuracy, my Heisman ballot.  I will have to include an NFL preview at some point since we are getting into the thick of the preseason with all those “fabulous” homer announcers.  We are FIVE days away from the start of the college football season.  I will do a short post for Week Zero (hopefully sponsored by Coke Zero) to go over the tiny schedule there will be.  Whether these games will end up in the specialty pack guide if they aren’t on CBSSN or a TSN channel, who knows.  I am guessing no, they won’t.  Enjoy the rest of your week and the weekend everyone.