The A stands for April. Or Awesome. Or Asshole. Whatever.
Mock draft time! And it’s three glorious rounds of (probably) incorrect picks. Lovin’ it! Let’s go!
First Round
1
Chicago
Caleb Williams, QB (USC)
2
Washington
Drake Maye, QB (North Carolina)
3
New England
Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)
4
Arizona
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR (Ohio State)
5
LA Chargers
Quinyon Mitchell, CB (Toledo)
6
NY Giants
Dallas Turner, EDGE (Alabama)
7
Tennessee
Olu Fashanu, OT (Penn State)
8
Atlanta
Malik Nabers, WR (LSU)
9
Chicago
Rome Odunze, WR (Washington)
10
NY Jets
Joe Alt, OT (Notre Dame)
11
Minnesota
Laiatu Latu, DE (UCLA)
12
Denver
Terrion Arnold, CB (Alabama)
13
Las Vegas
Nate Wiggins, CB (Clemson)
14
New Orleans
Jared Verse, DE (Florida State)
15
Indianapolis
Brian Thomas Jr., WR (LSU)
16
Seattle
J.J. McCarthy, QB (LSU)
17
Jacksonville
Jackson Powers-Johnson, OG (Oregon)
18
Cincinnati
Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)
19
LA Rams
Bo Nix, QB (Oregon)
20
Pittsburgh
Troy Fautanu, OG (Washington)
21
Miami
Cooper DeJean, S (Iowa)
22
Philadelphia
Adonai Mitchell, WR (Texas)
23
Minnesota
Chop Robinson, EDGE (Penn State)
24
Dallas
Taliese Fuaga, OT (Oregon State)
25
Green Bay
J.C. Latham, OT (Alabama)
26
Tampa Bay
Xavier Worthy, WR (Texas)
27
Arizona
Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB (Alabama)
28
Buffalo
Jer’Zhan Newton, DT (Illinois)
29
Detroit
Byron Murphy II, DT (Texas)
30
Baltimore
Kamari Lassiter, CB (Georgia)
31
San Francisco
Amarius Mims, OT (Georgia)
32
Kansas City
Tyler Guyton, OT (Oklahoma)
Second Round
33
Carolina
Zach Frazier, C (West Virginia)
34
New England
Jordan Morgan, OT (Arizona)
35
Arizona
Darius Robinson, EDGE (Minnesota)
36
Washington
Xavier Legette, WR (South Carolina)
37
LA Chargers
Michael Hall Jr., DT (Ohio State)
38
Tennessee
T.J. Tampa, CB (Iowa State)
39
Carolina
Keon Coleman, WR (Florida State)
40
Washington
Graham Barton, OG (Duke)
41
Green Bay
Tyler Nubin, S (Minnesota)
42
Houston
Chris Braswell, EDGE (Alabama)
43
Atlanta
Michael Penix Jr., QB (Washington)
44
Las Vegas
Kingsley Suamataia, OT (BYU)
45
New Orleans
Ladd McConkey, WR (Georgia)
46
Indianapolis
Kamren Kinchens, S (Miami)
47
NY Giants
Ennis Rakestraw Jr., CB (Missouri)
48
Jacksonville
Patrick Paul, OT (Houston)
49
Cincinnati
Troy Franklin, WR (Oregon)
50
Philadelphia
Edgerrin Cooper, LB (Texas A&M)
51
Pittsburgh
T’Vondre Sweat, DT (Texas)
52
LA Rams
Bralen Trice, EDGE (Washington)
53
Philadelphia
Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE (Western Michigan)
54
Cleveland
Ruke Orhorhoro, DT (Clemson)
55
Miami
Ja’Lynn Polk, WR (Washington)
56
Dallas
Trey Benson, RB (Florida State)
57
Tampa Bay
Adisa Isaac, EDGE (Penn State)
58
Green Bay
Cooper Beebe, OG (Kansas State)
59
Houston
Malachi Corley, WR (WKU)
60
Buffalo
Max Melton, CB (Rutgers)
61
Detroit
Christian Haynes, OG (UConn)
62
Baltimore
Roman Wilson, WR (Michigan)
63
San Francisco
Brandon Dorius, EDGE (Oregon)
64
Kansas City
Jalen McMillan, WR (Washington)
Third Round
65
Carolina
Cedric Gray, LB (North Carolina)
66
Arizona
Sedrick Van Pran, C (Georgia)
67
Washington
Payton Wilson, LB (NC State)
68
New England
Ricky Pearsall, WR (Florida)
69
LA Chargers
Ben Sinnott, TE (Kansas State)
70
NY Giants
Kris Jenkins, DT (Michigan)
71
Arizona
Leonard Taylor III, DT (Miami)
72
NY Jets
Devontez Walker, WR (North Carolina)
73
Detroit
Caelan Carson, CB (Wake Forest)
74
Atlanta
Cam Hart, CB (Notre Dame)
75
Chicago
Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE (Texas)
76
Denver
Javon Bullard, CB (Georgia)
77
Las Vegas
Jonathon Brooks, RB (Texas)
78
Washington
Austin Booker, DE (Kansas)
79
Atlanta
Braden Fiske, DT (Florida State)
80
Cincinnati
Kiran Amedagije, OT (Yale)
81
Seattle
Christian Mahogany, OG (Boston College)
82
Indianapolis
Mike Sainristil, CB (Michigan)
83
LA Rams
D.J. James, CB (Auburn)
84
Pittsburgh
Roger Rosengarten, OT (Washington)
85
Cleveland
Junior Colson, LB (Michigan)
86
Houston
Kris Abrams-Draine, CB (Missouri)
87
Dallas
Renardo Green, CB (Florida State)
88
Green Bay
Khyree Jackson, CB (Oregon)
89
Tampa Bay
Beau Brade, S (Maryland)
90
Arizona
Andru Phillips, CB (Kentucky)
91
Green Bay
Jalyx Hunt, EDGE (Houston Christian)
92
Tampa Bay
Dominick Puni, OG (Kansas)
93
Baltimore
McKinnley Jackson, DT (Texas A&M)
94
Kansas City
Braelon Allen, RB (Wisconsin)
95
San Francisco
Kalen King, CB (Penn State)
96
Jacksonville
Johnny Wilson, WR (Florida State)
97
Cincinnati
Josh Newton, CB (TCU)
98
Pittsburgh
Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB (Clemson)
99
LA Rams
Calen Bullock, S (USC)
100
Washington
James Williams, S (Miami)
The top few picks seem set in stone. Maybe on in that specific order but those top four will, most likely, be the top four come draft night. As for some of the other picks, man there were some huge drops. Like Kris Jenkins. Only a few weeks ago, a fair amount of mocks had him in the first round. I don’t think he’s even being considered as a first rounder anymore. Almost the same with Byron Murphy II. I had him going fifth to the Chargers which may have been a bit high in retrospect. But for him to drop to almost completely out of the first round is an alarming drop. Sometimes it’s fairly easy to find out what has happened to lower a potential draftee’s stock and sometimes…well, sometimes who the hell knows. It just happens.
Potential Draft Day Trades
OK so these would include trades coming up toward the draft as well, not just the ones on draft opening night. And no, I can’t see the Bears or the Commanders trading their picks so let’s start with the #3 pick.
New England (#3) – Chances of the Patriots trading this pick are slim but considering the haul that some teams have received for a top 3 pick in NFL history, the right package might come along to entice them to trade down. I have a feeling it would take at least two first-rounders, two second-rounders, and at least one other pick.
NY Giants (#6) – Probably the highest pick with true potential to be dealt is the Giants at #6. The Giants desperately need help on both lines but there are a few options available meaning they could trade down a few spots and still get one of the guys they covet. A first-round pick swap would have to happen and the team trading with the G-Men couldn’t be far below the #16 spot for this to work. Other picks would come the Giants way as well.
Tennessee (#7) – This becomes a possibility if the Patriots trade down. The reason is, one of Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels would be available and there are a few teams that would love to trade up to get one of the two. That includes the Falcons, Vikings, Broncos and Raiders. Knowing that, the Titans could get a larger pick haul than the Giants even though the pick would be later.
NY Jets (#10) – The Jets are hoping that Aaron Rodgers will be healthy this year. And to help with that, they want an offensive lineman desperately. The hope is that one of Olu Fashanu or Joe Alt fall to them. If neither of them are available, I would fully expect the Jets to shop the pick and they could drop a fair way if they wanted to.
The Vikings feel like the most likely pick to move up since, for some reason, many are saying they really want J.J. McCarthy. I think it would be crazy to trade up because I think McCarthy, at least at this point, would be available to the Vikings at #11. Maybe I’m wrong with that. They would most likely just trade picks but they have one bargaining chip that some teams might not be able to ignore: Justin Jefferson. If the Vikings can’t extend Double J, then they might include him in a trade to see what they could get. Arizona would be a trading partner if (and only if) this was a possibility.
In non-draft news, the UFL has commenced their season. Not exactly a ton of fans for a couple of these games but some wacky shit happened. Jake Bates hit a 64-yard field goal to help his Michigan Stags beat St. Louis. Funny enough, it was on the same uprights that Justin Tucker kicked his NFL-record 67-yarder to beat the Lions a couple years ago. Then you had San Antonio punter Brad Wing throwing a 40-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 11 to the team’s centre Alex Mollette. So at least it’s entertaining, you have to give it that. And it’s football. A tiny appetizer before the CFL, then college football, then NFL season starts. So embrace it. Or don’t. I don’t care. I realize March Madness was on this past weekend so I can see why people might not watch.
OK I will do one more mock draft closer to actual draft day (which starts April 25th). And even then, most of my picks will be wrong. At least I can take solace in the fact that I will have close to the same record as the so-called experts have.
The college schedule is coming into form. It’s kind of tough with the changes coming up this season so for good parts of the schedule I have nothing to compare it to. So we shall see how that goes when I start doing my most important game posts. Anyway, I hope you all had a great Easter long weekend and have a great first week of April.
It’s that time, people. The time when I look at how the postseason could be better and tackle the issues that plague FBS’s postseason at this point, which include:
Potential high draft picks opting out of bowl games
Some still thinking there are too many bowl games
Major injuries that occur during these bowl games to players who would probably be in the draft
Attendance problems at certain bowl games
Going up against the NFL (and up here, the World Juniors)
Will my solution fix everything here? No. Especially the injury one. Those will happen. I can see potential first rounders still opting out in the future and that would be the main reason: preventing injury going into workouts and the Combine. The other three…yeah I can deal with those.
Look I have done this so many times before that I won’t link them here. You should be able to find them but if you do need help, let me know.
Now that we definitely have a 12-team playoff in a couple years, I have to adjust my solution a bit. I won’t go against what they are doing, I am just trying to enhance it for everyone’s enjoyment.
First thing we have to do is actually eliminate some of the bowl games. This will make the “Too Many Bowl Games” crowd happy but the reason I am doing this is to tighten things up a bit. ESPN Events owns about half of these anyway so I can’t see them being missed and I honestly doubt the economics of how much it helps a host city. So the following bowls will just have to cease to exist:
Cure Bowl
New Orleans Bowl
Birmingham Bowl
Quick Lane Bowl
Frisco Bowl
Arizona Bowl
Cheez-It Bowl
Bahamas Bowl
LendingTree Bowl
For the most part, these bowl games will be missed by almost nobody. This allows for more bowl games to get their own national spotlights and makes it so we aren’t putting pretty much all 5-7 teams in to the postseason. I love college football but that, to me, is where it gets a bit absurd.
Now let’s get to the format, as it will be going forward (until people start griping and it expands to 16 teams). There is an advantage now for finishing at the top of the rankings AND for winning your conference championship. The first order of business is that divisions will be abolished in all FBS conferences. I don’t care if the Big Ten expands to the Big Ten Times Two (meaning twenty teams). No divisions. This way the best two teams get to the title game and we won’t see some weird 8-5 Wisconsin team somehow get a first-round bye. Also, at least one Group of Five team gets invited. More if they are in the Top 12 but we know it will be one for the foreseeable future. I know you’ve seen this a few times already on other websites or on ESPN but here’s what the top 12 will look like this with the new playoff criteria:
Georgia (SEC champs)
Michigan (Big Ten champs)
Clemson (ACC champs)
Utah (Pac-12 champs)
TCU
Ohio State
Alabama
Tennessee
Kansas State
USC
Penn State
Tulane
Sorry to Washington, Florida State, both Oregons and whoever else felt they should be in the field. You are denied this time. Do better.
Now to the format/schedule. Let’s use this year’s dates to show how this works to make it a tiny bit easier to understand. I’m also using the CFP’s newer date setup so it will be slightly different than mine was last year (and won’t interrupt the Army-Navy game). The other difference between this format and the one I used last year is that first round games will be on-campus. So those bowl games go back in the regular mix.
First Round Games – Friday, December 16th/Saturday December 17th (all times EST)
Tulane at TCU (Friday, 8:00)
Penn State at Ohio State (Saturday, Noon)
USC at Alabama (Saturday, 3:30)
Kansas State at Tennessee (Saturday, 7:00)
Really, you could mix and match as to where to put these games. The only thing that comes into play is when you have a team from the Mountain or Pacific time zones. You ideally should slot them either Friday or Saturday night and definitely not at Noon on the Saturday.
Quarter-Finals – Thursday, December 30th/Friday December 31st
Normally these games would be on December 31st, January 1st and January 2nd. This year that can’t be the case with New Year’s Day being a Sunday and you can’t have playoff games two days apart. The top-ranked team would be put at a bowl site that is most advantageous to them. Then the next team would be put in the best spot out of the bowls left and so forth until all four games are filled.
Orange Bowl (Thursday, 8:00) – Georgia vs. Kansas State/Tennessee winner
Sugar Bowl (Friday, Noon) – Clemson vs. Penn State/Ohio State winner
Rose Bowl (Friday, 4:00) – Utah vs. Tulane/TCU winner
Cotton Bowl (Friday, 8:00) – Michigan vs. USC/Alabama winner
Yes I have the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Eve. I think that’s a possibility going forward. I hope it is. Just to fuck with their commmittee.
Semi-Finals – Thursday, January 5th/Friday, January 6th
Can’t do Saturday and Sunday because it would interfere with the NFL (although I could see one game on an early Saturday).
Peach Bowl (Thursday, 7:00) – Orange Bowl winner vs. Rose Bowl winner
Again, The Committee would put Georgia in the best bowl for them which would obviously be the Peach Bowl. Even if they didn’t win, I think these semi-final combinations would be set in stone.
CFP National Championship – Monday, January 16th
So all this does is move the national championship one week back. Not a big deal really and still stays mostly out of the way of the NFL playoffs (which have also shifted back a week due to the extra regular season week they have now).
Only the six current New Year’s Six bowl games are being used as opposed to the ten I had in my scenario last year (I included the Gator, Citrus, Alamo and Holiday Bowls for the first round games).
Now for the rest of the bowl games. As you saw above, I lopped off nine of them. Would they even fill half the stadium? Maybe close but mostly likely not. I plan on not having any pre-Christmas daytime games. I say that every year. There are dumb. I get that not everyone works a 9ish-to-5ish job but, unfortunately to us night owls, the work world revolves around this schedule pretty closely. Even with PVRs still being a big thing, it’s pointless to have a bowl game on a random Wednesday before Christmas at 2 in the afternoon. Live sports are what most people want to see so having more games in primetime allows more people to watch. It’s actually pretty damn simple.
I also plan to move a few games off of ESPN. I hate the fact that games are pretty spread out among the networks all through the regular season. Then the bowl games come and WHAM! Pretty much all of them go to ESPN. Look, I will say I’m a bit selfish and patriotic because I am doing this, somewhat, for Canadians. Oh and with the Arizona Bowl being off the table, that means Barstool Sports is shit out of luck again. I assume one day they will pick up another bowl but for this scenario, nothing.
Bowl tie-ins are also going to be decreased as is what I do normally when I used to fix the bowl games. Many bowl games don’t even follow them anyway so why should I? I will have it set up like this:
SEC, Big Ten, ACC – 5 bowl tie-ins
Big XII, Pac-12 – 4 bowl tie-ins
AAC, MWC, Sun Belt – 3 bowl tie-ins
C-USA, MAC – 2 bowl tie-ins
If a team doesn’t get put in a bowl with a tie-in, they go to the at-large bucket. I believe this will make for at least a slightly better overall bowl lineup and my past posts have proven that. And I’m also going to have every Group of Five conference champion get to face a Power Five team in a bowl game. That’s a huge incentive compared to now where most of the G-5 conference champions get a banner and an unknown destination.
To qualify, teams must win seven games. If all those teams are placed and there are still more bowl slots, 6-win teams will be put in and let’s do it based on APR since that’s the way the NCAA does it with 5-win teams.
OK so now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get to what the tie-ins will look like:
January 4, 2023
10:30 PM
Las Vegas Bowl
Pac-12
MWC
January 4, 2023
7:00 PM
Gator Bowl
SEC
ACC
January 3, 2023
10:30 PM
LA Bowl
Pac-12
at-large
January 3, 2023
7:00 PM
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
ACC
at-large
January 2, 2023
3:00 PM
ReliaQuest Bowl
SEC
Big Ten
January 2, 2023
12:00 PM
Citrus Bowl
SEC
Big Ten
December 30, 2022
4:30 PM
Music City Bowl
SEC
Big Ten
December 30, 2022
1:00 PM
Liberty Bowl
SEC
Sun Belt
December 30, 2022
Noon
Sun Bowl
Big XII
Pac-12
December 28, 2022
10:30 PM
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
at-large
at-large
December 28, 2022
8:30 PM
Alamo Bowl
Big XII
at-large
December 28, 2022
7:00 PM
Military Bowl
Big Ten
MAC
December 28, 2022
3:30 PM
Gasparilla Bowl
ACC
AAC
December 28, 2022
Noon
Fenway Bowl
AAC
at-large
December 27, 2022
8:30 PM
Texas Bowl
Big XII
at-large
December 27, 2022
7:00 PM
Pinstripe Bowl
Big Ten
ACC
December 27, 2022
5:00 PM
Camellia Bowl
Sun Belt
at-large
December 27, 2022
1:30 PM
First Responder Bowl
Big XII
C-USA
December 26, 2022
3:30 PM
Armed Forces Bowl
AAC
at-large
December 26, 2022
Noon
Boca Raton Bowl
ACC
at-large
December 25, 2022
Noon
Myrtle Beach Bowl
MAC
at-large
December 24, 2022
9:30 PM
Hawaii Bowl
MWC
at-large
December 23, 2022
8:00 PM
Holiday Bowl
Pac-12
at-large
December 22, 2022
9:30 PM
Idaho Potato Bowl
MWC
at-large
December 21, 2022
9:30 PM
New Mexico Bowl
at-large
at-large
December 20, 2022
8:00 PM
Independence Bowl
Sun Belt
C-USA
As promised, all the Group of Five conference champions get their shot at a Power Five team in a bowl game. I still believe this is one of the things sorely missing from bowl season: the chance for a lower level team to go up against a potential power. Otherwise they are just playing an extra game. Good for the players and staff but in the end, it means jack shit because it won’t help nearly as much with recruiting and won’t enhance these schools brands when it comes to football.
There are also a lot of at-larges and we will get to that in a bit. Again, this is about trying my best to create a better bowl lineup and flexibility certainly helps in that regard.
And part of the way to do that is to overhaul the shitty Selection Sunday show that ESPN does. And it is shitty. Seriously shitty. You could take out 85% of the show and still get everything you need and more. To change this I will show you my perfect setup for the show, something I have done in previous years:
Noon-12:05 – Introduction of hosts, panel and all the reporters at the various sites around the U.S. We don’t need Desmond Howard’s reasoning behind putting Texas A&M in the College Football Playoff at the start of the season and how it somehow ties into today’s proceedings. It doesn’t so knock it off.
12:05-1:00 – College Football Playoff rankings reveal and game selections. This includes analysis from everyone: Herbstreit, Desmond, Rece Davis, David Pollack, fifteen people from around the country. Then an interview with whomever heads The Committee and you’ve filled the rest of the first hour. Easy, right?
1:00-2:00 – Show the bowl tie-ins and do some analysis on those. I am giving a bit less time than I have in previous years to give as much time as possible to the at-large selection process which is the meat of the show (along with live look-ins to the players sitting around, awaiting their destination, a la the March Madness Selection Show.
2:00-3:45 – Selection time. The random order for selection would have been done the day prior so as to give bowl committees time to send out invites although in this day and age, it’s rare to see a team decline a bowl invite. At-large selections are shown as they are made. Analysis by the crew following every pick.
Yes it’s 4 hours long (last 15 minutes can be used to wrap everything up and remind people of when certain games air); but you can cram a lot of excitement and interest into those four hours rather than have people drone on and on about nothing.
So…here is what the bowl schedule would look like after slotting all the conferences’ tie-ins:
January 4, 2023
10:30 PM
ESPN
Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon
Fresno State
January 4, 2023
7:00 PM
CBS
Gator Bowl
LSU
North Carolina
January 3, 2023
10:30 PM
ESPN
LA Bowl
Washington
at-large
January 3, 2023
7:00 PM
NBC
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Florida State
at-large
January 2, 2023
3:00 PM
ESPN
ReliaQuest Bowl
South Carolina
Purdue
January 2, 2023
12:00 PM
ABC
Citrus Bowl
Kentucky
Iowa
December 30, 2022
4:30 PM
ESPN
Music City Bowl
Mississippi State
Illinois
December 30, 2022
1:00 PM
ESPN
Liberty Bowl
Ole Miss
Troy
December 30, 2022
Noon
CBS
Sun Bowl
Big XII
UCLA
December 28, 2022
10:30 PM
ESPN
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
at-large
at-large
December 28, 2022
8:30 PM
FOX
Alamo Bowl
Texas
at-large
December 28, 2022
7:00 PM
ESPN
Military Bowl
Maryland
Toledo
December 28, 2022
3:30 PM
ESPN
Gasparilla Bowl
Duke
UCF
December 28, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Fenway Bowl
Cincinnati
at-large
December 27, 2022
8:30 PM
ESPN
Texas Bowl
Texas Tech
at-large
December 27, 2022
7:00 PM
ABC
Pinstripe Bowl
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
December 27, 2022
5:00 PM
ESPN
Camellia Bowl
South Alabama
at-large
December 27, 2022
1:30 PM
ESPN
First Responder Bowl
Oklahoma State
UTSA
December 26, 2022
3:30 PM
ESPN
Armed Forces Bowl
SMU
at-large
December 26, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Boca Raton Bowl
Syracuse
at-large
December 25, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Ohio
at-large
December 24, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
Hawaii Bowl
Wyoming
at-large
December 23, 2022
8:00 PM
FOX
Holiday Bowl
Oregon State
at-large
December 22, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
Idaho Potato Bowl
Boise State
at-large
December 21, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
New Mexico Bowl
at-large
at-large
December 20, 2022
8:00 PM
ESPN
Independence Bowl
James Madison
North Texas
The G-5 conference champion process has set up the following matchups:
UCF (the runner-up in the American since Tulane is in the CFP) goes to the Gasparilla Bowl to play Duke.
Fresno State (Mountain West champ) plays Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl, which ends up being the final bowl game before the College Football Playoff semi-finals.
The First Responder Bowl gets Conference USA champ UTSA and the high-octane offense of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The Sun Belt champ (Troy) faces off against Ole Miss in the Liberty Bowl.
Finally, the MAC champ, Toledo, plays Maryland in the Military Bowl. Yes the MAC will have to travel for every bowl game now that I have axed the Quick Lane Bowl.
Some of the bowl matchups are the same (sorry, I still have Kentucky-Iowa) and some have probably improved a bit (Ole Miss-Troy looks like a good one).
I have given FOX, ABC, CBS and even NBC some bowl games. ESPN will hate it but too fucking bad.
Finally you will notice I have put James Madison in a bowl game. Yeah, fuck the transition rule. An 8-3 team should go to a bowl game. Period.
Alright so there are a bunch of teams left who have won at least seven games. Seventeen of them to be exact. For 17 spots. That worked out perfectly! You will notice that the Big XII did not have enough teams to fill the few bowl slots they had. So the Sun Bowl goes into the pool to pick from the remaining teams.
Here is that random draw and the teams I think would have been selected:
LA – Notre Dame
Armed Forces – BYU
Boca Raton – Liberty
Texas – Houston
Camellia – Louisville
Idaho Potato – Washington State
Duke’s Mayo – East Carolina
Myrtle Beach – Coastal Carolina
Sun – Air Force
Holiday – San Diego State
New Mexico – San Jose State
Alamo – Wake Forest
Guaranteed Rate – NC State
Hawaii – WKU
Fenway – Eastern Michigan
New Mexico – Marshall
Guaranteed Rate – Middle Tennessee
So after these selections this is what the rest of the bowls (beyond the playoffs) would look like:
January 4, 2023
10:30 PM
ESPN
Las Vegas Bowl
Oregon
Fresno State
January 4, 2023
7:00 PM
CBS
Gator Bowl
LSU
North Carolina
January 3, 2023
10:30 PM
ESPN
LA Bowl
Washington
Notre Dame
January 3, 2023
7:00 PM
NBC
Duke’s Mayo Bowl
Florida State
East Carolina
January 2, 2023
3:00 PM
ESPN
ReliaQuest Bowl
South Carolina
Purdue
January 2, 2023
12:00 PM
ABC
Citrus Bowl
Kentucky
Iowa
December 30, 2022
4:30 PM
ESPN
Music City Bowl
Mississippi State
Illinois
December 30, 2022
1:00 PM
ESPN
Liberty Bowl
Ole Miss
Troy
December 30, 2022
Noon
CBS
Sun Bowl
Air Force
UCLA
December 28, 2022
10:30 PM
ESPN
Guaranteed Rate Bowl
NC State
Middle Tennessee
December 28, 2022
8:30 PM
FOX
Alamo Bowl
Texas
Wake Forest
December 28, 2022
7:00 PM
ESPN
Military Bowl
Maryland
Toledo
December 28, 2022
3:30 PM
ESPN
Gasparilla Bowl
Duke
UCF
December 28, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Fenway Bowl
Cincinnati
Eastern Michigan
December 27, 2022
8:30 PM
ESPN
Texas Bowl
Texas Tech
Houston
December 27, 2022
7:00 PM
ABC
Pinstripe Bowl
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
December 27, 2022
5:00 PM
ESPN
Camellia Bowl
South Alabama
Louisville
December 27, 2022
1:30 PM
ESPN
First Responder Bowl
Oklahoma State
UTSA
December 26, 2022
3:30 PM
ESPN
Armed Forces Bowl
SMU
BYU
December 26, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Boca Raton Bowl
Syracuse
Liberty
December 25, 2022
Noon
ESPN
Myrtle Beach Bowl
Ohio
Coastal Carolina
December 24, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
Hawaii Bowl
Wyoming
WKU
December 23, 2022
8:00 PM
FOX
Holiday Bowl
Oregon State
San Diego State
December 22, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
Idaho Potato Bowl
Boise State
Washington State
December 21, 2022
9:30 PM
ESPN
New Mexico Bowl
San Jose State
Marshall
December 20, 2022
8:00 PM
ESPN
Independence Bowl
James Madison
North Texas
So there are a few games that look quite a bit better than what we had. Especially when there are storylines like:
Notre Dame facing Washington in what would be a massively hyped LA Bowl.
The Texas Bowl gets a huge boost with two teams from the state playing.
Syracuse/Liberty could end up being a juicy matchup.
Coastal Carolina playing at home on Christmas Day.
The Idaho Potato Bowl getting a massive boost with Wazzu coming in to face the hometown Broncos.
Is it a massive change? No, but when you do a few small things you can create a lot more excitement overall to a system that, outside the playoff, has become rather stagnant.
A reminder (you shouldn’t need it but here it is) that bowl season begins this morning! The Bahamas Bowl starts a three-week-plus college football postseason journey that ends with the national championship on January 9th. Along with the bowl games, there are playoff games in other divisions going on.
FCS Semi-final: Incarnate Word at North Dakota State (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack)
Division III Championship: North Central vs. Mount Union (in Annapolis) (Friday, 7:00, specialty pack)
Division II Championship: Colorado School of Mines vs. Ferris State (in McKinney, Texas) (Saturday, 1:00, specialty pack)
FCS Semi-final: Montana State at South Dakota State (Saturday, 4:00, specialty pack)
From what I can see, the specialty packs are being dickheads again with none of these games listed. I hope they show up but I know last weekend I only remembered them appearing on Bell guides. Fingers crossed. Especially with the FCS games as it feels like we are heading for a Battle of the Dakotas for the FCS National Championship.
Alright, enjoy the games everyone. A LOT of football between now and Sunday night. Savour it.
Bossman's Blog 