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Post-Rivalry Week Bowl Projections

I insisted no conference was getting two teams in the playoff. I...I might’ve been wrong.

NCAA Football: Michigan State at Penn State Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Happy Monday, everyone. So Rivalry Week was fun, huh? With my head nice and toasty warm thanks to this simply elegant hat I'm wearing today, it's time to give these bowl projections another go.

Bowl

Date

Tie 1

Tie 2

Comments

Cure 17-Dec AAC Northern Illinois** Sun Belt Arkansas State Moving on.
Camelia 17-Dec MAC 3 Eastern Michigan Sun Belt South Alabama …moving on again.
New Orleans 17-Dec Sun Belt Louisiana Lafayette C-USA Louisiana Tech The Cajuns' upset of Arkansas State has them needing just a win over ULM to guarantee the NOLA Bowl a good showing.
New Mexico 17-Dec C-USA Old Dominion MWC New Mexico I feel like, for the amazing season they had, the Lobos deserve so much more than this. But hey, a home game is fun, too? And Old Dominion! Whoa!
Las Vegas 17-Dec MWC Boise State Pac12 6 Appalachian State* The Sun Belt should have one extra team bowl-eligible, and it gives a deserving Appalachian State the gift of a good, prominent game.
Miami Beach 19-Dec AAC Memphis MAC Miami (OH) Get it? It's the OTHER Miami, playing in Miami! Truly a fairy tale ending for the Redhawks, who pulled off the Reverse Zook.
Boca Raton 20-Dec AAC Central Florida C-USA Southern Mississippi Yep.
Poinsettia 21-Dec BYU BYU MWC San Diego State Actually a good game!
Potato 22-Dec MAC Central Michigan MWC Wyoming I think San Diego State gets by Wyoming the second time around. The Lobos just wrote the book on how to pound the Cowboys with a ground attack.
Bahamas 23-Dec AAC Tulsa MAC Toledo I will go to my grave insisting that this is the right matchup for the Bahamas Bowl. I need to find better things to go to the grave over. But this game would be fun.
Armed Forces 23-Dec Big XII 7-8 Mississippi State** AAC (Navy) Navy Fort Worth ain't a bad drive for 5-7 CLANGA, and this gives Navy the chance to put up a bunch of points.
Dollar General 23-Dec MAC Ohio Sun Belt Troy Think of the savings.
Hawaii 24-Dec MWC Hawaii C-USA MTSU Hawaii made it. Whew.
Independence 26-Dec ACC North Carolina State C-USA/SEC Vanderbilt Thanks to SEC shenanigans and NCSU's upset of UNC, this actually winds up being a decent game.
Quick Lane 26-Dec ACC Boston College B1G 8-9 Maryland Ah, an ACC reunion in Detroit. Oddly fitting.
St. Petersburg 26-Dec ACC/C-USA North Texas** AAC South Florida The 5-7 Mean Green get a berth and travel to the Trop for a game no one is gonna watch.
Cactus 27-Dec Big XII 6 Baylor Pac12 7 Colorado State* This also has the potential to be a good game, if you're able to hold your nose and pretend it's not Baylor playing.
Heart of Dallas 27-Dec B1G 8-9 Army* C-USA UTSA I dunno. Ask GF3 what Army's been up to.
Military 27-Dec ACC Wake Forest AAC Temple Moving on.
Holiday 27-Dec B1G 2-4 Iowa Pac12 3 Washington State How's that pass defense holding up, Hawkeyes?
Russell Athletic 28-Dec ACC 2 Virginia Tech Big XII 3 West Virginia I don't get why this game is so hard to believe. Resurrect an old rivalry in a year in which both teams are good? Of course you do!
Pinstripe 28-Dec ACC 3-6 Georgia Tech B1G 5-7 Northwestern NERRRRRRRRRRRRRDS!
Texas 28-Dec Big XII 4 Kansas State SEC 3-8 Texas A&M It's a Big XII reunion no one actually wanted to see!
Foster Farms 28-Dec B1G 5-7 Indiana Pac12 4 Utah This could just as easily be Stanford, but it's gonna be a redux of that piss-pounding the Cardinal gave Maryland either way.
Alamo 29-Dec Big XII 2 Oklahoma State Pac12 2 USC An intriguing matchup.
Belk 29-Dec ACC 3-6 Miami (FL) SEC 3-8 Georgia The Swedish Chef Bowl grabs two kind of decent teams that still somehow feel wholly underwhelming.
Birmingham 29-Dec AAC Houston SEC 9 South Carolina A rudderless Houston slips in the AAC pecking order, I think.
Sun 30-Dec ACC 3-6 Pitt Pac12 5 Stanford I don't even know what to think of Pitt football anymore. 76-61. Jesus.
Music City 30-Dec B1G 5-7 Minnesota SEC 3-8 Arkansas 2002 REMATCH PLEASE GET GLEN MASON ON THE CALL
Arizona 30-Dec MWC Air Force Sun Belt Idaho Sure. The Vandals' swan song is a game televised by Campus Insiders. Apt.
Liberty 30-Dec Big XII 5 TCU SEC 3-8 Kentucky So…Kentucky might be decent? Since the entirety of the SEC not named 'Bama is a joke, they could rise even higher by virtue of being this year's darlings.
Citrus 31-Dec ACC/B1G 2-4 Florida State SEC 2 Auburn Picking between Florida State and Virginia Tech. Auburn is somehow still this high because the SEC is trash.
TaxSlayer 31-Dec ACC 3-6 North Carolina SEC 3-8 Tennessee Gross.
Outback 2-Jan B1G 2-4 Nebraska SEC 3-8 LSU It's been longer for LSU than it has Auburn or Tennessee, and this has potential to be a really good game, with DACOACHO hired on full-time now.

New Year's Six Bowls

Bowl

Date

Tie 1

Tie 2

Comments

Cotton 2-Jan At-Large Penn State At-Large Western Michigan Turns out the Mountain West ain't that good. Western keeps its spot.
Rose 2-Jan B1G 1 wisconsin Pac12 1 Colorado Your Big Ten champions. /vomits everywhere
Sugar 2-Jan Big XII 1 Oklahoma SEC 1 Florida Florida cleared the East by two games and is Auburn really that convincing of a #2 in the SEC?
Orange 30-Dec ACC 1 Louisville B1G/SEC/ND Michigan Yep, this sounds right for Michigan. Louisville's drubbing of FSU is all that's keeping them here. Seriously. A loss to Kentucky?

College Football Playoff

Bowl

Date

Tie 1

Tie 2

Comments

Fiesta 31-Dec CFP2 Clemson CFP3 Ohio State It's Ohio State from the Big Ten and frankly, it's not close.
Peach 31-Dec CFP1 Alabama CFP4 Washington The Huskies beat the Buffs in the Pac-12 title game. If they don't, the winner of the Big Ten CCG goes here and gets a pasting. But at least they [beat/almost beat] Ohio State!

Thoughts:

  • I can't reiterate this enough: The SEC is baaaaaad.
  • Amusingly, the Big Ten getting two teams into the playoff wouldn't change anything this year, since Nebraska isn't going to move into the At-Large slot in the Cotton Bowl but none of Penn State, wisconsin, or Michigan are falling out of the NY6.
  • I expect a 200-comment pissing match about Ohio State and Penn State. This is my plea: Give it a fucking rest. Just for a day.
  • A Nebraska-LSU Outback Bowl sound fun to anyone else? Buncha drunk Cajuns on the beach at Clearwater, and I'm sure Nebraska fans would do their best as well.
  • With the Mountain West falling apart down the stretch, Western Michigan just needs to ease past Ohio and into the Cotton Bowl. That's pretty awesome for the Fightin' Flecks.
  • Again, congrats to Miami Hydroxide on an incredible turn-around. 0-6 to 6-6 is just awesome.
  • Indiana's past participation in the Pinstripe and Northwestern's NYC fanbase and celebrity cache (seriously, audible during both Legends Classic games against Texas and Notre Dame) means the Hoosiers get to be the sacrificial lamb out west. But that's OK for Indiana, once again happy to be bowling.
  • Minnesota-Wazzu would be a bloodbath. Iowa-Wazzu will be an entertaining contrast in styles.
  • Seriously, please get Glen Mason on the call for a Minnesota-Arkansas Music City Bowl. I want to hear all the stories of his favorite trips to Nashville.
  • I have no thoughts about Maryland.