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Not much time for thoughts today except to mention that I have broken down and moved Penn State into an at-large slot for the New Year's Six bowl games. The losses by Texas A&M and Florida and my opinion that the LSU balloon is slowly leaking means the Nittany Lions head to Dallas for the hypiest matchup that ever hyped.
| Bowl | Date | Tie 1 | Tie 2 | Comments | ||
| Cure | 17-Dec | AAC | Central Florida | Sun Belt 4 | Appalachian State | |
| Camelia | 17-Dec | MAC 3 | Akron | Sun Belt 3 | South Alabama | A loss to a moribund Louisiana-Monroe means the USA margin for error is thiiin. |
| New Orleans | 17-Dec | Sun Belt 1 | Louisiana-Lafayette | C-USA | Louisiana Tech | |
| New Mexico | 17-Dec | C-USA | Middle Tennessee State | MWC | New Mexico | |
| Las Vegas | 17-Dec | MWC | Boise State | Pac12 6 | California | Hey look, Cal's not all that good! Stunning. |
| Miami Beach | 19-Dec | AAC | Houston | MAC | Eastern Michigan | |
| Boca Raton | 20-Dec | AAC | Memphis | C-USA | Southern Mississippi | |
| Poinsettia | 21-Dec | BYU | BYU | MWC | San Diego State | We can basically just lock this one in, right? |
| Potato | 22-Dec | MAC 2 | Central Michigan | MWC | Wyoming | I just can't see the 'Pokes climbing any higher. |
| Bahamas | 23-Dec | AAC | Tulsa | MAC | Toledo | Take the over. This one's gonna be fun. |
| Armed Forces | 23-Dec | Big XII 7-8 | Kansas State | AAC (Navy) | Navy | Ho-hum. |
| Dollar General | 23-Dec | MAC 1 | Ohio | Sun Belt | Troy | |
| Hawaii | 24-Dec | MWC | Hawaii | C-USA | Western Kentucky | That 13th game on the Rainbow Warriors' schedule is gonna prove vital--they're 4-6 and need to beat Fresno and UMass. |
| Independence | 26-Dec | ACC | Boston College** | C-USA/SEC | UTSA | The Roadrunners' upset of Middle Tennessee means C-USA's got an extra team bowling. |
| Quick Lane | 26-Dec | ACC | Army* | B1G 8-9 | Indiana | Indy still is a good destination for the Hoosiers, who can't go back to NYC. |
| St. Petersburg | 26-Dec | ACC | Miami (FL) | AAC | South Florida | |
| Cactus | 27-Dec | Big XII 6 | Texas | Pac12 7 | Arizona State | Texas is becoming a tricky team to slot in here. Sparky holds out hope for a win over Arizona to go bowling. |
| Heart of Dallas | 27-Dec | B1G 8-9 | Vanderbilt** | C-USA | Old Dominion | The "Where will the smart team go next?" roulette continues. |
| Military | 27-Dec | ACC | Air Force* | AAC | Temple | This remains an intriguing matchup. |
| Holiday | 27-Dec | B1G 2-4 | Minnesota | Pac12 3 | Colorado | Welp. This is actually happening, huh? |
| Russell Athletic | 28-Dec | ACC 2 | Florida State | Big XII 3 | West Virginia | This still feels pretty accurate. |
| Pinstripe | 28-Dec | ACC 3-6 | Pittsburgh | B1G 5-7 | Maryland | Your guess in 5-7 is good as mine, but that local angle might appeal to folks in New York. |
| Texas | 28-Dec | Big XII 4 | TCU | SEC 3-8 | Georgia | Our big movers and shakers this week, the Frogs get a close-to-home game. |
| Foster Farms | 28-Dec | B1G 5-7 | Northwestern | Pac12 4 | USC | A shake-up near the top sends the 'Cats yo-yoing back West. |
| Alamo | 29-Dec | Big XII 2 | Oklahoma State | Pac12 2 | Washington State | O/U set at 100. |
| Belk | 29-Dec | ACC 3-6 | Wake Forest | SEC 3-8 | South Carolina | This game still makes me vomit. |
| Birmingham | 29-Dec | AAC | Arkansas State* | SEC 9 | Ole Miss | Chad Kelly's now out for the year, meaning even this would be a gift for the Rebs. |
| Sun | 30-Dec | ACC 3-6 | Georgia Tech | Pac12 5 | Stanford | I don't want to be the team across from Stanford in a bowl. The Trees are grinding games out again. |
| Music City | 30-Dec | B1G 5-7 | Iowa | SEC 3-8 | Arkansas | I'm starting to get really tempted to send Northwestern here and Iowa out west, but not quite yet. |
| Arizona | 30-Dec | MWC | Colorado State | Sun Belt 5 | Idaho | You don't actually care what I think about Sun Belt bowl pecking orders. |
| Liberty | 30-Dec | Big XII 5 | Baylor | SEC 3-8 | Kentucky | Baylor's stock is close to a 'junk bond' grade, but they hang onto the 5-slot from the Big XII. |
| Citrus | 31-Dec | ACC/B1G 2-4 | Virginia Tech | SEC 2 | Texas A&M | A&M holds high when the Citrus doesn't take the Gators a second time. |
| TaxSlayer | 31-Dec | ACC 3-6 | North Carolina | SEC 3-8 | Tennessee | Should be some fireworks in this one. |
| Outback | 2-Jan | B1G 2-4 | Nebraska | SEC 3-8 | Florida | The Huskers swing back to the other coast by virtue of…is Penn State actually good? |
| New Year's Six Bowls | ||||||
| Bowl | Date | Tie 1 | Tie 2 | Comments | ||
| Cotton | 2-Jan | At-Large | Penn State | At-Large | Western Michigan | I can't believe I'm actually doing this. Penn State runs the table and hovers around #10 in the polls, earning them this spot. The universe breaks from all the HYPE surrounding this game. |
| Rose | 2-Jan | B1G 1 | Ohio State | Pac12 1 | Utah | Lot of teams in contention for this space, but OSU to the Rose is tough to beat. |
| Sugar | 2-Jan | Big XII 1 | Oklahoma | SEC 1 | Auburn | A&M's loss means I'm dumping the Aggies for War Damn Eagle. |
| Orange | 30-Dec | ACC 1 | Louisville | B1G/SEC/ND | Wisconsin | A loss in the B1GCCG does little to knock the badgers out of an NY6 bowl. |
| College Football Playoff | ||||||
| Bowl | Date | Tie 1 | Tie 2 | Comments | ||
| Fiesta | 31-Dec | CFP2 | Clemson | CFP3 | Michigan | Self-explanatory, no? The best four teams in the nation are the best four in the nation 'til we're proven otherwise. |
| Peach | 31-Dec | CFP1 | Alabama | CFP4 | Washington | The Huskies outlast Utah a second time to win the Pac-12, but 'Bama-UW still won't even be a contest. |