Who Is In The Playoff?
In the span of four quarters Oregon took most of the guess work away for the fourth playoff team. While the Sooners had to go to overtime to beat Baylor, the Utes’ loss became Oklahoma’s gain. With Championship Weekend behind us, let’s unveil our final 2019 bowl projections. As always if you would like to see how things changed from last week then click here.
College Football Playoff
December 28th- Peach Bowl- (1)- LSU versus (4)- Oklahoma- As a result of Oregon’s win over Utah, the Sooners are back in the playoff. Originally we flipped LSU and Ohio State. However after what happened in their respective conference title games we are leaving things as they were. Presumptive Heisman winner Joe Burrow versus Jalen Hurts is a match up we all want to see.
December 28th- Fiesta Bowl (2)- Ohio State versus (3)- Clemson- One thing is for certain this year’s playoff match-ups feature four of the best quarterbacks in the nation. The Buckeyes trailed Wisconsin 21-7 at the half before running off 27 straight. As mentioned earlier the Buckeye’s struggles cost them the top seed. Literally no one is talking about Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers who have won 28 straight.
January 13th- College Football Championship- (1)- LSU versus (2)- Ohio State- This is the way it should be in sports. The top two teams all season meeting to decide the champion.
Now that we’ve gone through the playoff let’s head now to the New Year’s Six games. As we go through you see the big winner from the weekend was Penn State.
New Year’s Six/Selection Committee Games
Cotton Bowl- December 28th- Memphis versus Penn State- Due to their big loss to Oregon the Utes slide out of not only the playoff but the New Year’s Six as well. James Franklin’s club is more than happy to take their bid. After leading his team to the AAC title and Cotton Bowl berth Mike Norvell appears headed to Florida State.
Orange Bowl- December 30th- Florida versus Virginia- The Gators head south to Miami for their bowl. It will be the first time since beating Maryland 56-23 in 2002 they have played in the Orange Bowl. No one expected the Cavaliers to give Clemson much of a game and they didn’t losing 62-17. However getting a New Year’s Six bowl is a great reward for making the ACC title game.
Rose Bowl- January 1st- Oregon versus Wisconsin- Justin Herbert and the Ducks showed why they were one of the pre-season favorites in the Pac-12. Even though they lost to Ohio State the way the Badgers played keeps them ahead of Penn State for the Rose Bowl. This is their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 2013. That was the last of three straight trips for Wisconsin.
Sugar Bowl- January 1st- Baylor versus Georgia- With Oklahoma moving up to the playoff the Bears get the automatic Big 12 bid. We were tempted to move Florida to this game after the blow out by LSU. However based on the head to head meeting we sent the Bulldogs to New Orleans for a second straight year.
As we continue on with our final 2019 bowl projections let’s look at the New Year’s Eve and Day games. With Penn State moving up to the Cotton Bowl a few Big 10 clubs change bowls as well.
Games On December 31st and January 1st
Citrus Bowl- January 1st- Alabama versus Michigan- The last time Alabama played in Orlando was 2010. Even though Auburn beat the Crimson Tide we think the Citrus Bowl will still take Nick Saban’s club. This is the fifth time these two school have met and they are tied two wins apiece. Four of the five meetings have been in bowl games.
Outback Bowl- January 1st- Minnesota versus Auburn- A trip to Florida in January has to be a great reward for the Golden Gophers. The Tigers had a real chance for the Cotton Bowl. However Penn State was ranked higher so they got the nod.
Alamo Bowl- December 31st- Kansas State versus Utah– As a result of their 37-15 loss to Oregon the Utes now head to San Antonio. Much like the Big 10 every team in the Big 12 moves up a bowl spot.
Belk Bowl- December 31st- Texas A&M versus Virginia Tech- We’ve had the Hokies slated in this game for several weeks now. The Aggies however are new. Reportedly they have no interest in playing in the Texas Bowl so now they head to the last Belk Bowl.
Arizona Bowl- December 31st- Georgia Southern versus Utah State–
Liberty Bowl- December 31st- Iowa State versus Tulane- The Green Wave land in Memphis as a replacement for an SEC team.
Sun Bowl- December 31st- Wake Forest versus versus Washington
Continuing on with our final 2019 bowl projections let’s look at the post New Year’s games.
Games After January 1st
Birmingham Bowl- January 2nd- Florida State versus Cincinnati- The Bearcats came so close to knocking off Memphis on Saturday. They now head to Alabama as another SEC replacement.
Taxslayer Gator Bowl- January 2nd- Indiana versus Kentucky- These border rivals used to play every year. However they haven’t met since 2005. The Hoosiers lead the all-time series 18-17 with one tie. More than likely this is your last chance to see Lynn Bowden play for the Wildcats.
Idaho Potato Bowl- January 3rd- Miami (Ohio) versus Nevada
Armed Forces Bowl- January 4th- Air Force versus Liberty
Lending Tree Bowl- January 6th- Central Michigan versus Louisiana
As we continue with our final 2019 bowl projections let’s go to the contests after Christmas.
Games After December 25th
First Responder Bowl- December 30th- Florida Atlantic versus Kent State- The “Lane Train” is moving onto Ole Miss after two Conference USA titles in three years. The Owls will be coached by defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer.
Music City Bowl- December 30th- Louisville versus Tennessee- With both teams a short driving distance from Nashville this might be the highest attended Music City game ever. Winners of six of their last seven, the Vols are one of the hottest teams in football.
Redbox Bowl- December 30th- Arizona State versus Illinois- After nearly being fired a season ago the job Lovie Smith has done with the Illini is quite remarkable.
Camping World Bowl- December 28th- Notre Dame versus Texas- Another game with potential to be a great one.
Cheez-It Bowl- December 27th- San Diego State versus Washington State
Holiday Bowl- December 27th- Iowa versus USC
Military Bowl- December 27th- North Carolina versus Navy
Pinstripe Bowl- December 27th- Michigan State versus Pittsburgh
Texas Bowl- December 27th- Mississippi State versus Oklahoma State- Our match up of Texas and Texas A&M last week was much more exciting. However neither school was interested.
Independence Bowl- December 26th- Miami (FL) versus Western Kentucky- The Hilltoppers go in place of yet another SEC team.
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th- Boston College versus Eastern Michigan
Wrapping up our final 2019 bowl projections let’s look at the all the games before Christmas.
Early Season Bowl Games
Hawaii Bowl- December 24th- BYU versus Hawaii- The Cougars already accepted a big and it makes little sense to move the Rainbows off the island for a bowl.
Gaspiralla Bowl- December 23rd- Central Florida versus Southern Mississippi
Boca Raton Bowl- December 21st- Florida International versus Ohio
Camiella Bowl- December 21st- Arkansas State versus Western Michigan
Celebration Bowl- December 21st- Alcorn State versus North Carolina A&T
Cure Bowl- December 21st- Georgia State versus Temple
Las Vegas Bowl- December 21st- Boise State versus California
New Mexico Bowl- December 21st- UAB versus Wyoming
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Appalachian State versus Louisiana Tech
Bahamas Bowl- December 20th- Buffalo versus Charlotte- Both teams accepted bids last week.
Frisco Bowl- December 20th- Marshall versus SMU
There you have our final 2019 bowl projections here at Last Word On College Football. Feel free to follow along on Sunday and see how well our picks match up to the actual ones. Don’t forget we will have previews and recaps off all the games throughout the entire bowl season.
