Changes At The Top This Week
After last week’s shake-up in our bowl projections things stayed mostly true to form in week three of the football season. Every team ranked in the top 10 won, however, some were much more impressive than others. As a result, we’re changing things up with seeding from last week. In addition, we’re bringing a new team to the New Year’s Six parties. Just like we do every week we begin our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections with the playoff.
College Football Playoff
Cotton Bowl- December 31st- (1) Alabama vs. (4) Oklahoma- For one half it was business as usual for the Crimson Tide as they ran out to an early lead on Florida. However the second half was a different story at the Gators made ‘Bama look mortal and in the process gave hope to the rest of college football. In the end, Nick Saban’s club held on for a 31-29 win marking their 32 straight wins against the SEC East.
Saturday’s game between Oklahoma and Nebraska tried to live up to the history of the greatest game ever and was far more entertaining than just about everyone expected. Spencer Rattler and the Sooners held off the Cornhuskers for a 23-16 win. As a result of the close win and blowouts by the other two schools, we’re dropping Oklahoma to the four seed.
Orange Bowl- December 31st- (2) Georgia vs. (3) Oregon- The Bulldogs had no trouble in their SEC opener beating South Carolina 40-13. They remain the two seed this week. On the other side of the ball, the Ducks easily defeated Stony Brook 48-7. They start Pac-12 play against Arizona on Saturday and move up to the three seed this week.
College Football National Championship- January 11th- (1) Alabama vs. (2) Georgia- Again this might not be the most appealing match-up since the two schools only would have met a month before in the SEC Championship game. However as we stand in week three these are the two best teams, though the gap may not be a big as previously thought.
Continuing on with our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections time now for the New Year’s Six games whereas we mentioned earlier we welcome a new team to the dance.
Selection Committee Games
Peach Bowl-December 3oth- Clemson vs. Notre Dame- The Tigers continued to struggle as it took a goal-line stand to beat Georgia Tech 14-8. All of a sudden D.J. Uiagalelei doesn’t look like the potential Heisman winner much thought. The Fighting Irish continue to temp fate but are 3-0 after beating Purdue 27-13 on Saturday. Circle the game two weeks from now when they host Cincinnati.
Fiesta Bowl- January 1st- Cincinnati vs. Penn State- Speaking of the Bearcats Desmond Ridder and company rolled off 15 fourth-quarter points en route to a 38-24 road win over Indiana. They go in as the Group of Five representatives. James Franklin‘s Nittany Lions beat Auburn 28-20 in a whale of a game. They move into New Year’s Six at the expense of Iowa. It’s conceivable three Big 10 teams eventually make it into the playoff and selection committee games.
Rose Bowl- January 1st- Ohio State vs. UCLA- Ryan Day’s Buckeyes bounced back from their home loss to Oregon with a 41-20 win over Tulsa. We’d really appreciate it if a team would step up and take the Pac-12’s bid to Pasadena. Even though the Bruins lost at home to Fresno State they still get the bid since virtually every other team lost.
Sugar Bowl- January 1st- Iowa State vs. Texas A&M- The Cyclones bounced back from their loss to Iowa with a 48-3 win over UNLV. On the other side of the ball, Zack Calzada threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-0 shutout over New Mexico.
Continuing our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections let’s head to the games around New Year’s Day. In case you haven’t heard the San Francisco Bowl, formerly the Redbox Bowl won’t be happening this year.
New Year’s Games
Texas Bowl- January 4th- LSU vs. TCU
Citrus Bowl- January 1st- Florida vs. Iowa- While they fell two points short against Alabama the Gators may have shown a way to beat the Crimson Tide. We nearly put them in the Peach Bowl in place of Notre Dame but ultimately kept them here. As mentioned earlier the Hawkeyes drop from the Fiesta Bowl and head to Orlando. The two schools have met four times in history, all of them in bowl games. The Gators lead the series 3-1.
Outback Bowl- January 1st- Ole Miss vs. Wisconsin– Last week we had Kentucky playing in Tampa. However, we’re moving Lane Kiffin’s impressive Rebels into this slot now.
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 31st- Northern Illinois vs. Nevada
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 31st- Wake Forest vs. Arizona State
Taxslayer Gator Bowl- December 31st- Auburn vs. Virginia Tech
Games Before The New Year
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- Boston College vs. Kentucky- The Cats got a huge scare from FCS school Chattanooga winning 28-23. As a result, they drop down a couple of games this week.
Music City Bowl- December 30th- Michigan vs. Arkansas- On paper, this looks like a very interesting matchup. Sam Pittman’s Razorbacks look like the real deal while Michigan definitely appears to be back.
Las Vegas Bowl- December 30th- Michigan State vs. Utah
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Texas vs. USC- With UCLA’s loss that opens the door for the Trojans and just about everyone else in the Pac-12 for the Rose Bowl bid. However, we’re keeping the Trojans playing in San Antonio again this week.
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- North Carolina vs. Oklahoma State
Fenway Bowl- December 29th- Louisville vs. Memphis
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- Pittsburgh vs. Rutgers- Under Greg Schiano, the Scarlet Knights have been a big surprise in 2021. Who would have thought the game Saturday against Michigan would be a battle of undefeated clubs.
Continuing our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections we now head to the games between Christmas and the New Year.
Bowl Games After Christmas
Birmingham Bowl- December 28th- Air Force vs. Mississippi State- As a result of no American Conference team being available the Falcons move into this game.
First Responder Bowl- December 28th- Army vs. Virginia
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 28th- Baylor vs. Minnesota
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- North Carolina State vs. Colorado
Liberty Bowl- December 28th- West Virginia vs. Missouri
Military Bowl- December 27th- Central Florida vs. Syracuse- Not only did the Knights lose Dillon Gabriel for an undetermined amount of time but likely saw their Group Of Five chances end with a last-minute loss to Louisville.
Quick Lane Bowl- December 27th- Indiana vs. Toledo
Christmas Holiday Games
Camellia Bowl- December 25th- Arkansas State vs. Central Michigan
Hawaii Bowl- December 24th- Hawai’i vs. SMU
We are in the home stretch with our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections time for a look at the pre-Christmas set of games.
Union Home Mortgage Bowl- December 22nd- Maryland vs. Miami (Florida)- Much like Manny Diaz’s job status we have the Hurricanes barely holding on to a bowl bid this week.
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd- Army vs. Middle Tennessee
Frisco Bowl- December 21st- Houston vs. Texas San-Antonio
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 21st- Ball State vs. Fresno State
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 20th- Coastal Carolina vs. Tulsa- The Chanticleers looked very impressive in a 28-25 road win over Buffalo. As a result, they keep their chances going as the Group Of Five Representative.
As always we wrap up our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections with a look at the early season games, including a whopping seven games on December 18th alone. In fact, two of the best potential bowl matchups happen on this first weekend.
First Weekend Matchups
Bahamas Bowl- December 17th- Florida Atlantic vs. Western Michigan
Cure Bowl- December 17th- Appalachian State vs. Liberty- Much like last year the Flames have hopes of being the Group of Five representatives. However many things would have to break in their favor. As a result, fans are treated to one of the best matchups of the whole bowl season.
Boca Raton Bowl- December 18th- South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky
Celebration Bowl- December 18th- Alcorn State vs. South Carolina State
Independence Bowl- December 18th- UAB vs. BYU
Lending Tree Bowl- December 18th- Eastern Michigan vs Troy
Los Angeles Bowl- December 18th- Boise State vs. Stanford
New Mexico Bowl- December 18th- Marshall vs. San Diego State
New Orleans Bowl- December 18th- Louisiana Tech vs. Louisiana- This is one of the best bowl games each season. These two in-state schools have met 87 times in history. However, they haven’t played since 2015.
Thanks for checking out our LWOS Week Three Bowl Projections. As we say every week, don’t like where your team is slotted? Just wait it will probably change every week until the official pairings are released.
