Changes Abound At The Top
It was another crazy weekend of college football. Two of our top-ranked teams needed last-second victories to keep their playoff hopes alive. The west coast got the spotlight and the “Pac-12 After Dark” didn’t disappoint giving us a game for the ages as well as another great contest. Another of our playoff teams took a big loss and then lost their top player. Let’s break it all down with our 2022 Week 12 Bowl Projections. As always if you’d like to see how things changed from last week click here.
College Football Playoff
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) USC- Kirby Smart’s club got all they could handle from Kentucky before winning 16-6. They remain in the top spot as they get ready for Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Behind Caleb Williams’ monster game the Trojans knocked off UCLA 48-45. As a result of Tennessee’s loss, USC moves up to the fourth spot. They should be favored in both of their remaining games against Notre Dame and the Pac-12 title game.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Ohio State vs. (3) TCU- The Buckeyes got all they could handle from Maryland before winning 43-30. A huge game versus Michigan is on tap for Saturday.
At this point, it’s safe to call the Horned Frogs “a team of destiny” for 2022. I’m still not sure how Max Duggan and company pulled that game out against Baylor. They host Iowa State this weekend.
College Football National Championship- January 9th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2) Ohio State- This game hasn’t changed in about two months and probably won’t unless something crazy happens.
Selection Committee Games
Orange Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame
Clemson vs. Alabama- The Tigers have an outside shot at making the playoff but will need some help. Bryce Young and the Tide took care of Austin Peay and play Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Kansas State vs. LSU- Brian Kelly’s Tigers had no trouble with UAB. The Wildcats need to beat Kansas this weekend and will be off to the Big 12 title game.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Cincinnati vs. Tennessee- With Central Florida’s loss to Navy the door opens back up for both the Bearcats and Tulane. UC entertains the Green Wave on Friday with the winner hosting the AAC Title game.
It was a tough weekend for the Volunteers as they were blasted by South Carolina 63-38. If that wasn’t bad enough they lost star quarterback Hendon Hooker for the season with a torn ACL. Even with the loss they should remain ahead of Penn State for the last at-large bid.
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Michigan vs. Oregon- Jim Harbaugh’s club nearly lost their perfect season but pulled out a 19-17 win. As mentioned earlier they head to Columbus for this week’s “Game Of The Year.” The Ducks bounced back from the Washington loss with a win over Utah.
Right now there are 73 bowl-eligible teams so at this point we don’t believe we’ll need the Frisco Football Classic. One of the big questions right now is sorting out the SEC. Try to follow us on this. Kentucky beat Florida, who beat South Carolina, who beat Kentucky, and Tennessee. The Gamecocks get our first pick then what happens with the Gators and Wildcats intrastate games this weekend determines the rest.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- Ole Miss vs. Penn State– The Nittany Lions are the clear number three team in the Big 10 and head to Orlando. The Rebels dropped their second straight game, this time to Arkansas.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Iowa vs. South Carolina– A month ago the Hawkeyes’ season was declared over. Since then they’ve been one of the hottest teams in the Big 10 and have a great chance of winning the west.
What a great weekend it was for Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks. Behind an impressive performance from Spencer Rattler USC ended Tennessee’s title hopes and are our choice to hed to Tampa.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Big 10- Minnesota vs. Wake Forest- The Demon Deacons’ broke their losing streak with a win over Syracuse behind a huge game from Sam Hartman.
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Louisville vs. Oregon State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC- Florida State vs. Kentucky- Mark Stoops’ Cats gave the top-ranked Bulldogs all they could handle before falling to Georgia. They need to beat Louisville and another Florida bowl should be their reward.
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- San Jose State vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Florida vs. Illinois
Post-Christmas Day Games
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- Ohio vs. Wisconsin
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. AAC/ACC/SEC- Memphis vs. Southern Mississippi
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– MAC vs. Sun Belt/Conference USA– Miami (Ohio) vs. South Alabama
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Pool- Kansas vs. Michigan State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Purdue vs. Texas Tech
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Central Florida vs. Pittsburgh- Following their loss to Navy the Knights fall out of the Cotton Bowl and end up in Annapolis.
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Baylor vs. Missouri- The Tigers need to beat Arkansas to get to six wins.
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Notre Dame vs. Utah- A Florida bowl for the Fighting Irish is certainly in play. However, we’re keeping them in San Diego for their bowl.
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Arkansas vs. Oklahoma
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- Duke vs. Maryland
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 12- North Carolina vs. Texas
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac 12- Oklahoma State vs. UCLA
As we go through the final sets of games in our 2022 Week 12 Bowl Projections there are a couple of changes from last week.
Games Around Christmas
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Pool vs. Pool- Marshall vs. Rice
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 20th-Mid-American vs. Mountain West-
Ball State vs. Wyoming
Boca Raton Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Buffalo vs. Western Kentucky
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt
Coastal Carolina vs. Texas San-Antonio
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd-American vs. Pool- Air Force vs. Houston
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- East Carolina vs. Liberty
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
BYU vs. Syracuse
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th- Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Middle Tennessee vs. San Diego State
Time to wrap our 2022 Week 12 Bowl Projections will the enormous slate of early season games. Of course that includes a whopping seven games on December 17th alone.
First Weekend Games
Bahamas Bowl- December 16th- Conference USA vs. Mid-American- Bowling Green vs. Florida Atlantic
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- Appalachian State vs. UAB
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Tulane
Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Georgia Southern vs. SMU
Celebration Bowl- December 17th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central
New Mexico Bowl- December 17th- Conference USA vs. Mountain West- North Texas vs. Utah State
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl– December 17th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Boise State vs. Washington State
Lending Tree Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Troy
Las Vegas Bowl- December 17th- SEC vs. Pac-12- Mississippi State vs. Washington
Thanks for checking out our 2022 Week 12 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back next week for our next-to-last projections of the season.
