Our Last Picks Before The Announcement
Before we get started with our final picks we have to be honest with you. When we posted our Championship Week projections we were feeling pretty good about things. For about two hours Friday night, it was all falling into place. However, Utah got on a major roll, beat USC, and caused another ripple effect throughout our picks. Let’s go through all the games one more time with our Final 2022 Bowl Projections.
College Football Playoff
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) Ohio State- The Trojans’ big loss is the Buckeyes’ gain. After dropping out of the playoff following their loss to Michigan, OSU is now back in. Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs had no trouble with LSU in the SEC title game. Now Kirby Smart squad won’t travel far for their game.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Michigan vs. (3) TCU- J.J. McCarthy and the Wolverines pulled away from Purdue in the second half. On the other side of the ball, the Horned Frogs lost a classic in the Big 12 title game. However, even with the loss, we’re keeping Max Duggan and company in the playoff over Alabama based on their body of work in 2022.
College Football National Championship- January 9th- (1) Georgia vs. (2)- Michigan– Last year the teams met in the semi-final. This year it’s the title game.
With USC losing, all but one of our selection committee games have changed from Friday.
Selection Committee Games
Orange Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame
Clemson vs. Tennessee- Between the Tigers and Volunteers that’s a whole lot of “Orange” in the Orange Bowl. The Tigers knocked off North Carolina in the ACC title game. As a result of USC losing the Vols go from Dallas to Miami.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Alabama vs. Kansas State- As mentioned earlier this is the only game that didn’t change from last week. The Wildcats knocked off TCU to claim the Big 12 title.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Tulane vs. USC- The Green Wave beat Central Florida 45-28 for the AAC Championship. As a result, Tulane is headed to its first major bowl since the 1940 Sugar Bowl. Back then they were a member of the SEC.
The Trojans are 0-2 against Utah and 11-0 versus the rest of the college football. Unfortunately for them that second loss knocked them out of the playoff.
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Penn State vs. Utah- The Nittany Lions last played in Pasadena in 2017, losing an epic contest to USC 52-49. Following their huge win in the Pac-12 title game Cameron Rising and the Utes return to Pasadena for a second straight year.
Continuing on with our Final 2022 Bowl Projections we have a few changes to the next set of games. Two other notes an # means a replacement team for a league that doesn’t have enough teams to qualify. An * means the team has accepted a bid to that bowl.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- LSU vs. Purdue– The Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M took them out of the selection committee games. On the other side of the ball, the Boilermakers head to Orlando as the Big 10 West Champ.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Illinois vs. South Carolina– As quickly as we invoked the little-known (and seldom used) rule involving this game, USC’s loss took it away. For those that don’t know if a Big 10 team plays in the Orange Bowl then an ACC school takes the spot in Tampa. That won’t be the case now as the Illini now head to Tampa.
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. Minnesota- While there is some talk of the Wildcats playing in Memphis we are sticking with the Music City Bowl. With Illinois moving back into the ReliaQuest Bowl the Golden Gophers now head to Nashville. These two teams have never met.
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- Boise State vs. Toledo- The Broncos lost the Mountain West title game to Fresno State and they switch places.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Big 10- Iowa vs. North Carolina State
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Pittsburgh vs. UCLA
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC- Florida State vs. Mississippi State
Post-Christmas Day Games
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac 12- Texas vs. Washington
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 12- Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- Syracuse vs. Wisconsin
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- North Carolina vs. Oregon
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Arkansas vs. Baylor
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Central Florida vs. Wake Forest
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. AAC/ACC/SEC- Memphis vs. Missouri
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– MAC vs. Sun Belt/Conference USA/Pool– Buffalo vs. Georgia Southern- It was a close one but the Bulls did get their sixth win.
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Pool- Kansas vs. San Jose State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Maryland vs. Texas Tech
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- #Connecticut vs. Ohio- The Huskies go to Detroit as there’s no Big 10 team available.
As we go through the final sets of games in our Final 2022 Bowl Projections there are a couple of changes from last week.
Games Around Christmas
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Pool vs. Pool- New Mexico State vs. Southern Mississippi- It was a big weekend for the Aggies as they got their bowl waiver approved by the NCAA and also beat Valparaiso.
Boca Raton Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Marshall vs. Texas San-Antonio
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 20th-Mid-American vs. Mountain West-
Bowling Green vs. Wyoming
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt
South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd-American vs. Pool- Air Force vs. BYU
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
Duke vs. East Carolina
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- Houston vs. Louisiana
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th- Mountain West vs. Conference USA
*Middle Tennessee vs. *San Diego State- Both teams have accepted a bid to Hawaii.
Time to wrap up our 2022 Final 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- *Miami (Ohio) vs. *UAB- This is the other game where both teams have accepted a bid.
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- vs. Liberty vs. Troy
Celebration Bowl- December 17th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central- This is the swan song for Deion Sanders before he heads to Colorado.
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- Cincinnati vs. Louisville- Only in bowl season could two teams located within 100 miles of each other on the Ohio River head to Boston for a game. This will be the first meeting between the former conference foes since 2013. No word if the “Keg Of Nails” is up for grabs as well.
Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Rice vs. SMU- When Appalachian State’s bowl waiver was denied the Owls made it into a bowl with a 5-7 record due to their APR scores.
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl– December 17th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Fresno State vs. Washington State- By winning the Mountain West title over Boise State the Bulldogs now head to LA.
Las Vegas Bowl- December 17th- SEC vs. Pac-12- Florida vs. Oregon State- A different matchup than what we’ve had previously.
Lending Tree Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Sun Belt- Coastal Carolina vs. Eastern Michigan
New Mexico Bowl- December 17th- Conference USA vs. Mountain West- North Texas vs. Utah State
Thanks for checking out our Final 2022 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. Also a huge thanks to everyone who has followed along this year. We look forward to starting this up again in 2023.
