Hello everyone and welcome back to our 2023 Week Eight Bowl Projections. There certainly was a lot of news over the past week. The top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs lost their Heisman candidate Brock Bowers for a few weeks due to an injury. Michigan is under investigation for alleged sign stealing. In addition there’s news involving two bowl games.
On the field, one of our selection committee teams was upset and a number of our top teams were taken to the wire. As a result, there are a couple of changes. If you want to see what did change click here.
A Very Eventful Week
College Football Playoff
Rose Bowl: January 1st- (2)- Michigan vs. (3)- Florida State- The Wolverines shook off the NCAA investigation with a dismantling of Michigan State. The Seminoles trailed Duke 20-17 heading into the fourth quarter. However, they outscored the Blue Devils 21-0 in the last 15 minutes to get the win.
Sugar Bowl: January 1st- (1)- Georgia vs. (4)- Washington- The Bulldogs had the week off before facing Florida next Saturday in Jacksonville. Call it a possible let down but the Huskies got all they could handle from Arizona State. Despite three turnovers from Michael Penix Washington got a late interception return for a score to pull out a 15-7 win.
College Football National Championship: January 8th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2)- Michigan- Our title game remains the same as the last few weeks.
Selection Committee Games
Goodyear Cotton Bowl: December 29th- Ohio State vs. Texas- The Longhorns got all they could handle before beating Houston. However, Quinn Ewers hurt his shoulder again, left the game, and is expected to miss some time. Ryan Day’s Buckeyes beat Penn State 20-12 in the weekend’s marquee matchup.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: December 30th- Alabama vs. Oklahoma– Nick Saban’s club trailed Tennessee 20-7 at the half before outscoring them 27-0 in the second. The Sooners were a failed two-point conversion from going into overtime against Central Florida but won 31-29.
Capital One Orange Bowl: December 30th- Louisville vs. Penn State– Here is our big change for the week. With North Carolina losing we’re moving the Cardinals up to the ACC representative. They host Duke next week and things could change again. Despite losing to Ohio State we are keeping the Nittany Lions in Miami.
VRBO Fiesta Bowl: January 1st- Air Force vs. Oregon- The Falcons are 7-0 for the first time since 1997. They remain our Group Of Five team. The Ducks bounced back from the Washington loss with a 38-24 win over Washington State.
Continuing with our 2023 Week Eight Bowl Projections let’s roll through the games by date. One thing to note there are no games on December 24th or 31st so as to not go up against the NFL schedule.
As it stands right now we’re not going to have enough bowl-eligible SEC squads. We’ve dropped Auburn and South Carolina this week and added Mississippi State back in.
Games Around the New Year
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: January 1st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Ole Miss vs. Wisconsin- With Tennessee’s loss the Rebels move down the Sunshine State from Jacksonville to Orlando. The Badgers are back in the Citrus following Iowa’s loss on Saturday.
ReliaQuest Bowl: January 1st- SEC vs. Big 10- LSU vs. Notre Dame- For a second week we are sticking with this matchup. It’s rarely used but the bowl can take an ACC team rather than a Big Ten squad. We’re invoking that rule to get a marquee match-up.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl: December 30th- SEC vs. Big 10- Florida vs. Maryland
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: December 30th- MAC vs. MWC– UNLV vs. Toldeo
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: December 29th- SEC vs. Big 10 or ACC/Notre Dame- North Carolina vs. Tennessee- Two teams who had been in our committee games now meet in Jacksonville.
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl: December 29th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Syracuse vs. USC- Another loss to Utah drops the Trojans from the Alamo to Sun Bowl this week.
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: December 29th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. West Virginia- Following back-to-back losses the Mountaineers drop a couple of slots. The result was a border battle against the Wildcats. The two schools haven’t met since the 1983 Hall Of Fame Bowl and WVU coach Neal Brown is a former Kentucky player and assistant coach.
Post Christmas Games
Quick Lane Bowl: December 26th- Big 10 vs. MAC- Minnesota vs. Ohio
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: December 26th- American/ACC/Big 12/ SEC- Iowa State vs. Rice
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: December 26th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- TCU vs. Nebraska
Holiday Bowl: ACC vs. Pac-12- Clemson vs. Oregon State- At 4-3 the Tigers appear out of the major bowl game picture for a second straight year.
Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Boston College vs. Navy
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Missouri vs. Miami (Florida)
TaxAct Texas Bowl: December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Tulane
Bad Boy Motors Pinstripe Bowl: December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 10- Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers
Pop Tarts Bowl- December 28th: ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12-Duke vs. Kansas
Valero Alamo Bowl: December 28th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Kansas State vs. Utah- The Utes replace USC in San Antonio this week.
As we roll on with our 2023 Week Eight Bowl Projections let’s move to the set of games just before Christmas. That includes a whopping seven games on December 23rd.
Currently, we’re thinking there’s only going to be 76 to 78 bowl-eligible teams. As a result, we have James Madison in our picks despite not being bowl-eligible. They can only get in if there aren’t enough six-win teams, which looks more and more likely with each passing week. In addition, we’re adding Jacksonville State despite being in their first year of transitioning to FBS. They both have six wins already and would be chosen ahead of some five-win teams.
Games Right Before Christmas
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl December 23rd: American vs. SEC- Mississippi State vs. South Florida
Camellia Bowl- December 23rd: MAC vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: December 23rd- Big 12 vs. Pool- Baylor vs. Georgia Tech
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: December 23rd- MAC vs. MWC- Miami (Ohio) vs. Fresno State
68 Ventures Bowl: December 23rd- MAC vs. Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. North Texas
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: December 23rd- Big 10 vs. Pac-12- Iowa vs. Arizona- No sooner than we said the Hawkeyes had taken control of the Big 10 West they lost at home to Minnesota for the first time since 1999.
Easy Post Hawai’i Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA/MWC/American- SMU vs. Colorado State
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 22nd- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- Memphis vs. James Madison*
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl: December 21st- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Appalachian State vs. New Mexico State
We wrap up our 2023 Week Eight Bowl Projections with the first set of bowls on the schedule. That includes a massive seven-game slate on December 16th alone.
First Weekend Games
HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl: December 16th- Conference USA vs. MAC- Central Michigan vs. Marshall- It was announced earlier this week that due to renovations this year’s game won’t be played in the Bahamas.
Cricket Celebration Bowl: December 16th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Florida A&M vs. North Carolina Central
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: December 16th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Georgia State vs. Western Kentucky
Duluth Trading Cure Bowl: December 16th- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Jacksonville State vs. Louisiana
Isleta New Mexico Bowl: December 16th- C-USA vs. MWC- Boise State vs. Louisiana Tech
LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk: December 16th- Pac-12 vs. Mountain West- UCLA vs. Wyoming- The other bit of bowl news this week is that Rob Gronkowski is now the title sponsor of the game replacing Jimmy Kimmel.
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: December 16th-Big 12 vs. Pac-12- BYU vs. Washington State
Myrtle Beach Bowl: American/MAC/Sun Belt- December 18th- Northern Illinois vs. Troy
Frisco Bowl: December 19th-Group of Five vs. Group Of Five- Texas San-Antonio vs. Texas State
*Denotes a replacement team.
Thanks for checking out our Week Eight 2023 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football.
