Our Last Picks Before The Committee Has Their Say
Hello friends and welcome to our Final 2024 Bowl Projections. For those who have been following along all season, we greatly appreciate it. Things went about as smoothly as they could during championship weekend until we got to late Saturday night.
An injury to Georgia quarterback Carson Beck nearly gave us another Florida State scenario. Then Clemson threw a monkey wrench into things by beating SMU. As a result, it became decision time. Do you take the Mustangs or Alabama? We now have quite a few changes in our picks on Friday. Let’s not keep you in suspense any longer.
College Football Playoff First Round
Friday, December 20th- (12) SMU at (5) Texas- At the end of the third quarter we had Alabama in and SMU out. However, due to that huge rally that fell just short we kept the Mustangs in and bumped the Crimson Tide. There’s going to be lots of discussion over that one. The Longhorns had every chance to knock off Georgia. Although, they couldn’t get it done. They still host a first-round game but miss the chance for a first-round bye.
Saturday, December 21st- (9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State- This is the only game that didn’t change from our previous picks. We still think this has Noon kickoff written all over it.
Saturday, December 21st- (11) Clemson at (6) Penn State- Dabo’s Tigers upset SMU and are in the playoff. Despite their loss to Oregon, we didn’t drop the Nittany Lions.
Saturday, December 21st- (10) Indiana at (7) Notre Dame– These two schools last met in 1991 and should be a great one. The Fighting Irish are rolling heading into the playoff.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
VRBO Fiesta Bowl- Tuesday, December 31st- (5) Texas vs. (4) Arizona State– With Clemson’s win the Sun Devils move into the top four. Behind a huge game from Sam Leavitt ASU won the Big 12 in their first year. They’ve only met once, with Texas winning in 2007.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl- Wednesday, January 1st- (6) Penn State vs. (3) Boise State- Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards as the Broncos beat UNLV to claim the Mountain West.
Rose Bowl- Wednesday, January 1st- (8) Ohio State vs. (1) Oregon- Dillon Gabriel and the Ducks knocked off Penn State in a thriller. They remain our overall top seed.
Allstate Sugar Bowl- Wednesday, January 1st- (7) Notre Dame vs. (2) Georgia- Over the next couple of weeks the health of Beck will be a big topic of discussion.
College Football Semi-Finals And Final
Capital One Orange Bowl- Thursday, January 9th- (6) Penn State vs (2) Georgia- We’re picking the Nittany Lions to beat Boise and set up a battle with the Bulldogs.
Goodyear Cotton Bowl- Friday, January 10th- (5) Texas vs (1) Oregon- The Longhorns lead the all-time series 4-2.
College Football National Championship- Monday, January 20th- (2) Georgia vs. (1) Oregon- We’re going with chalk and having the top two teams meet in the final.
That’s a lot to digest but there’s still plenty more to come as we proceed with our Final 2024 Bowl Projections.
Filling The Void
If you’ve been following along this year then you know the former Pac-12 schools can be used to fill slots from the league’s old bowl tie-ins. In addition, things couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. We ended up with 82 bowl-eligible teams for 82 spots. As a result, we didn’t have to add another game. Maybe in the 2025 Frisco Football Classic.
As of this writing, we have several matchups set. We’ll show you which ones and who’s playing as we go along. An * means the team has accepted a bid. The + means a replacement for a league without enough bowl-eligible teams. Furthermore, we had more SEC teams than bids so that caused some moving around among clubs.
Games Around The New Year
TransPerfect Music City Bowl- December 30th Big Ten vs. SEC- Iowa vs. Missouri- The Hawkeyes just played in Nashville two years ago. However, if Michigan ends up in Tampa then look for Iowa to play here.
Reliaquest Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- South Carolina vs. Michigan- With Alabama out of the playoff we’re now projecting the Gamecocks to play in Tampa.
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 31st- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Georgia Tech vs. Washington
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl- December 31st- Big Ten vs. SEC- Alabama vs. Illinois- The first of the SEC ripple effects is the Crimson Tide playing in Orlando. Under Bret Bielema, the Illini won nine games in the regular season for the first time since 2001.
Texas Bowl- December 31st- Big 12 vs. SEC- LSU vs. Baylor
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- January 2nd- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Florida vs. Duke
ServPro First Responder Bowl- January 3rd- American/ACC/Big 12- Texas San-Antonio vs. Louisiana
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- January 3rd- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Louisville vs. Minnesota
Bahamas Bowl- January 4th- Conference USA vs. MAC- Liberty* vs. Buffalo *- Both teams have accepted bids to this game.
Continuing with our Final 2024 Bowl Projections let’s move to the contests held just after Christmas.
After Christmas Bowl Games
GameAbove Sports Bowl- December 26th- Big Ten vs. MAC- Vanderbilt+ vs. Toledo- With no Big Ten team available we’re moving an SEC team. Due to proximity, the Commodores are now headed to Detroit.
Rate Bowl- December 26th- Big 12 vs. Big Ten- Kansas State vs. Nebraska- The Cornhuskers are bowl-eligible for the first time since 2016.
68 Ventures Bowl- December 26th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green
76 Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- ACC/SEC vs. Pool- Oklahoma vs. North Carolina State
AutoZone Liberty Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Ole Miss vs. TCU
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. Pool- Texas Tech vs. Navy
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl- December 27th- SEC vs. Pac-12- Texas A&M vs. USC
DirecTV Holiday Bowl- December 27th- ACC vs. Pac-12- Syracuse vs. Washington State
The biggest date as far as the number of games is December 28th with eight bowls total. Let’s go through each of them.
Huge Day Of Games
Wasabi Fenway Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Pittsburgh vs. Connecticut+ –As a result of no American conference club available we’re sending the Huskies on the short trip to Boston.
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Boston College vs. Rutgers
Isleta New Mexico Bowl- December 28th- Mountain West vs. American/Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- North Texas vs. Texas State
Pop-Tarts Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Iowa State vs. Miami (Florida)
Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl- December 28th- MAC vs. Mountain West- Colorado State vs. Bowling Green
Go Bowling Military Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina
Valero Alamo Bowl- December 28th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- BYU vs. Colorado- The Buffaloes go to San Antonio as a legacy Pac-12 team. Even though they are both in the Big 12 they didn’t meet this year so let’s make it happen.
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl- December 28th- American vs. Pac-12- Army vs. Marshall- Some fun trivia for you. As a result of winning the Sun Belt, the Thundering Herd are the first school to win titles in three different leagues. They are Mid-American, Conference USA, and now Sun Belt.
Let’s finish our Final 2024 Bowl Projections with a look at the first slate of contests.
Early Season Bowl Games
Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 14th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State* vs. South Carolina State*- Both schools won the SWAC and MEAC respectively. As a result, they’ll meet in Atlanta.
IS4S Salute To Veterans Bowl- December 14th- MAC vs. Sun Belt- South Alabama* vs. Western Michigan*- These squads have accepted bids to play in Mobile in the former Camellia Bowl.
Boca Raton Bowl- December 17th- American/Conference USA/MAC/Mountain West/Sun Belt- Western Kentucky* vs. James Madison*- Both teams have accepted bids to this game.
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Memphis* vs. West Virginia*- This is another contest where the teams have accepted bids.
LA Bowl Presented By Gronk- December 18th- Pac-12 vs. Mountain West- UNLV vs. California- Following their loss to Boise State the Rebels head to Los Angeles.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- December 19th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Georgia Southern* vs. Sam Houston State*- These two schools will meet in the Superdome.
Staff DNA Cure Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Jacksonville State* vs. Ohio*- The champions of Conference USA and the MAC meet in Orlando. On paper, this looks like one of the best early-season games.
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl- December 20th- ACC/SEC vs. Pool– Arkansas vs. Tulane
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 23rd- Pool vs. Pool- Coastal Carolina vs. North Carolina
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- December 23rd- MAC vs. Mountain West- Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- South Florida* vs. San Jose State*- Both teams have accepted bids to head to Hawai’i. In the case of the Spartans, it’s their second straight appearance.
Thanks for checking out our Final 2024 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. What do you all say we start this all over again in June?
