Hello everyone, and welcome to our 2025 Championship Week Bowl Projections. A huge thank you to everyone who’s followed along this season. Of course, we aren’t done yet, as we’re heading into the conference championship games. While there were some surprises this past weekend, most of the talk centered around coaching changes in the SEC, where, of course, “It just means more.” At the end of Sunday, the league had five new coaches. Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU and will not coach in the playoffs. In his place, defensive coordinator Pete Golding takes over.
As if that wasn’t enough, Tulane’s Jon Sumrall is leaving for Florida. The American Conference lost two more: Alex Golesh is heading to Arkansas from South Florida, and Ryan Silverfield is making the short trip from Memphis to Arkansas. If that wasn’t enough, Kentucky let Mark Stoops go after 13 years and hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.
Now, back to why you are here, our bowl picks. Last week, we talked about the ACC Doomsday Scenario, in which Duke plays in the title game. Guess what? It happened while California beat SMU. As a result, the Blue Devils face Virginia, and if Duke should win, would the ACC even get a playoff bid? If that were to happen, then look for James Madison to get the last bid. Texas ended Texas A&M’s undefeated season and knocked them out of the SEC title game. Furthermore, we ended up with 80 bowl-eligible teams. As a result, both Delaware and Missouri State, which are in their first season of transitioning to FBS, make the postseason. That means no 5-7 teams this year.
More Changes After A Crazy Weekend
College Football Playoff First Round
Friday, December 19th – (12) North Texas at (5) Oregon– The Mean Green had no trouble with Temple, winning 52-25, and remains our Group of Five team. They travel to Tulane Friday night for the AAC title game. On the other side of the ball, Dante Moore and the Ducks won at Washington 26-14 and moved up a couple of spots.
Saturday, December 20th- (11) Virginia at (6) Texas A&M– We are rolling with the Cavaliers to win the ACC and get the 11 seed. As a result of the loss to Texas, the Aggies fall out of the top four but still host a first-round game.
Saturday, December 20th- (10) Alabama at (7) Ole Miss– What to do with the Rebels was the most interesting thing this week. Yes, they finished 11-1; however, their coach is gone, so we ended up dropping them a couple of slots. Alabama won the Iron Bowl over Auburn and faces Georgia on Saturday.
Saturday, December 20th- (9)- Notre Dame at (8) Oklahoma– This is the one game that remained unchanged from last week.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Wednesday, December 31st- (5) Oregon vs. (4) Texas Tech- The Red Raiders rolled past West Virginia and face BYU in the Big 12 title game. Oregon leads the all-time series 3-0 with the last game coming in 2023.
Capital One Orange Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (6) Texas A&M vs. (3) Indiana- Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers had no trouble with Purdue and face Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.
Rose Bowl Game: Thursday, January 1st– (9) Notre Dame vs. (1) Ohio State- We’re going with the Irish to get past Oklahoma and set up a battle with the top-seeded Buckeyes. Ryan Day’s club finally beat Michigan and face Indiana in the weekend’s top game.
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (7) Ole Miss vs. (2) Georgia- The Bulldogs move up a couple of spots this week with Texas A&M’s loss. This is a rematch of the epic game from October in which the Bulldogs won 43-35.
Semi-Finals and Final
VRBO Fiesta Bowl: Thursday, January 8th- (4) Texas Tech vs. (1) Ohio State- The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 2-0.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: Friday, January 9th- (3) Indiana vs. (2) Georgia- These two schools have never met on the gridiron.
College Football National Championship: Monday, January 19th- (3) Indiana vs. (1) Ohio State- Much like we’ve done the past few weeks, we’re going with an all-Big Ten final.
That’s your breakdown of the playoff for this week. Continuing with our 2025 Championship Week Bowl Projections, let’s move to the games around the New Year.
Filling The Void
Once again, this season, legacy Pac-12 teams can be slotted to games featuring that league. However, that will change next year when the conference starts fresh. As always, we’ll try not to pair them with teams they’ve already played.
In addition, in 2025, the SEC plays in the Mayo Bowl while the Big Ten goes to the Las Vegas Bowl. Furthermore, for the second time in three years, the Bahamas Bowl won’t be played there. No word yet on what a replacement game might be called.
One other thing to note, we’ve ended up with four fewer SEC bowl-eligible teams than bowls. That means we need to get creative with some of our picks.
Games Around The New Year
Music City Bowl: December 30th- Big Ten vs. SEC- Nebraska vs. LSU
Valero Alamo Bowl: December 30th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Houston vs. USC- The Trojans go to San Antonio as a legacy Pac-12 member.
Radience Technologies Independence Bowl: December 30th- Big 12 vs. Conference USA- Kansas State vs. Kennesaw State
Reliaquest Bowl: December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- Vanderbilt vs. Illinois
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl: December 31st- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Georgia Tech vs. Washington State
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: December 31st- Big Ten vs. SEC- Michigan vs. Texas
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: December 31st- Big Ten vs. Pac-12- Iowa vs. Arizona State- *The Sun Devils go as a legacy Pac-12 team.
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- Army vs. California
Autozone Liberty Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. SEC- TCU vs. Tulane- With no SEC team available, we are sending the Green Wave to Memphis.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: January 2nd- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- vs. Wake Forest vs. UCONN- With no SEC team available we are sending the Huskies to Charlotte to face the Demon Decaons.
Holiday Bowl: January 2nd- ACC vs. Pac-12- Pittsburgh vs. Utah+- The Utes go to San Diego as a legacy Pac-12 squad. This is the first time the game will be played in January.
Moving on with our 2025 Championship Week Bowl Projections, let’s look at the games right after the big holiday.
Post-Christmas Games
Game Above Sports Bowl: December 26th- Big Ten vs. MAC- Penn State vs. Western Michigan
Rate Bowl- December 26th: Big Ten vs. Big 12- Northwestern vs. Cincinnati
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: December 26th- AAC/ACC/Big 12- Arizona vs. Utah State
Go Bowling Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Navy vs. Duke
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Louisville vs. Minnesota
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Memphis
Pop-Tarts Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Miami (Florida) vs. BYU
Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl: December 27th- MAC vs. Mountain West- Toledo vs. Fresno State
Isleta New Mexico Bowl: December 27th- Mountain West vs. American/Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Boise State vs. Louisiana
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- SMU vs. Tennessee
Kinder’s Texas Bowl: December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Missouri vs. Iowa State
JLab Birmingham Bowl: December 29th- American/ACC/SEC- Troy vs. East Carolina
Moving on with our 2025 Championship Week Bowl Projections, let’s move to the season’s initial games.
First Weekend Games
Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 13th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Delaware State vs. Jackson State
Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk: December 13th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- UNLV vs. Washington+- The Mountain West ended in a four way tie. As a result the Q37 Space Modulator crunched the numbers and the Rebels travel to Boise State. The Huskies go to LA as a legacy Pac-12 squad.
IS4S Salute To Veterans Bowl: December 16th- Mid-American vs. Sun Belt- Central Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina
68 Ventures Bowl: December 17th- Conference USA/Mid-American/Sun Belt- New Mexico vs. Texas State
StaffDNA Cure Bowl: December 17th- American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. Missouri State
Myrtle Beach Bowl: December 19th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Arkansas State vs. Jacksonville State
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 19th- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- South Florida vs. Clemson
Bowls Right Before Christmas
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: December 22nd- Mountain West vs. MAC- San Diego State vs. Ohio
Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl Of Beans: December 23rd- American/Conference USA/MAC/Mountain West/Sun Belt- James Madison vs. Louisiana Tech. It was announced that Bush’s is now the corporate sponsor. No word if the winning coach gets a bunch of beans dumped on him. The Dukes are another team losing their coach as Bob Chesney is heading to UCLA. .
New Orleans Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt– Western Kentucky vs. Old Dominion
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: December 23rd- AAC/CUSA/MAC/MWC/SBC- Florida International vs. Southern Mississippi
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl: December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- Texas San-Antonio vs. Hawaii
To Be Announced Bowl Game-
Former Bahamas Bowl: Conference USA vs. MAC – Delaware vs. Miami (Ohio). There’s only one week to go and we still don’t know the title or where the game will be played, but we have a matchup.
What We’re Watching
Of course, the main focus this weekend is on the championship games. The results of those will likely change some of our picks. In addition, we may start hearing that schools are accepting bids. If that happens, we will update our picks before the weekend. Otherwise, we’ll have our final projections for you late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Thanks for checking out our 2025 Championship Week Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football.
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
