Our Last Picks For The Year
Hello everyone, and welcome back to our 2025 Final Bowl Projections. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who’s followed along since the first picks back in the summer. Championship weekend has come and gone, and for the most part, things went according to plan.
That’s until the last two games of the evening. Those results shook everything up, including invoking the “Doomsday Scenario” in the ACC as Duke beat Virginia. Indiana beat Ohio State for the first time since 1988 to win the Big Ten. We’ve now got a new number one team for the first time in a while.
College Football Playoff First Round
Friday, December 19th – (12) James Madison at (5) Oregon– With Duke taking out Virginia in the ACC Championship game, that league is now out of the playoffs. Say hello to the Dukes, who beat Troy 31-14 to win the Sun Belt. On the other side of the ball, Dante Moore and the Ducks lost their offensive coordinator to Kentucky. However, Will Stein will stay on through the playoffs.
Saturday, December 20th- (11) Tulane at (6) Ole Miss– As a result of Virginia’s loss, the Green Wave move into the 11 seed and will travel to Oxford for a second time this year. Tulane jumped out to a big lead over North Texas before holding on for a 34-21 win.
Saturday, December 20th- (10) Alabama at (7) Texas A&M–This will be discussed for a long time, but we left the Crimson Tide as the first-ever three-loss team to make the playoff.
Saturday, December 20th- (9)- Notre Dame at (8) Oklahoma– The Fighting Irish versus Miami debate is another that will go on for a while, too.
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
Goodyear Cotton Bowl: Wednesday, December 31st- (5) Oregon vs. (4) Texas Tech- The Red Raiders finished their march through the Big 12 with a 27-point win over BYU.
Capital One Orange Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (7) Texas A&M vs. (2) Ohio State- The Buckeyes’ loss to the Hoosiers only drops them one spot.
Rose Bowl Game: Thursday, January 1st– (9) Notre Dame vs. (1) Indiana- The Hoosiers knocked off Ohio State and go to Pasadena as the Big Ten champion.
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Thursday, January 1st- (6) Ole Miss vs. (3) Georgia- The Bulldogs beat Alabama 28-7 and go to New Orleans as the SEC champs. This is a rematch of the epic game from earlier in the year.
Semi-Finals and Final
VRBO Fiesta Bowl: Thursday, January 8th- (4) Texas Tech vs. (1) Indiana- These two schools have never met before.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl: Friday, January 9th- (3) Georgia vs. (2) Ohio State- Georgia leads the all-time series 2-0.
College Football National Championship: Monday, January 19th- (2) Indiana vs. (1) Ohio State- We’re going with a Big Ten Championship game rematch in the title game.
That’s your breakdown of the playoff for this week. Continuing with our 2025 Final 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 was supposed to play in the Mayo Bowl while the Big Ten goes to the Las Vegas Bowl. However, you’ll see no one from the SEC is playing in Charlotte. Furthermore, we finally got a name and a place for the former Bahamas Bowl.
One other thing to note, we’ve ended up with four fewer SEC bowl-eligible teams than bowls. That means we had to get creative with some of our picks.
One other thing to note, we’ve ended up with four fewer SEC bowl-eligible teams than bowls. That means we had to get creative with some of our picks.
Games Around The New Year
Music City Bowl: December 30th- Big Ten vs. SEC- Illinois 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- Rice vs. Kennesaw State- We had Kansas State playing in Shreveport. However, they reportedly declined a bowl bid, so Rice is the first 5-7 squad with their APR scores.
Reliaquest Bowl: December 31st- SEC vs. Big Ten- Vanderbilt vs. Iowa
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl: December 31st- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Georgia Tech vs. +Arizona State- The Sun Devils go to El Paso as a legacy Pac-12 team.
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- Nebraska vs. Utah- #The Utes go as a legacy Pac-12 team.
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- Army vs. New Mexico
Autozone Liberty Bowl: January 2nd- Big 12 vs. SEC- TCU vs. North Texas- With no SEC team available, we are sending the Mean Green to Memphis.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: January 2nd- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- vs. Duke vs. UCONN- With no SEC team available, we are sending the Huskies to Charlotte to face the Blue Devils.
Holiday Bowl: January 2nd- ACC vs. Pac-12- SMU vs. Arizona+- The Wildcats 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 Final 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- Minnesota 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- Texas San-Antonio vs. Utah State
Go Bowling Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Navy vs. Wake Forest
Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big Ten- Clemson vs. Penn State
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Pittsburgh vs. Memphis
Pop-Tarts Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Virginia 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- UNLV vs. Washington State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Miami (Florida) 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. Florida International
Moving on with our 2025 Final 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. Prairie View A&M- The Panthers knocked off Jackson State and will face the Bulldogs.
Bucked Up LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk: December 13th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12-* Boise State vs. *Washington+- The Broncos took care of UNLV and won the Mountain West. As a result, they head to Los Angeles. The Huskies go to LA as a legacy Pac-12 squad. Both teams have accepted bids to this one.
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- *Delaware vs. *Louisiana- Both teams have accepted bids.
StaffDNA Cure Bowl: December 17th- American/Conference USA/Sun Belt- *South Florida vs. *Old Dominion- Both teams have accepted bids to play in Orlando.
XBox Bowl- December 18th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- *Missouri State vs. *Arkansas State- Earlier this week, we found out the name for the former Bahamas Bowl. It will be played in Frisco, Texas. In addition, we know who is playing as both teams have accepted bids already.
Myrtle Beach Bowl: December 19th- Conference USA/MAC/Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. Jacksonville State
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl: December 19th- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- Louisville vs. East Carolina
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- Texas State vs. Louisiana Tech. It was announced that Bush’s is now the corporate sponsor. No word on whether the winning coach gets a bunch of beans dumped on him.
New Orleans Bowl: December 23rd- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt– Western Kentucky vs. Southern Mississippi
Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl: December 23rd- AAC/CUSA/MAC/MWC/SBC- Washington State vs. North Carolina State- With no ACC playoff team, we had more teams than games. So we’re sending the Wolfpack to Texas.
Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl: December 24th- American vs. Mountain West- *California vs. *Hawaii- Both teams have accepted bids to play in Hawaii.
Once again, thanks for checking out our 2025 Final Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back during the summer for our way-too-early 2026 picks.
Main Image: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
