Sorting Out An Insane Weekend
I’ve been doing these bowl projections for a few years now for the good folks at Last Word On College Football. With one playoff team and four of our selection committee teams losing trying to figure out the top games this week was quite the challenge. At the end with a couple of exceptions, the best course was the “status quo.” Let’s sort it out with our 2022 Week Seven Bowl Projections. As always if you want to see what changed from last week click here.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) Clemson- After a couple of subpar weeks, Kirby Smart’s team was dominant in a 55-0 win over Vanderbilt. They remain in the top spot.
Dabo Swinney’s club jumped out to a huge lead over Florida State then had to withstand a furious rally in a 34-28 win. We are keeping them at four this week and let us explain why.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Ohio State vs. (3) Tennessee- The Volunteers broke a 15-game losing streak to Alabama in an epic 52-49 win.. As a result, they not only move into the playoff but at the three seed. No offense to Clemson but Hendon Hooker and company have more quality wins and should finish the season 11-1. In addition by putting them at three, you avoid the rematch with Georgia.
The Buckeyes had the week off before hosting Iowa this week.
College Football National Championship- January 9th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2) Ohio State- If this match-up holds true this is only the second meeting of all time between the two schools. Georgia won the 1993 Citrus Bowl 21-14.
Selection Committee Games
Orange Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame
Penn State vs. Wake Forest- Yes the Nittany Lions were soundly beaten by Michigan. However, we’re keeping them in the game for now. On the other side of the ball, we’re sending the Demon Deacons to Miami as the ACC representative. They should be favored in every game the rest of the way and finish 11-1.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Alabama vs. Oklahoma State- Following their loss to Tennessee the Crimson Tide fall to the Sugar Bowl.
The Cowboys lost in overtime to TCU in overtime on Saturday. Despite that, we think OSU will have a better record and go to New Orleans as the Big 12 representative.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Cincinnati vs. Oregon– Unlike some other bowl projections we’ve been “All In” on Cincinnati and they’ve rewarded us. Now that Coastal Carolina lost they’re the team to beat as the Group Of Five representative.
The Ducks have a big one this week versus UCLA. The winner has the inside track to playing at “Jerry World.”
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Michigan vs. USC- Jim Harbaugh’s club blew out Penn State and they just missed making the playoff. Despite their loss to Utah the Trojans are still our Pac-12 representative.
Continuing our 2022 Week Seven bowl projections we head to the games usually played on New Year’s Day. As we like to point out every week these games have been moved so they don’t compete with the NFL. Currently, there are 16 teams who are already bowl-eligible.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- Illinois vs. Ole Miss- The Fighting Illini beat Minnesota and have a real chance of finishing 10-2. Lane Kiffin’s squad got quite the battle from Auburn before winning 48-34.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. Purdue- The Big 10 team for this game has been a revolving door. This week it’s the Boilermakers.
Behind a returning, Will Levis and a monster game from Chris Rodriguez the Wildcats beat Mississippi State. Despite their relative proximity, the two schools have only met three times in history and none since 1915.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Big 10- Florida State vs. Minnesota
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Syracuse vs. Washington
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th-Big 10 vs. SEC- Arkansas vs. Notre Dame
Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- Boise State vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Florida vs. Maryland
Post-Christmas Day Games
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- Central Michigan vs. Wisconsin
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. ACC/SEC- Iowa State vs. South Carolina
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– Pool vs. Pool- Liberty vs. Troy
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 10 vs. Pool- Oklahoma vs. Oregon State
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Kansas vs. Michigan State-
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Central Florida vs. Duke
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Baylor vs. LSU
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Miami (Florida) vs. Utah
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Kansas State vs. Texas A&M
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- North Carolina vs. Iowa
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 12- Pittsburgh vs. Texas
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac 12- TCU vs. UCLA- Find a way to beat Oregon on Saturday and the Bruins could be playing at home in the Rose Bowl. However for now they’re headed to San Antonio.
As we go through the final sets of games in our 2022 Week Seven Bowl Projections you’ll find we’ve made quite a few changes from last week.
Games Around Christmas
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Pool vs. Pool- Coastal Carolina vs. Western Kentucky
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 20th-Mid-American vs. Mountain West-
Ball State vs. Wyoming
Boca Raton Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Miami (Ohio) vs. Rice
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt
Louisiana vs. UAB
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd-American vs. Pool- BYU vs. Houston
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- Army vs. East Carolina
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
Georgia Tech vs. South Alabama- This one might be a stretch but the Yellow Jackets are 2-0 since firing head coach Geoff Collins.
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th-Mountain West vs. Conference USA
San Jose State vs. Texas-San Antonio
Time to wrap our 2022 Week Seven 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- UTEP vs. Western Michigan
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- Marshall vs. Middle Tennessee- This one features a battle of two teams who’ve struggled following marquee wins.
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Tulane
Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Memphis vs. Southern Mississippi
Celebration Bowl- December 17th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central
New Mexico Bowl- December 17th- Conference USA vs. Mountain West- Air Force vs. North Texas
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl– December 17th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Arizona vs. Fresno State
Lending Tree Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Troy
Las Vegas Bowl- December 17th- SEC vs. Pac-12- Mississippi State vs. Washington State
Frisco Football Classic- Date TBA- Appalachian State vs. UNLV- If the San Francisco Bowl can’t be played this year ESPN has the rights to create a new game to replace it much like last year.
Thanks for checking out our 2022 Week Seven Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be here next week and every week until the entire schedule is announced in December.
