Much Calmer Week In College Football
Week seven in college football was one of chaos with numerous top teams losing. For three quarters on Saturday, it looked like another of our playoff teams was going to lose. However, Clemson rallied and the top spots remain the same. We do have some changes in the selection committee games from last week. Let’s break it all down with our 2022 Week Eight Bowl Projections.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) Clemson- Kirby Smart’s team had the week off before playing Florida in Jacksonville this Saturday. They remain in the top spot.
Dabo Swinney’s club trailed Syracuse 21-10 in the third quarter before the Clemson head man benched DJ Uiagalelei in favor of Cade Klubnik. The Tigers outscored the Orangemen 17-0 in the fourth to get a 27-21 win. Again we are keeping them at four this week.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Ohio State vs. (3) Tennessee- The Volunteers followed up their huge win over Alabama with a big win over undermanned Tennessee-Martin.. Hendon Hooker and company are 7-0 for the first time since 1998. Ironically that’s the last time the Vols won the national championship.
Behind four second-half touchdowns from C.J. Stroud the Buckeyes broke open a close game and beat beat Iowa 54-10.
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- The Nittany Lions bounced back from last week’s loss to Michigan with a 45-17 win over Minnesota. On the other side of the ball, a five-touchdown performance from Sam Hartman led the Demon Deacons to an easy 45-13 win over Boston College.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Alabama vs. TCU- A familiar theme this week as the Crimson Tide bounced back from their Tennessee loss with a big win over Mississippi State.
After thinking about it last week we’re moving the Horned Frogs into position as the Big 12’s representative. The two schools have met five times in history with the last being in 1975. TCU holds a 3-2 lead.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Cincinnati vs. USC– The Bearcats withstood a furious SMU rally and remain our Group of Five representative.
With Oregon’s win over UCLA the Ducks have the inside track to the Rose Bowl. As a result, we’re moving the Trojans to playing at “Jerry World.”
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Michigan vs. Oregon- Jim Harbaugh’s club had the week off and head to Michigan State on Saturday night. As mentioned above the Ducks are now our pick for playing in Pasadena.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- Illinois vs. LSU- The Fighting Illini beat Minnesota and have a real chance of finishing 10-2. Behind Jayden Daniels the Tigers turned a 17-3 deficit into a 45-20 win over previously unbeaten Ole Miss.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Kentucky vs. Purdue- The Big 10 team for this game has changed more than Spinal Tap’s drummer. Despite their loss to Wisconsin, we’re keeping the Boilermakers here.
Kentucky had a much-needed week off and they’ll try to stop the Tennessee freight train on Saturday. Despite their relative proximity, the Boilermakers and Wildcats 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- Notre Dame vs. Ole Miss
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- San Jose State vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Maryland vs. South Carolina
Post-Christmas Day Games
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- Buffalo vs. Michigan State- Can the Spartans even get to five wins, much less six?
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. ACC/SEC- Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech- The Aggies need some wins quickly.
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– Pool vs. Pool- Liberty vs. Troy- Let’s give a big shout-out to Jon Sumrall and the Trojans this week. In his first season as head coach, they are 6-2 and 4-1 in the Sun Belt. As a result, we’re bumping them up to playing in New Orleans.
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 10 vs. Pool- Coastal Carolina vs. Oklahoma- How’s this for an interesting match up?
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Kansas vs. Wisconsin
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Central Florida vs. Miami (Florida)
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Baylor vs. Florida
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Duke vs. Utah
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Arkansas vs. Kansas State
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- Iowa vs. Pittsburgh
Cheez-It Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 12- North Carolina vs. Texas
Alamo Bowl- December 29th- Big 12 vs. Pac 12- Oklahoma State vs. UCLA- The Bruins lost at Oregon and are likely out of the top tier bowls.
As we go through the final sets of games in our 2022 Week Eight 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- Arkansas State 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. Tulane- Keep an eye on the Green Wave. They are undefeated in the AAC and visit Cincinnati in the last week of the season. The winner gets home-field advantage in the title game.
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- Army vs. East Carolina
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
Louisville vs. South Alabama- We totally jinxed Georgia Tech after having them in the game last week.
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th-Mountain West vs. Conference USA
San Diego State vs. Texas-San Antonio
Time to wrap our 2022 Week Eight 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- Kent State vs. UTEP
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- Marshall vs. Middle Tennessee
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- Houston vs. North Carolina State
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- Boise State vs. Oregon 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 Eight 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.
