More Changes At The Top
To no one’s surprise, it was another crazy weekend on the gridiron. A big road win forced a change to our playoff picks. In addition, it was a bad weekend for the Pac-12 as two of their three top teams lost. This also caused changes in our selection committee games. Let’s break it down with our 2022 Week 11 Bowl Projections. As always if you’d like to see how much things changed from last week click here.
College Football Playoff
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 31st- (1) Georgia vs. (4) Tennessee- The Bulldogs handled the other Bulldogs of Mississippi State easily and remain in the top spot. With TCU’s big win Hendon Hooker and the Vols drop down a slot.
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl- December 31st- (2) Ohio State vs. (3) TCU- Led by C.J. Stroud the Buckeyes bounced back from an ugly win at Northwestern with a 56-14 rout of Indiana. Max Duggan and the Horned Frogs not only won at Texas but clinched a bid in the Big 12 title game. They move up a spot this week.
College Football National Championship- January 9th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2) Ohio State- This game hasn’t changed in about two months and probably won’t unless something crazy happens.
Selection Committee Games
Orange Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC/Big 10/Notre Dame
Clemson vs. Alabama- The Tigers beat Louisville and remain our pick for the ACC champ. However, North Carolina’s making a strong case. Bryce Young and the Crimson Tide won at Ole Miss and in the process avoided back-to-back regular season losses for the first time since 2007.
Sugar Bowl- December 31st- SEC vs. Big 12
Kansas State vs. LSU- It might not be “Mattress Mack” money but had you put a bet on the Tigers winning the SEC West you’d be sitting pretty right now. At this point, the Wildcats look like the second-best team in the Big 12 and head to New Orleans.
Cotton Bowl- January 2nd- At Large vs. At Large
Central Florida vs. USC– Gus Malzahn’s club went into New Orleans and knocked off the Green Wave. As a result, the Knights become the Group Of Five representative. We are shifting the Trojans from the Rose to Cotton Bowl this week.
Rose Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. Pac 12
Michigan vs. Oregon- Jim Harbaugh’s club had no trouble with Rutgers. They host Illinois on Saturday before facing Ohio State. Even with the loss to Washington, the Ducks are still projected to win the Pac-12 and head to Pasadena.
Right now we have 63 teams who have reached bowl eligibility which means we need 19 more teams, or 21 if the Frisco Football Classic is added. We’re taking the game out for this week but of course reserve the right to bring it back next week.
Games Around The New Year
Citrus Bowl- January 2nd-Big 10 vs. SEC- Ole Miss vs. Penn State– The Nittany Lions are the clear number three team in the Big 10 and head to Orlando. The Rebels lost to Alabama and with it most likely any chance of a selection committee game.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 2nd- Big 10/ACC vs. SEC- Florida vs. Minnesota– The Gators are certainly peaking at the right time. A 38-6 win over South Carolina moves them up to the game in Tampa. The Big 10 representative for this game has changed nearly every week of the 2022 season. For this projection, it’s the Golden Gophers.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Big 10- Iowa vs. Wake Forest- The Demon Deacons’ free fall continues after a third straight loss. This time to North Carolina and Drake Maye.
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Louisville vs. Oregon State
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl- December 30th- ACC vs. SEC- Florida State vs. South Carolina
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl- December 30th- Mountain West vs. Mid-American- San Diego State vs. Toledo
Music City Bowl- December 31st- Big 10 vs. SEC- Missouri vs. Wisconsin- Kentucky most likely makes more sense for Nashville. However, for reasons we’ll explain later we’re putting the Tigers here.
Post-Christmas Day Games
Quick Lane Bowl- December 26th–Big 10 vs. Mid-American- Ohio vs. Michigan State
Birmingham Bowl- December 27th- Pool vs. AAC/ACC/SEC- BYU vs. Syracuse
Camellia Bowl- December 27th– Pool vs. Pool- Liberty vs. South Alabama
First Responder Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Pool- Connecticut vs. Texas Tech- A big shout out to Jim Mora and the Huskies for getting bowl eligible in 2022.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl- December 27th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Kansas vs. Purdue
Military Bowl- December 28th-ACC vs. American- Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
Liberty Bowl- December 28th-Big 12 vs. SEC- Baylor vs. Kentucky- There’s no nice way to put it. Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt was one of the worst in school history. Having UK play in Nashville makes a lot of sense. However, the Kentucky-Louisville game is happening at the same time. As a result, we’re sliding the Cats to Memphis.
Holiday Bowl- December 28th- ACC vs. Pac 12- Notre Dame vs. Utah- We talked about it last week and since the Fighting Irish won and Wake Forest lost we’re pulling the old “switcheroo” with the two teams.
Texas Bowl- December 28th- SEC vs. Big 12- Arkansas vs. Oklahoma
Pinstripe Bowl- December 29th- ACC vs. Big 10- Duke vs. Maryland
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
As we go through the final sets of games in our 2022 Week 11 Bowl Projections there are a couple of changes from last week.
Games Around Christmas
Myrtle Beach Bowl- December 19th- Pool vs. Pool- Marshall vs. Middle Tennessee
Idaho Potato Bowl- December 20th-Mid-American vs. Mountain West-
Ball State vs. Wyoming
Boca Raton Bowl- December 20th- Pool vs. Pool- Buffalo vs. Western Kentucky
New Orleans Bowl- December 21st- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt
Coastal Carolina vs. Texas San-Antonio
Armed Forces Bowl- December 22nd-American vs. Pool- Air Force vs. SMU
Independence Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. Army- East Carolina vs. *Illinois- At this point it’s unlikely Army gets enough wins to qualify. The Fighting Illini are struggling and need a bowl so they are headed to Shreveport.
Gasparilla Bowl- December 23rd- ACC/SEC vs. Pool
Memphis vs. Miami (Florida)-
Hawai’i Bowl- December 24th-Mountain West vs. Conference USA
Georgia Southern vs. San Jose State
Time to wrap our 2022 Week 11 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- Bowling Green vs. Florida Atlantic
Cure Bowl- December 16th- Pool vs. Pool- Appalachian State vs. UAB
Fenway Bowl- December 17th- ACC vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Tulane- As a result of their loss to Central Florida, the Green Wave drop from the Cotton Bowl to this contest.
Frisco Bowl- December 17th- Pool vs. Pool- Houston 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- North Texas vs. Wyoming
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl– December 17th- Mountain West vs. Pac-12- Boise State vs. Washington 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
Thanks for checking out our 2022 Week 11 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.
