A Season Of Transition In 2023
Hello everyone and welcome to our first projections of the year. We’re calling this one the Early 2023 Bowl Projections. Of course, you are probably aware August 26th will be here before you know it. As a public service every day Last Word features a different player as we countdown to kickoff. In fact, you can head over to our Twitter page to see who is today’s or even request someone.
Not much has happened in college since Georgia won their second straight national title. Oklahoma and Texas officially joined the SEC, while the Big 12 added Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston. Colorado seems interested in going back to the Big 12. UCLA and USC are heading to the Big 10. Speaking of them they may have overstepped their bounds with their new TV deal. The Pac-12 is still looking for a deal so they don’t end up on the CW with LIV Golf. Of course, we can’t forget the astronomical figure of players using the transfer portal. However, you came here for bowl projections so let’s get to it with our Early 2023 Bowl Projections. Remember these first ones are strictly for exhibition so no wagering.
College Football Playoff
Of course, this is the final season of the current format before the new 12-team playoff starts in 2024. The Rose and Sugar Bowls are hosting the semi-finals with the championship game being held in Houston.
Rose Bowl- January 1st- (2)- Ohio State vs. (3)- Washington- In this scenario, the folks in Pasadena still get their Big 10- Pac-12 matchup. The Buckeyes lost a ton of talent from last year but still have more than enough to make the playoff again. On the other side of the ball, Michael Penix Jr. looks to win not only the Heisman but lead the Huskies to the playoff.
Sugar Bowl- January 1st- (1)- Georgia vs. (4)- Michigan- We get a rematch of the semi-final from two years ago. Kirby Smart’s club looks for a three-peat while Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines look to finally win a game in their third playoff.
College Football National Championship- January 8th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2)- Ohio State- Let’s have the rematch from last year’s epic semi-final in the title game.
Selection Committee Games
Goodyear Cotton Bowl- December 29th- Clemson vs. Penn State- A third straight playoff without Clemson? That’s what we are forecasting. The Nittany Lions have a real chance at finishing 11-1 but still may fall just short of the playoff.
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl- December 30th- LSU vs. Tulane– Show of hands, who wouldn’t want to see this game? The Green Wave were the Group Of Five team a season ago and we’re picking them again. Looking ahead we project Brian Kelly‘s club to win the SEC West. However, since the Sugar Bowl isn’t a possibility we’re sending them to Atlanta.
Capital One Orange Bowl- December 30th- Florida State vs. Alabama– For now, we are projecting 2023 to be the year Mike Norvell finally breaks through and wins the ACC. We aren’t picking the Crimson Tide to the playoff, at least to start. Let’s see how the quarterback situation plays out.
VRBO Fiesta Bowl- January 1st- Texas vs. USC- Two teams with playoff aspirations fall just short but this should be a heck of a matchup. Heisman winner Caleb Williams in his final game versus Quinn Ewers, sign us up now.
It was one of the happier days of the year on Wednesday as the bowl schedule was announced. Continuing with our Early 2023 Bowl Projections let’s roll through the games by date. One thing to note there are no games on December 24th or 31st so as to not go up against the NFL schedule.
Games Around The New Year
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl- January 1st-Big 10 vs. SEC- Tennessee vs. Wisconsin- It’s year three for Josh Heupel in Knoxville as Joe Milton Jr. takes over at quarterback. The Badgers head to Orlando for the first time since 2014.
ReliaQuest Bowl- January 1st- SEC vs. Big 10- Kentucky vs. Minnesota- Mark Stoops and the Wildcats did really well in the transfer portal. That includes Devin Leary who is the new man under center. This is the game we projected for the BBN in last year’s Music City Bowl, instead of an Iowa rematch that no one wanted.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl December 30th- SEC vs. Big 10- Maryland vs. South Carolina
Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl December 30th- MAC vs. MWC– Fresno State vs. Northern Illinois
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl December 29th- SEC vs. Big 10 or ACC/Notre Dame- North Carolina vs. Ole Miss
Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl- December 29th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Pac-12- Louisville vs. Oregon State- Could the Cardinals be a sleeper ACC team this year under new coach Jeff Brohm?
AutoZone Liberty Bowl December 29th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Missouri vs. Texas Tech
Post Christmas Games
Quick Lane Bowl December 26th- Big 10 vs. MAC- Nebraska vs. Western Michigan- We have the Huskers making their first bowl since 2016.
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl December 26th- American/ACC/Big 12/ SEC- Baylor vs. Florida
Guaranteed Rate Bowl-December 26th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- Kansas State vs. Michigan State
Military Bowl-December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- East Carolina vs. Wake Forest- Mitch Griffis takes over for Sam Hartman and hopes to have similar success for the Demon Deacons.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl- December 27th- ACC/ND vs. SEC- Arkansas vs. Pittsburgh- It’s the SEC’s year to tie into this bowl so we are sending the Razorbacks to Charlotte. If Will Levis was still at Kentucky they’d make a good (and obvious) choice.
TaxAct Texas Bowl December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- TCU vs. Texas A&M– Is a Texas Bowl bid enough to save Jimbo Fisher’s job?
Wasabi Fenway Bowl-December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina State vs. Connecticut- At this point, we’re out of possible American conference teams. As a result, the Huskies make the short drive to Boston.
Bad Boy Motors Pinstripe Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 10- Duke vs. Iowa
Pop Tarts Bowl- December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Miami (Florida) vs. Oklahoma State. One of the big things coming from the bowl schedule is Pop Tarts will now sponsor this game instead of Cheez-It’s.
Valero Alamo Bowl- December 28th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Oklahoma vs. Oregon
As we roll on with our Early 2023 Bowl Projections let’s move to the set of games just before Christmas. That includes a whopping seven games on December 23rd. James Madison would have been in a bowl somewhere but the NCAA denied their request for eligibility in 2023.
Games Right Before Christmas
TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl December 23rd- American vs. SEC- Auburn vs. Memphis
Camellia Bowl- December 23rd- MAC vs. Sun Belt- Eastern Michigan vs. Coastal Carolina
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl- December 23rd- American vs. C-USA- Kansas vs. Texas San-Antonio
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl- December 23rd- MAC vs. MWC- Miami (Ohio) vs. San Jose State
68 Ventures Bowl- December 23rd- MAC vs. Sun Belt- Georgia Southern vs. Toledo- The former Lending Tree Bowl played in lovely Mobile, Alabama has a new sponsor.
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl- December 23rd- Big 10 vs. Pac-12- Illinois vs. Washington State– The SEC and Big 10 alternate years facing a Pac-12 team with the other playing in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. This year the Big 10 goes to Vegas and SEC goes to Charlotte.
Easy Post Hawai’i Bowl-December 23rd- Conference USA/MWC /American- UAB vs. Wyoming
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl- December 22nd- American/ACC/Notre Dame/SEC- Mississippi State vs. Purdue
RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl- December 21st- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Appalachian State vs. North Texas
Frisco Bowl- December 19th-Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Cincinnati vs. SMU- How about the Bearcats versus a former American conference team?
First Weekend Games
HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl-December 16th- Conference USA vs. MAC- Ball State vs. Marshall
Cricket Celebration Bowl- December 16th- MEAC vs. SWAC- Jackson State vs. North Carolina Central- Yes Deion Sanders left for Colorado and took half the team with him. However, we’re leaving the Tigers as our choice for now.
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl- December 16th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Liberty vs. South Alabama- We’re sending the Flames to New Orleans as we have no more bowl-eligible teams from Conference USA.
Duluth Trading Cure Bowl- December 16th- Group Of Five vs. Group Of Five- Army vs. Old Dominion
New Mexico Bowl- December 16th- C-USA vs. MWC- Air Force vs. Western Kentucky
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl- December 16th- Pac-12 vs. Mountain West- Boise State vs. UCLA
Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl- December 16th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- BYU vs. Washington State– As a result of BYU moving to the Big 12 the 2023 matchup will feature a Big 12 team. Previously the Cougars were scheduled to face a Pac-12 team unless they were the Group of Five representatives. By the way, we really are sending these two schools a combined 3,514 miles to go to Shreveport.
Myrtle Beach Bowl-American/MAC/Sun Belt- December 18th- Central Florida vs. Troy
One bowl game is still listed as TBA and that’s the Holiday Bowl.
Holiday Bowl- ACC vs. Pac-12- Notre Dame vs. Utah- The Sam Hartman era begins in South Bend. Many feel both of these clubs could be borderline New Year’s Six teams but we have them falling a little short.
If you do the math that’s 13 of the 14 SEC teams and 15 of the future 16 minus Vanderbilt heading to a bowl. We did not include Colorado because we want to see how the 4,556 transfers work out. Thanks for checking out our Early 2023 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back in August taking you week by week until the playoff teams are announced in December.
