Some Big Changes In Week Two
Hello everyone and welcome to the Last Word On College Football 2023 Week Two Bowl Projections. One game helped change the look of the playoff and selection committee games. Before we get to the picks let’s check the news.
Unfortunately, the biggest story in college football isn’t a good one. Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker is currently suspended without pay as the school investigates serious allegations against him. In other news after two weekends of fans missing their games the Spectrum/Disney dispute was resolved on Monday.
Now to happenings on the field. As mentioned above one game created a ripple effect on our top picks. In their swan song, the Pac-12 is having a banner year with eight teams in the current top 25. Let’s roll through our selections starting as always with the playoff. If you’d like to see how things changed from last week click here.
College Football Playoff
Rose Bowl: January 1st- (2)- Michigan vs. (3)- Texas- With the impressive performance the Longhorns put on in Tuscaloosa, it looks like Texas is indeed back. In fact, Quinn Ewers should be firmly in the Heisman discussion. The Wolverines had no trouble with UNLV and are likely looking at a 9-0 start before their November date at Penn State.
Sugar Bowl: January 1st- (1)- Georgia vs. (4)- Florida State- The Bulldogs easily got past Ball State and host South Carolina this weekend. Mike Norvell’s squad followed up their big win over LSU with a 66-13 pasting of Southern Mississippi.
College Football National Championship: January 8th- (1)- Georgia vs. (2)- Michigan- A new championship game this week.
Selection Committee Games
Goodyear Cotton Bowl: December 29th- Washington vs. Penn State- The Huskies did nothing wrong this week. In fact, they won their ninth straight going back to last year. Although, due to the strength of the Pac-12, we think it’s going to be difficult for a team to make the top four. The Nittany Lions rolled Delaware 63-7.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: December 30th- LSU vs. Tulane– Despite their loss at Ole Miss we’re staying with the Green Wave as the Group Of Five team. Brian Kelly‘s Tigers bounced back from last week’s loss to Florida State with a 72-10 win over Grambling.
Capital One Orange Bowl: December 30th- Duke vs. Alabama– Right now we’re forecasting the Blue Devils as the ACC representative. On the other side of the ball, the Crimson Tide’s home loss to Texas was their worst non-conference regular season home loss under Nick Saban.
VRBO Fiesta Bowl: January 1st- Ohio State vs. USC- Heisman winner Caleb Williams has been spectacular in his first three games. The Buckeyes also fall out of the playoff this week and are headed to Arizona.
Continuing with our 2023 Week Two 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- The Vols struggled with Austin Peay before winning 30-13. Despite their loss at Washington State, we’re keeping the Badgers in Orlando.
ReliaQuest Bowl: January 1st- SEC vs. Big 10- Kentucky vs. Maryland- We’ve got a new matchup for the Wildcats this week. These two schools last met in 1979 with the Terrapins holding a 3-2 lead with two ties.
TransPerfect Music City Bowl: December 30th- SEC vs. Big 10- Minnesota 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
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- Rutgers vs. Western Michigan
SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: December 26th- American/ACC/Big 12/ SEC- Central Florida vs. Florida- These schools met two years ago in the Gasparilla Bowl and we’re matching them up again.
Guaranteed Rate Bowl: December 26th- Big 12 vs. Big 10- TCU vs. Michigan State- The Spartans are off to a 2-0 start but there’s a lot of uncertainty around the program.
Holiday Bowl: ACC vs. Pac-12- Clemson vs. Utah
Military Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- Navy vs. Wake Forest
Duke’s Mayo Bowl: December 27th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. SEC- Arkansas vs. Pittsburgh
TaxAct Texas Bowl: December 27th- Big 12 vs. SEC- Kansas State vs. Texas A&M- These two schools last met in the same game back in 2016 with the Wildcats winning 33-28.
Wasabi Fenway Bowl: December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. American- North Carolina State vs. East Carolina
Bad Boy Motors Pinstripe Bowl: December 28th- ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 10- Miami (Florida) vs. Illinois
Pop Tarts Bowl- December 28th: ACC/Notre Dame vs. Big 12- Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma State– The Irish got a big road win over North Carolina State on Saturday.
Valero Alamo Bowl: December 28th- Big 12 vs. Pac-12- Oklahoma vs. Oregon
As we roll on with our 2023 Week Two Bowl Projections let’s move to the set of games just before Christmas. That includes a whopping seven games on December 23rd.
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
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: December 23rd- Big 10 vs. Pac-12- Iowa vs. Washington State– Yes Iowa football and Las Vegas may seem like an odd combination. However, that’s the match-up we’ve got for this week.
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. Syracuse
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
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- Florida A&M vs. North Carolina Central
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: December 16th- Conference USA vs. Sun Belt- Liberty vs. South Alabama
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. Colorado– Deion Sanders’Buffaloes continued their hot start by beating Nebraska on Saturday. They’ll likely be 3-0 before facing Oregon and USC in back-to-back weeks.
Myrtle Beach Bowl: American/MAC/Sun Belt- December 18th- Florida Atlantic vs. Troy
Again we try not to overreact to what happens early in the year. Don’t worry if you don’t see your favorite team as at this point pretty much everyone but Arizona State are bowl eligible. If you haven’t heard the Sun Devils self-imposed a bowl ban for this year. Thanks for checking out our Week Two 2023 Bowl Projections here at Last Word On CollegeFootball.
